I don't know about what C is doing but I do know several people who did not experiment with drinking and drugs in high school but did so in college when they were away from home. It is normal for some to be curious and try it out. I hope C is not doing so but you know he is a good kid who may just be pushing his independence.

I'm glad Bernie has a lead for Zach. I hope something works out for him soon. Is he looking at jobs in neighboring states or does he want to stay in your town?

My pedicure was so nice. My feet feel so much better. Afterwards, I took Sarah some brownies at the nursing home. I ran into her husband and he told me she tried to get up and do something for herself and fell and hit her head again. She still has a bruised face from a few weeks ago and now has a big bump and bruising on her forehead. She doesn't have any memory that she can't just walk, but needs help. It is very sad.

Tomorrow I hope to ride my bike if the weather is not rainy. Otherwise, I will wash sheets and remake the downstairs beds for company next weekend.

Costco trip today for paper products and a few other things. I fed my sourdough starter and it is so healthy. I need to bake something with the discard and I also plan to make a sandwich bread loaf which is softer and shaped normal for sandwiches.

My sisters are coming for dinner when Hannah, Rory, and her parents are here. Russ will smoke ribs and a pork butt in his smoker on Sunday. We will have ribs, homemade Mac n Cheese, watermelon, coleslaw and dessert Sunday Eve.

Cool day here. Nice and sunny and I feel lazy.

How are you?

Have you ever tried pickleball? I told Bernie we should learn to play

Accomplished my tasks today. I received a surprise text from my AK daughter in law this morning. They are available in October after Oct 3rd for us to visit them in AK. I booked a VRBO from 8/8-8/18, now to figure out our flights. We could fly to Chicago and fly non stop to Anchorage on AK Air. We have enough miles that we may get the tickets for really cheap or free. We would have to pay to get to Chicago from here. We are glad we get to make the trip to see David and his family. We don't know when we would see them again in person for a long time. With his work schedule, it is hard for them to come here and for us to visit them there when he is around.

Our house guests arrive within 48 hours. It will be good to spend more time with Hannah's parents and Hannah and Rory. I hope Hugo travels well in the car.

Have a happy Thursday!

Yum - I bet your bread is delicious. Fresh bread is amazing. I can't imagine fresh sourdough!

Hugs for Hugo - and his humans! ;>)

Yay for getting to plan a visit to Alaska. I bet that will be fun.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sounds like a good visit. Except for the delays.

The pictures of the bread looked delicious!

Zach just got called for an interview Thursday. Here in town. If you are of the mind, would love som good vibes for him. Please God, let us be moving in the right direction

Rub Hugo for more luck too!

Sending good vibes to Z. I hope tomorrow's interview goes well and he gets good feedback. I can't even imagine job hunting in these current times. I wouldn't have a clue.

Today we went winery hopping outside of Traverse City on the Old Mission Peninsula. I hadn't been to any of the wineries out there. We chose 3 and did a tasting at one of them and just glasses of wine at the other two. They had good snacks so we ate our snack/dinner between all 3.

The kids have one more day and then they leave for Mpls. It went very fast. It is hard to believe summer is over this weekend. We have a picnic at my cousin's beach house on Monday and then we move into Fall. There will be less people around until the Fall color pops.

It went from 90 degrees yesterday to temps in the 60's today. Relief!

Sending positive thoughts and prayers Z's way!

Kids went kayaking this morning and went out to lunch together. Hugo is staying with Grandpa and Grandma and isn't so sure about it. They have been putting him in his kennel while they are gone but we said leave him out so he gets use to us and knows we are ok too. He is sitting on a chair across the room staring at the kitchen door waiting for them to come home. Another overcast day. I'm washing towels and sheets from guestroom, fed my starter, and plan to make blueberry muffins with sourdough discard in a bit.

Hopeful for Z!

Sounds like it went well. Does Z know how many people applied and are being interviewed for this job? Did they say when they would let him know? Are there more levels of interviewing? I will keep sending positive vibes and prayers to NE.

Rory and Hannah leave early in the morning. The house will be so quiet again. We will miss them both and Hugo too! They will return at Thanksgiving if weather cooperates for driving.

Next guests arrives next Thursday.

Rory and Hannah made it over the Mackinac Bridge yesterday morning and then stopped for gas. They couldn't get their car started again and had to call a tow truck. Luckily it only needed a new battery rather than a mechanic. They got back on the road after a couple of hours and made it home last night by 7pm their time. Long day for them!

