slow and shocking

we went up, up, up north. all the way out of the mitten and halfway across the upper peninsula. you other states don't really have your own peninsulas, but it's sort of like having two states in one. or two worlds in one. things are just different up there. slow and drawling, and you start saying things like youse and thems and everything is just fine. also, as far as i can tell, nobody up there can stay awake for more than four consecutive hours. naps!!

patrick's grandparents are just as grandparenty as possible. there's a pie on the stove. and coffee forever on the burner. and grams smells soft and warm and gramps has those beautiful gnarled old hands and there are rocking chairs everywhere and a million drawings from all the greatgrandchildren. patrick & gramps got to work staining the cabin, grams and i peered at bats in the eaves and visited a wee local farmer's market. homemade handpicked blueberry pie was had by all. 

and somehow in the midst of all the unworldly slowness, the unthinkable happened. i learned how to shoot a gun. i tagged along to the "old pit" (which is now a hatchery for some very surprised fish) just to watch. between my curiosity and desire for someone to stop bugging me about it, i wound up holding a very heavy gun. and... i hit the target (old coffee can) on my first shot. i utterly failed to be properly excited about this because i was still mid-protest about not wanting to do this. after a little more practice (and the rather clever idea of putting my glasses on so i could see) it turns out i am not bad at guns. still don't like 'em one lick but if the zombie apocalypse comes, i will at least have the gun pointing in the right direction.

of course, two minutes later i was taking pictures of lichen and little boats and sort of realized why patrick often refers to me as the little kid in the outfield staring at butterflies. 

and then my cousin got married at one of the loveliest outdoor weddings ever and i didn't take a single picture. (outfield, butterflies) she was gorgeous. 

xo. r

weekend wander

the boy had a birthday this weekend. as he's been working non-stop building a house for the past two years, we took some time to celebrate his birthday in style... his style: with woods, hammocks, swimming holes and camping food.

patrick's always loved backpacking, even more so since we scrapped the tents and camp in hammocks instead. this is a tricky concept, as your tent space is basically a sort of big burrito hung between trees. but, it's incredibly comfortable (a definite improvement over the hard ground) and waking up to a view of the trees overhead... love that.

the campsite was strung with old dreamcatchers, which i found particularly charming. my camp chef busied himself with some pretty incredible meals... chicken and dumplings for dinner along with a lemon cheesecake with gingersnap pecan crust for dessert. and of course, we do birthday camping up right, with a camp cup of red wine!

on our way out the next morning, we stopped at the bearclaw... a little drive-up coffee hut in the middle of nowhere. cutest little place that serves up a mean espresso. we capped the whole birthday weekend off with sushi for dinner and then drinks at the divey-est of dives (the kind of place that fixes broken booths with a few milk crates and some old boards).

i love, love, love to see that birthday boy smile.

weekend walk

it really wasn't quite a walk, barely more than than a wander.

away from the job site, across the dirt road to the mysterious bit of land

that's home to a caving in shed, an intriguing pile of metal, and a long leaf alley.

it's just a bit of nowhere that makes one think of all the space between and beyond.

( the reservations, the proletariat quarters, the other side of the glass wall. )

the summer swamp has dried up and is more of a thinly veiled boggish sort of spot.

the red and gold and orange leaves have all gone brown and crunchy.

the crackle, crunch, swoosh underfoot... it's very necessary.

and then i turned around and the house is there.

it was never there before, but it's making its presence known.

with a roof and windows and the feeling of being solid.

i owe you a real home tour of where we are to date.

construction is interesting to stand in, but the photos all look the same...

seas of two-by-fours and hints at a future shape. the walls are all still imaginary.

xo. r

animals & oddities

sunday was one of those rare perfect days at the flea.

warm, wet and windy. old friends were there.

dave, with his grizzly beard and his pipe.

(there is nothing that smells so good as a pipe.)

diana, wrapped in a shawl. mark, with all his oddities

the man who looks like a really, really tall david bowie, the mumbling watch collector,

the guy who loves odd toys. i always have to stop and see him.

and the finds were really good.

old camp photos, wood carrying trays, tiny souvenir charms, 

two amazing old theatre posters.

and of course the donkey.

that one's for me.

those crazy rebar legs. the mossy coat, the chippy ears.

well, of course i bought the donkey.

and of course, he's ridiculously heavy.

patrick wasn't terribly sure about him, but the dogs approved.

so very chuffed with my donkey.

and my dogs. yes, quite chuffed.

xo. r

hooky

fall has been a beautiful relief this year

but this past week has been relentlessly grey.

so when the sun made a guest appearance on thursday afternoon

i grabbed one of the dogs and headed for the woods.

otis hasn't been on a long woods walk since his back injury

and bump had to stop four times on our last attempt to walk to the neighbors house.

so follow-the-german-shepherd it was.

the new bridge was in. (last time i had to cross in the river!)
i let guinness do the leading. she has very certain opinions about where she wants to go

and it's an adventure to just follow for a bit.

we marched around a swamp, scared a few ducks,

found a new mini footbridge, and basked in the sun.

surely, i should have been working.

but what's the point of being your own boss if you can't run away on a whim?

sidenotes: my apologies for the blog being down the last few days.

i've been working on a little behind the scenes magic and managed to bring the whole big top down.

it should be working, but with my lack of techno-expertise,

you can probably expect a few more hiccups.

also, a little link love: a few rules to live by

have a beautiful weekend.

sunny, rainy. grey or otherwise.

xo. r

weekend wander

crisp fall mornings call for a walk through the woods to the cider mill on the other side.

armed with lattes and a dog or two, we walk the long path through the woods.

i can never get enough of the way the trees arc over and make green tunnels

(then red tunnels, gold tunnels, bare twig tunnels.)

there is cider and the sweetest mini doughnuts. there are always extra for the dogs.

and we stop at the petting zoo. goats, sheep, a two week old lamb and of course, the llama.

guinness and a goat poke noses. ah, curious beasts.

the walk back is slower. patrick's carrying cider. the sun is warming the day.

and there's a whole sunday still ahead to whitter away.

at the end of the day, there will be an apple morgan.

recipe: slosh apple cider and capt. morgan's into a glass, swirl & enjoy.

xo. r