Next good thing

Summer garden

Ants are GONE and the flowers are beautiful. Life is settling down again, but not for long. We've joined a website called Couch Surfing and have offered a place to stay for a couple from Holland MI. Not the distant travelers we'd hoped to attract, but a start.
If you've not heard of couch surfing it is a social network for travelers who are looking for a personal experience by crashing at various homes along the way. We may choose to find individuals to host us when we travel next, but for now we are open to having people stay here. I'll blog about it after the fact and let you know how it goes.

We (mostly I - Joe is a little more reserved which is a good balance to my overly trusting personality) like the idea based on the experiences we've had hosting youth from the Blue Lakes Fine Arts camp, voices without borders, and our travels to Germany last summer. Through established programs we've had kids and adults stay here from Germany, Denmark, and the Czech Republic. Each time the guests have helped us understand their culture from a personal perspective. They've always left us with a small gift from their home town and been well mannered and appreciative of the assistance and time provided to them. We've loved the performances, evening bonfires and singalongs with these talented travelers.

When we went to a wedding in Germany last summer our hosts had friends who were out of town and willingly offered their apartment for us during our stay. It was SO incredibly nice to stay in a family home and experience Berlin in a more intimate manner. Do we openly let strangers stay in our homes in the U.S., based solely on the word of a friend? Mostly likely the answer is no, or not often at least. American's seem so distrustful. And what do we lose by holding this perception? Well, in my mind relationships are key to a good life. They are the most important thing we have and what truly enriches life. The more people we know who are different than ourselves the greater our understanding of the beauty and diversity of the world. Our minds expand as we learn about different cultures, different points of view, and traditions. While we didn't get to meet the family whose house we stayed in, we were amazed at their openness and trust. We too left them a small gift from America and hope they hold a good view of the people in this country. Traveling in this way makes staying in a hotel and looking at a tourist book for the 'sites' and best places to eat no longer holds much appeal.  Its experiencing a place at this personal level that lets you really feel like a part of it.

Patio pot!

Happy travels!

Summer fun - NOT

My posts to date might make Northern Michigan sound like utopia, and hey, most of the time it seems like it. This week is different. After a wonderful BLISSFUL time at Blissfest (see link) listening to three straight days of music and fun in the sun we returned to find black ants in the house. They were on the floor, on the counters, in the kitchen, livingroom, bedroom/bath, basically a few here and there - everywhere.

I had sprayed the outside of the house; after all, we live in the woods so you do need to take precautions. And apparently I drove them into the house instead of away from it. So I spend the night I returned from a great weekend cleaning out cabinets and squashing ants. OK, Joe squashed them. I just can't stomach it because they tend to crunch. I'm not talking the little tiny sweet ants that go marching two by two, these are BIG BLACK CRUNCHY ants. Ants that bite. When I tried to pick up a mostly squashed ant to throw it away it bit the paper I was picking it up with and I couldn't get it to let go. Even dead the thing hung on so tight its head came off when I tried to scrap it off the paper.

After conferring with a few friends and neighbors I decided to try terro liquid.

No one warned me about how this worked so let me fill you in. After purchasing the terro in the early afternoon I sent out six traps, they are liquid filled plastic containers that you cut a small rectangle into for access. I cleared out one cabinet where there were a majority of the ants and set three of these traps in it. I sent the remaining three at strategic places around the house where I'd seen ants. A few hours later I opened the cabinet door and nearly screamed (or did I?), it was crawling with more ants that I could imagine. If I hadn't slammed the cabinet shut as fast as I could I might have snapped a picture for you, but it was just too disgusting and I definitely wasn't opening that door again. Apparently the liquid DRAWS the ants so you get more and more of them.

Considering this fact, I quickly decided that having these little baits spread out around the house was NOT the good idea I had originally thought it was. I collected the three traps dotting the house and put them all into the cabinet, scattering ants as I did so - yuck! I slammed the door shut again. By now it was evening and I was done with ants for the day. We weren't seeing them anywhere else, so felt a bit better and just left the cabinet alone and went to bed.

In the morning I didn't dare open the cabinet door. Joe did, and it was still filled with fast, hungry ants. I started to second guess this whole idea. During the day I sprayed Ortho-Max around the house floorboards and the exterior, hoping to simply kill the little suckers. The ants were not present around the house and although we checked and they were partying away in the cupboard they seemed to be contained. By the next day (day 3) the party was slowing down and we saw some dead ants in there with the live ones. We continued to leave the bait, but by day 4 we started seeing ants in the house again. Dead for the most part. I cleaned up a few dozen everyday, dead carcasses here and there on the floor in the rooms I'd first noticed them (yes - everywhere). But there were also live ants. The live ants seemed awfully perky and FAST for being poisoned and on their last legs. They were out in search of water. We started seeing them in the tub and sink - ewwwwwwwww.

