Photographic frieze

all along our family room and breakfast nook ceiling line we have 16x20 prints of our travels

new handmade tiles. I love irises

This will go over the bedroom door. From Italy

from the Michigander website. Unlike the early years of the ride, most of the trails will be paved

I am looking forward to being along Lake Michigan

Aside from selling his photos to various stock photography businesses, my father would enter various photo contests and usually win. Often these contests were sponsored by Kodak. In the 50s and 60s, camera stores would have friezes of Kodak prize winners along the ceilings. Of maybe 20 photos displayed, there would usually be 2 or three of my father's. A game would be while entering a new store was for me to identify his. Not hard. Also, we'd go to pet stores and find his photos on pet product labels and in toy stores, his photos will have been sold to puzzle manufacturers.

Most of our photos would not be prize winners but they remind us of happy places. And of course, we have plenty of photos of our pretty babies and theirs. I think I will enter Steve's photo of a red bellied woodpecker with its outspread wings to a bird magazine.

What big lesson did I learn from the whole cancer experience? my new friend, who is newly diagnosed with BC, asked the other night at our cooking class. Um..well I know the correct answer is something like not sweating the small things and appreciating every moment because it could be your last but I turned to her and said.

Absolutely nothing other than cancer sucks and is unfair. I have lost friends to it, despite their good attitudes. And I am lucky.

Should I be adopting these recipes I learn about in the class. Yes I should. Not only to prevent cancer but a myriad of other disorders. But there is a big space between awareness and change. At best I've made baby steps, very tiny baby steps.

Aside from this woman who I can become friends with, some others who haven't been there in a while reappeared like the sweet woman who shared some of her flowers with me and offered more. But I will miss next class because I will chillaxin' on a beach in Delaware. Really. And another who had postponed her big anniversary trip because of cancer to Northern California, finally was able to take it and wanted to give me feedback on my suggestions.

Before a trip, especially one that takes a lot of planning (I have lists), I start to get stressed. In 2 days, I will be gone. I will have new glasses and new hair. I made the long ride out to my hairdresser yesterday. As the freeway was blocked by yet another accident, I took the side roads, one of which I biked along years ago. Pretty rolling hills through German settlers' farms. I also have fresh eggs, some which I shared with another friend I stopped by on the way back who was surprised that feathers still clung to some of the shells. Steve is suspicious of anything that doesn't come from a shiny store and of course, I am quite the opposite. I know the chickens that laid them. and for my produce I am growing (way too much squash), I know what has gone on top of them (absolutely nothing).

Today is my oldest child's birthday. Thirty-seven years! It doesn't seem possible. I will take her to a late lunch. It is also my daughter-in-law's birthday and one of the Mom's daughters. Beware the Ides of July!

Below, my beautiful daughter through the ages

Frogs

The frogs are back in my little pond

Shanna's kids in the UP

Maya before swimming

Maya was so thrilled to go over to Tessa's and try on princess costumes

Right before sunset, a strong storm blew through. I was trying to photograph the lightning but kept missing

All day we sweated in our sauna weather. It became wonderfully cool right before the storm but today, back to the sauna. Hope it is cooler on our bike ride.

I was out very early running in the neighborhood before the sun completely came up to bake me yesterday. A woman stopped me to ask for help. She had taken her garbage out and the door locked behind her. Worse, her husband was on a business trip. So I invited her to come to my house to get a locksmith. Not sure why she didn't knock on a neighbor's house instead of stopping a runner but maybe everyone else was gone. I never had seen her before so hopefully it wasn't a ruse to break into a house. There are about 24 houses in our small neighborhood and maybe I could identify half of the people. Not the friendliest group.

According to Zillow, our house has appreciated in value about $1000/month since we moved here. Sooner or later this has to stop. We didn't take our protest of the unfair taxation to the state as they demanded either $200 or $400 to hear our case.

My friend wanted to check out the few businesses that are around here so she came to lunch. She has such a sensitive stomach, it was a challenge to cook something for her. Walking in the heat totally drained her.

Then we had our weekly Maya day made easier by having her play with Tessa. She is a hard one to entertain. She tapped my shoulder in the middle of the night startling me as I was confused to who this small shadowy creature was. In the morning, she follows me around the garden dead heading stuff. She loves to select which cleanser I wash her face with. Do you want to smell like coconut, pomegranate, the sea or flowers? Today, flowers.

