Lighthouse to Long Hall

Last year Izzy and I decided we wanted to hit all the HOMES lighthouses. This summer was just too Covid-y. So finally, we took advantage of "OffSeason" to lessen crowding and started our road trip up to visit beloved pals in Chassell. It was an odd socially distant journey, but successful. I of course, took over 200 shots. Here are the main points!

https://www.whitelake.org/discover-white-lake/white-river-light-station-webcam/

https://www.visitsilverlake.com/stories/little_sable_point_lighthouse_silver_lake_sand_dunes_lake_michigan

We started this hike too late to be safe on the return hike.

Charlevoix

duh...

Point Iroquois

Lower Marquette Harbor

Another mission (Crisp Point) ABORT, cuz logging trail in the dark.

White City

"The Long Hall"

Update: new chicks

The pullets survived their first night in the coop. The hens (buff orpies age 4years) are neither aggressive nor maternal. Lark (large, but still puppy) is extremely curious and rather clumsy. She keeps pawing at chicken pen. The chicks instinctively run for protective fluffy butts of hens. The hens couldn't care less. They observe. One hen popped a chick on the noggin for trying to steal a bug.

One of the hens seems to have sprouted spurs! WTF?

Built in 1901

The red is the door.

The lifty toy.

We bought her in 2007. She needed paint then but we couldn't afford to do the trim. This job (including rebuilding the front porch) started 23 weeks ago. You know, prior to Lockdown.

All the white stripes are wood replacement, AND of course  the new spindles, modern safety size!

before and after

The dots.

 

BoobTube, Idiot Box, we are so close to ReadyPlayerOne

    ...as a distraction; Izzy and Pete helped me create my top ten list of Prime Time Soap Operas. A la old school David Letterman, for your perusal, my opinion! (SideBar: Lovecraft Country is Horror and Schitt's Creek is Comedy while Game of Thrones is Fantasy, Sherlock is Crime! Those are diff lists.)

#10 LOST (Six seasons) Disregard last season plz.

#9 Six Feet Under. (Five seasons) Ticks all my boxes. It holds up fine.

#8 Club de Cuervo. (Four seasons) Funny, but so drama, very sports.

#7 Sons of Anarchy. (Seven seasons.) It is Hamlet with Harleys.

#6 Twin Peaks. Two...no...three but, again, the end...WTF?Skipthelastseason!

#5 The Riches. 1.5 seasons...Just leave me hanging...FOREVER!ugh.

#4 Dallas. FOURTEEN EFFING SEASONS! It was a thing. Oh,Bobby.

#3 Breaking Bad. Five glorious seasons, what a ride. Multiple spinoffs. Vince Gilligan is a god.

#2 YellowStone. So is Taylor Sheridan! https://ew.com/tv/yellowstone-season-3-finale-wes-bentley-interview/?did=554694-20200830&utm_campaign=entertainment-weekly_newsletter&utm_source=ew.com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=083020&cid=554694&mid=39856109848

and Number One?? IMHO... Six Seasons of distracting bliss 

DOWNTON ABBEY!!

A peek inside...

The chicken coop?  HA! No!    
             

Salvage shelves that came with the barn. Fall harvest spinach.

The Greenhouse

I don't know where to start. My fondness for Krause's Greenhouse in Vassar, MI? Naw.

My husband's fantastic effort to
a.) stand on a ladder (he has thing about heights, which he claims he is "over"
b.) drill about 999 mostly straight screws  
c.) not only understand, but spot, quickly remedy, and not even lose a step the biggest issue? yep.

I should start there.  But instead, I will use chronology and pictures.  On Friday, about lunchtime, a truck came. She beeped her backward butt past the front porch construction* hissed her air brakes and deposited a load.

It was a very large truck.

The truck had a hydraulic lift gate and a wee little fork lift that enabled the nice man wearing cowboy boots and jam shorts (and I thought *I* was embracing 'Quarantine Couture' HA!) to easily deposit the six hundred pound flat pack of preformed kit... OF MY GREENHOUSE!