In hopes of avoiding another infestation I decided on all out war. We had some granular terro in the garage. It comes in a bag that is made to double as a sprinkler. I sprinkled the perimeter of the house and yard covering about 25 ft from the house. I purchased another container of Ortho-Max and sprayed the exterior foundation and  inside floorboards. I figured this would keep them out or kill whatever was inside. It kind of worked, but not entirely. I wonder if ants can become chemical resistant and if so, what I'll do next year.

It is now day eight - yes 8. I just finished cleaning out the cabinet, throwing the bait traps away after not having seen any live ants for a solid 48 hours. Not seeing one in the cupboard that is...we are still seeing them in the house. I'm tempted to get more terro, but can't bring myself to attract them again. I'll play a waiting game and if they don't disappear in another week I'll give it a second try. Wish me luck.

Day 10 update:  The bodies are slowly declining in numbers and I haven't seen a live ant in 24 hours. I think we're over the worst of it and on to bigger and better things - thankfully!

What's so great about it????

OK, so what's so great about living in Northern Michigan. Let me try to explain with this small example. Our community had a region-wide business after hours (chamber of commerce event) held at a new development property in downtown Boyne City. This is a business networking opportunity and was very well attended. So, we dressed in our best 'outdoor' clothes in hopes of fitting in while really focusing our attention on the kayak trip down the Boyne River which we planned to take immediately afterward. We spent a happy hour or more at Business After Hours chatting with colleagues and sampling foods from the newly opened Cafe' Sante' restaurant. Then, within 15 minutes of leaving the event we were floating down the Boyne and felt as if we were miles away from civilization.

The trip down the Boyne River starts at Damn Road and ends in town - or out on Lake Charlevoix if you want to get out on the big water for a moment. Between the two there is a lovely deep woods, winding river (some challenging spots), song birds, feeder streams entering the river & as you approach town a gentle widening of the water with ducks and swans swimming alongside you. Taking the river in the evening means popping out onto Lake Charlevoix (if you go that far) to a gorgeous sunset.

So what's so great about living in Northern Michigan - the mixture of community and nature, business and pleasure, peace and excitement, all (practically) within walking distance.

Summertime

Summertime in Northern Michigan - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Yesterday Maddie and I found our first ripe wild raspberries on our walk through the woods. What a treat. As a friend once shared with me, "I love grazing" and we definitely are kindred spirits in this respect. Walking through the woods and fields finding fresh foods in the wild is SO fun - and delicious! My grazing started this year with wild leeks (ramps) and morel mushrooms. Now mind you, this isn't really 'grazing' per-se since they needed to be brought home and cooked. Still, they are foods found while foraging and the thrill is the same. Now I'm watching the blackberries, which are growing profusely with the yield this year looking like it will rival or surpass last years. The weather has been warm, yet rainy enough to grow wonderful fruit.

Growing fruit is something that I'd love to do. Three years ago I planted two concord grape plants and have had tiny (VERY tiny) grapes which whither and die almost as fast as they form. This year I had great hopes of actually tasting grapes from my vines. The little grape clusters started out growing in greater numbers than before and actually grew a little bigger before drying up and dropping off the vine. Oh well, maybe next year. I probably should read up on them and try to determine what the issue is. Any ideas out there?? And will it mean that I actually have a chance to taste the grapes? This morning we shooed away deer who were grazing on the grape vines. Pretty picture if you aren't worried about yield!

Wild raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. Wild grapes, old apple orchards, cherries (did I mention cherries?) and more. I can't wait to see what delicious delights the rest of the summer has in store!

Ebb & Flow

Work and the economy have lead to an interesting year. It seems that it is either boom or bust and for a while at the end of last year it was bust. My employment gone and the holidays coming. Interesting how I had thought to have a relaxing (if sparse) holiday with family, but life and emotion don't always match our thoughts.

Being off work sounds like a dream. And in some ways it was, but for the majority of time it was simply stressful. The stress of knowing you need to FIND a job, wanting to LIKE the job you have, and wondering how long you can make it without a job...including how you'll rebuild your savings when the time comes.

I have a lot of empathy for those thousands of people who are unable to find work. If you are lucky enough to have unemployment some of these fears can be staved off for a while (longer and longer with Govt. intervention), but eventually without a job they come crashing in.

I had thought that during my time off, however long it would be, I would clean my house, cook and relax. Maybe get back to reading (I'd taken to books on CD in my car because of time constraints) and simply enjoy life for a while. The truth is, you can't really DO that when you are stressed out.

As a self employed individual who primarily works through contract I am used to being quite busy. Not having those long standing contracts and the need to go 'beat the bushes' was mentally exhausting. I'm one of the lucky ones and have to say, when it rains it pours. Thankfully I am working again and at more than full time, at least for the short term. As for the long term, who knows. I'll keep plugging along and see what comes up. I wish others ALL THE BEST.