I now have beautiful peach colored nails, just what I need to ride 280 miles. And some new tiles courtesy of 'super senior day'.

Now to my cooking class.

Squaghetti

"squaghetti" created by ramming squash though a  spiral shredder. Lots of work

the nose and mouth were used as fodder for the squaghetti. Will slice up patty pans another time

yesterday's visitor

At the Mom's group the other night, one of the mom made several slide shows of her recent adventures. This was from her visit to Detroit which is becoming more and more mural covered

another of her photos

We did our last big ride before next week's long ride in Western Michigan yesterday morning. I fretted because my friend wanted a later start than I am used to. Temperature, traffic and wind all increase with time but fortunately not enough to make the ride unpleasant. We made several stops. Usually I go non-stop but by his late hour, some businesses were open. I think  I am in shape for the ride with much more miles under my belt. Last year I was distracted with dealing with the old house. What a time and happiness suck that was!

Things are growing. Every morning I survey what is new while sipping my coffee. Lots of squash and chard for now. Tomatoes will be ripe when I am gone.

The baby barn swallows are learning to fly and hunt. This will take a couple of days. One of the five is much weaker than the others. They return to the nest at night and the parents still feed them but they are on their own at the end of this week.

Frains Lake

I had taken this photo last fall at ArtPrize. Until today, I didn't know it was made down the street

Blue giraffe being loaded to be shipped to Grand Rapids

some of the many gardens at the Art in the Garden fair today

Threatening sky and hayfields near my house

Tile on barnwood purchased today. Turns out I had stayed at the artist's house years ago

another purchase. Note barn swallow though ours certainly aren't associated with peace and joy

About 5 or 6 artists, all living close by, set up tents displaying their wares

the eponymous lake nearby.  Steve had taken this in the spring and converted it into a canvas. A more recent photo would be filled with waterlilies

There are 5 baby barn swallows clamoring for their parents' attention. I saw the parents chasing a squirrel the other day. I keep my hands in front of my face when I am anywhere near the nest as I get attacked

In our township, there are only two unincorporated communities, with ours being the much smaller one. It once was a town, complete with businesses but now all is left are two one room school houses and a decaying former general store. There is a cemetery near our house and corn and hay fields.

Apparently there is a small artist community too. At a thrift store a few month back, I had bought a watercolor of a house finch. While researching the artist, I was surprised to learn she lived in  Frains Lake, which is very sparsely populated. While I bike, I can see her out gardening her extensive beds. Today as I biked by, there were several tents set up in her yard and a sign Art in the Gardens with customers parked all over the place. I stopped by and met her, a very sweet lady who offered to come to my house and identify some of the plants that I have no idea what they are. She showed me around the place. I didn't mention that I had bought her work (for a dollar or two that she probably spent hours on). She specializes in nature watercolors, particularly of birds. I liked  a lot of her stuff but it was quite pricey. I liked the work in one of the ceramics booths in particular. I had to go home to get my purse to buy a few things. As I was asking the man how to spell his wife's name, he said something about it being an unusual name. I told him I had heard it before and that the woman actually owns a farm nearby on *** road. Well he and his wife own a farm on *** road.

Small world. I had stayed in his house a few times though I hadn't met him or his wife ( I knew the wife's first name). We had a mutual friend who would farm sit for them when they went on vacation and I would help her take care of the animals. A beautiful place. The mutual friend stopped being their friend for an absurd reason 20 years ago and 6 years ago, (on Maya's birthday),she was no longer my friend too. Their studio is just down the street from me with mosaic sculptures in the yard that the husband has made (and I have put on this blog before about weird things around me). When I looked up their studio, I found the blue giraffe that I had photographed in Grand Rapids that he made. When I was at the farm years ago, he was making wind thing-a ma-jigs: moving sculptures. Some were quite creative.

After 3 days of extremely oppressive heat and humidity, rain finally came along with a cold front so now it is nice again. It was still in oppressively hot mode when we had the Moms' group last night  in a house that lacked air conditioning and a reasonable airflow. It had started to pour while she was bbqing our dinner outside (wouldn't want to cook inside as the heat was bad enough) but the fire was hot enough to keep on going though she got wet. We had a nice time just yakking away. I had stuffed my juicy farmer's market peaches with ground almonds, amaretti, and cocoa poaching them in sherry and serving them with sweetened mascarpone. It would have been easier if I had used giant store bought peaches but it would not have tasted as good.