It took every ounce of my will power to NOT start tearing boxes open. I waited. Like an adult who has leveled up in Patience Prowess. Back in my 20's I would have been in those boxes like a rabid hyena on a hot dog cart.

Early Saturday morning the HouseFam gathered. We stood contemplating the physics of seven large,  VERY HEAVY and poorly balanced boxes. It was obvious that as soon as we cut the wrapping we were going to have the world's biggest Blooming Onion (tm).  We calmly debated best how to unbox the beast. Finally, stationed around it, awkwardly hugging hot cardboard, the four of us successfully removed the boxes from the pallet.  Whew. 

Where we paused after lunch. 6.5 hours in.

It was made very clear that Pete was "point man" and *I* was going to be "helper". For Dear Reader, he had actually WATCHED the instructional video. I tried very hard to not be bossy and obnoxious. I only quietly second guessed a  couple things. We did NOT get in an argument. ALL DAY!! Even when my brilliant husband realized the trusses were NOT going to line up with the rafters and he had to reposition ten little framing thingies that were WRONG.

It was a beautiful day. Sunny and clear and really a pleasant 85F. In the sun... working... PFFFFT BREAK!!  Z went off to work. I zipped around town grabbing library books and pre-ordered ice cream. Because that is life now. I walked Keiki. Food was nommed.

Pete tagged J. because it was obvious that my little T Rex arms were not gonna be of any benefit. Nor would the petite artiste be of any construction help.  About 7pm, the temp starts dropping and we head back out to do the hard part. Less than two hours later the roof bits were installed and the skeeters were getting annoying.

YAY TALL PERSON!

All that is left is installing the vent pistons and I am ready for shelves!

---------

*Our purple house still has white stripes because the painter guys are waiting on St. Mike and AmazingDon to rebuild the front porch. It was bad. It is gonna be amazing. FunFact the spindles are coming from FARGO!

Old biddies,

Wren is six years old. She is my Icy.  Padme and Maz are both four. EVERYBODY WAS BROODY. I was getting ready to make a chicken shaming joke.  Finally, last night, for the first time in WEEKS we actually got three eggs!

Padme trying to convince me she will "win" playing with doggos. mmmm NO.


Also, this bread turned out GREAT!

These puppers, keeping me on my toes...

When Luna started to refuse her meds I started burying it in all kinds of lovely cheesy gravy bits. She started to really lose her appetite and the tempting mush portions of her food became the larger portion of her daily kibble. Keiki usually only needed a spoonful of whatever flavor boost Luna was getting and she joyfully scarfed down her dry kibble like there was no tomorrow.

Now Lark arrives and is a damn food snot! There was the whole puppy vs big girl drama, which? Honestly? I have given up on the puppy formula. It is pricey and nobody was eating it. So neither of them eats till they are ravenous. But, they get all mental and rowdy when they are hungry. If their tummies are full they are well behaved. I am not making gravy special plates twice a day for these two perfectly healthy dogs.  The dry kibble just sits in the bowls.

They get spaz. I give them a greenie (30 seconds of peace). One per day.  They start wrestling but the lawn guys are here.  Okay, have a bullystick. Lark takes about an hour and Keiki about 20 minutes to devour, but then they are full of rich treat and don't eat the kibble.  But boy are they interested in whatever we are eating!

I do have a good system going with stuffed/frozen Kongs at dinner. So they aren't begging at the table.  Any comments? advice to get them to eat dry kibble breakfast? shared anecdotes? If you don't want to respond here my email is wgouine1ATmacDOTcom.

2.8 miles OR Found in the Wild!

$10. No Holla

The subdivision had a rummage sale. It was hot. But the mere idea that there MIGHT be fiestaware (tm) and the doggo's needing walking, got me up off the couch this sunny Saturday.  The family promenaded around the sub.