January thaw

December is a blur. I had high hopes of blogging about our house concert, then about having kids home for the holidays and more. Now I'm watching a Canadian news program in a hotel in Lansing and thinking it would be fun to blog about it. I guess I'll be wrapping it all into this one.

First off - the house concert was wonderful. Having 25 friends in the house to listen, up close and personal, to live music performed by engaging artists who obviously love their work simply can't be beat. Of course there was some stress leading up to 'concert night', the kids arrived at the airport in TC the night before (plane delays working to our favor by having them land within 15 minutes of each other) and the house needed to be kept clean. The kids (can I still call them that?) were great and managed to stuff all of their things into one room for two night and accommodate their mother's neurotic worry about having it all turn out OK. Actually, as that mother I must say I did pretty well. I took myself out of the house for the better part of the day and left the others to clean. They did a fabulous job!
Jamie Sue Seal and John Latini arrived right on time along with our guests and all mingled and chatted while the stage was set.
The music was great and everyone had a wonderful time. Most sat and listened with some head bobbing and toe tapping, but there were a few of us up and dancing. Room was at a premium so the dancing occurred in the kitchen. Jamie Sue and John were very kind in giving the crowd an encore. They were on their way to Michigan's Upper Peninsula (the U.P. eh) for shows on Friday and Saturday nights, this was a stop along their way and we were happy to give them a place to land for the night and SO happy be able to share their music with so many of our friends.
If you have never been to a house concert here's the scoop. You find out where a house concert is (or decide to host one - www.concertsinyourhome.com) and guests bring along whatever they would like to drink (we have coffee & soft drinks available) and a dish to pass. It is important to arrange the house so it is conducive to seating a few people and viewing the artists. Get a group of people together - and some live music - and a party starts. It is amazing.
I would be remiss not to mention that at this house concert we invited Ed Brehm from Boyne City Provisions to join us to share wines from his store. Actually, he had suggested it after attending our first house concert and we took him up on it. What a fun addition! Thanks to Ed for attending and providing us with libation - I hope some individuals have since found and frequented his shop, it is definitely worth a stop if you are in Boyne.
One thing we have noticed...we inherit dishes when we host a party. Try as I might to return them, we seem to have this interesting collection of bowls, plates etc. We'll pass them along when we come to your place.

We had a fantastic visit with our children, those from California stayed for 2.5 weeks and the one from N.C. for slightly less (we really don't know why she left so early!) LOTS of food, home rolled sushi, pies and well - let me put it this way, When I asked my daughter what she would like on her last night here, she said she'd had everything she could imagine. That explains the 10 pounds I gained (and can't seem to lose) during those two short weeks. You'll have to find my facebook page to see pictures if interested. LOTS of wonderful memories were made!

Which brings us to January. New jobs, newly quiet house (so sad) and a January thaw that can't quite melt all of the snow we collected during December. The job brought me to Lansing for an orientation and it is cold outside. I think the thaw has ended, for now. How strange to think that I come south to see a Canadian news show on TV! So fun to hear their accent (yes, we can tell the difference) and especially interesting to hear news with a Canadian slant rather than the same old same old from our network broadcasts. Haiti still started the program, as it has here since the earthquake. So sad. They did show a 7 year old boy who rode his bike in an old fashioned fundraiser and advertised it via internet. It went viral and he raised more money than he ever dreamed. The worst is often the catalyst for bringing out our best.

Not a creature was stirring...well

The family is here and it’s time to trim the tree. Having a houseful of people you love is truly a treat and we are SO lucky. All together there are eight of us, plus two dogs and one cat and we are getting ready for the holidays. Very little decorating had gone on here. The house concert (did I not blog about it? I will, and add pictures, soon) took my attention and we really needed the space so the tree didn't go up until yesterday.
The deck was shoveled so the tree could be brought in through the French doors. Like magic, when I returned from walking the dog the tree was in the living room and looked great, but very bare. All decorations are stored in tubs in the garage attic. Boxes were unloaded and brought into the house. Lights were placed while dinner was prepared and the house smelled of roast and pine needles.
After dinner the boxes began to be unpacked. Like many of you, we love to look at the decorations and tell the stories they bring to mind. When did this one appear, who purchased that one, this was a gift from... and so on. Looking into one large plastic tub Michael stopped unpacking when he saw mice damage. He was worried that the mouse was still in there. I continued unpacking and sure enough, the cutest little brown mouse came running out. He ran around the fireplace and into the powder-room then down the hole the hot water pipes come up through. Now we have a mouse in the basement somewhere.
We are starting to miss Seymour the cat! Well, we've missed him periodically since his move to Alaska, but most notably when we see creatures in the garage (or house in this case); he was definitely a great hunter and kept us pest free. Some of our decorations were destroyed, but the damage wasn’t too bad. This Christmas we are will be listening and hoping that on Christmas Eve, not a creature is stirring. I'll keep you posted.