Family Meme, Just in Time for Independence Day

Dragonfly Hatch 2013

This year we had several days of dragonfly hatch. It all seems a bit late, probably due to the long, cool spring. We had one good day of hatching while Wally and Sheryl were here, and another during Felicia's visit.

In past years I've made videos and taken dozens of photos of the hatching dragonflies, but this year I took pictures of the empty nymph shells.

This one shows several empty shells still clinging to the side of the dock.

The next two are closeup shots of the empty shells. They really look spooky this way but the dragonflies are lovely and a good omen.

At least that's my opinion.

Felicia!

My friend Felicia Bernardini drove up from Columbus and arrived in Dewitt around 3:30, rarin' to go, game to make it an eight hour day of driving. We got to the cottage about 7:30 p.m. or so, unpacked the car (see Ken's red wagon standing at the ready in the background), had a glass of wine, and headed up to the Lodge for a late dinner. ("Bunky" is me--that is, Ken's affectionate name for me.)

Felicia is an early riser, so she had been up for a couple hours by the time Ken and I arose. Here she is in the sunroom, having a bowl of cereal in the early morning sun.

I love it when people get right into the swing of the cottage. Head out with a book, fully intending to read but happy to indulge in some mid-morning shut-eye on the sun-warmed dock.

Dutkowskis Part III

Best way to start a Sunday: brunch at the Lodge. We had a nice meal and a nice visit with Wally K., who had time on his hands because the omelet station wasn't very busy while we were there. We told him about our wild and crazy evening of Skip-Bo, puzzles, and classic rock.

Next order of business for Wally was another kayak ride. I was posting to the blog, so he took off on his own to go south around the point. He's looking pretty confident on entry and exit as well as under way. (This would make a great profile picture for Facebook, Wally.)

Ken picked up a hitchhiker today during the annual dragonfly hatch. I'm so tickled Wally and Sheryl were here to see it. Fewer of them made it up to the front porch than in past years, but as always the dock and the stones were popular destinations for the nymphs and good sunny spots for the dragonflies to dry their wings.

Captain Ken, in his favorite spot. I've only seen the same look on his face in one other place: The Bunker Bar in Aruba. That's why we refer to the pontoon as The Bunker Barge.

The rest of us enjoyed the ride as well, down to the far southeast end of the lake, up around the UAW, and then home. Wally and Sheryl played their last day here just right--very relaxed, not worrying about the time, just letting the day unfold.

Parting shots: Wally with our "Cheers" puzzle. He gets a lot of credit for this progress--he is very dedicated and a master motivator with his puzzle trash talk.

A great visit with great neighbors.

Dutkowskis, Part II

First up Day 2: A paddle up the lake with Wally. The lake was calm and the sun was at our backs. We went all the way up past the first point and turned around just after the second. We exchanged pleasantries with the owner of the $1.6 million property out on the point, and paddled back as clouds came up from the south and covered the sky. No rain, though.

Wally turned out to be an excellent puzzle partner for Kenny. We rarely had to ask, "where are the guys?" because they could usually be found at the puzzle table. There, or on the dock having a beer.

Ken took an artistic interlude and added some details to his original Monet (actually an old print I found behind the old framed map of Black Lake). He has become very artistic in his....older age.

Saturday night we headed for The Dirty Duck Saloon for some of their famous bar food. Wally and Sheryl had ham and cheese oven grinders; Ken and I opted for pizza and it was DEE-licious.

Ken and Wally watched the Tigers as we sat and had our meal. Here, they discuss the finer points of the game.

We left our Skip-Bo game to go out and watch the sun set. When I came up to the boat, Ken had just said something Wally and Sheryl found quite amusing. =)

We spent the remainder of the evening circling the puzzle table and listening to Wally's 60s and 70s record collection (randomly selected from the 2,000+ songs he has on his iPad).

Welcome to the Lake, Wally and Sheryl!

Ken always paints a welcome "reserved parking" sign for our guests, and this artistic effort marked the arrival of our long-time friends and A+ neighbors from Dewitt, Wally and Sheryl Dutkowski. Their daughter Sarah is getting married in Petoskey this September so we were glad they could carve out a weekend from the busy run-up to the nuptials and relax a bit at the lake.

Arrival on a beautiful, sunny day

Of course, relax is a relative term when you are visiting for a weekend and there are so many things your hosts want to share with you....

First up, BOAT TRIP! We took the pontoon over to the river and motored up to the Black River Road bridge and beyond. Really perfect weather for this - with the wind a bit refreshing but snug and warm on the river.

