Pictures Of Lilies

Any fans of the Who from the 1960's out there???

Return To Cadillac

We spent the weekend on the run...his 'n' hers tattoos on Friday, dinner with friends on Friday night. Off to my parents' house on Saturday, to visit with them a little bit. Sunday saw us riding bicycles between thunderstorms. We made a quick trip to Hell, Michigan (kind of a tourist trap-surprise), and to a Polish fest at a church near my folks. The afternoon included an open house for ny niece, after her high school graduation. We then flew (not literally) over to Chelsea's cousin for a evening visit.

This weeks looks like it will be a little slower, which will be kind of nice after the last few busy weeks. I am still not complaining, though. Vacation is great. Hope I can remember how to go back to work after all is said and done...

We Spread The Mulch...

Two and a half yards of it, all around the house, today. Great help from my honey and Alexis-we were working for about six hours at it. The garden beds look much better for the effort. We need to do some more pruning, and there is the mess to dispose of, but things overall look very good.

I am still waiting to get my bike out of the shop for the weekend-it sounds like the nice folks here are going to loan me a spare wheel from one of their bikes until we can get a new wheel ordered and in. I understand that wheels break-maybe extras would be in order. We want to ride to Hell and back this weekend on our bikes. For those readers not familiar with Livingston County, Michigan, Hell is a little village not too far from Pinckney, where my parents live. I started to ride to Hell once, but only made it about 3/4 of the way to Hell and back. Mostly it was because someone apparently forgot to pave the road to Hell sufficently with good intentions.

More ink tomorrow! I am excited to see what ideas this new guy will come up with. He just did my sweetie's new stuff, and he is going to touch up her old stuff tomorrow as well. New ink at last! Of course, considering the red-haired pinup girl on my back, the previous statement seems a little silly. I just like good tattoos.

Busy day tomorrow, then off to my parents' house for the weekend. Open house for my oldest niece on Sunday.

Looks Like It Might Let Loose...

It has been cloudy and humid all day, and it looks as if the change is finally going to come. The radar is showing a nice thick line of weather all lit up in red. It looks as if it is actually becoming more intense as it comes off from Lake Michigan. I want the rain for my newly transplanted daylilies, so I am pretty ok with it.

I am getting comfortable with the pace of vacation, and I have to say that I find it pretty darn nice. It is one of the nice highlights in this summer of disaster. There are apparently new, and depressing develpoments in the ongoing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. That is an area that I have grown to love over the years, and it makes me sad to see the toll that this is taking on the people that live down there.

We have Alexis, my oldest granddaughter, here for a couple of days. I am trying to spend some time with all of the kids while I am here for the summer. We are going to do some exciting gardening and other fun activities tomorrow. I suspect we can find other, more entertaining things to do as well.

Last night, we had a reasonably impromptu beer tasting session in preparation for the selection of wedding beverages. When I watch my honey at work, I see how amazing she is and realize how lucky that I am. She can really put on a party, and it was nice to do some visiting with friends. More will come as the summer progresses.

Dancing, Weddings, and Yard Work

We had an absolute ball at the dance class we took on Friday night. Our instructors were great, and the time seemed to fly by. Best of all, we got better at dancing together.

We got to practice Saturday night at our the wedding of our friends, Andrea and Derick. A wonderful event with a truly beautiful bride and handsome groom. These guys have been together for a while now, and it is wonderful to see how beautifully they support one another through challenges (they have had a few).

Today, we began tackling some of the yard work which has piled up here in our absence. Our crack lawn-mowing expert, Anthony, has been all over that, but the garden beds around the house are in pretty sad shape. We need to remove some plants and move some others. Fortunately. we have LOTS of day lilies and we both like them. There will be some serious transplanting going on...

Two Beautiful Days...

Sunshine and summer temperatures have returned. We rode our bikes for 27 miles yesterday, up and down some rolling hills. I think that we will challenge a little bigger, steeper set of hills tomorrow, weather permitting.

Last night, we attended the section meeting party for the Worker's Compensation section of the State Bar. I got to see and spend time with a lot of old friends and acquaintances. It was great to hear what was going on in their lives and share some of what goes on in ours. Many questions were asked and answered. It made me realize again how lucky I have been to work with such a group of decent, honorable people during my former career. They seemed to be quite taken with Chelsea and very happy to see me happy. Nice. Very, very nice.

Tonight is a three-hour dance class which I think will be fun and helpful. I like to dance, but I am not going to say how wonderful I am at it. I could use some training.

Tomorrow is the first of the three weddings of the summer. Should be fun.

I hear that it sounds like the makings of a good and profitable summer fishing season on the Kuskokwim. Here is hoping for good fishing for all friends and families in Napas. I am looking forward to returning in about six weeks.

I live two very different lives, but I think that is a good thing...

Cloudy Tuesday

It has been overcast a lot around here for the past four or five days. It's kind of weird, but I won't complain, because it makes for good biking weather. I rode a couple of times today, into a pretty stiff easterly wind that we had all day. Good workout.

It is raining tonight, so I am curious to see what tomorrow's weather will bring. I kind of have the bug to ride some more, but riding in a steady downpour is not my idea of terribly safe.

The Worker's Compensation section of the State Bar will be meeting this weekend at the Crystal Mountain Resort up the road from here a bit. As a long time member, I am planning on hitting the cocktail party Thursday night for a little reunion with some of my former colleagues. Friday night we will be taking dance lessons, and Saturday is the wedding of my super stylist, Andrea.

Today was kind of lazy and fun, but things get busier from here...