Live from Tormville!

*Happy Sigh*

I almost didn't bring my camera last night. True story. 

Last night was beautiful. As I was standing on the side of the road, I said out loud a few times: THIS is why I have a hard time leaving my camera at home. 

This next week isn't looking too promising for flying, but we flew twice this weekend - and we've already flown more this year than last year. Last year was a record crap weather year for ballooning. 

Always great. 

----------

We had a good week last week. I felt like we made a real dent in summer projects. I even gave in to the kids one afternoon and decided that - okay - we WILL have a garage sale this year. They've been begging for a few years now, but we've had them before and they are a. LOT. of. work. 

BUT. 

My donations got us absolutely squat on our taxes last year, so that change tipped the scales. Last week was spent on the boy's room and a few other nooks and crannies. We're looking at a one day sale sometime the weekend of Melonfest - so a month away yet. Lots of time to gut some corners

As for this week: 

• Some Rest & Relaxation
• More Purging
• Another week of Swim Camp
• Fiddle Lessons (we only go every few weeks in the summer) 
• More Steps/Walking
• Completion of that new crown in my mouth. 
• Even more purging
• That should do it. 

Happy Monday! 

 

Evening Flight

It was a beautiful night for a flight. 
Problem was, we were short on crew. A few text rejections, and I ended up telling my kids that they'd be crewing tonight. It's been a few years since they've come along. They picked up right where they left off, complete with teasing and bantering. They are now on call to crew again soon. 

I wasn't expecting it to be my turn again tonight - but whooop - there I am. It was a beautiful night for a birds-eye view. 

I now have another photo for graduation cards: Howell High School. 

There are six elementary schools in our town. Here is Challenger. 

And here is Northwest. 

We didn't get quite close enough to Voyager.  I think the only district schools that I don't have photos of, from above, are Voyager, Southwest and Parker.  #Goals 

Wendy and Brian were with me. Greg hadn't gotten home from work yet when we left, but knew that Mark still needed to get his daily swim in  (it was cold when we were at Kensington this morning) I texted him and said if they were still at the lake, I was about to fly over in a few minutes. 

We missed them by about ten minutes. Alas. 

Quieter tonight than it was last night. 

I'm loving summer. 

Morning Walk

We, Mark and I, planned to start our day this morning with another nature hike. 
The sunless morning had us sleeping a little later than planned, and we were going to make a full day of it - taking in the Milford Sidewalk Sales and stuff - but the day felt like it was creeping away on us after our slow stroll, so we headed back home to get a few things done. Like upload bird photos. 

But the morning?  happy sigh 

Mark: It's odd to me that I like the feels of bird's claws on my hand. 

Our hiking trip for next week got canceled, making that two out of two backpacking trips that I've not gone on this summer. The nature walks are good for my soul. 

There were some food battles going on this morning. It was fun to watch the chain of command. 

We still haven't lured in the cardinal, but came close a couple times. 

We saw flowers.

We saw a momma feeding her young. 

We saw bambi hopping through the long grass. 

And oh! Hey! We bumped into Aunt Enid and Uncle Paul on the trail! 

Berries! 

Now to get back to some domesticity and get some laundry done. 

 

Kids and Birds

Allan popped in for a couple hours yesterday - walking in the door just as we were leaving for Swim Camp. Brian played the good host and made him some scrambled eggs. 

Mark and I were back home before Al's ride picked him up. I had enough time to mom him a bit "How's the job hunting going? Did you apply at 100 places yet? You know whatever job you pick doesn't have to be your forever choice, right? You know you can get any job while looking for your real job, right?" 

It's a wonder he doesn't come home more often. 

(And he is looking, he has put out applications. As his mom, I'm just anxious to see him get settled and find his path) 

Then I said, please - just one nice photo? 

Wendy had just got home from work and hopped straight into the shower, but we made her jump in for a quick photo too, wet hair and all. 

Last evening was beautiful. 
I was in the mood to get my nature fix. It wasn't too hard to convince Mark to come along with me. 

It was a good day. 

Today: 

• Swim Camp = Streak Day 31
• Make an attempt to start tackling the Big Purge of the Boy's Room
• Pull out my backpack and assess my inventory
• Make hammock straps to replace my heavier straps

That should do it. 

Happy Wednesday! 

 

Quick Trip North

Just a few quick days after this year's Balloonfest and St. Ignace happenings, we headed north. On the 4th. It was a treat to get to see the large flag flying from the north tower of the bridge. It only flies six days a year: The 4th, Flag Day, Veterans Day,  Memorial Day,  Patriots Day and Labor Day. 

