Wednesday, September 29, 2010

As promised on the last blog, the Flower of the Day is the Goatbeard gone to seed. It looks much like a Dandelion, but is about 3 times larger. The white flowers are, of course, Ox-eyed Daisies.

This is the season of change. The sun is moving south and is beginning to provide us with some spectacular and beautiful sunsets. And now the trees are changing to their Fall colors. We drove to Cedarville yesterday and returned to Detour via the South Caribou Lake Road. That's where the tree picture was taken. The leaves should be at their peak in color in about two weeks. Hopefully, more pictures will follow.

Art and Carol Ehlmann are here now and will be with us through the weekend. We don't have a heavy agenda -- mostly taking it easy and enjoying each other. We played Mexican Train the past two nights and Sandra won both nights. Rummikub will be our next game.

The last picture is part of a mushroom fairy circle. This is the second fairy circle that we have seen up here. They are quite interesting and we may go out at midnight and see if any dancing is going on -- and join them.

That's it. The best to all and we're looking forward to seeing many of you before long.

Tuesday, Sept 21, 2010

The Flower of the Day is Goatsbeard. A very interesting flower. On the next blog I'll show you what it looks like when it goes to seed. Stayed tuned.

Today is a blowey, blustery day. The flag is about to beat itself to death. The weather report calls for rain or storms and they're out there, but so far we've been missed.

This blog is for family and friends and it has occurred to us that while our family and some friends are aware of where we go when we disappear in May, others are not. So, today, we've included several pictures of the cabin -- kind of our show and tell for the day.

The cabin is not large. Most of the pictures are self-explanatory. Sandra, with her obvious excitement over her NEW Dirt Devil, is standing in the main room. The kitchen is part of the main room. We have a small bedroom (not shown) also off the main room, an alcove (also not shown) with bed, and several beds in the loft (we couldn't include pictures of everything). The picture looking down onto the main room was obviously taken from the loft.

And while we are beginning to think about heading home, we are still busy here. Tomorrow evening we are hosting a Home Communion for our church family. Then friends come in for about a week. I have another Sunday to preach, but after that it is mostly closing down and doing those things that must be done before we leave. It's always difficult to leave, but knowing that we will once again be with friends and family and with a most wonderful church family, draws us on. We'll see you before long.

Friday, Sept. 3, 2010

The Flower of the Day is the last Dandelion of the year nestled in beach grass.

We had a good day. I spent some time in the woods looking for small firs for walking sticks and your mother (Sandra to some of you) had a nice walk. We put out a wash, went to town for groceries, and had tea on the deck.

Later, in the evening, we were on the beach burning the "things" that were pulled up when you were here this summer. I'm sorry you missed your mother's (Sandra's) dance. It was spectacular. It was a wonderful fire and a special time with a scotch to share, and the town of Detour watching us from across the water.

Monday, September 13

The flower of the day is the Fleabane. It graced us with its presence this summer, but is now long gone as is summer. Fall is here and life is different. We have had several fires in our stove -- the temperature calls for it, and we are beginning to think about leaving for Warrensburg and home. The sun is noticeably moving south and we are beginning to have rather spectacular sunsets. Another sign that things are changing.

We plan to leave here Saturday, October 16, on an early ferry and, hopefully, be home on Sunday. Until then we have four more Sundays with our church family, and a home communion at our place near the end of September. Art and Carol Ehlmann will be with us in late September and early October, and Greg and Lori are coming on Columbus Day Weekend to help us close and maybe play a few hands of cards, and generally enjoy each other.

We look forward to being back in Missouri with family and friends. Hopefully, we will be in church in Lexington on the 24th.

Saturday

The Flowers of the Day are not wild -- they're the red geraniums at the flag pole. The reddish coloration to the left of the flowers is red pepper that Sandra put on the flowers to keep the deer away. The wind had other ideas.

Yesterday I wrote that change was coming. A blow out of the northwest began yesterday afternoon and continues today. When we got up this morning it was 49 degrees outside and 64 in the cabin. Needless to say we now have a fire going in the wood stove and have enjoyed a nice, warm breakfast. Mid-morning coffee will come later. That's it for now. Hope you are having a good day.

Friday, Sept. 3, 2010

The Flower of the Day is the Harebell. It was featured on an earlier blog, but it's a beautiful flower and I couldn't resist featuring it again. It comes early, around the end of June, and stays late. It's still with us.

It rained last night, but we woke to a sunny day with Detour shinning from across the water. And while we were enjoying Detour, the lake ship, Ojibway, came by heading to the locks at the Soo and then on into Lake Superior.

The weather is changing. We will probably have some more warm days, but today we have a brisk breeze -- the flag stands straight out,and there is a chill in the air. Yesterday we were in Detour to have lunch with Julianne Hull and later I visited with Chad Norton at The Garage. He said that a cloud of Monarchs had just come through Detour on their way to St. Ignace where the water is narrow and where they will wait for a south wind to carry them to the Lower Peninsula. And we have already noticed birds on their way south. So change is happening, and in about a month and a half, Sandra and I will look for a south wind and begin our migration back to Missouri.

A little more about Julianne. Her husband, Bob, pilots ocean vessels when they are on the Great Lakes. All ocean vessels must have a Canadian or American pilot when they are on the lakes. Bob and Julianne are Canadians and are in Detour several times during the summer and attend St. Stephen's when they are here, and they are friends.

Sandra and I thank God for the friends that we have been blessed with including you who are reading this, and we pray that all goes well with you.