With Rick in Dallas and my last physical therapy appointment for a few days under my belt, the time was right -- road trip to the lake for the first visit of the season.
There is something exciting about that first visit. Questions run through my mind. What has changed? How does the house look? Will there be neighbors around? What will the weather be like? Did I bring the right clothes? And then you wheel around the corner and there it is. Home.
It's good to be back. Things look pretty good. Rick did a lot while he was here a few weeks ago and there is still much to do -- lots of raking, picking up brush that had come down in the winter and homely things like dusting, cleaning mirrors, putting in screens -- but basically, all is very good indeed. I confess -- I didn't do a lot of it. Instead, I just relaxed.
The good neighbors are here and it's nice to see them again. And the weather has been fabulous. Lots of sun and not impossibly hot with cool nights. I should have brought some long pants and not just capris for the cooler evenings but nothing unbearable.
The odd neighbors are more odd than ever. They bought two fake wolves to put on their beach so the geese don't come up. It will be curious to see if they work.
Lizzie is happy as a clam, even though she's not allowed on the porch till we fix the screens. She's found all her favorite spots and has snugged into each of them!
Masks are few and far between here. I went to the farmer's market (mostly crapht at this time of year but I did pick up a nice basil plant and some garlic scapes) and saw one mask. At the Meijer store (a superstore, for those of you not in the midwest, with pharmacy, grocery and all in-between) I saw only one -- and that was on a clerk. This is a town where Covid ignorers are more prevalent than in the city. I'll keep wearing the mask in crowds.
(I had to make the trip to Meijer because my keyboard had a space bar that was sticking. It was time for a new one. If I didn't type by touch, I would be in trouble, so much type had come off the keys!)
I've painted a bit. Leslie Fehling had a wonderful free printout tutorial on mixing greens when she started her online studio so I spent a good deal of time playing with those and then chose a painting with a lot of them. I'm not sure it's right yet -- but I'm liking it.
I've done a couple of other pieces too, just for fun! I still have to fix the right side roof on this one.
I'm very nearly done with my first offering for Paris In July, an annual blog event -- "The French Widow." Look for a review of it soon.
I had the first walk of the season -- a new house has gone up a couple of doors down.
And these oak saplings worry me -- there is a whole row of them, all about eight feet tall -- and they are all dead.
I did my long walk -- a little over two miles. The halfway point is a public beach where I encountered an artist. We had a lovely talk. I really admired her clouds.
There weren't a lot of flowers yet, but I saw some very cheerful daisies by the swamp...
...these pretty blooms...
...and this one. I don't know what this is but it's lovely.
I know this is a weed but it looks a lot like a petunia and I rather like them!
The Little Free Library down the road was well stocked. Not that I'll run out of reading material but it's always nice to know it's there.
I leave you with a bit of art work.
It's good to "bee" back.
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57 comments:
I love your dogs with one exception: I think there's a little too much contrast with the white whiskers. Maybe the white could have a mixed-in touch of the color that's behind them. But that's a detail -- the paintings are great.
best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
I’m glad you relaxed at the lake. I can’t wait until your Paris in July posts. They’re some of my favorites. Your artwork always makes me smile as do your finds in nature. Have a great day.
www.rsrue.blogspot.com
Love the garden bench and the washing line. That mystery blue flower is amazingly bright - although no idea what it is.
The bench looks very inviting! Retired, elderly people, take an obvious interest in benches.
The artist painting clouds, has a hat but no sleeves. Hope her bare arms are covered with sun screen lotion.
Lovely artwork, and photos. Pink crown vetch are the cluster flowers. Purple and morning glory looking one names are on edge of my brain.
Shanley Belle has discovered Meijer, LOL! BTW I'm currently reading a book for my book club set in Boyne City. Is that near you?
So happy you had your first visit to the lake and all is well. I remember almost being in tears when you left last year. Your odd neighbors must be interesting lol, you'll have to tell us more about them. Fantastic photos and beautiful art Jeanie!
