Midnight Maven

Ah, yes – summer is here in all its drippy finery.  High temps and humidity – a little rain, a little thunder, a little cool breeze – and then when it seems safe to turn the AC off, it’s back to the steam bath again.  Who said I wouldn’t move even further north?

It’s hamburger Tuesday again, and off we go to our little neighborhood cafe to give them some economic support, as usual.  We’ll be joined by Mike and Tracy, who is fresh from a major dentist visit, and Bonnie, wheelchair yet in place, and Janice, a long-time friend from Chicago, who is visiting various bits of her family, as well as Bonnie and the rest of us at the Ridge.  The two of them have been out gallivanting around the area all day – we’ll soon see what devilment THEY have uncovered.

Janice and Bonnie are music and choral confreres from high-school days, and she and I talk fiber and needles as well, all of us being fellow ravelry-members.  Too few hours for all conversations that are enhanced by Three-Buck-Chuck!!

More thunder sounds without……

The sticky days are slowing down any progress on FLS, and it won’t be finished for Bonnie to take with her.  But it does fit, as we’ve found, and now to do the sleeves and find specially appropriate buttons.

The Visit has been all too short, as perforce they must be.  Many small adventures……..a fun 2-day watercolor workshop with Donna in Grand Rapids, communion twice last Sunday – at my Zion Lutheran, to say thank you to all for Bonnie-prayers these last months, and at Christ Episcopal in Grand Rapids, to witness the lengthy ordination of 5 deacons, among them a friend Paula, who has guided other Bonnie-prayer circles.  Bonnie’s excellent Cambodian dinner, beef and tomatoes and onions on lettuce, Lok Lak, prepared for my birthday.  Who will forget Bob’s decadent death-by-chocolate cake for the same celebration?   Bonnie’s mine explorations with Mike and Tracy, chronicled elsewhere.  Late nights watching “Law and Order” and “The Closer” – she’s become addicted!  A visit or two with Lilly……who is beginning to develop a variety of different expressions when a camera shows up.

.What?   A Picture of me?

She’s almost 5 months old, and already a much-loved armful.

Never enough time to do all the things Bonnie and I would like to do when we are together.  She’s such a blog wizard, and in between posting to her own, doing maintenance to the dozens of blogs she maintains for others, helping me create a new one and understand it!  -  she’s preparing her class materials for the summer session at Middlebury, and crocheting again, and enjoying it as much as ever.  A few scarves have spun from her hook – she’s so fast.  Would that I could knit as fast as she crochets.

Hopefully the Cubs will start a new winning series in Detroit tonight – at least it’s on TV so I can peek at it once in a while.

The sun is out again, and with it the humidity.  An interesting weather day.  But = = = = = = it could be snow!!

….You ask what kind of action two hot Chicago gals can find on a summer Friday night in northern Minnesota?

Get lost, you broads

Where’s the sun?? Indeed – frost warnings and cold, cold winds the first week of June. There were whitecaps on that calm little lake yesterday! The orange fence still protects the asparagus, of which there has been precious little so far.

Tomorrow I’ll go down to the Cities and the airport to fetch Bonnie from the sort-of south of France, where I’m sure it’s much warmer than northern Minnesota. She has no winter clothes so I’ll grab a coat and hat and mittens for her. Still in her wheelchair, but determined to get out of it as soon as possible. That means constant exercising and massaging to coax the muscles and nerves and everything that works to support the leg to heal and grown strong. And if we can rent some sunshine, that won’t hurt either.

DH is bemoaning the low temps, because he continues to cover things he’s planted. It IS after Memorial Day, after all. Tulips came and went one warm day in May. Lilacs aren’t sure what to do – open and greet the sun, or fold up until the right season arrives. I can remember walking home from school in Chicago down the alleys, knowing all the houses that had huge lilac bushes hanging over the back fence. I’d jump up and down, catching the branches, and fill my arms with great bunches of them, and then catch holy bejesus from my mom when I got home! The jonquils this year, those brave enough to appear, were sparse and short-lived. I love the cold weather, of course, but I know I’ll be the first to complain when I don’t have plenty of juicy tomatoes in August!!

Found a friendly and homey LYS in Hinckley – Mother of All Fibers. There will be a fiber fair there the first week of October – just saying.

Seriously trying to divest The Ridge of a box or two of “stuff” each day or so. Triage – to Good Will, the antique mall space to sell, or mark for some unsuspecting young descendant…only the very rare item gets to hang around. Of course that would be needles, comfy chairs, stash, soft pillows, knitting books and mags, chocolate, loose tea, British mysteries, flat-screen monitors, wine, hummingbird food, warm socks, frozen shrimp, cable TV for Cubs and Bears games and PBS and Law and Order:Criminal Intent (ah, Vincent) – – and suchlike.

Off to some Vietnamese soup in the Cities. And maybe even a hamburger at Culver’s or Five Guys!!