June Vacations

June was our vacation month this year. Earlier in June, we went up to the straits of Mackinac and took our son to Mackinac Island for the first time.

We were there just after the lilac festival, and the lilacs were still in full bloom.

We visited Fort Mackinac and I took these photos from up there.The lilac trees on the island are beautiful. And yes, they grow into trees up there! I saw some that were eight inches in diameter and larger. I've never seen them that thick down here.

The next day we visited Colonial Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City.

(Yes, Mackinaw City ends with a "W". All the other Mackinacs - island, bridge, straits - end with a "C". And they are all pronounced "mack-in-awe". I take no responsibility for 17th century French spelling.)

After climbing the hills on Mackinac Island, we were moving a little slower. My husband loved the earth oven. I know he wants one.

Then we were home for about a week, in the middle of which we had that burst of stormy weather.I took this picture on my way to work Monday, the day we got our power back.

I'm going to have to take my camera down this road again. They cut the three trees on the left that went down and righted the roots, so they have their yard back. Tree after tree along the road went down.

We had power for about a day and a half, and last Wednesday we woke up at 4:30 am as the power went off again. Truffles woke me up, and seconds later I heard the fan go off. I called the outage in immediately by flashlight.

The bad thing was, we were all set to leave again for Origins, the big game fair down in Columbus, Ohio, and so we wouldn't be around to run the generator if the electricity stayed off.

This put a damper in my morning, but then the power came back on at 7:30 am. Whew. Morning coffee and electric light in the bathroom! Yay!

We drove down to Ohio on a hot, hot day. My husband had reserved a room at the Defense Supply Center, one of the perks of being in the military. We had a bedroom and a kitchenette/living room area, and a reasonable drive to the convention center.

Yes, Origins is held in the Greater Columbus Convention Center, the place where TNNA held its summer show June 13-15, and where Knitters Connection was June 17-20.

One of these days I'll just go down for one or the other and leave Origins to my husband and son!

They had fun, and I brought knitting, hoping my dormant knitting mojo would sprout up again. And it did! I finally finished the miniature miser purse I started lo these many years ago, and I am down to the very last round and a half of Christel.

It was hot in Columbus while we were there, around 90 F (around 32 C), and nearly that hot at home every day.But I don't think this vending machine made many sales.

When we got home, I checked on the wrens and found the babies had died. I have no doubt it was from the heat. *sigh* I wish I had been home to help them escape. I think after the ants clear out of there I will block the opening with expanding foam so mama house wren can't try again.

Yesterday the weather changed over from highs of 88 F (31 C) to highs around 68 F (20 C). I guess even my cold-resistant northern blood has thinned out a little in the heat - I was cold. 68 degrees is even colder than the air conditioning in the convention center.

I covered the couch while we were gone with this big piece of scrap fabric from my days of working at an office furniture company. Between the stress and the heat, Ajax blew off undercoat like crazy!

Tomorrow I'll answer some questions & respond to some comments - that is, if my flaky wireless connection cooperates.