I do like the garden bench. We have a lake quite close to us and you can have a lovely walk around it and sit a while (if you wish) on the benches that are around it ... so pleasant and very relaxing.
Wishing you a lovely week ahead.
All the best Jan
Looks like heaven! Love the bee-hive painting ~
Jeanie, I bet your first visit of the season to the lake was so nice. So, is this more north where you live, as you mentioned that the scents of the mountains is a familiar one to you, and do you experience it here at the lake? That blue flower is a striking color, and the daisies are sweet. They remind me of my Mon. Isn't that funny that the neighbor put the wolves on the beach to keep the geese away? I love that photo of Lizzie looking in the mirror, that's so cute. I'm glad you got to visit the lake - it gives you a chance to paint and read books and relax. That's the way I feel living in the mountains. I couldn't be more grateful.
~Sheri
Jeanie, I'm so glad you have settled into your happy place. So much inspiration surrounds you there. Your art is delightful to view! Love the happy bees!
It's nice to see lake time Jeanie. Books, art, flowers, walks, water...all good stuff. Have a great visit and enjoy summer. hugs-Erika
Looking mighty fine! Enjoy your time at the lake! Janice
Good for you to be back.
Jeanie,
What a beautiful place you have there....I laughed at the fake wolves because I am still thinking of where exactly would you buy such things....At a Hunting Sports Goods store??? LOL!! I am so amazing by your painting talents....And that little free Library...How cute! I have only seen them in Hallmark movies...Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Hugs,
Debbie
Sounds lovely around the lake, Jeanie, and I can see it from the photos.
Thank you for sharing the beautiful things.
Seems the gorgeous blooms and cute fake wolves welcome you wholeheartedly😉
Cute bees🧡
It sounds like you are thoroughly enjoying your time back at the cottage. I enjoyed all your paintings.
I love your artwork, especially the one with clothes on the line and the beehive.
How wonderful to be returning to the lake. I love your posts from there. Love seeing Lizzie there too.
Love checking out little libraries, though I don't often bring a book home.
When my grandson uses my computer keyboard he can't figure out where some letter are because they are worn off. I finally got a new keyboard during the winter and already the "E" is worn off. I do type without looking, so I am OK.
I also got a good laugh at the wolf. I hope the geese poop on them. There is nothing worse (and slimier) than goose poop. Lizzie looks great and right at home. Another big house in the neighborhood. So sad about the drought, too.
Your paintings are beautiful. I am always impressed. Enjoy your time at the beach and, if you are like me, will be wearing a mask in public until the entire world is vaccinated.
So happy to be back at the lake with you! At least Rick had already been there, so no arriving to anything nasty! I love your paintings, especially the little seat. We have a lot like that here, dotted and spotted for resting on a walk. oh, the non mask wearers are getting to me, even though I am now fully vaccinated I know it doesn't give 100% protection and we must all continue with the layers of protection that help. Look forward to more musings from the Lake!
Glad you are back at the lake, it's a great place to be. Sorry about the strange neighbours - wolves on the beach indeed! Thanks for sharing the lovely photos and your beautiful art. Have fun! Hugs, Valerie
Hello, Jeanie
I hope you have lots of fun days at the lake. Love your first view of the lake, pretty sky!
The flowers are pretty, could the purple flower be spiderwort. It grows wild here. the drought sounds awful, I hope you get some rain there. Your paintings are wonderful, cute photo of Lizzie. Take care, have a happy day!
I relaxed just reading about your trip up north. So lovely. I think that the blue flowered plant is a spiderwort.
Sounds like a pleasant first trip to the lake for the season. Interesting potential way of keeping the geese at bay from those neighbours. LOL!
Your season at the cottage has begun well, Jeanie. I hope the sun shines, the mosquitoes don't bite, and it continues in this tranquil manner. Rick will soon be back to keep you company.
