7/03/08 NO FISH, PLENTY MARSHMALLOWS

Thursday, 7:00 AM. 49 degrees, wind NW, calm. The channel is glassy. The skies are blue, and the barometer predicts sunny weather. It is a fabulous morning.
Eva, Nick, Katie and I went fishing at the Washburn marina yesterday morning. We got minnows and a lot of advice at The Outdoor Allure sports shop south of town, but we didn’t get a bite. It was very windy and there were a lot of tangled lines.
Yesterday evening we all roasted marshmallows over a smoky fire and that and pizza sort of made up for the lack of fish at dinner.
There is a lot of activity in the wren house, and I think the rest of the brood will fledge today.
This evening is the first of the summer “Mostly Schubert” concerts at Christ Church, and I have to usher. The performance will be by The Sonora Reed Trio; oboe, clarinet and bassoon. Nick likes classical music and is learning to play the clarinet, so it should be interesting for him.
St. Johnswort, Hypericum kalmianum, is in bloom along the roadsides. It is a pretty yellow-flowered plant, but not of garden substance in my opinion. It is a medicinal herb noted for its calming properties. I have never used it. Might help.

7/02/08 DINNERS, BOOMERS AND BEARS

Wednesday, 7:00 AM. 58 degrees, wind NW, moderate with stronger gusts. The channel is choppy. The barometer predicts rain, and we got one-half inch last night. Skies are blue with a lot of haze.
Daughter Eva took all of us out to dinner at the Old Ritttenhouse Inn yesterday evening, as a belated 40th wedding anniversary present for Joan and me. It was a wonderful occasion. Son-in law Doug in Denver had to stay working this summer but he insisted Eva do this for all of us, and we thank him as well, as it must have been expensive for six adults and two children. The food was excellent and the ambiance as well.
The storm last night around midnight was a real rafter-shaker, enough so that we got up and closed windows and comforted dogs. The kids slept right through it. It is a fresh, ozone-filled morning, and actually chilly on the porch. We will try to take the kids fishing today at the Washburn marina, where the perch fishing can be good if the currents bring them in. The lake is too rough today to go out in the boat.
Nick and Katie said they saw a bear cub while out playing at dusk last night. I don’t know if they did or not, as their descriptions were a bit suspect, but we won’t discourage their imaginations. We did sent lucky out to be a guard dog, to make them feel safe.
The roses have begun to bloom in earnest in the yard, and the wild roses in the fields and roadsides. Other roadside wildflowers (not all of them native) are blooming now, including the blue American vetch (Vicea Americana), white daisies (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum) and the ubiquitous, circumpolar pink beach pea (Lathyrus japonica), all very pretty.

7/01/08 ADVENTURES GOOD AND BAD

Tuesday, 6:30 AM. 59 degrees, wind NW, calm to light. The channel is lightly crawling. The skies are blue with considerable haze and the barometer predicts rain.
Our guests had a good kayaking experience, except that the suggested wet suits were too warm, even on the water. Uncomfortable or not, they are a safety necessity as the lake water is unpredictable and usually is around 50 degrees. Hypothermia is the leading cause of death on Lake Superior. They paddled from 1:30 to 4:30 and were plenty tired and sunburned when they got home. They toured an old shipwreck, the Fedora, just offshore up on the Rez. I know where it is and how to get there on shore, and got a photo of them visiting it.
Gereta’s dogs got into the grill on the back porch and ate the contents of the grease pan and one got sick in its crate from the experience during the night, so we have already had a busy morning. Four dogs is a lot of dogs.

6/30/08 WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST?