On the way up, we stopped between Munising and Marquette for our swim. Even I dunked. It was like instant pins and needles everywhere. Another year done. 

We didn't have much notice on this trip, so really lucked out with this Airbnb in downtown Houghton. We couldn't have been more pleased, and I really enjoyed having the chance to poke around the Houghton end a bit more, having always stayed on the Calumet end. We walked to Suomi for breakfast, twice - the Ambassador for dinner, and were right across the street from Biggby. What could be better? 

We put up our feet for just a few moments, then headed out to visit Dean and Marne at their camp. They lived by us when they were first married, and it was fun to listen to the guys catch up.  It's been a few years since they've chatted. The rain had come in, so the rest of us were cozy in the cabin, listening to their loud laughter come in through the doorway. 

Mark is still on his swimming streak, but he was glad that I took him for a quick dunk at Chutes and Ladders Friday morning - as our trip out to the Breakies that afternoon saw a 20 degree drop in the temperature and there were points where the fog was so thick we couldn't even see the pier. They decided not to swim, but we enjoyed ice cream. It was in the 50's here at two in the afternoon. 

Other Friday happenings were a quick visit with Mark's friend Judy, a tour of her brother's shop, visiting with Greg's family, and then the wedding - which is why we went north. 

I didn't get there early enough to get pictures of just George's family, but here are the two combined. We're all so happy to see these two together. Both previously widowed; what a special gift to find someone to share with again. They've been dating for a few years already. Now Joanne can help George do that retirement thing he keeps talking about.  

Mark: Hey mom, look - I'm dad.  

George and Joanne and the kitchen help, aka: Howard's (George's late brother) girls. 

These next two crack me up. Mark has never played hackysack before. Looks intense. 

Saturday morning - breakfast, again, at Suomi - then off to play tourists, starting with the Delaware Mine. We haven't done this one in about 18 years. It's different than the Quincy tour in that it's self guided. 

Other tips: 

Bring your own jacket - they don't supply them like the Quincy Mine does. 
They don't take cards, so have cash or a check. (It cost us $40 for the four of us - adults were $11 each and Mark still qualified as a kid being 12)
Bring a flashlight. You can follow the lit tour without one, but you can see so much more if you have your own flashlight. 

We hit up the candy store in Copper Harbor, toured the lighthouse in Eagle Harbor (checking an item off Mark's summer wishlist), took a dip in Eagle River (Mark) where, again it was in the 50's at the lake - but the streak continues, then back to Sherry's again for more family visiting and Jim's Pizza for dinner. We got back to our rooms at 7:30 and I crashed. 

Sunday morning was up and at 'em at 6am on the road, in hopes of beating at least a half day of traffic. We cruised until just a few miles before getting on the bridge. We had taken 2 home just for the swimming opportunity and it was still bitter cold when we drove through the Marquette to Munising stretch. 

After the bridge, it was surges the rest of the way home - many times just 25 miles per hour. 

And hey - did you all notice? Greg came with us this trip. While visiting, it suddenly occurred to his sister, as in: Wait. How are you here?  

July shutdown has always been his busy time. The perks of that new job title he grew into last year - he actually was able to get some time off. 

----

Alright - I rather rushed this this morning - but it's time for me to get Mark to swim camp and start preparing for the next adventure. I didn't want to get too far behind. I posted Balloonfest just before this as well, wanting to keep things in order. 

Happy Monday! 

Be good. 

Balloonfest Faves

Summer has picked up the pace, and I'm behind on blog sharing. I won't post all the pictures here, (I have a public album posted on Facebook) but a few favorites. Above, this year's crew. I started crewing in 2011. Lots of gut busting laughs and memories. This year was the first in many that the weather had balloons flying for all five launches. It was wonderful. 

Friday night. 

We love landing in cul-de-sacs. We often get people wondering what happened - why did we land in the street. We chose it. It's dry, there isn't through traffic to worry about, and we often have neighborhood people coming out who love the opportunity to help out. 

Saturday morning had us back at the school at 6am for the pilot's meeting and then out for another launch. The morning flights involve targets, which is why you'll see many balloons launching from the same spot. In this case, the outlet mall and the surrounding area. 

Saturday morning has us landing in a subdivision, on a street, once again. Two for two. 

Saturday night, we didn't fly. There were about six balloons that didn't. Our pilot wasn't liking the winds. 

The rest of the crew went out to eat. Rachel and I stuck around for the Balloon Glow; always a favorite. I've said before that there are no bad views of the Glow. I've watched it from just about every vantage point. Our pilot hasn't participated in this portion of the weekend in a few years now, so we went out on field to see if any of the other pilots needed assistance (they didn't) and enjoyed the view from there. 

