Lazy Days Of Summer

Happy Independence Day!

Nature Updates

The thousands of trilliums alongside the road have made room for the lupines. Beautiful, bountiful, blue lupines. There are wild columbine growing in the woods around us and every time I go to cut some chives, I have to fend off the bumble bees.

Lola has been catching and kissing frogs. Repeatedly. So far, no prince.

The water in the lake is six inches higher than it was last year. What a difference that makes. We have even put in the dock. Not off our side, the water is still too shallow for that, but a little bit further out. At least we can enjoy the pontoon boat this summer.

Ryan has decided to single-handedly populate the lake with turtles. Every time he sees one crossing the road, he stops and brings it home. Lola is tickled. Not sure about the turtles.

My one strawberry plant is looking good. Last year, a deer ate our strawberries, all but one. This year we have moved it to the fenced garden. Fingers crossed.

Speaking of deer, they are everywhere. They stand in the middle of the road, chatting with each other, oblivious of oncoming traffic. You have to come to a full stop almost and honk your horn to get them to move.

Lola has scolded me twice now for doing just that. She thinks I should stop the car, get out, and politely say Excuse me to the deer. Or chipmunk. Or whatever animal is sitting in the middle of the road.

Ryan has passed Lola in bear sightings. So far, he has seen eight bears. All mothers with cub(s). We're jealous.

And just this morning, as I was having breakfast, I saw the two Great Horned Owls that live in the neighbor's woods fly by. So very impressive!

Snapshots Of Summer

Fall is just around the corner. I can feel it and smell it. Temperatures drop at night, close to freezing sometimes. When I step out the front door in the morning, the air is crisp. It has started to rain, and will continue to do so for the remainder of the week. I don't mind it, to be honest. In fact, I love it.

Autumn is my favorite season. The coziness of the indoors, a fire in the fireplace, putting on woolen sweaters, wearing tights and knee highs again, the smell of pumpkin spice and hot apple cider, rusty orange mums, the explosion of color from the changing leaves, my birthday, gathering chestnuts and acorns... I could go on and on.

But before we bid summer farewell, I leave you with a few memorable moments of the season.


World Cup Soccer fans at 7 AM

Kayaking on the lake

Fourth of July in Elkhart Lake

The Playground



Wabeno's Steam Up Days



Fishing on Lake Metonga



Kentuck Days in Crandon



Four wheeling in the Northwoods



Swimming in Lake Lucerne

At the Oneida County Fair in Rhinelander



Hiking the Ed's Lake Trail



Chicago IL



Local News

I love watching the local news channels. Not just to find out what is going on in our neck of the Northwoods, but because there is a distinct small town feel about it which I find very charming. Channel 12 News for instance, has such horrible lighting in their news studio that all the anchors look washed out, as if they haven't seen daylight in forever. And their accents leave no doubt they were born and raised in Wisconsin.

Our local paper is the Forest Republican. It is published once a week. My favorite segments are the articles written by the correspondents of the tiny neighboring towns such as Argonne and Cavour. I love reading about Bill & Macy who came up to their cabin last weekend, or Bob who was run over by his lawn mower, or Ed & Janet who went to the movies, not to mention John whose cow sent him to the hospital with several fractured ribs.

But most of all I love that every time my family participates in a local event, we end up on the front page...

Judy and Hanneke visit Crandon's Kentuck Days

Summer Evenings

The wonderful thing about living on a lake is being able to jump in the water whenever you feel like it, weather and time permitting. And the past two evenings after dinner, we felt like it.

The water level of Lake Lucerne has dropped approximately five feet due to the drought, and my parents-in-law haven't been able to put the dock in behind the house for two years. The water is too far out, and too shallow for the boat. Fortunately the boat landing is less than a mile up the road. It takes us about twenty minutes to hook the trailer up to the truck, drive to the water, and load the boat into the water. And then we're off.

Lola loves being in the water. She wears a bathing suit with built in flotation thingies and bobs around in an inner tube. On Sunday evening though, she told me to take off the inner tube, tie on the water ski belt, and set her back into the water. I did, a little hesitantly. But she floated, and really well too. Without the restriction of an inner tube tied to the boat, she immediately paddled off, chatting and singing all the way.

Summer evenings on the water are absolutely delightful. If it weren't for the mosquitoes, I told Ryan last night, I would sit outside all night long. Lola's bedtime has been pushed back a little but how can we not make the most of this season? We have a long cold winter ahead of us to catch up on sleep.

Expatriates And Patriots

Source: google.com

With the Fourth of July rapidly approaching, the amount of stars and stripes I see is steadily increasing. Almost every blog and magazine I read features the American flag in some way, shape, or form. For me, this is a little foreign. The Dutch are not too big on waving the flag. Sure, during national holidays and world cups, there is quite a bit of red, white, and blue in addition to the orange, but for the most part, you'll find the Dutch flag in a piece of cheese.

Americans are very different in this respect. Displaying the flag is the most visible sign of patriotism. And of that, there is quite a bit. It starts early on in schools with the daily Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America. The Dutch are not patriots, we don't display any pride in our heritage or country, a few zealots notwithstanding. We do not stand united. In fact, we are more divided than ever. It makes me very sad.

Where I come from, the saying goes "Just act normal, that's crazy enough." All this patriotism is a bit over the top for me. I have a hard time dressing Lola in an American flag dress, to be honest. Fortunately the dress we received is way too big, so this year I can get by without it. But I do like that on days like the Fourth, the whole country celebrates together, and the emphasis is on American, whether you're Native American, African American, Asian American, Italian American, Irish American, or Dutch American.

I know we are still a long way from universal peace, love, and understanding, in my new country as well as my old. But while the use of the different varieties of Americans may be considered politically correct, it also creates a sense of unity, attainable for every immigrant. The Dutch could learn a thing or two here.

Happy Fourth of July! Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

Pool Party

When I passed on Barbie, Ken, and Skipper to Lola about a year ago, she was mainly interested in the dolls, not so much the clothes. If they were wearing clothes, she would make me take them off. And these barbies came with a ton of clothes, the vast majority handmade by my mother, my grandmother, and myself. There are some very fancy dresses in Barbie's collection, some with hand embroidered beads and sequins, all made from leftover material my mother used to make her own dresses.

Now that Lola is a little older and starting to develop strong opinions on what to wear, she wants her barbies to be nicely dressed too. Dressing a barbie is not that easy, and is often more than Lola can handle. I find myself frequently putting clothes on Barbie and taking them off again for her. I had forgotten how much of a pain that is. The pointy fingers get stuck in the sweaters, the shoes keep popping off, and fabric does not slide well over the dolls' legs.

Which is why, when Lola decided to take Barbie, Ken, and Skipper for a swim, I insisted they'd go skinny dipping. Dressing them when they're dry is hard enough, a wet barbie was something I was not prepared to deal with. Lola was fine with that. We brought out the red plastic party tub, took off their clothes, and in they went.

The party tub is a remnant of our non-running water days, of Life In The Barn. We used it for dishes and occasionally as Lola's bath tub or pool, depending on the weather. I was the garage the other day, looking at it and could not imagine my big girl once fit in that tub. It is so small. But she did.

And apparently still does...