home away

What makes a house

a home?

It's the little touches...

that make all

the difference.

A comfy bed

to lay your

weary body at the end

of a long day.

Seeing friendly faces...

every morning.

A place for all

your stuff.

A place where someone

always

has their eye on you.

A place for everything...

nothing in its

place.

Warm smiles at

every

turn.

You never feel

truly alone...

you are home.

Small bathrooms.

One more way

to get to know each another

even better.

Home.

A place to gather with

those you love.

A place to laugh and cry.

Eat and drink.

A place to hang your hat.

cabin cooking

Nothing like fresh air...

playing hard...

and apparently riding quads

to put the gang's

appetite

in overdrive.

My new little kitchen...

holds everything I need

and makes me realize what

I am able to do without.

I love challenging myself

when the cupboards are slim.

Throwing what's available

together

and seeing what happens.

Red skin potatoes chopped...

onion diced...

fresh corn off the cob

leftovers...

garlic salt and pepper...

browned nicely in olive oil

and covered to keep warm

and tender.

No lid?

No problem.

The cookie sheet will

double duty it.

Simple and delicious...

especially when served

along side...

steak...

charcoal grilled

to perfection.

s'mores for dessert...

followed by

a late night round of

double-headed

full moon

corn hole.

Huh?

Yeah, I have no idea what

happened there.

Spooky.

I did find one thing that was

missing from my

back home kitchen...

I remedied that when

I went to see my

sister in Indy and we stopped

at TJ Maxx.

That's right...

I went all the way to Indiana

for a non-stick frying pan.

We owned one years ago...

I forgot how fantastically they

fry foods...

without sticking.

And that quick clean-up

can only mean one thing...

more

 corn hole!

take a drive

After an early morning quad trail...

after a lunch of

Black Bean Fiesta and Quinoa Salad...

(thanks to Heather  from

Beauty That Moves workshop)

we decided to brave our way

out of seclusion.

It turns out our GPS directed us to

the quad trail on our

entry...

yeah...that's right...

our big honking van with trailer

traversed a 50" trail...

yikes!

A somewhat wider "roadway"

was discovered on one

of our quad

outings.

I was breathing

a bit easier...taking picture

after picture...

only to discover later

that each picture looked

exactly the same.

I wasn't able to capture

the thrill ride

experience

with a mere camera.

Now this is a road.

No pavement...

but still.

Drove down Highway 31

along the upper west side of

this great state of

Michigan.

Harbor Springs, Petoskey, Charlevoix,

Boyne City...

oh, how they have grown

since my last time through.

Bustling, busy and

a tad too tourist-y

for my taste this trip.

On our drive back

"home"

we found this Lake MI

access and stopped.

Here we stood

at an overlook...

 I think the

ahhh

that escaped my lips

could be heard

by all.

 

It took James about

3 minutes to change into

his swimsuit...

the rest of us were happy to

dip our toes.

And play in the sand.

Such a beautiful spot

to stumble upon.

Sun was setting...

stomachs were growling...

time to head back.

Not without capturing

a few artsy

photos.

Not without

shaking off the sand...

or jumping from the ledge

a few/ten more times.

Not without

a makeshift changing booth

to dress for dinner.

Not without making a moment

filled with memories

to keep me warm during

the coldest

winter

days.

meanwhile...

let's explore our new

surroundings

before anyone wakes up...

a carved out niche

of a yard...

smack-dab in the middle

of some

great big trees...

complete isolation...

nice and a bit unsettling

all in the same breath.

the views from the deck

side and back...

or should I say

south and east?

Our preferred evening location

a place to make s'mores...

eat pistachios...

tell of adventures...

listen to comedians...

warm our toes

(yeah, they needed warming!)

star gaze like it is meant to

be done...

without city or neighborhood

lights.

stumbled upon this

out building

or the beginnings of one...

imagining the story

it could tell...

if only.

a brief blog brag...

we brought that canopy tent along...

just in case.

hubby decided to build it with the boys.

after about a half hour mom

hollers out...

"do you boys need a girl to

show you how it's done?"

apparently, the directions were missing.

my guy was trying to find help online.

the other two boys were

staring off into the distance.

same postures about an hour later.

out walks mom.

"let's treat this like a Survivor immunity task.

look...these parts are numbered...

let's put them in order from least

to greatest.

now let's think about the fact that

there are 3 parts here...

must be the roof.

4 parts here...must be the legs..."

within a half-hour it was finished.

to which my 13 year old takes

me aside to tell me

confidentially,

"what you just did...

i'm gonna say it...

it was bad-ass!"

he insists that they would still be

sitting there trying to

figure it out.

being called bad ass

by a thirteen year old...

priceless!

okay...ahem...

maybe not so brief.

heading back...

maybe they are finally awake

and i can share my findings.

come on...

wake up!

it's time to hit the trails!

smelling roses

It was my intention

to spend a week

in the woods

with all of you.

Intentions.

That was before I spoke

with my sister Mary and her

husband Ed.

It seems Ed had a week off work

and was going to spend a day

at Cedar Point.

A boy's day.

The plan started taking shape...

if you're coming here

with your boys

and

you're willing to take mine along...

well...

that would mean Mary would

be home (in Indy) all alone.

That just screams of

a mid-week get-away.

After much debate and debacle...

I grabbed Mom at the last

possible second and said...

"let's do this!"

After some fast packing

and gassing-up...we were

off to see Mary

(and Maggie-girl)

To sit around the table at leisure

and catch-up.

Shop at our favorite spots.

Find a cute bee skep (it just belongs

in her garden!)

Drink coffee the best way...

together!

Oh, and eat...of course.

Watch girly-girl television.

Look through old magazines...

Sept, Oct, Nov issues of

Midwest Living and Country Living.

Mary is very into fall right now.

As a result...so are mom and I.

Talk some more.

Laugh a lot.

Sorry about the many blog breaks

but it's summer

(my season!)

and there are roses that

need smelling.