Monday, 7:45 AM. 57 degrees, wind NW, calm to light. The channel is calm, the sky is blue and the barometer predicts sunny skies.
No one else is up and about and after I have my coffee I will start getting some breakfast out. I have already cooked up some sausage on the grill. The young crowd stayed up late talking and I hung in there, but on the periphery, or actually, on the porch. I had the distinct feeling that I was at least a generation apart, as they talked about technical and social issues concerning which I have little experience and less interest. Probably time to pass the baton. It’s rather like when my folks used to talk about life on the farm; which I found mildly interesting but pretty irrelevant. What goes around comes around, as they say.
The coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria) are blooming along the roadsides…great wild flowers and very adaptable to the garden.
The Longs (Serril, Loyce and our daughter-in-law Leslie) are going kayaking this afternoon and should have good weather and a good time.
Oops! Ronnie, the little Jack Russell terrier, just got up on the kitchen table and gobbled the sausage. We have been eating too much meat anyway. He looks like an anaconda that just swallowed a goat. He probably shouldn’t be fed for a couple of days, and kept outside.

6/29/09 TRADITION, TRADITION!

Sunday, 6:50 AM. 52 degrees, wind NW, moderate with gusts, the channel is wrinkled. The skies are mostly cloudy, and we got one-eighth of an inch of rain last evening. The barometer predicts sunny weather, and this will probably blow out soon. Everyone arrived in time and good spirits by dinner yesterday. The church is decorated with garden flowers, and daughter Eva and Godparent Graham have practiced their songs for the service. Everyone is due for breakfast at 8:00 and at church before 10:00 AM. It promises to be a fine affair.
Later: all went well, it was a beautiful traditional service, with lunch at the parish house afterwards. Most of our guests took the ferry to Madeline Island for the afternoon, and we will have dinner about six. If nothing else, everyone will be well fed and watered during their stay. I am cooking beef tenderloins on the grill, and Joan is working on three-bean salad and potato salad. Andy and Judy are joining us for dinner. The kids will get to roast marshmallows after dinner. I like mine a little crispy but not charred.

6/28/08 FLOWERS AND KENNELS

Saturday, 7:30 AM. 56 degrees, wind NW, moderate with stronger gusts. The channel is crawling. The skies are partly cloudy, and the barometer predicts rain. We had a strong shower yesterday evening that brought three-quarters of an inch of welcome rain.
Sailboat race week starts today, and unless the weather turns severe it should be perfect for sailing.
I met Barb Spencer walking her dog this morning and she had what looked like wild carrot, or Queen Ann’s lace, Daucus carrota, in her hand. I told her she should be careful with anything that looked like carrot, as many plants in the carrot (Umbelliferae) family are poisonous, either if touched or ingested. I didn’t look closely at it, but when I got home she phoned and said she looked in her wild flower book and thought it was poison hemlock (the “hemlock” that killed Socrates). I will look at it where it is growing on 8th street, and if it is that, I will have it sprayed.
The American smokebush, Cotinus coggygria, is in bloom in the yard, it has very delicate panicles of red-yellow flowers, which when gone to seed are masses of smoky-gray seeds, quite attractive. It has nice fall color as well and can be an effective background shrub in the landscape.
The Longs, the baby’s other grandparents, and the House’s, the Godparents, arrive today so we are all scurrying about, getting ready for more company and for tomorrow. My job is to do the floral arrangements for church, and otherwise as I am told, or at least to keep out from underfoot, along with the dogs. If I do not behave I may have to be put in my kennel.

6/27/ FAMILIES

Friday, 9:30 AM. 67 degrees, wind W, calm, cannel calm. Skies are partly cloudy, and the barometer predicts rain.
Dutch, Leslie and baby arrived yesterday from Texas, and we are all involved with family activities.
The birdhouse on the porch housing the wren family has been chaotic, several fledglings out of the next and flitting about, but evidently more are still in the nest, as the parents are still bringing bugs. We all watched two nestlings “earn their wings” yesterday afternoon. They were very tentative, jumping in and out of the nest many times before actually flying unsurely about the porch and environs. I can empathize with the parent birds, as I am spending a great deal of time feeding our own offspring, all together in the nest again.