Beautiful day but I stayed off the bike trail due to the holiday weekend. I don't like riding with too many people. They often don't practice good trail etiquette and it gets frustrating to have to slow down or try to pass a group blocking the trail.

Russ vacuumed and mopped for me today. I went to Traverse to pick up my new glasses but the place was closed. They did not indicate closure on their website. Wasted of time and gas. I will pick them up Tuesday.

Tomorrow I will make my desserts for Monday's picnic at my cousin's beach house.

Any plans for Labor Day at your house?

Glad the kids made it home safe. Car trouble is the pits.

Bernie did get a brisket and smoked it overnight Thursday. It is delicious. At $4 pound a great way to get red meat that tastes a lot like prime rib I think. We made a physical Costco run Friday and just stocked up on a lot of things. Lots of protein and yogurt and cheese and the more healthy frozen options. Bernie and I are trying to make better choices.

Going to head to church tonight. Even though I pray for the family every day and night at home, I definitely feel like we need to get inside the church and pray some more that this is finally Zach’s time.

Watched some volleyball too of course. Nebraska looking a bit rough. They won, but ugly and the competition is tough. We’ll see what happens. GBR

The picnic was interesting to say the least. Most of the adults except Russ, me and my niece were in their late 60's to mid 70's, all women except my cousin Bill. My niece was with her children, ages 5 and 18 months. The two grandmothers of these kids were fussing the whole time about what the kids were doing, where they were, etc. Their mother was present but they obviously don't give Abby any credit for keeping her kids safe and being a good Mom. Their behavior seemed over the top. My cousin who hosted the gathering was less fussy but still a nervous wreck when the kids tried to go in the house from the deck. One of the grandmothers snapped at Russ when he said Bernie, the 18 month old, was doing fine next to him and the railing. She said "you don't know that nothing will happen!" Their big worry was he would fall off the deck, disappear out of sight, etc. The kids were off to the side of the house playing in a sandy area and doing fine. My sister Lynn, Grandma, started saying she heard the kids out in the driveway and where were they. She even got up to peek around the corner of the house to find them. I could see them on the side of the deck and told her they were there twice. She wouldn't listen and kept asking "where are the children?". She reminded me of my Mom in the early stages of her Alzheimers. She asked that question a lot but it typically meant her own children (we were all grown up). My poor niece! Her Mom, my sister, undermines her with the kids, says passive aggressive comments about her parenting and choices (Abby is a wonderful young woman, 44 years old), and does not seem to trust her. It makes Abby feel like an incompetent parent. She is a great Mom!

Russ and I will have to evaluate if we go to that picnic next year. It was so weird! The weather beautiful and Lake MI was at its best. Sitting with the old ladies and all their fussy comments was so annoying.

I went to Aquafit this morning, picked up my new glasses, visited Sarah and took her some treats, and put together some bread dough to bake tomorrow.

How was your day?

That does sound like some odd behavior at your picnic. And it must be really hard for Abby. I forgot she has a baby Bernie.

Overall it was a nice long weekend. Got a good bit accomplished. Not really thrilled with our anniversary Monday. I had mentioned that there is a cidery not that far from us and that it would be fun to go. Bernie wasn’t interested. Same story, different day

This week has been nuts

what a fun and healthy visit you have going on.

Go you!

(anniversary was number 29) -

I feed starter once per week. Equal parts starter, flour and warm water. It stays in the fridge when I'm not using it. If I am going to bake I pull it out, feed it again, and let it double in size and get bubbly. Before feeding, I dump it all in a small bowl and put back in only the amount of starter I want to feed. The extra goes in a separate jar and is called discard. Their are many recipes on Pinterest for discard use. I love the banana bread and scones. There are beginner groups on FB that you can read and learn what others are doing. I think there is a lot of better info on the internet regarding sourdough and recipes. Farmhouseonboone.com, therosehomestead.com and Maurizio Leo "The Bread Guy" are good sources. Artisan Bread Made Simple is an easy cookbook too.

Kristin and I have been having fun. We have been rock hunting, buying local jewelry, hiking and today we toured the Traverse City Asylum that opened in 1850 and closed in 1989. Some of it has been renovated into shops and restaurants, businesses, apartments and some of the old buildings are still dilapidated. Very cool place with quite the history of caring for vulnerable people from very disturbed to unwed mothers. We learned a lot. We went for a walk and she is still out walking. My feet hurt so I only did one round around the orchard.

I haven't had TV time since she got here so haven't seen any vball. Cold nights here now and Fall days this week. We will probably get another warm spell before Sept/Oct are over.

I hope you are having a good weekend.