Wellington is dead, long live Wellington Garden

When we bought this place, the well head was covered by a faux wishing well that had seen better days (pictured here in 2007). The kids named it "Wellington." When they would play frisbee or catch in the yard, a stray projectile headed for the wishing well would elicit a loud "WELLINGTONNN" from the participants. After several attempts to improve its appearance with paint and plantings,  I asked Ken to remove it. In its place, I created a garden space, with the idea of planting sufficient perennials to conceal (while allow access to) the equipment. 

Last fall, I purchased and planted three daylilies (from that cool place near Petoskey) with the intent to transplant other perennials - mostly hosta and other varieties of daylily, onto the plot.



Today, I put in the ground all the hostas and Siberian Iris from Dewitt and some daylilies, peonies, and Blue False Indigo transplanted from the garden in front of the garage. I did this in about 3 hours, in a bit of a hurry, actually, because rain and thunderstorms were predicted for most of the day. The rain came, but not the thunderstorms (at least not yet), so everything got a good watering and should settle in nicely.

Goldeneye Ducks - Another Common Migrant Makes an Appearance

Goldeneye pair, photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

We saw a flock of 15-20 of these (Goldeneye Duck) floating and feeding in the lake out in front of the cottage today. It's hard to tell exactly how many, because they are divers, but Ken says, definitively, there were 16. They are migrants, so we won't see them for much longer. I think the cooler spring has kept the migrants around longer than usual - I hadn't seen these or the Buffleheads we saw the other day in any other cottage year.

Bufflehead pair

Tribe Jonna Puts in the Dock

The girls rocked the dock!

Tribe Jonna drove up Friday May 3 to enjoy the cottage with us and help put in the dock for the 2013 season (our 7th). We've decided to declare the "put in" weekend as the first weekend in May each year, and just see who shows up, rather than trying to schedule around busy calendars.

The weekend started at the Lodge, where Ken and I received enthusiastic greetings from Wally, Paula, and Ross. Ross proudly showed off the Eagle's Nest's new menu, and we enjoyed a platter of the smoked pork ribs.

The girls texted us when they got off the highway, and we met them at the Duck. Shaina favored us with her rendition of Pat Benatar's "We Belong" while we enjoyed the year's first Dirty Duck pizza. And speaking of dirty, the look she is giving me is for reneging on my promise not to film her while she sang. The video is available for viewing on request. Jonna's comment to Shaina when she protested about the video-taping:

"You've been here before, you know how this goes."

Meaning, I take it, Mom is not to be trusted where cameras and karaoke are concerned. So true.

The weather cooperated beautifully for the dock-in weekend. Before the work started on Saturday, the girls did some relaxing, first in the cottage over cups of coffee, and then on the lawn outside.

Time to suit up!

Jonna elected to be the second man in the water. Her donning of the waders is always a high point in the day. As funny as she looks standing still in those over-sized waders, the on-land walking is even funnier.

Ken looks like he is throwing his hands up in despair, but I'm sure he's actually giving concise and useful instructions to Shaina and Melissa. As he says each time, once the first section is in it gets easier, and that proved to be true this year as well. Three to load each section onto the cart, two in the water, done in no time.

Saturday afternoon we went up to the Lodge for hors d'oeuvres and drinks, and watched the Tigers trounce the Astros. Final score was 17-2.

No Sunday brunch at the Lodge yet, so the girls had time to relax and enjoy the place before they took off around 1:30 p.m.

It sure got quiet after that. We missed them right away. Thank you girls!!!

SUVs with Spartan Plates Take Over Parking Lot

Ron's grey SUV

Another guy's grey SUV 

Yet another guy's grey SUV

We had a good laugh in the Funistrata parking lot when we noticed the license plates of the only other two cars there. The owners of the Lincoln were sitting inside it when I took this photo and wondered just exactly what I was doing until they got out and noticed the other two plates.

The Stocks, waiting for steak and pasta

The Faulds, waiting for pasta and steak

Beach Combing on a Sunny, Cold Day

A cold wind off the lake and wind chills in the mid 30s did not deter me from beach combing for special stones on this sunny up north day.

However, I did not linger on the beach once my pockets were full.

Jane ventured farther down the beach in search of Petoskey stones, and was rewarded with a couple of good finds.

Chef Ronaldo's Special of the Day

Ken assisted Chef Ronaldo in the preparation of today's breakfast. Well, he made the toast, anyway.

Ron used all our leftovers to create his chef's special breakfast. Mushrooms, green pepper, and cheese omelets; a little dab of steak, mashed potatoes, and fried potatoes on the side, all accompanied with bacon and Ken's special buttered toast and washed down with hot coffee.

