There is a reason

I am 78 years old. I love to cook and spend a great deal of time in my kitchen. The addition I am planning will increase my linear counter space from 17.5 feet to 28 feet. That sounds like heaven to me! I went from a 4,000 square foot house on two floors to a 1900 square foot house on THREE floors!

For five years now I have been trying to squeeze 20 pounds of you-know-what into a 10 pound bag, and frankly I'm tired of that. But really, just because I have to go to the garage, the bookcase where I keep my cookbooks, the drawer in my china cabinet and the front hall closet as well as the normal places for ingredients and cooking gear on baking days, there is no need to make this investment. It appears that on the day I turn 80 I am no longer going to have any desire to bake. Or so I have been told by a couple of people recently. So why spend the money on an extension?

I was whining to my daughter about it, justifying it by saying it is my money and I'll do as I please. And then she reminded me of what precipitated this building project in the first place. When I had foot surgery two years ago, I found out just how difficult it was to live on three floors. 

I love where I live, my view of the river will still light up my life even when I am too old to hop in my kayak. But it is unreasonable to believe I will be able to navigate three floors when I am 95 years old. So I came up with the idea of adding on to the house so that I could have a full bath, laundry room and bedroom on the first floor. So that's what I am planning. The architect pointed out that I wouldn't need that floor plan for a few years (hopefully), and so the project became a living room extension, and while they are at it, an extension of the kitchen as well. And there will be an extension of my walkout basement underneath the new addition (all above ground), so that means more space for inventory for my ever growing skin care business. Business has doubled in the past year, and I am really feeling the squeeze in the soap room. I will have a workout area, too. Right now my exercise equipment is being used to hold boxes of jars and paper supplies. There is just no room down there!

Anyway, enough of a long story. The next person who questions why I think I need a bigger kitchen at my age will be told that this is an extension so I can remain in my house when I can't navigate three floors anymore. Spend it on the house now and get some enjoyment out of it -- including a bigger kitchen and a living room extension with a fireplace -- or wait until I can't live here anymore and spend it on assisted living. Easy choice, hey?

My view

T-Cell is in the river at my dock!

Ahoy, Mateys!

We spent Sunday on the river, came ashore for a cookout, then back out for one more ride. We got pretty good at popping the Bimini sun shade up and down. The river is so high that we couldn't get under the bridges with it up.

Then back to the dock and since we were supposed to get rain, we put the cover on for the first time. That is definitely not a one person job! But we got it done. It's all tucked in. The rain didn't happen, but it's good to have it covered at least part of the time.

Sheesh! I'm going to have to get a carpet sweeper to get the flooring clean. Well, it's worth it.

Here are a bunch of pics of our day.

View back towards house

Sarah driving with a little help from her mom

Mike is in this one.

See the babies paddling furiously behind mama?

Val did a great job getting the cover on the back of boat.

Things weren't lining up right - we missed one snap! Oops!

Today we celebrate Lughnasadh and feats of strength ...

There are eight holidays on the Pagan Wheel of the Year. And today we celebrate Lughnasadh, also known as Lammas. It is a celebration of the first harvest. Wheat was the harvest that was highlighted in days of old, and that meant bread and beer! Hurrah!!

Lughnasadh is the only celebration on the Wheel of the Year that hasn't been usurped by the Christian church and other religions. However, after doing a little research, I did found churches in the early 20th century did in fact have celebrations associated with this day. It is considered a "cross-quarter day," one that falls halfway between a solstice and an equinox. Lughnasadh is halfway between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox. Hard to believe, isn't it? Soon we will be at that balancing point, after which fall, early sunsets and then winter are upon us. Wherever does the time go?

So what were the Christians doing with this holiday in the early 1900's? Well, they did a couple of things, one being to climb a hill (notice they didn't say mountain, but I suppose if you had one handy, that would count). The other was to have contests displaying feats of strength. And there was always water involved in the festivities. So who could carry the heaviest pail of water up the hill? Sounds like a plan to me!