Despite the storm ,which had knocked the power out for my new friend the nature water colorist, it was absolutely clear by the time I drove the long way home. A crescent moon front and center as I headed west ad a sky full of stars. Not much competing light sources where I live now. And the temp had dropped 25 degrees.

Bad dreams

I got this mosaic yesterday. The artist regularly shows in ArtPrize

and this too

yellow shrimp plant

red coreopsis. Also got other variety called tickweed

bee balm always reminds me of roosters

I liked the shadow the early sun made with my Edison light that Josh got me for Xmas

Last night's guest

got more quick sale tuberous begonias for around the pond This year I will save the tubers to replant next year

It is so unbearably hot and humid. And the two days of rain we were to have yesterday and today, did NOT happen though there is a weak promise of some tomorrow. Instead of riding my bike early yesterday, I took my friend, who can't drive, to the Farmer's Market and more treasure hunting at Treasure Mart. It was fun. I got too much stuff, which I spent a few hours planting this morning watering them every few hours so they might survive this blast furnace of a climate we have.  I also bought some early to ripen peaches that are especially juicy, which will be converted into some sort of dessert tomorrow for the Moms. Italian stuffed peaches? Peach compote? Peach pie? I'll think of something.

It was a bit past noon when I was finally able to bike but it was so unbearably hot. My water bottle quickly got hot so it was not much of a relief. Even though I usually go much further, the heat just drained me. I returned to find Maya here wanting to do this and that. No, too hot to go outside until early the next morning.

Today I had lunch outside with a friend. Even though we were in the shade the warm, moist air was suffocating. My grapefruit shandy beer was very tasty though.

I have the usual dreams of forgetting to put on all my clothes and find myself in public hoping not too many people notice my vajayjay hanging out. And I am perpetually in school (this time I will get it right) forgetting to show up to class until it is time for the final.

The other night I had my recurring dream why haven't I had a date in so long? Why doesn't anyone want to date me? In my dream I finally got someone with a name like Mike Smith agree to go out with me. I was so excited and we made specific plans. But he failed to show and I was heart broken and furious. For some reason, a giant cake was next to our meeting place and I carved into the frosting "Mike Smith is a dick".

I woke up all upset that no one wants to date me.

In truth, I never had any problem finding boyfriends. Finding the right boyfriend was another story

The fifth of July

Finally figured out the name of this flower: Maltese cross. Sort of looks like fireworks

As does this.   Hardy hydrangea. My not hardy one is hot pink

Fireworks over my back yard last night though a bad photo. Fireflies were out in full force too

Finally hung up my colorless stained glass. I like it

Baby barn swallows. The parents will dive at our faces if we get anywhere near

Lily and allium from the garden

My first crop of yellow squash which I stir-fried with cilantro (also from garden) and onions for our family dinner yesterday afternoon

Thirty-seven years ago, the fifth of July was the due date for my first baby. It came and went with no baby. We had no air conditioning and I was extremely heat sensitive. Seconds dripped by slowly. Shanna eventually came 10 days later. Do they let women stay pregnant so long these days? The OB we first used with Naomi said she never let anyone go past their due date. well Naomi's due date was based on the sixe of the fetus at 4 months. Could be big for gestational age. We ended up not using the OB and she went into labor before the due date. Julie's baby will be cut out of her a week before the due date.

The Fifth of July was the name of an awful Broadway play we saw years ago. A friend was a fan of the lead, who at the last minute was called away as his wife gave birth to triplets. So the whole reason for seeing the play was down the drain.

After a few days of wonderful weather, it is now hot and humid promising to be even more so for the next few days. I am sweating just typing this.

How did a commode, formerly defined as a fancy set of drawers, come to mean a toilet? Well they stored chamber pots in those drawers to keep them out of the guests' eyes. I told Steve that and now he's afraid that sloshing containers of urine were spilling into the drawers (no water damage!!!). So I have found a very similar commode on line (for25x the cost). It was made in 1890 in France though the marble is from Siena, Italy.. Josh was not impressed as I have too many styles next to each other: Louis XV next to 1970s Danish Modern; artsy table made in the 2000s next to Art Van oak veneer coffee table (that coffee table will go, I never liked it) But his idea of décor is to have a giant spoon and fork mounted to the wall so....

