Summer has almost come to an end here in Northern Michigan. I've been ignoring the signs for at least a month-- the reddish blush to the tips of the maple leaves, chestnuts and acorns falling, and the days getting noticeably shorter. There is a golden mellowness to the late summer here-- a brief rest before the shocking and gaudy color-fest that is October.
Its been a good summer--all in all. One out of the 4 of us has been very happy in our snug little Charlevoix cabin (me). The other 3 feel it is a bit too snug and one of those is beginning to move out for the college semester... I am a little concerned about how this very old log cabin will heat, but there's nothing to do but go forth and see :-)
~Options Abound.~
As the rest of the country certainly knows the combined drought and lack of pollination of our fruit and vegetable crops up here will most certainly result in much higher prices on pickles, apple and cherry products, pears, and corn. Because of this--and seeing first hand the meager pickings at the markets-- the Husband and I have been canning away like fiends--freezing too. So far we have about a dozen gallon bags of fresh frozen corn, 20 quarts of assorted pickles, a dozen or so pints of raspberry and strawberry jams and several bottles of freshly infused basil olive oil , as well as 6 pints of lime/cilantro salsa from the few fresh tomatos I was able to acquire. In a perfect world there will be another dozen bags of corn frozen and 6 pints of peach preserves done, but not sure if that is going to happen!
Business-wise the concern of having to move the Northern Visions Art Alcove to another location seems to have rectified itself for the time being. Business in the host building did better than expected this summer so the panic of 'do we stay or do we go' is on hold for the season. I'm very pleased with this and have spent the summer supplementing the art with some great accessories and home decor items.I think The Art Alcove looks great right now!
Jack and I were able to squeeze in a day trip to my beloved Mackinac Island a couple of weeks ago and had the nicest day hiking, visiting, and soaking up the fresh Mackinaw Straights breezes. This is one of my most favorite places and I remain forever grateful that it is right in my backyard!
And yes-- that is one BIG tree! (that's me there, for those of you reading this who have never met me)
Jack and I found this beautiful Lady outside of Charlevoix while enjoying a back-roads drive. I was so impressed with her that I contacted the Big Tree Registry. A very nice man named Andrew saw the picture and was as impressed as I. He and his lovely wife Nita drove up the next week to measure our beautiful lady. As it would turn out this is an Eastern Cottonwood with a circumference of just shy of 28 FEET! I honestly cannot remember how tall she is. This beautiful tree s the new State Champ in Michigan for her species. If she out-lives her sister in Kansas then she will be the National Champ. How cool is that?
Of course, the summer also held a few days at the beach, lots of walks with Megan-the-Wonder-Lab, ice cream, and sunsets. These are all part of Summer In Northern Michigan-- its why we're here :-)
1 comment:
That's really cool!
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