We're all set this afternoon. The river provides the water, there is a hill between the river bank and my house, and I'm going to get out my free weights for some feats of strength for the kids.

Well, I have to get back to work. I'm just finishing a lovely pork roast and hoping that someone will bring some buns (bread being so appropriate today). There is always a lovely spread here. We do love to cook - and to eat!

Happy Lughnasadh to you and yours. May life give you many harvests.

Blessed Be.

Happy harvest!

I love living on the river.

This morning I woke up early and was lying in bed enjoying the thought that it is Sunday, a day I try to save as a real day off.

A boat motor reached my ears, and I settled a little snugger into my bed and smiled. I love living here, love the river sounds, and boat motors is one of them. I will go to church, and we have a new members picnic afterwards. Then I'm coming home and getting out the kayak.

The weather is magnificent today, still as a mouse, sun breaking across the expanse of lawns. No fences in this neighborhood, only lovely green lawns right up to the water.

Just flipped on the attic fan to bring in the lovely morning air. I can almost smell the dew!

Life is good.

The view from my deck

Cruising down the river - Part 2

Elena, Catherine and I spent some quality time on the river last week. It is such a joy. We followed our usual route - paddling upriver to the dam, checking out the osprey nest, looking for turtles and birds, and then drifting downriver back to my place. Lovely day!

This post has a lot of pictures so that you can share the journey. Enjoy.

Blue heron

Blue heron - I'm pretty happy with this pic!

Blue heron preening for the camera

Bridge on Capital

Bridge with spun sugar clouds overhead

Catherine

Elena

Neighbor's frontage

Farmer Susie

Catherine

Susie''s feet

Found only one turtle

Osprey nest is empty now

Next year, they will be back!

On the shore - Catherine

Getting ready to head out - Elena and Catherine

My mighty fishing kayak

Peace and calm

Spun sugar clouds

Fairy steps going off the river into the woods

Deck is done, rain gage installed

Yesterday I bought a rain gage. On the farm, it was a big deal. Not so much here, even with the river going over its banks every now and then.

My objective this year (it's about time!) is to get the outside of the place done - finish up some structural things on exterior of house and clean up the yard and gardens. My deck is finally done, table moved back on, cooker cleaned up, tomatoes planted in pots. It's coming along!

We had quite a storm the other day, rain coming down in sheets against the windows. I realized I had no idea how much rain I had gotten when the storm was over. On the farm I kept copious records of rain, every rainfall recorded over nearly ten years. I kept a running total to record percentage difference in rainfall from year to year.

It was time to buy a rain gage! After finding an appropriate spot and searching all over for my drill so I could install it, I was ready for last night's rainfall. I got 1-5/8" here yesterday. And it is duly recorded in the new rain record sheet titled "Rainfall - Mishawaka."

I also invested in a new hedge trimmer, with a lithium battery. (I have cut through my last extension cord!) So yesterday the bushes were finally trimmed, and the front of the house looks much neater. I'll work on the yard down towards the river when the rain finally quits.  Lots of stuff around here needs a haircut!

Here are some pics of what is going on around here right now. The last pic shows my favorite tomatoes, Moldovan Green. They are grown from seeds from the farm. :)

Rain gage is on rail to left of lounge.

Bushes trimmed on front of house

Cooker is ready to go!

Table is back in service

Moldovan Green tomatoes - a little behind, but I'll have tomatoes soon!

What is Litha? What is Midsummer and why is it at the BEGINNING of summer?

This Sunday, we will celebrate Litha here at my place on the river. It is the celebration of summer, the longest day of the year. The rule of the Sun God is handed off to the Holly King on Monday, and we will celebrate the Sun's last hurrah Sunday evening.