Really the sub isn't a likely prospect for Vintage Pottery but as I sat in the shade holding Lark and Keiki's leashes, Pete came back and said, "You should go look at the fiestaware and I should hold the dogs." He is so damn sexy. LOL

I leaped up and zeroed in on the tiny stack.  They had an odd group of luncheon plates and bread and butter plates. And one little orphan sugar bowl. No Lid. No Creamer, BUT no chips or glaze flaws. I am not big on Turquoise but I couldn't leave it behind. I am a sucker for the silhouette and the scroll handles. The Ivory Dinner Plate (9.5") was gonna need some love. She had a lot of utensil marks. Barkeeper's Friend and two minutes of gentle polishing and she is in rotation.

Toxic Social Media BS

To Whom It May Concern,

I am hesitant to bail on FB completely because my people are still there... and yet... it is so awful. Have you heard of DoomScrolling?  I feel like one has no choice but to deal with that horrible crap 24-7. I just want to share a funny non political meme on a friend's wall. Guaranteed to make them smile and within one minute of being there it is awful and gross and I have to go.  I used to enjoy "Upworthy"--it is getting morbid. Is there no place like FB USED to be? Pics of babies and pets? Silly quizzes that didn't data mine for your passcode shite? Fun jokes that didn't hurt anyone?  I guess it is time to start writing letters... with a pen... and a stamp... Please write to me. I am getting stir crazy.

Monthly Fitness Challenge. Embarrassing but true.

I miss the pool at the gym. I miss Becky, both physically and mentally.

In my efforts to get back under 150 I first did the month long push up challenge in May. Today is the last day of June and I am proud of myself for completing the June Abs Situation. Pushups were significantly easier. Comparatively, my abs still need work. BUT I DID IT! What was odd that today, as I passed 75 seconds in plank, I could hear my poor vertebra.. like grinding... Slipping... I had my form. I swear I wasn't sagging. Izzy will vouch. (Trust me you do NOT want to see that pic.) The longer I held it; it was like my spine wasn't structurally capable of holding my gut. 😒 All I could envision was a shitty freeway bridge overpass with crumbling concrete. Then the dogs were like "We will lick you-- as obviously anything over 30 seconds on the floor has our attention." So there I am holding Boat Pose and Lark is licking the back of my knee. YeGods! am I glad that is DONE. July starts a dumb bell regime. Should be a breeze. My arms are good. So the daily walking, reducing size and frequency of sugar and cocktails, drinking ALL the water and continuing to eat as smartly as I can without depriving myself of a few simple pleasures, I am just starting to see looser clothes.

Seven Sisters

We took Lark and Keiki to dog park yesterday. Big Whoop right? Except it was! Lark had a play date with her 3 of her 6 littermates. The HVHS Love Train from Jan 24, 2020 included a litter of seven girls all with candy names. Three of them have owners who connected on FB and we arranged for them to meet. We were more excited than they were! LOL

You smell familiar!

Lola

Hadley tries to get them all to sit together, her Lola opted for "Down". Charlie in the middle . Lark in  teal collar and RedWings bandana.

My Summer Reading Game

Completed a jigsaw puzzle recently. It is a collection of Edward Gorey's book covers. Some of the books I had read, thirteen of them I had not. SO just to entertain myself I am reading all these classic books that the only quantifying similiarity is the aforementioned illustrator.  I have just downloaded the first one "Adders on the Heath".  Should be a hoot.

Incommunicado

I am getting damn close to not being on FB much at all. They yoinked my Scrabble Game. fuckers.
I am on Good Reads.

 Just before The Rona I  added this cool thing movie list.  It is fun.  I have absolutely NO FRIENDS THERE.

I would tell you about strawberry picking BUT, I LOST MY PHONE.  All the cute pics I took are gone.

Have I mentioned Pinterest lately? Today I will be nosing
about trying to  make and Irish themed salmon dinner for Bloomsday for my husband.