An amazing Saturday...

Well, the weekend is winding down here in Au Sable Township. It is a quiet Sunday morning here just East of the Equator and I am happy to report that yesterday, Saturday, July 16th, was one of the better days here at our cottage. The weather forecasts for Grand Rapids were that it would be hot and humid all weekend, and I was bracing for similar weather on the east side of the state. That was simply not the case on Saturday. It was warm without a hint of humidity.

From Jul 16, 2011

I arrived at our cottage on Friday night ~6:30PM. The drive here was uneventful and the traffic was moving along at a brisk pace. Deirdre and I settled in for a quiet and restful night, with a simple meal of steaks grilled on our trusty Weber. Friday night was relaxing and peaceful, and I was hoping that Saturday would be the same. I was not disappointed.

Samson woke us up a little before six and the burning sphere of hydrogen known as the Sun had risen and was spilling warm yellow shards of light into our cottage. Our plan was to once again throw some steaks on the grill, and Deirdre found this recipe for us to try for dinner. I ran into town to pick up a few things we needed for dinner, but I was back at the cottage, ready to face the rest of the day by 10:30AM.

After lunch, we headed to the beach. For the next 5 1/2 hours we read magazines, played with Samson, went swimming (Lake Huron felt almost as warm as bathwater) and generally did as little as possible. There was a gentle onshore breeze from the south, which kept the mosquitoes away. It was magnificent. Here are a few images from our time at the beach:

From Jul 16, 2011

Deirdre and Samson under the umbrella.

From Jul 16, 2011

My new Crocs.

From Jul 16, 2011

My view of the beach on Saturday.

From Jul 16, 2011

A very tired dog.

From Jul 16, 2011

Me and Samson enjoying the waves and the view.

From Jul 16, 2011

What really struck me was how blue the sky looked, and how the colors of the umbrella seemed to match the sky.

The day went on and around 5:30PM we decided to head back to the cottage to clean up and get ready for dinner. Our meal was splendid and after it started to get dark, we started a fire in our fire ring and proceeded to burn some old furniture that had out lived its use to us. I am happy to report that this small dresser did burn remarkably well.

From Jul 16, 2011

From Jul 16, 2011

From Jul 16, 2011

This final image of Samson sort of sums it all up. It was a very relaxing weekend, just East of the Equator.

From Jul 16, 2011

Sunday night

The weekend is just about done. I am sitting next to the Deirdre (replete with a pin in her foot), enjoying the gloaming. While I had a busy weekend, I also had a very relaxing one. One annoying habit of our pup Samson is that he tends to wake up between 0515-0530 every morning. Even on Saturday and Sunday. I am known as a morning person, but getting up at zero-dark-thirty unless I absolutely have to is, well, tiring. On Saturday morning he did not disappoint as at precisely 0520, Samson walked out of his crate, sauntered over to my side of the bed and started squeaking at me. I got up, attached a leash to his collar and took him outside to go potty. Samson obliged and I promptly went back to bed. Samson wandered back into his kennel, circled a couple of times and plopped down to go back to sleep, too.

Deirdre and spent some time on Saturday helping our friends at HWC Homeworks sort through some IT issues. The problems were fairly simple:

1) Setting up a secure wireless network
2) Configuring a printer.
3) Conducting some training on a scanner.
4) Conducting more training on uploading and downloading images to and from a camera.

In just a few hours, our work was done and I headed back home to make Dee one of her favorite dishes: Tenderloin DeLuxe. And wine. Lots of red wine. We watched the Tigers blow a 5 run lead, only to come back in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the game. And oh by the way, with Saturday night's victory, the Tigers reached the .500 mark for the first time of the season.

Sunday was a little more laid back than Saturday. Samson did not stir until almost 7AM, which was most welcome. Dee and I enjoyed a quiet morning, Samson chased a few squirrels, and we began a restful day. I did enjoy one extravagance: an are compressor. For the past 6 years or so, I had unfettered access to an air compressor because of my former employer. The Navy used compressed air. Lots of it. Well, today, I tried to add some air to the tires of one of our cars and the compressor at the gas station was unable to produce enough pressure to fill my tires. I had been planning on buying my own air compressor for a while, but today was the last straw. After my unsuccessful attempt to add air to my tires, I went to Lowes and purchased Kobalt 17 gallon 150 psi compressor. In no time, I fired up the compressor, got it up to pressure and filled my tires.

Yes, life agrees with us here in the Enchanted Mitten.

End of a great weekend

Tonight is either the end of last week or the beginning of next. Last week, we saw our beloved Red Wings come within 34 seconds of winning the Stanley Cup. Two nights later, the aforementioned Wings won the aforementioned Cup. On Friday, an estimate 1.2 million people attended the victory parade in downtown Detroit. We would have gone, but Dee was crazy busy at work, and I was just finishing my sixth week of employment with General Electric. Yesterday, Dee and I worked to reduce the overall entropy in the house. Today, Dee worked as the Laundry Fairie and I toiled outside, cutting the grass and working in the yard. I was doing what Deirdre has called "Hot dirty man-work."

I like to think of Sunday night as the end of the week, with Monday as the
start of the week. Thus, tonight is the end of a great week. Life agrees with us.