All right. It's been 3 months since my last post. I've decided to blame this fact on everyone and everything but myself. That's the American Way...
Chapter 1: Trusted Relatives Steal Entire Summer Month!
I don't know how it happened. One day we were celebrating Mother's Day, the next thing we knew it was July 4th! I'm afraid we're going to have to accept the unbelievable fact that friends and family we thought were trustworthy have made off with a third of the summer. And that's not all that's missing--I don't have a single picture of these happy gatherings!! Where the hell did those go???
All right. I know the answer to that one--I accidentally erased EVERY picture I had stored on my camera's memory card, taken during SIX wonderful visits from family and friends that occurred, mostly during June, to celebrate Mom's 80th birthday. I can't believe I did that. No pictures of Michael taking us to the Rail Trail Cafe for Mother's day. No shots of Bob and Mary Clark (Norma's son and his wife) spending a weekend with us. Nothing of the following weekend, when Lorrie and Greg were joined by Amy, Patrick and tiny little dog Mamba to celebrate the big occasion. And not one shot of the Great Interstate Cousins' Club Meeting! I can't believe I lost those. I had a great picture of our little living room reaching maximum capacity when Aunt Nancy, Cousins Barb, Jean, Melissa and Pam (also Lily and Sheridan, Melissa and Pam's girls) all made it up for a long weekend of partying. I had pictures of Pam forcing me to walk uphill, which she does every time we get together (it's the only exercise I ever get). I even had a picture of Nancy taking a picture of me taking a picture of her. (Come to think of it, I have a similar shot of Melissa and I photographing each other at the airport the day we left for Sweden. Must be an Olufs thing.) And I have no pictures of Jeanni and Chris Bonine (Norma's granddaughter and husband) or Erica Mennerick (another of Norma's granddaughters who've adopted Mom) bringing the babies up to celebrate Great Grandma's 80th.
So, there is conveniently (for them) NO evidence whatsoever that these people were ever here stealing our gardening time. I guess we'll have to forget prosecuting anyone and just be really happy they were here with us for the big event. It was outrageous fun, and what we do have is a month's worth of wonderful memories to keep. Thanks to everyone who made the trip up here, during what I know was a busy time for them, too.
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| The only image from June that survived my accidental camera purge. I shot it (in July) to show Aunt Nancy where we planted the birthday rose bush she gave to Mom. It's beside the little bench we put next to the clothes line, where Mom likes to sit and watch nature during summer chore time. |
Between the tortuously long winter and the month-long celebrations, we didn't get the garden in until really late this year. It's going great, though!! Nights are getting chilly already, though, and there have already been a couple of frost warnings for areas of the Northwoods that are near enough to make us nervous.
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| HELP!!!! They're heading for the house!!! Run, Mom, run--you can't keep them at bay much longer!!! Two types of squash and a half-dozen varieties of tomato head for Janette's house. |
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| We had all these old tires around the barnyard and no time to put in another raised bed, so we decided to try raising potatoes this year, using the Old Tire Method. As the plants grow, we add another tire and some peat moss. We're up to 4 tires high already. Hopefully, there are potatoes in there somewhere. In the background are peppers and our broccoli, which we had to cage up to protect them from rabbits, which outnumber Ogemites by 6 to 1. |
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| One of only two little melons that have made it so far. Hope they make it to maturity. |
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| Another experiment for this year--ground cherries. The little lantern-shaped cover peels off and there's a pale orange berry inside that tastes weirdly like a cross between strawberries and tomatoes. I've tasted quite a few and still can't decide if I like them or not. I have a recipe for ground cherry coffeecake, though, that sounds good. We shall see. |
OK, I'm going to have to stop here. It's after 6 PM and the other 8 people in Ogema who have internet access must be online--pictures are loading reeeeeeaaaalllllyyy slowly. I'll get to Chapter 3 in the next couple of days. No, really....