So the whole family minus Maya came for our 4th of July BBQ. I tried to simplify the menu so I wouldn't be cooking instead of interacting with the family. The cousins had fun running around together. Perfect weather. What life is all about. Later a friend came by for drinks, trash TV and the backyard fireworks display.

A good day.

Bombe commode

So this is it, our new mahogany  orange marble topped commode complete with marquetry, and ormolu. I believe it is Italian. It is at least 60 years old though could be as old as 130. Research is in progress. Bombe has an acute accent on the 'e'.

I love the orange marble. So our living room is mainly orange and blue. Really

view of the lake I go by. I had stopped to turn off my flashers as they have limited battery life and the sun was out enough. Still already I notice the days are shorter. I don't leave the house until my solar lights go out. Almost up to 1000 miles this year. My big ride starts in 2 weeks

some weeds can be absolutely beautiful

This is a new 5 mile trail connecting Dexter, where Josh used to live, with a large park north. I walked on it last night with a friend. If I still lived where I did, I would be biking it regularly

I liked how the setting sun made the grass glow. Due to the drought, the river is only half its usual width.

pretty lantern display in a store we were browsing

I had a canvas made of this orchid hanging above where the actual orchids are

Brooklyn Bridge by Alfred Eigenstaedt, the one who photographed the GI returning after WII kissing his girlfriend and the building workers eating their lunch on a girder 80 stories up. Just looking at that photo makes me dizzy

We return from a morning of shopping to find we have no water. WTF! Did this drought (only one hour of rain in the last 3 weeks!!!) finally deplete our aquifer? We called our friendly water systems guy (in charger of softening, rust removal and the reverse osmosis machine). He was fairly sure that this wasn't his area; we would need to call the pump and well people. Would we get anyone on short notice on a holiday weekend? Yes we did. As far as well disasters go, it was the least thing that could have happened; a burnt out switch. Again, too many systems in this house and both of us are too ignorant to handle them.

Just as they were leaving (in their big truck capable of drilling another well if need be), the delivery truck pulled up delivering our bombe chest we purchased hours before. I like it though it is missing a few pieces of marquetry on the very bottom. Steve is having fun researching it.   We haven't found the exact ones yet but very similar ones seem to be worth 10 to 50x as much. Meanwhile I am using it as a sideboard in my dining room. It seems the most common use is to repurpose it as a vanity in very fancy bathrooms.

I've been trying to take care of business. One day, I made doctor, dentist and hair stylist appointments. I also decided my cataracts weren't forming fast enough to abandon my glasses, which are now not the right prescription  and are covered with flaking coating making it hard to see. Usually they try to up-sell me this and that but none of that. Two days later, when I was considering that the price was suspiciously low, I realized they probably weren't giving me the high refractive index lenses.  Given how near-sighted I am, regular optical glass would be as thick as coke bottles and heavy. Seeing my prescription, they should have suggested it. Because of the holiday, work hadn't begun yet but I had to come in yet again. After shelling out more money, I will get what I need and want.

The Ann Arbor Farmers Market is two days a week. On Wednesday, I bought a bunch of flowers, but noticed I was missing some when I got home even though I paid for them. A trip back yesterday. At least the woman remembered me and knew exactly what I was missing: a heliotrope and a dahlia. Alas no dahlias (I do have some growing from tubers but the rabbits keep eating the sprouts). I picked out some cauliflower instead, an advanced vegetable. I think I need to cover up the developing heads so chlorophyll doesn't form. We will see. I planted a bunch of seeds in early spring. So far, only the California poppies have surfaced (and they will reseed themselves. No quinoa, no sweet Williams, no fancy cosmos. I have a few zinnias started from seed heads and my orange cosmos and plenty of cleome that reseeds itself.

It has been so nice for the past few days with highs in the 70s. That will change. Back to the oven in a few days. One night I had Happy Hour with a friend outside without roasting. So nice. Other nights on my porch with my waterfalls and Moscow mules. I do love summer.