So why is it not only called Litha, but also Midsummer, when it is only the first day of summer? Pagans of old considered summer to start with Beltane, May 1, when you planted your gardens and fields, and just a couple months later, the first harvest is upon us on Lughnasadh, August 1. Voila! Litha, on or about June 21 each year, was the middle of the summer by their accounting. I'll go with it.

The focus in any Litha ritual is on celebrating the power of the sun. Our ritual will include harnessing that power in an amulet to keep with us as the Sun wanes throughout the rest of the year, until Yule, when the Holly King bids us a fond adieu and the Sun God returns.

Christina and Bill have put together a beautiful and kid friendly ritual, which will take place on the river at my house on Sunday. We will start with a potluck at 4:00 pm, then proceed to the river for the ritual. The fire is already laid, and it will be quite grand! We will conclude the evening with marshmallows, of course! It's a kid friendly night from start to finish. Big kids, too! (Bring your fishing poles if you like. No license? I can get one for you on line. Seniors fish for free.)

My address and phone can be had by messaging me on Facebook. If you found this blog through Facebook, you already know how to reach me. If you didn't, then you can always get more information through comments to this page.

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge

Cruising down the river on a Sunday afternoon . . .

I learned to play that song by ear on the piano when I was only eight years old.  I loved it, in part because I always loved the water whether it was the mighty Illinois river 10 miles from our farm, or the lakes in Wisconsin where we rented housekeeping cottages for our annual vacations. Listen to it here. Somewhere in the piles of old sheet music around here I might find this very piece.  I'm pretty sure I had it once, since the cover looks very familiar to me.

Today, Catherine, Elena and I cruised down the river - well, actually UP the river, to the dam at Capital.  We spent a couple of hours paddling around in our kayaks, saw osprey, Canada geese, a couple of Mallards, and a pair of swans.  When a boater disturbed the swans, they took off and flew almost directly over my head! They are magnificent and very, VERY large! Oh, and we saw a blue heron, well, two actually, but they were not together. We parked along the shore near the osprey nest that city workers built a platform for when they were doing some work that disturbed their old nest (yes, they built a nest on the platform!). We hoped to see the adults feeding the young, but while we saw the mother perched on the edge of the nest, we didn't see more than that.

Finally we let the current take us back to my beach.  Then we had ribs from the grill and decided we are going to do this again very soon.

Hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend, and if you get the chance, cruise down the river!

Decisions, decisions . . .

I have been a staunch supporter of Purple Porch since its inception and am a stockholder there. I have also supported them by being a producer at their Wednesday evening farmers market.

When I was on the farm, I had plenty of products to offer. There were organic garden produce, greenhouse plants in the spring, fruit, baked goods made with organic ingredients and items from my line of skin care products from Ceres & Co. (click this link to get to my website, or come on down to the South Bend Farmers Market, 1105 Northside Blvd., South Bend, IN.).

Then I sold the farm. No more plants, no more garden produce, no more sour cherries - the list got much shorter. People come to the Wednesday evening market at the Porch mainly for produce, which I no longer had. But I still had a pretty good following for my baked goods. Adding my line of soaked and dried nuts as well as my Trail Mix, all organic ingredients, made it worth my while to show up most weeks, and I like the community of the producers and customers.

As I wrote recently in this blog Passionate Phoenix can feel it coming on. I am ready to make some changes in my life. For me, anyway, change is the spice of life. But if something new is coming, then I acknowledge that something else has to go. I want time to hit the river in my kayak, throw a line in the water, tend my gardens. No more 12 hour days!

Last night was my last night to bring product to Purple Porch. It was the "something" that had to go. I have mixed emotions about it. I reminded my customers that I am still at the Farmers Market, at least for the time being, and they can always call for special orders.

Au revoir, Purple Porch. I will still be there for your excellent salad and soup bar. I'll stop by on Wednesday evenings to shop, but I won't be behind a table selling my wares anymore. It is bittersweet, but while I am floating on the river from the dam back home, it is a decision I will not be regretting.

Where I want to be

Sharing with the goslings