And then it was back at the school at 6am again on Sunday morning. 

And out to wake up Marr Road. Again - it's all about the way the winds are blowing. We lucked out at this one as we knew the owner of this home: a friend of one of our crew members. Permission received. 

Everyone else was launching from the street, front yards of the neighbors. We got the back yard.  

The fence was but a minor obstacle. We tied off over it to Laura's truck (we switched vehicles after Friday night's flight, because brakes should not be flaming red hot) 

Sunday morning was my turn to fly.  happy sigh 

I didn't make it to church this morning, but I got close. The roof is still looking good. 

Target! 

We earned a second place on this particular target, which put us into the top 20 for the weekend competition. 

Another subdivision landing. It wasn't our softest landing, but we were thankful to pack up in the street again and not have to pull out the big tarp. We did have to pack up creatively, as somehow our sack got soaked during the launch, despite having that on a tarp. 

A quick rest at home, and then off to the awards banquet at Cleary University. I brought Mark along this year. He chose, again, not to join the guys at the annual St. Ignace Car Cruise adventure, as he really enjoys being home for Balloonfest. I did frontload him, and told him that NEXT year, I'd like him to experience St. Ignace so he knows what that is all about and enjoys some guy time. He's game. He was really torn about the decision this year. 

He enjoyed the carnival rides on Saturday evening with Wendy, and Sunday afternoon with me. 

Sunday evening. 

We normally launch from the school in the evenings, but this evening provided little wind. A launch there would have had all the balloons bunched up and bumping into each other. The pilots meeting instructed that we would fly IN, like our morning target flights. 

The piball indicated that we chose a great launching spot for the target. 

Then the first balloons launched, and flew in a completely different direction. The winds were ODD. We didn't fly far at all. 

Again - no tarp. Again - the end of a cul-de-sac with lots of help. 

On Monday, I recuperated and then began getting ready for the next adventure. 

Gertie's Pannukakku

I made pannukakku again this week - on a day where I was so caught up in projects, all of a sudden I realized I needed something for dinner before the the evening running began. (Also - thanks to great neighbors, I was quickly able to attain the one egg we were short)  I really feel like I've posted this recipe before, but I was unable to find it. So - the recipe we use: 

Gertie's Pannukakku  (Pannukakku = Finnish pancake) 

Stir Together: 

1 and 1/3 Cups Flour
2/3 Cups Sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Gradually add 4 Cups of milk and 8 eggs

Bake in two 9 x 13 pans preheated with 2 and a 1/2 Tablespoons of butter in each pan

Bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes. 

---------

Most of the people in our home have theirs with syrup. I prefer mine with jam. I'm also the only one in the home that eats the leftover pannukakku cold, right out of the fridge. When I lived in Finland, we ate pannukakku more as part of a dessert/coffee treat - but here we tend to have it as a breakfast/meal. I often make this on Christmas morning. 

 

Other bits of the week:  Allan popped in unexpectedly at 10:30 Thursday night:  Hey mom, we (he and Matt) need a place to crash for the night - we're heading to Tennessee for the weekend, and we're picking up Jacob at 4am. 

Was fun to see him, even if just for a bit. I gave him Wendy's bed for the night since she had already left for St. Johns services in the Copper Country that same morning.  

-----------

Matt: Sorry to just barge in on you. 
Allan: I told you, Matt - the worst she would do is just sigh. 

I didn't even do that. 

 

I sold our deck table and chairs a few years ago already, and kept looking around for just the right replacement. I ordinarily don't order chairs without doing a sit test, but found this set on Wayfair earlier this week and bought it. It's the perfect size for our deck, and it passes my sit comfort test. It feels good to have finally found something. Greg and I went last night (after his hour plus after work nap) to Lowes and added an umbrella and a storage cube for the cushions. Bring on the summer! 

Flashback to last Sunday - Father's Day barbecue with some of Greg's family. 

----------------

Other stuffs:

• Mark's swim streak to date: 12
  And it looks like a beautiful weekend 
• I put the new crown off until the end of July - just so I can have something to look forward to. 
• We haven't done anything too exciting yet this summer - but I've really been enjoying just puttering about the house, getting things in order before another busy fall/winter. Soccer starts again the end of August, then archery, swim team, more soccer.....   Right now, I'm just enjoying the lull. 

Happy Saturday! Enjoy the sunshine! 

A New Week

Those who know me well know that I love Mondays all year round. Here's to today's new beginning, grey/gloomy and all. At least I have a few peonies brightening up the yard. 

