Unsettling

I started using Elisabeth Elliot's Keep a Quiet Heart today for my devotional reading. If there ever was a time when one needs the calming presence of God, it surely is now.

She cites Psalm 16:5 (NIV): "Lord, You have assigned me my portion and cup, and have made my lot secure.

She says "A quiet heart is content with what God gives. It is enough. ... My assignment entails my willing acceptance of my portion."

It reminds me of my post about the beggar's bowl.

My portion in the past few days appears to be illness. The glands in my neck felt swollen Saturday night. By Sunday morning my throat was scratchy. I had hoped allergens were causing my problems, but with the sore throat I was pretty sure it was a cold. Today I am moving into the sneezing phase.

While away in Michigan, we received word that my friend and Robin Hood neighbor who has metastatic cancer was hospitalized. Unfortunately, all of the drugs/meds that the doctors have used to keep her cancer in control have stopped working. There is nothing more to be done except stabilize and strengthen her enough so she can return home. I wanted to visit her in the hospital in Fort Wayne, but now I need to stay away since she has a compromised immune system.

We have three former acquaintances living in Houston. The couple who was part of our adult fellowship class in Dallas we have not kept up contact with in several years. The man who worked with us in the library, then moved to manage the library in the Houston extension campus, my husband has communicated with occasionally. We see on the Dallas website that the Houston campus has been shut down for this week at least. We do not know if it has been flooded.

This flooding brings back memories of Hurricane Katrina. One of the processing centers for evacuees was about half a mile from my house in Mesquite, Texas. I read on the internet that Dallas shelters have so far accepted about 1000 people who fled Houston. I suspect there will be many more. Helping these people to find temporary shelter and jobs is a tremendous responsibility. Those who were bussed in from New Orleans were more than government agencies could help. Charities and churches stepped in. We donated a twin bed we owned, then I bought kitchen towels and cookware which were distributed out of a warehouse owned by a church member. Our whole church pitched in.

I am limited in what I can do at this time. So I try to focus on helping somewhere else. I have started to purchase notebooks, pencils, other supplies on sale to put in my Operation Christmas Child box. I always like to include a big tote bag or purse. Usually I find it at Walmart or Kohl's. I don't feel up to shopping right now, but I have lots of time yet. At least I have started.

Saturday morning I went to the Farmers' Market to buy some sweet corn. The lady from whom I buy tomatoes was not there. She said last week that her produce would be at the Tomato Festival in Pierceton on the 26th. The money I normally spend on tomatoes I used to buy some flowers.

The color is fading some in the zinnias, but they are still nice. My whole kitchen smells like peaches today as they quickly ripen. I made a cobbler Saturday from a recipe from the internet. Too sweet though I reduced the sugar, and the dough baked up more like a fine cake and was sort of mushy. Do you have a good cobbler recipe?

I stayed home from church yesterday and am sequestering myself today to not pass on germs. My linen and storage closet in the hall is a jumbled mess. I rummaged through it to find paper goods for the family reunion and threw in the plates I bought that were left over. Maybe I will sort it out this afternoon, but first a little rest.

"Harbor Country" Lake Michigan

We decided to get away for a few days. We have made day trips to New Buffalo and South Haven previously especially during peach harvest, and went to an art fair on the bluff at Saint Joseph in July a few years ago. This time we stayed 2 nights in Union Pier just north of New Buffalo at Goldberry Woods Bed and Breakfast.

However first we drove to Portage, Michigan, to Air Zoo. It rained most of Tuesday morning as we drove north. At the aviation museum the rain stopped.

The museum has two buildings: a large display of early aircraft, WWI and WWII fighters, a space section, and simulators; a building of classic planes including a few they lifted from Lake Michigan and were restoring.

There were some nice murals that served as backdrops for the static displays.

I found the displays and explanations of the bathroom facilities and food prep areas on the space stations interesting. Lots of ingenious ways to defy the lack of gravity.

The restorers in the East Building were not friendly; although there were only three people in the building, there were no comments about what they were working on or doing. I guess they don't like interruptions.