Wonderful to hear you are back, I know how happy the lake makes you. How nice to have a change of scenery and relax to read and paint. Lovely work Jeanie. I'm sorry to hear about the drought, hope that won't prevent the wildlife from returning, thinking about Harry. Hopefully you will get some rain, one thing we've had a lot of this week. Enjoy your lake time...........
The new house's four car garage is certainly a splashy statement. I love your paintings (especially the bees). Hope you're getting some of this week's rain. I know you and Lizzie are enjoying your lake time.
Big drought here..I may have chuckled at the wolves.. but with my groundhog I may be ready for a few..kidding..
The house being built it that the back looking onto the lake?
It's a shame there are not larger windows and more:)Just saying.
Lovely art and maybe a ew painting pal for you.
Scabiosa is the mauvey flower.
Have fun.. it must feel fabulous to have this spot of yours:)
I think it is just wonderful that you can escape like this. What a wonderful change of scenery! Your paintings are amazing!
Love your paintings. I love walking with you at the lake through your blog.
Your paintings look fantastic! I love the bee hive - and the painting with the blue house. I am so glad that you are enjoying your cottage again. You are right, this weather has been perfect!
We are still wearing masks in crowds as well. Wyatt has to wear one, so we do too. Although since we lost the mandate, I guess he no longer HAS to, but we are having him wear one. So we will as examples. :) My county is about 50-60% vaccinated, and I see no one really wearing a mask either anymore.
An Exciting Day! I enjoyed my virtual ramble and think your scenic setting is delightful.
Such a beautiful area and thank you for sharing it with us. Must have been wonderful to get back. Love your pretty artwork, its a treasure to have that kind of talent. I'm thinking your blue flower is a spiderwort. Enjoy the rest of your week Jeanie.
Wow such a beautiful and very different life from mine. I would love to be at the lake. Your painting is beautiful, truly gorgeous with the buzzy bees. Love it.
Hugs June xxx
You have your own little piece of paradise and your paintings are wondrous.
You are in your happy place!
I love the painting with the bench.
Beautiful blog
Gosh those wolves are odd. I wouldn't want those people as my neighbours. :))
Lizzie is so cute looking at herself in the mirror. Aww <3
It's a shame about the masks, I noticed that in UK less people are wearing them even in supermarkets thought they are still mandatory indoors.
There’s just nothing like a lake…
I’m glad you got to relax and paint. The one with the bench makes me happy. It brought a smile to my face.
Enjoy your Happy Place! 🙂
Beautiful first pic!
"Home." Soooo good. As relaxing :-)
Wolves! I admit.... we a a fake raven so the little birds get their food and the fat pigeons stay away. It worked.
Lizzie is a beauty.
Fun to see your keyboard :-)
Your paintings are wonderful!
And nice to find an artist at work - and talk!
I´ve never seen a flower that blue!
Checked our free library... still closed. And I have so many books to give away.
The bees did a very good job this year!
Jeanie, always glad to read about your return to the lake and certainly this is the first of many to follow about your summer adventures. Too bad about the drought effects on the trees. We are in for several days of rain next week after some 90+ days and wish some water could be sent your way. The watercolors were lovely to see and the bench was my favorite here.
Oh this looks so peaceful! I hope the fake wolves work. That is a great idea as strange as it looks. You must be so filled with painting inspiration at the lake!
Amazing the swamp is dry. I am sorry for the drought. Wish we could give you some rain. We have had too much. My pots are waterlogged and our grass needs mowing but it hasn't quit raining. we have sandy soil so I hope the excess rain does not cause fungus.
I love all your paintings. Your trip sounds relaxing. Enjoy.
