Welcome to Wisconsin, my born-into state.
My sister Susan and her husband Jesse have a cottage on Lake Holcombe. Technically, it’s not a lake but a flowage. It’s a fabulous body of water for boating. They renovated the interior of their mid-twentieth-century cottage with the help of our dad and Jesse’s dad. Now it’s a beautiful, inviting place, a blend of my sister’s modern-meets-homey style with a gorgeous view of the lake.
We arrived around 6:30pm on a Thursday, greeted by my sister and her two “apricot” cockapoo puppies, Olive and Charlie. Apparently, Olive had gotten very excited when our rig arrived and she pooped on a rug in the cottage. The soiled rug was already out on the lawn and Susie was hosing it off. It seems that puppies are a lot to handle when you have to train them.
After the fiasco, Ron and I got the trailer set up with Nilla cozy inside. We packed some of our Trader Joe’s yummies in the extra fridge in the detached garage.
We decided to stay in the guest room in the cottage, so we hauled in a bunch of stuff. (In the morning, we realized that leaving our precious Nilla alone all night was a mistake. So, we slept in the trailer with her on the remaining nights.😻)
Jesse had to work the next day, so he spent the night at their house in Withee.
I cobbled together a late dinner for Ron and myself, and Susie heated some leftovers. After eating and cleaning up, we walked down to the new-used pontoon and sat on it for a while. It’s a 2015 but it looks almost new. Very sleek.
On Friday, we prepared for my dad and my younger brother to visit us at the cottage. Susie and I prepared a huge feast of roasted carrots and a big green salad, plus packets of potatoes and skewers of onions and other items for the grill that Ron and Jesse cooked. All the yums.
After dinner, Sue and I prepared snacks for Saturday, which was the concert day, held in Sue & Jesse’s back yard of their home in Withee. They had invited their closest friends, an intimate group of about twenty. The day was perfect: Sunny, warm, a light breeze.
My dad and both my brothers also attended; they were inside the gazebo (kind of like royalty).
Ron and I opted for a very casual vibe (other than me wearing my standard performing attire!). We didn’t organize a formal set list, just selected a few favorite songs for each of us to sing and play guitar and flute and harmonica. We asked the guests to look at our repertoire list and select songs, reserving the right to refuse for any reason. It was really fun.
After about 90 minutes of performing, we decided to take a short intermission, during which the guests went inside the house to enjoy snacks that Susie and I had prepared, and a few friends had contributed to that bounty as well.
I was about to go inside myself, but the wind kicked up and it began to rain. If you have ever been in a Midwest thunderstorm, you know that they can come on within moments, which is exactly what happened.
So, Mother Nature decided that the concert was over!
And that was okay with us. We needed to clean up the yard, pack up the music gear, then tidy up the kitchen and get back to the cottage, which is a 50-minute drive from the house.
It all worked out perfectly. At the cottage, we shared our storied of different conversations and the lovely comments about our music. Apparently, my sister saw my aura (also called the bio-field). SO! We all slept good and hard!
On Sunday morning over coffee and a huge bowl of 🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒, we all decided to clean up the cottage and go back to the house for the next two nights. There were several reasons for this, and it was truly logical, trust me.
But before that, we did go out for a two-hour pontoon ride. The boat is amazing. I didn’t take any pictures because it was cloudy, cold, and windy (also, I was so tired that I just wanted to enjoy the experience). But I still had a good time!
Afer the boat ride, we all packed up and headed back to the house. There, Susie and I teamed up to make a delicious dinner that she had planned: Sweet Potato Nachos. Wow. I don’t even like sweet potatoes, and this dish was absolutely delicious. I should have taken a photo of it! (Maybe I’ll make my own version when I get back home and share it with you!)
After cleaning up and winding down, Ron and I went into the camper to sleep.
The next day, Monday, Jesse went to work. Ron, Susie, and I went to lunch at a lovely restaurant & shop in Thorp, called Aroma Cafe. It’s a big venue in a small town, and they actually have vegetarian and vegan options. In addition to food and beverages, they sell a huge variety of gifts, clothes, accessories, jewelry, and flowers, and even have a full-service tuxedo rental service. It’s a real gem that we patronize whenever we are in the area.
On the way back to the house, we stopped at an Amish supply store so I could stock up on some spices. Then my friend Mary, who was my classmate from kindergarten through high school, came to the house for a brief visit.
Susie had to bring the puppies to a vet appointment, so while she did that, I went to Mary’s home (which was less than a mile away) to visit more. She cut a huge bag of asparagus from her garden and gave it to me. Ron grilled it a few days later and it was the best asparagus we have had in the last year (and we eat a lot of asparagus).
Susie picked me up at Mary’s house on her way back from the vet and we went back to the house. It was our last night with Sue and Jesse. Jesse had golfed and dined at the country club, as planned, and came home after Ron, Susie, and I had eaten dinner. We wanted to stay up all night and talk about everything, but of course that’s ridiculous, so Ron and I went to the trailer around 11:00.
The next morning, Ron and I packed up the rig and our Miss Precious Perfect Nilla, and we said our good-byes. Then we were on the road to southwestern Wisconsin to visit my dad at his home, where there were be some usual experiences, some new experiences, and a big surprise.
As always, I hope you are living life fully. I wish you excellent health, well-being, and life-affirming creativity!💝
Great family time, filled with music and good food!! 🩷 (I would like that Sweet Potato Nacho recipe...)
Sweet!