We finished up around noon at the museum. A short drive away, we ate at the Grand Traverse Pie Company restaurant. We had eaten at one of these in Petoskey. The concept is similar to Panera. You order at a counter, wait for your order to be ready, then find a place to sit. Besides sandwiches, salads, and soups, the café had quiche, pot pies, and of course delicious dessert pies. I had the combo of Lorraine quiche, pumpkin bread, salad and rhubarb/strawberry crumble pie (my choice). My husband had beef pasty (a turnover type of main dish), salad, and Vernor's cherry pie.

We did have some light rain as we headed west and southwest to New Buffalo. The rain stopped but the wind was so gusty that two red flags flew at the beach meaning no swimming. We browsed in a few shops. We had to give the B&B a check-in time of 4 p.m. or later. In order not to be early, we sat in the public library in New Buffalo awhile.

Goldberry Woods is family run. The owners and their 3 children live in a nearby house on the 28 acres. There are two cottages which can sleep around 10 people each. The main building has 8 rooms as well as a sunroom, living room, kitchen/dining great room. The current owners bought the property 5 years ago. It came with some of the furniture, most notably the handcrafted bed frames made of Michigan woods. Our room was called Sassafras after the type of wood used on the bed.

Our upstairs "wing" of the building had Sassafras and Hornbeam, though Hornbeam was vacant. We shared a deck.

The grounds had hiking trails including one which led to the Galien River (kayaks and canoes available). Also, the owners were trying to run a microfarm so they could use their produce in the breakfasts. The "farm" is still a work in progress.

Julie likes to use her organically grown crops and locally-sourced ingredients in her imaginative healthy meals. Even the sausage came from a local Michigan company. We had   multiple-fruit smoothies, oatmeal pancakes with mango "relish", and the tasty sausage. The second morning we had fruit cups of melon, wonder berries, ground cherries with strips of homegrown mint. The main course was a sausage and bacon frittata, blueberry pecan muffins served on a colorful plate with red currants, cucumber, bi-colored tomatoes and edible nasturtium.

At both breakfasts seconds were offered. A young vegan couple had a scrambled egg casserole and some vegi-based muffins since they had made their preferences known the night before. As we checked in we were shown a white board with the next day's menu and asked if we had any allergies or food restrictions that needed to be accommodated. There was orange juice and coffee, but the coffee was not available much before the breakfast time of 9 a.m. which was not ideal.

After the provided wine and crackers with mango chutney and cheese slices the first evening, we drove back to New Buffalo to dine on perch. The wines were local as there are many vineyards and wine-tasting facilities in this part of Michigan. We drove maybe half a mile to Union Pier public beach to watch the sun set.

Wednesday was gorgeous with sunshine and slightly cool temperatures. We hiked the Galien River County Park canopy trail and lower boardwalk trail.

You could go right down to the river where steps allowed kayakers and canoeists to tie up and walk around.

The wetlands were kind of scummy, but I didn't notice a bad smell.

Not all of the antique stores in the little towns north of Union Pier are open mid-week, but we did visit a handful. They opened at 11 a.m. which was about the time we finished our walk. With such a late hearty breakfast, we didn't eat lunch until after 1 p.m.

Nani's in Union Pier had an innovative hot dog menu. The grilled buttered New England roll really made the hot dog. There were some other sandwich/salad menu choices. We were quite thirsty and enjoyed the frosted mug of root beer as well.

A short nap later, we walked the grounds at Goldberry Woods. Mosquito repellant a must near the river.

Our first evening a man, wife, and their disabled grown daughter were the only other residents at the B&B. Two of the rooms had extra beds (a twin in a sunroom, and a trundle bed in a separate small room). They left Wednesday morning. Wednesday evening a young couple from St. Louis who would go to a Chicago wedding on Friday and a retired couple arrived, though we didn't meet the older couple until breakfast. The weekends are definitely the busy times for the inn and the cottages. It was quite relaxing with so few occupants midweek. The inn keepers were laid-back and the buildings though clean and well-equipped had a rustic vibe.
Each of the guest rooms had fireplaces which were not in use in August but would be cozy additions in cold weather.

Thursday morning we headed for Coloma and bought peaches. I also found a pair of earrings and a small plate at an antiques store in Coloma.

 Less than half the peach purchases. We bought Loring and Coralstar. Also some jams.

We ate lunch at Crane's Pie Pantry in Fennville where we had dined before. Too full for pie so had a bowl of chili and a slice of bread with apple butter. Since I will probably bake a peach pie in the next few days, I didn't buy a frozen pie but did buy two frozen apple dumplings which I put in my insulated bag. Crane's is also a U-Pick place but only on weekends.