Going to try to Comment again... it wouldn't accept Comments yesterday! Glad you got out to the Lake for a refreshing respite and getting your Creative juices flowing. Odd Neighbors, we had plenty of those in Subdivision Hell, in some Retirement Communities here they put fake Coyotes by their Manmade Lakes. I'm glad they don't do that near our Home, there's lots of Wildlife Habitat Lakes and Ponds which Welcome the Migratory Birds, we enjoy their presence. We get Ducks here at the Mini Farm that float on our Irrigation Days in our Pasture, it's hilarious! Our Neighbors who have Domestic Geese sometimes get the Wild Geese joining their Flocks. Your Cat primping in front of the Mirror made me Smile! Vain Kitty! *LOL* As for Mask wearing outside of the City, we noticed an aversion to it in Rural Areas and Smaller Towns too compared to the City. This Pandemic isn't over yet, but some people are behaving as if it is, risky business... horrible way to Die... we keep our Masks on too! Most people in the Big City are also. Mebbe only Urban Dwellers will be left at the end of this? *Smiles*
So glad you had a great first visit. I am glad you mostly relaxed! That is what is best about the lake - putting your feet up and enjoying the slower pace of life. We were at the lake in April but this visit feels like our first real lake visit since it’s warm out. The lake is so much warmer than it typically is in June since we have had so much HOT weather! It’s the hottest June on record with no end in sight. I like warm weather when I am at the lake. But it’s been a bit extreme in Minneapolis!
Those neighbors of yours are so odd!
Your art is lovely dear. Stay safe love Cath in Aus.
So many good things in today's post - where do I begin? Glad you got to go to the lake house. I'm so sorry about your drought. It really ruins so many things. Love all your art as always. It's such a wonderful way to express yourself. Wish I was that talented. Wishing you many summer days on the lake with a blue sky.
I don't know if my comment was lost - there was an error notice when I tried to publish. Love your art as always and wishing you many sunny days on the lake.
Oh, Jeanie, it is so good for you to be back at the lake. Lizzie too. Take the time to relax and enjoy. I've been seeing some maskless people at the stores, but not too bad yet, but it will be, you can bet on that. I, however, will still be a masker. Enjoy the good weather while it lasts. We have cooled down the last couple of days but going back up this weekend and beyond..Happy Day and beware of wolves! ..xxoJudy
Your bright blue flower's a spiderwort. There are several species, but they all look mostly the same. We have them, too. As for that wolf, I suspect your neighbors will be just as successful as the people here who put out artificial owls to keep the birds off their boats. In short: they don't work. It will be interesting to see if the wolf serves its purpose.
Jeanie, I am sorry I was way behind on your lovely posts. I am caught up now. Being back at the lake must bring you so much joy. That looks like a really large home going up. Enjoy your quiet time!
As EileeninMD said, your mystery blue-purple flower is spiderwort. Some places it grows like a weed. Other places, you have to buy it in garden departments (!)
I discovered red-pink hollyhocks growing in the wild space out back this morning. They're 7 feet tall and gorgeous.
Happy Lake, Jeanie - hope it rains a bit to lift your drought.
Wow look at that new house, 4 car garage! I never heard of putting fake wolves out to scare off geese. I know they are pleasant to see but they do make a “crappy” mess! LOL... I love your pictures. Sounds like your walk is a good one, I hope your surroundings aren’t going to change too much with the new people that are moving in.
So nice that you are back relaxing at the Lake house. Love the little bench picture, so cute :)
That new house looks massive, hope it's not just a holiday home.
With gray skies and rain falling down while I write this, I wish I too could be by the lake :) Enjoy!
I love that you got your priorities right and did some painting instead of housework! Lovely work and how fun to meet a fellow artist on your walk. How sweet that your kitty is enjoying being back at the lake too! I hope you have a wonderful summer, and yes, those wolves are quite creepy!
Jenna
I have the sense that everyday is a celebrtation for you! Lovely 1st visit to your camp. Glad you're. getting to paint too! Sorry to hear of the drought though....I just did a new blog post. It's complicated lately because of my ancient computer...
I love the bee card! All of your cards are always so pretty, but that one may "bee" my favorite.
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