On deck for this week: 

• I called my dentist this morning, right after they opened: 
  Me: So - that cleaning they did last week, I think she took off the plaque that was holding one of my teeth together.
  Debbie: Oh no! Can you come in today?
  Me: Depends, what time? 
  None of the times worked for me today. Busy day.
  Me: Let's just do tomorrow. I've got enough protein drinks to get me through today.
  Debbie: You do know that it probably means a crown now, right?
  Sigh.
  My chart is labelled, in bold caps, TOUGH NUMB. Not going to be my favorite activity this week. 
• Swim Camp. This will secure Mark's swim streak through day 11. He swam yesterday evening in the lake. I sat in the van as it was misting and 60 degrees. 
• Wendy heads north for St. Johns
• Fiddle. Endurance Training. 
• More steps for me. I didn't even hit a mile yesterday - hard when we go straight from church to visiting. 
• List making - working on some new goals and some corner purging. 
• I WILL open up that new laptop. (I'm not a fan of the set up process, and my photo editing program is on this laptop, and my pictures are over here so I need to get them all over to my external, and and and - it's a PROCESS. 

Happy Monday! 

Be good. 

Feet Up

What I wrote down for my main goal of summer was to keep the balance. So far so good. 

Mark decided a few days in that he wants to see how many days in a row he can swim. His goal is 100. Today was gloomy and not beach warm, but he went in - twice. Once this morning after his last soccer game (the gals working the concession stand, in jackets, were shivering just watching him) of the season, and again this evening because Brian wanted to go to since he missed the morning swim. Today is day 6. 

I'm just going to stick with the keep the balance goal. A little work, a little play, a little reading, a little exercise, family/friend time and some creating = a well balanced day. 

This past week still felt full. It wasn't until Friday that I had a day with no commitments written on the calendar. We've had dentist appointments, swim camp, fiddle lesson, shopping, lots of walking and more. Next week still holds swim camp, fiddle, and lots of rain. 

Tomorrow we are hoping to get together with some of Greg's family after church for barbecue, but we're waiting to see how he feels. He came home from work sick yesterday, and still isn't up to himself yet today. I don't remember the last time he caught a bug. I'm blaming the extended wet soggy damp season. 

--------------

Mark: Hey dad. If there's a T-Rex, is there also a Coffee-Rex? 

I like how he asks his questions in a way that have us wondering for a second if he's serious - and then he laughs. 

-------------

Brian hates games, but we managed to talk him into a game of Skip-Bo this afternoon. (Talk him into went like, "Either do the dishes, or play a game with us....you can't just sit and read ALL day EVERY day!" 

Brian won. 

Mark: I thought you didn't like games?! 

Brian: Just because I don't like games doesn't mean I'm not allowed to win! 

-------------

Today's mystery: Within an hour after I mowed the lawn, there was found in our yard an old red onion and a white onion.  ????  They could only have come from over the new neighbor's privacy fence....right? 

Recuperation Day

Monday had Brian and I up before the sun in order to get to school for 5:30. 
Because I like time for my morning routine, my alarm was set for 4. 

I hadn't originally signed up to chaperone this field trip, but had written on Brian's permission form, as I've been known to do, "let me know if you're short chaperones" This was the first time that I got called up on it. I then arranged to have my mom bring Mark to swim camp (thanks mom) and Wendy to bring Mark to soccer (thanks Wendy) and off we went. Two buses for Parker Middle School (they invite all their band members) and one bus for HWMS (we only invite 8th graders). 

We got two rides in before the (2 hour) downpour. I was nervous at first because the three boys in Brian's group didn't seem interested in roller coasters, but they quickly came around. Brian is ALL about the thrill factor. It was a first time visit for all four in my crew. We did have some weird luck in that we were at the front of the line for Steel Vengeance after the rainfall, but after a few test runs they called mechanical difficulties and didn't open it. Another couple rides had them at the front just as they added or switched cars which resulted in more test runs/time. There were a couple that never opened, and the Top Speed Dragster didn't open until late. We scooted over as soon as we saw it was running, but the line was already too long to allow us to catch the bus. 

BUT. 

For his first visit to the park, he did get on a dozen of the thrill rides with very few lines and time out for three sit down meals, snacks. Not bad. And now he's got a goal list for next time. 

Me? I didn't ride a single thing. One of Brian's crew only rode a few things, so we got some visiting in, and some talk about future life goals, while the others rode. I was perfectly content. 

 

We boarded the buses at seven. 
Our bus broke down (with time to pull into a parking lot) at about 8:30.
A new rescue bus arrived at about 10.
We arrived back at the school just before midnight, about 2 hours later than the other middle school. 

Today is recuperation day.