The drive home took less time than I thought it would, even with construction in South Bend. It was a great time away.

Garden Gifts

My sister-in-law stopped by with some items from her garden. Green beans and tomatoes and some sunflowers.

It is a pleasant day with a nice breeze. We have the doors and windows open instead of running the air conditioner.

When I was shelving books in the retirement library after lunch, one of the Winona Literary Club members said she would be right back with a book. Her friend in Milford haunts yard sales, etc. looking for books and using the list of our series gaps has graciously donated a handful of books. Today the donation was Wanda Brunstetter's The Gift, a 2015 book that retails for $15.99. This copy looks like new. Thank you Nancy and friend for your efforts to improve the Grace Village Library.

Too Little Water

This is the year of water mishaps. I had too much water when the sensor on my washing machine failed and water flooded part of my house. Yesterday a part was broken in the condo community water system about 4 p.m. I came home from working in the library, turned on the water to fill my plant watering can, and all I got was a trickle. Too little water.

It took them until after 9 p.m. to finish the repair. The adhesive they used had to set up so we didn't get water back until 7 a.m. today. Now we have been told that any water used for consumption or cooking must be boiled. The health officials must take two days of samples before they OK human consumption. Unfortunately, they don't work on the weekend so we are to boil our water until at least Monday.

Fortunately, we do have water for flushing toilets, showering, watering plants now. I keep several sealed plastic jugs of water on hand because with a well system a storm that knocks out the power means no well water. It is a nuisance for most of us; for our neighbor with cancer it is very risky. It makes you appreciate the convenience of potable water.

Bedroom Blooms; Edibles

After a busy weekend of family reunion activities here in Winona Lake (46 total attendees), I am getting caught up on some library duties.

However, last Friday I bought a country decorating book at the library book sale. I cut out some pictures for my folders last night. That inspired me to do some shopping at Heart of the Lakes Antiques in North Webster, then across the street at Tangibles consignment store this morning. I didn't find what I am on the hunt for, but I did pick up this pretty pillow.

It is nice to have a little color in my bedroom chair from this cross-stitch pillow. It is another step in the feminizing of my room now that it is mine alone.

Sometimes it just takes shifting things around to bring happiness. The little pitcher/vase from my grandmother sat on my bedroom chest of drawers which had a mirror flanked by little display shelves. That is the dresser I replaced recently, losing the display space. However, I decided to put the pens on my round table into the vase and use the vase there. I really like the change.

On my way home from the antique store I stopped at a farm stand just south of North Webster. Bought two nice tomatoes. I am grilling turkey burgers tonight; tomato slices will enhance the burgers. My back-door neighbor bought some sweet corn yesterday and gave us 2 ears. We will eat those tonight, too. Summer goodness. I missed the farmers market last Saturday because of the reunion, but God has provided summer produce for us anyway.

This new product was on sale at Meijer. I had a coupon for $1 off and decided this would be a good time to try them. They come as 9 single-wrapped bars. The taste reminds me of Andes mints, but there is a layer of crushed chocolate cookie crumbs incorporated. I will keep my eye out for another sale.

Solar Eclipse Prep

Last week I picked up a pair of free solar eclipse viewing glasses from my public library. Many libraries in the U.S. are giving them out or holding eclipse parties where they will be used.

It's hard to believe I will be able to see anything through what looks like foil. Maybe I will give it a test run in a few days. Today it is cloudy. That is the big if on August 21st, the weather.

In Winona Lake, Indiana where I live the coverage of the sun should be around 88%. That is enough that it should seem like twilight, and the temperature could drop as much as 10 degrees. It would be interesting to be in a place of totality, but the full coverage only lasts about 2 minutes, not worth a trip of hundreds of miles for me. Since I am retired, I will be able to pop outside from time to time until the peak here occurs at 2:23 p.m.

Time has an interesting interactive feature on its web. You can input your zip code and see the peak time where you live and watch an animation of what the coverage will be.

So fun that the United States is the path this time around. Don't forget safety. You must have special glasses (available for purchase online or free from some libraries and museums and astronomy clubs). Do not look at the sun with the naked eye or regular sunglasses; you will risk permanent vision loss.