Kleas

even more distractions

To further avoid that dreaded long list, I decided to go "up North" to spend some time at my happy place. 

We first stopped at my cousins cabin for a much needed reconnect with family at a reunion that had been planned for months.  I was so happy to see all these wonderful people and catch up, that I did not take one photo.  There are many, many cousins, and a lot of them have grandchildren so it was a bustling and busy and lovely, lovely time.  My boys were in heaven!

From there to the cabin, my two plus my nephew and a friend.  Four days of play for these sweet boys who never grew tired of one another.  The night sounds are so crazy different from the city...just the constant call of the loons through the night and the crickets and the plunking of the acorns as they hit the roof/picnic table/ground.  

I feel I'm finally ready.  Rejuvenated.  It's time to get back to work.

getting away

It's so nice to have this place to escape to.  This beautiful place, a two hours drive from my home, that I share with my sister and brother and their families.  It is the dream home my dad and brother built but that my father never got to live in.  His spirit is there with us though and I imagine he knows his grandbabies are playing together in the leaves and enjoying the lovely land by the lake.

With a short work and school week last week, I packed up my boys and met my brother and his family at the cabin.

There is always so much to see, so much to discover there.  The landscape is constantly changing and being there with my brother I get to see even more-through his eyes.  Every tree he had planted or those that have come down...each has it's own story.

There is something about being there with my brother that makes me feel so safe.  He is kind and sweet and maybe it is because he is just so much like my father.  And I can just feel how much he loves my boys as his own.

There is a freedom at the cabin that my boys don't get in the city.  They don't have the boundary's or limits that they have at home and are free to roam and explore and follow their older cousin around (who I believe give my boys the same sense of safety I get with my brother).

 

We spend a great deal of the long weekend raking and playing in the leaves...

...and we spent a few hours at the local resort for their Oktoberfest and craft fair.

My boys have been fascinated with archery and I was so pleased to find them this bow and arrow set from one of the vendors at the craft fair...

...playing with these pretty much occupied them the rest of the weekend.

when i disappear...

...I go here.

(photo by niece, Katie)

This is the cabin, the house, I share with my sister and brother.  It was meant to be our father's retirement home, but prior to completion he became sick and passed away.  That was over eighteen years ago.  He would have been seventy-nine years old last Tuesday and my thoughts were all on him that day.  I guess that was what was on my mind when I woke up Wednesday and said "boys, we're going to the cabin".  So we packed up our things plus one friend and away we went.  Three glorious days in the North, surrounded by a lake, the woods and a creek.  The boys just played and played.  

The creek water is so clean and clear.

In a previous post I showed off bits of the outside of the cabin.  This time I took photos of some of the little details found inside.

A painting of my father as a young man, another piece by my sister.

Together, my dad and my brother built this house...I love that my brother saved one of each variety of nail used in the construction.

Pieces of my parents wedding dishes that now are being used once again.

Our eagle feather collection...before his death our father said his spirit would travel in the eagle, so each and every feather we find is a treasure.

That beautiful mantle was built by my brother from a felled oak tree.

I was wishing friend (and mushroom connoisseur) Lisa could have paid a visit.  There were dozens of these black mushrooms that she would be able to identify...I wish I knew if they were edible or not.

I feel very lucky (is a five-leaf clover more lucky than a four-leaf?) to have this beautiful place to escape to...my boys are already asking when can we go back.

Weekend blessings!  xx

mushrooms and blog friends

I mentioned in my last post that while at the cabin last week, I found fungus and mushrooms growing there like I have never seen before.  No doubt, it is due to the extremely wet summer we had this year. I had fun taking pictures (as you will see).

It amazed me to discover so many varieties of mushrooms...like this giant one...

...it barely fit in my hand.

And then there was the miniature world hidden under the grasses with mushrooms smaller than the tip of my finger.

What made all this mushroom discovery even more fascinating was that I got to meet another blog friend...and not just any blog friend, but the one who has really opened my eyes to the magical world of mushrooms.  Lisa does not live too far from my cabin and was willing to drive with her children to my place so we could meet...in real life.  And in those short minutes we spent as we walked through the woods I learned more about these wonderful fungi than I have known in my whole life.  She rattled off their names and whether or not they were edible, and where to look for them, and how they grow. All of her children are very mushroom saavy and even her smallest child spotted the black mushrooms that I went back, in vain, to try and find.  It was a glorious afternoon talking on the dock while all the kids splashed in the water, or went in the boat, or on the swing, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know this marvelously talented woman.

Lisa talked about making spore prints, which was something completely new to me but that I just had to try. She recommended using these mushrooms...lobster mushrooms?  I can't remember...

Her instructions were to pull out the stems and lay them face down on a piece of paper with a wet towel covering them.

So pretty, aren't they?

(Thank you Lisa!!  Please come back any time.)

summer's last hurrah

My boys and I returned last night from a magical six days at our cabin.  Once again, we traveled there with our dear friends, Anna and her two kids.  It was the perfect way to wrap up summer before school starts on Monday.

Anna and I decided before we got there to establish a rhythm to our day which included a daily walk right after breakfast, and quiet reading time immediately following lunch.  It was great to be in sync with this from the beginning as it made it easier for the children to slide into this routine.  

We walked to "the point", the end of our property where the mouth of the river is, through the woods, through fields and along the dirt road.  Each time we saw something new.

Found remnants in the woods of the farmer from whom we bought this property when I was a little girl.
With it being an extremely wet summer, there were fungus and mushrooms everywhere!  (More on that later).

We gathered some treasures to bring to the preschool.

And I got to get out daily on the kayak...

(thanks Sistah!)

...where I peacefully enjoyed the flowers.

It's so good to be with friends...

...and play and relax and swing and go fishing...

And while I fear sometimes that we may be losing the place to mother nature...

...a bench

...the stairs

...the roof

...and the dock.

There is still something truly magical about coming to this place that my dad built.

Up North

It was a week ago that Anna and I jumped into my car with the kids and spent three marvelous days at my cabin.  I love this photo Anna took of our kiddos. (thanks Anna!)

 
It still amazes me that it was our blogs that brought us together.  Looking through my archives, I found the post on our first meeting...more than three years ago already!!

We spent alot of time in the water and my little stone gatherer, Julen, was finding me some choice rocks.  With a crochet hook and thread of some sort always in my bag, I began playing with crocheting stones again. 

There was a smallish one that made a nice necklace.

a trip to the cabin...

...it was long overdue.  I packed up my boys on Friday morning and met my brother and his family at our cabin.  Nobody had been there the entire summer.  The grass was long, there were leaves to rake and there had been unwanted visitors in the house leaving behind nuts and nests made of old blankets.  But the boys played and played...happy to be in the company of their cousins.  We saw the full moon rise over the lake, listened to the loons call and then later it rained and rained.  We gathered acorns and stones and moss.  We cooked our meal over an outdoor fire.  We watched the eagles soar high over our heads.  We talked and laughed and walked outside in the light drizzle.  This is a magical place.