Let Me Explain

Spring is doing her typical thing – arriving fashionably overly late, then being coy and warm, and then cool and rainy, and then seasonably pleasant but crisp, and then snowing two inches in mid-May, and then blue skies and pleasant again.

That’s right, I said snow in May. And not just a flurry. Last Saturday, while we were attempting to track down our beloved, short-lived fungus, it snowed.two.inches. Since the weather behaved similarly poorly on Sunday, Tony and I opted to treat it like a Monday and took off work yesterday instead and enjoyed an entire sunny day of morel hunting.

Careful What You Wish For

Spring conditions made a brief (and unwanted) visit to northern Michigan over the weekend. Temperatures warmed above freezing (fine), melting some of the snowpack (okay), and dumped quite a bit of rain (gross). Thus, our roads are littered with cavernous potholes and thick, bumpy, slippery ice. Yesterday evening, on our way into TC for a grocery refill, Tony and I ran into our neighbors Gary and Jill (don’t worry; they’re fine). They were out walking in the foggy mess, and Jill mentioned that we had four inches of snow on the way. I was amused because last time I had checked, estimates were only one inch, but so goes snow prediction. I glibly quipped – publicly on Facebook no less – that I would welcome some snow to improve road conditions. Well, be careful what you wish for!

Just Another Lesson Learned

Last night we rang in the new year in what is becoming a traditional way of celebrating, but in a way that was decidedly not revelrous. Jim and Jess joined us for some healthy southwest quinoa chili, we chatted about everything and nothing until it was time for their wee one to hit the hay, and then we watched The Exorcist…after which I promptly went to bed. Take it easy on me, okay? I’m still recovering from the flu.

Baby It’s Cold Outside

The weather behaved a bit atypically on Thanksgiving Day. We enjoyed mid-sixties, albeit with quite a bit of wind – downright balmy by Up North standards. By the end of the day, though, things were cooling off, and the sky was dropping flakes by 9am Friday – about four hours earlier than predicted. Mom and Dad took a break in da U.P. from our renovation while the tile sets, and ended up in a blinding snow for their troubles. They’re back now, and Mom has taken over my kitchen, not following the soup recipe she has pulled up, but making dinner, so I am not complaining one bit.

Cool Winds and Hail Storms: Recipe for Fall Perfection

Today was astonishingly beautiful – one of those dramatic days that seems only to occur in the fall. We awoke to mid-forties and the freshness of a just-passed rainstorm. I grabbed a couple of tomatoes for breakfast, and then we headed to Short’s for lunch (squash bisque, if you’re interested, and perfect for a crisp first day of fall) followed by a drive around Torch Lake.

Red (and beige) barn

breakfast

A pretty good stand-in for British soldier lichen

Sheitlers’ (neighbors) pasture, before lunch

The back pasture again, after our adventure