After a trip across the lake there's nothing like a nice beer on the dock. This falls under the category of "tough job but somebody's gotta do it."

The boys decided our first night out would be at the Lodge. Here's the picture I've been waiting to take: our two Wallys, together at last. (I think they've met before but if so it was undocumented and therefore doesn't count.)

Wally x 2

A great picture with great neighbors

Annuals in Wellington Garden

Ken and I spent most of the day in the yard again. I put in some white impatiens around the viburnum in the garden behind the cottage, and some red/orange marigolds in Wellington Garden among the daylilies and hosta.

The little wooden barrel conceals the on/off handle for the well, and the overflow pipe is concealed by the plants. It will be even more so once the plants really get going.

Return to Hack-Ma-Tack

Every year we look forward to our visits to the Hack-Ma-Tack. This tradition dates back to the time we rented the Panella cottage on Mullett Lake, when we would make a special trip with the boys for a dressy night out. Often we'd get to sit in the big curved window, with a great view into the woods. It was always a special occasion, one where we would laugh and smile and reflect on our great good luck as a family.

In more recent times, our Hack-Ma-Tack memories include all of our adult children. A favorite was my birthday in 2011, when a "happy birthday" phone call from Joe and Ashley while Ken and I were having dinner in the HMT bar turned into a last minute visit. They took off from Washington at about 7:30 and got to Black Lake by midnight.

That same year (2011), we met another September 16 birthday girl, Peg, celebrating in the Hack-Ma-Tack with her son and daughter-in-law. We had such fun with them we made a date to celebrate birthdays same-time-same-place in 2012. They didn't make it, but we found out it was because her kids didn't make it up. So maybe we will see her this year!

Another favorite was taking Jonna and Tomi to the Hack-Ma-Tack for the first time. If memory serves, I think Adam paid the tab that night, or at least split it with us. That's a milestone in the life of a parent.

And of course a milestone in the life of a child is being able to bring your parent to a place very special to you. Here's Pa outside at the HMT in 2011. We walked him out front to look at the channel; here he is walking back up toward the restaurant, all spiffed up in his khaki sweater and slacks. Watch out, Pa, there's a speed limit here, you know.

We'll be at the Hack-Ma-Tack on our 25th anniversary (July 2 this year), and we were there for our 20th (pictured below). Our dining companions that night were Adam and Emily, and Jen and Mike.

One of the neatest things about owning the Black Lake cottage was being able to pick up our Hack-Ma-Tack tradition. We hadn't been at the HMT with the boys for some time when the pictures below were taken - 2007, the year we bought the cottage.

So, the beat goes on. We'll be at the Hack-Ma-Tack next week during Felicia Bernardini's visit, on our anniversary, my birthday, and a time or two in between. Life is good.

Flatter than piss on a plate.

8:33 AM. Current conditions: 53 degrees and sunny in Onaway--our thermometers say we haven't quite reached 50 here on the lake. It's really pretty. The birds are chirping away, happy to see morning come after what I hope will be the last near-frosty night for the summer. The forecast is for 67 degrees by the time happy hour rolls around, with no chance of rain and only light winds from the NE. I'm betting our southern exposure and protection from the NE winds will result in warmer temps here at the cottage. (How am I doing, Kenny?)

Because the tree line behind us prevents light NE winds from reaching the lake, the water is "flatter than piss on a plate," an indelicate description I learned from my father, who learned it from his father. It is unclear to me how this comparison first arose; perhaps you can enlighten me, father?

Ken finds and destroys a mosquito, but not before getting bit.

Yard Work Hard Work

At my request, Ken expanded the garden in front of the garage. I had used our old yellow hose to lay out the curve, then spray painted the grass inside the line to guide his shovel.

I removed the stones in front of the Pachysandra, and tossed them all in the center of the garden where there are no plantings, just for the time being.

Once that was done, I applied Preen liberally to the bare soil and covered it with weed cloth.

Ken has been saving up our nice, dry yard waste (leaves and pine needles, not grass) and mowing over it with his power mower to reduce it to a fine mulch. He brought it over by the wheel-barrow full and we spread it over the weed cloth.

With that section complete, I moved on to the section on the right, digging a deeper trench, cutting out roots, and smoothing the earth. Another application of Preen and it was ready for mulch. We're doing a side by side comparison to see if the weed cloth is appreciably better than Preen and mulch alone for preventing weed and grass growth in the border.

The last two photos show the two beds fully covered with mulch.


Next step: use the stones to shore up the higher portion of the bed, and once the stones are gone, mulch the center section. I'm not going to edge the bed with stones this time - this will be much easier to maintain from year to year.

We like the progress so far!