LAKE LIFE IS GREAT

We are home from our Mpls trip. The Twins lost to the Mets, but we had fun anyway. Sam secured us great seats behind home plate and under a balcony in case of rain or bad sun. We also put in several hours picking ivy off a side of their house. It had embedded in the stucco and nothing but hand-picking works. the fingertips of both our hands were raw. Felt good to help the kids in their big project. They can't paint their new house until this job is done. We offered to come for a work weekend just to finish it all up.

It was a sauna in the Cities. It felt good to get back in the cooler northland without humidity and extreme heat.

Today would have been my mom's 99th birthday. How I wish she were here and waiting for her party to begin. I miss her so deeply. She called me every night at about 8-9 "just to talk." When I'd answer the phone, she would always say, slyly, "This is yo mama." Said in jest, as if I would not recognize her voice!! Being motherless has left quite the hole in my heart.

We had 21 "widowmakers" taken down around our woods that were in danger of hitting the cabin or blocking our driveway if they were to fall. Fun to watch those guys climbing those huge popples and pines with dexterity and cut the chunks off from the top. Dick grubbed out the brush from around where they cut and it really opened up our driveway and valley. 

Right now he is outside creating a long curvy path from the concrete sidewalk down to the lower garage. He is lining it with bricks and making the path out of wood chips. The woodcutters left us two truckloads full of wood chips. Leave it to my husband to find a functional use for them.

I am studying the book of Kings right now. Interesting. I have no memory of what I read the day before, but I am enjoying it day to day. All the killing is a bit disturbing, but that was the life of the Israelites.

I just finished a great (and awful) book, GRACE WILL LEAD US HOME by Jennifer Berry Hawes. It is the saga of the Charleston Church Massacre and the Hard Journey to Forgiveness. It was unbelievable reading the details of Dylan Roofs intentional evil acts and the drama of the aftermath. Richie is reading it now. It is graphic and raw, but very real and authentic in terms of what survivors and family members went through. The book spans from the day it happened til the trial is over.

 The cedar shutters Richie made for me for the cabin

The four of us at the Twins game.

The summer is flying by. Enjoy every day. The 20-below days will be upon us soon enough.

JUNE IS SADLY OVER

I am sort of sad today, thinking that we only have 2/3 of the summer left to spend at the lake. It has been so perfect. We do not have that horrific heat that is at home. The air is clear and refreshing and the breeze off the lake is daily.

The only fly in the ointment are the mosquitoes. When we've had no rain for 6-7 days they die out and then after the rain, a new batch hatches out. Today I haven't felt one on me. We did however have the biggest, fattest, grossest spider in the house we have ever seen. I saw it on the window ledge in our bedroom, and it must have been 3 inches in diameter if not more. I reacted like a typical "girl" and ran outside to summon my husband to deal with it. It was one of those many-legged creatures that runs away from you if you miss swatting him dead. I'm glad we have one brave soul in the family! Though even he admitted this one was not pleasant.
  
I have been sleeping a lot. At least one 1.5-2 hour nap after lunch, and sometimes before dinner. Maybe I'm just overly relaxed, but it does make me feel like I wish I had a hobby up here. I've also been reading some really good books from the library. I just started my 3rd book for the week.

I have been trying so hard to gain weight this summer.....whole milk, butter, etc. but I just can't put the pounds on. I can eat until I am sickly full but by the next morning, I remain the same. I guess I inherited my mom's high metabolism. My doc in SF wants me to have a blood test in July just to check on everything. He's letting me off of my scan cycle for the summer and not making me come back to SF so this is the least I can do!

Richie made me beautiful cedar shutters for the cabin and also 2 fences, one at the entrance of our drive with our name on it. That man works his tail off out here. Wish I had half his stamina. He caught a nice 3-4 pound bass the other morning, and he cooked it up with beer batter, and I never eaten such a delectable piece of fish. I could not stop oohing and awing with every bite. I would eat beer batter bass fresh out of the lake 5 days a week.

Sam came up last Friday to spend the night with us and drop off his dog to dog sit for a day and a half while he and Gretchen went to her big family reunion an hour away. Their Captain loves coming to the lake, running around the acreage, wading in the water. He is a sweet dog.

Do you know what I love about being in the woods without anyone around? I can wear the same clothes (baggy and definitely worthy of the Civ) for a whole week, then wash them and wear them the next week. It is nice not to have to think about how I look (usually like an old haggard woman)!!!!!

We are headed to a Twins game with the kids in a couple weeks. Too many injuries......they need to get the roster full again and start playing like they did in May and June.

Hope the summer is going well for anyone who is reading this.

God bless