Laowai

After Brian's birthday the girls and I headed out for a road trip to Michigan. First we had a little visit with Grandma C.

We went to the Chippewa Nature Center – we enjoyed a walk and then ended up in one of my very favorite places. The bird observatory room is very simple but it's one of the most special and relaxing indoor spots I've experienced. As soon as you walk in the atmosphere of the room makes everyone hush and slow down. It's just a dark room filled with comfy chairs and one side is a big window. There are microphones outside so you hear all the chirping and rustling from outside. And there are lots of bird feeders and a little water area for the birds. Birds come all the time and squirrels and chipmunks too. I remember taking kids there when I was a day camp counselor. The kids always got excited and there was a feeling of wonder as they slowed down and watched the little creatures up close. It's a gem of a room and I could sit there for a very long time.

Next were off to Tawas to spend some time with Mom and my sister and my niecey.

Brian turned 46 on Saturday. We took him to a beer place and baked him a cake.

We love him so much and I wish we could give him more for his birthday. I wish I could give him the scene below:

PS – the cake was Lighter-than-air chocolate cake from Smitten Kitchen. It requires 12 eggs and some good chocolate but not much else.

First tomatoes and more green beans.

Got my knives and scissors sharpened this morning. 

My Bee Balm is blooming and it's (appropriately) covered in bees.

And I've picked my first green beans of the season.

This past week two people I know were sailing the Great Lakes. First my niece, Jenna, sailed from Mackinac Island to Bay City on the Appledore. Very cool!

And also, mom came to visit us. She took the ferry from Muskegon, Michigan to Milwaukee where we picked her up. A great little visit. Here are some snaps.

Brian and I went for a little hike on the 4th of July. We went to the Ray Lake forest preserve. The last time we visited the asters were showing off but this time of year there are lots of other flowers shining. Especially the purple coneflowers. I've never seen so many blooming together!

It was a very hot humid day so we had to treat ourselves at Dairy Dream on the way home.

Per usual the things that are making me happy lately are baking related and garden related. I tried a new recipe from the Midwest Made cookbook. It's the Chocolate Eclair Dessert – a choux pastry topped with vanilla custard and a thick layer of whipped cream. It got really good reviews from my family.

For tonight's picnic at the fireworks I made some raspberry hand pies. I haven't really tried one yet, but I think they will be tasty. I used the pie dough recipe that I like from Zingerman's Bakehouse cookbook. 

And now onto my garden. It's growing… weeds and all.

I feel like several flower beds are disorganized works in progress. Gardening requires so much patience! My vegetable garden is happy and I should have green beans very soon.

The purple coneflowers are blooming. Hello Mr. Bee.

And one more thing that makes me happy – finally having a sunny enough day to hang laundry outside.

Take a look at my garage – isn't it a sweet little building. It has its interesting diamond pattern garage doors, original lights and four big windows. Like most of my home it needs some love. I painted the garage doors earlier this spring. It just got a new roof with a shiny copper edge last week. And now one of its windows is looking much better than before.

Here's what the window looked like to start with. The putty was failing and the paint was peeling and there was a lot of rust.

Here are some progress photos. I couldn't have done this project without Scott from The Craftsman Blog. He has great e-books and videos that  really made me feeI like I could handle this project. I scraped off the old paint and putty, applied a rust stopping chemical and put on a coat of primer. Oh and oops, I broke one of the panes. It's easy to do when you are chiseling out old putty.

And then it was time to glaze. It was my first time working with glazing putty but I think I did alright. I can see how the glazing would be easier if you removed the window and worked on a flat surface. But removing these windows would have been way beyond me at this point. 

Here's the finished glazing. I have to wait two weeks for the putty to cure and then I can paint the whole thing.

I'm so happy I tackled this project. It makes me think I could take on some of my wood casement windows on the house. 

Now I just need to get a mason to help with the brick work and to get a fresh coat of paint.