...and other explanations from the last three month end video compilations that I finally put together. And I can use that title because almost the entire fall felt like summer.
"...last seen near Lake Michigan."
First I'll post the three month ends (August, September, October) and then I'll do a short write up of what's going on that isn't super obvious.
August went pretty much according to, well, norm. It was too hot, but the flowers were beautiful, the bees, birds and butterflies were busy. The cats slept most of the time. We hosted a few August fogs. And did I mention how hot it was?
Tim took me to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for my birthday. For three days I wore a sweatshirt, sat on the beach, did some hiking, went to
Kitch-iti-kipi (the brilliant green looking water that is actually crystal clear and the video clip is looking 40' deep. It's definitely worth the trip, Kitch-iti-kipi and the whole UP.
Chocula Chip went along and I made him a lifejacket so he could go paddling in Lake Michigan with me, Bea and Tim. My sweet little kayak was extremely happy to get to go on a vacation as well.
September...was even hotter than August. I was miserable, the sheep were miserable, the horses were miserable, but the flowers were outstanding. At one point I had 20 blooms starting on the night blooming cereus. Crazy!
As the month drug on, crazy began to take on a more personal grip. As Tim was preparing to go back north for his birthday, I jokingly said I would go up the week before and he said "Do it!" So I did.
The day I left was crazy because we had already planned to do a summer barn clean out because we had a small window of a cool-ish morning to keep the sheep locked out. We started the night before and finished up around noon on Friday and Bea and I jumped into the car and headed 10 hours north.
I was actually pretty excited about seeing the
Mackinac Bridge at night and it did not disappoint. After I turned, the clouds parted and the moon shone bright over the big lake as I headed west and I wish I'd thought to turn off the car so the brake lights didn't shine red in the picture I snapped from the side of the highway.
The next morning I went to
The North American Hill Sheep Show and had such a good time watching the sheep shows, listening to the judges, attended a British wool lecture, made some fun friends at the tea, stopped by the book club meeting at a local bookstore and somewhat sadly headed back to the family farm where I was staying.
Not too terribly sad though as Bea and I stopped at our favorite beach on the way home. It was so cold that I was happy I had my Big J shawl as Bea and I walked the beach, waded in the shallow water and then sat and watched the tiny waves roll in...while Tim held down the farm in mid 90s.
October started to cool off, at least at night. We had two hard freezes that took their toll on anything I forgot to cover...and then it warmed back up. I had wool I needed to pick up in New York so I combined that with a quick trip to include visiting friends and
meeting Murphy's mom.
We finished the month with
Hug a Sheep Day and
Halloween and I'm hoping fall is finally here to stay. I was able to put
one last farm calendar together and between reviewing the year that way and also by creating the month end compilations, it helped remind me that while much of the summer was really miserable, there was still a lot of good as well.