Trip to Bountiful....Bloody Marys

The "Knot Just a Bar" bar/restaurant in Omena was my choice for today's excursion. The food was good, but the Bloody Mary (with a little beer chaser) was the attraction. They make their own jalapeno vodka.

Lunch:
Karen - Perch Kone (big paper cone full of fries and perch)
Ken - 'Strami Sammy
Ron - Slider Sampler
Jane - Chicken pot pie

It was sunny in the back seat of Ron's car on the way home, the perfect place to enjoy my well-earned food coma.

LeBear II

We're back at LeBear in Glen Arbor for a second visit. This is thanks to Ron and Jane Faulds, who invited us to share the accommodations this week. They traded a week of their Nuevo Vallarte timeshare for a stay here.

Ken drove over from the cottage Saturday in time to play a round of golf with Ron and Tom Sterling; I arrived on Tuesday after my haircut. The weather was beautiful yesterday, still beautiful today but a bit cooler after a weather front moved through this morning. Ken was sitting outside as the wind picked up and the temperature dropped.

Jane and I are going for a walk on the beach.

Lime & the Coconut

Love Pina Coladas, but avoid them because of the calorie count? Relax, it's a Lime & the Coconut (with apologies to Harry Nilsson).

A zero calorie pineapple coconut "Ice" beverage over Malibu Black. Lime. Done.

To go even lighter, use regular Malibu (about 17% alcohol) instead of Malibu Black (35% alcohol).

The great thing about highball type drinks is you can top off with the non-alcoholic mixer and no one will know you are being responsible.

Call me in the morning.

Rhubarb Cranberry Twist

The search for the perfect summer beverage is under way, even though the cottage is not yet open.

Today's offering: Seagram's Lime Twisted Gin (available everywhere and a bargain at $9.99), Dry Rhubarb Soda (available at Cravings Gourmet Popcorn in Old Town, Lansing), a generous splash of Ocean Spray Cranberry juice, and a lemon wedge.

Test results: A dry, lightly fruity yet sophisticated taste. If you like gin & tonic, you'll like this--even if you usually drink vodka and aren't a fan of gin. I'm sure it would be equally delightful with a lime wedge, and/or a splash of Rose's Lime Juice. Had the same drink sans cranberry juice yesterday, and judged it dee-lightful.

OMG what about a basil leaf!!!! That's gonna happen.

Chicks and Pups at Mehaffeys'

As a surprise gift--just because--Shaina arranged for a full-on senior pictures photo-shoot for Jonna, who never had one when she was in high school. Our talented friend Carin Cryderman was the photographer, and I was the location scout. Mehaffey Studio was the location. Good call!

Mark and Rosie were beyond-great hosts. Allowed the girls the run of the studio and yard, and more than that, prepared us a delicious luncheon, served in the studio.

We got to meet Mark & Rosie's new cream-colored standard poodle pup Quin, and their adult dog (also a standard), Keshi. They are truly wonderful dogs. The girls fell in love immediately.

Melissa and I spent much of the time in the living room with Mark and Rosie and the dogs. Such great conversation; just an all-round great vibe.

And speaking of love, here are a couple of my favorite shots of Jonna from the photo shoot.

Visiting Sue and Steve (aka Scooter and Big Nurse)

We had a great visit with Sue (Scooter) and Steve (Big Nurse). Steve has been primary caregiver for Sue while she has been laid up from surgery on her heel. We drove up on a sunny day after two attempted visits were foiled by winter weather.

Sue demonstrates her fine kneeling-scooter form. Her cast is off, and she's been recently promoted from scooter to crutches.

We stopped at Horrock's on the way for the fixings for Dagwood sandwiches (what we call it when you pile up everything you can think of on a sandwich and make it almost too thick to bite).

The lake was frozen quite a ways out. In the picture, notice the open water beyond the large ridge. It is a beautiful winter-scape. Living on a lake presents one with new views moment by moment.

After lunch we lounged around on the new sofas and did some speed-catching-up. (Sue was more interested in what we had to say than this picture might lead you to believe. Looks like Ken was thinking of the next important thing he had to say.) Note the new sofas. Very comfy.



The sun came out and shone on the ice and the lake. Lovely.



And, as I acted quickly and didn't give folks time enough to refuse, I got this really nice shot of Ken with Sue and Steve.


Beautiful tulips on the dining room table, drooping gracefully.

Self-portrait with good buddy.

Our exquisite artisan Valentine's chocolates from Patricia's Chocolate in Grand Haven. Thank you Sue and Steve, see you soon! (p.s. they were delicious and completely gone that same evening)