Adventure 883: Ferguson Lake House/7

We did a little family cross pollination on our last lake day. Because we're so late in the summer, Bonnie, Steve, and the girls headed back to town "eager" to begin another school year. In an act of serendipity, my favorite O'Brien niece texted saying she and her partner, Jonni, were in town on a visit from their home in New Orleans. In a whisker, we decided that Pete, Carol, Molly, and Jonni should join us for the last over night at the lake. It was a fun impromptu, and allowed our family members to get a little O'Brien context added to their lives. A fun time for all. The young people stayed up to watch stars. As for me, it was visions of fairies and sugar plums. Despite the smoke filled skies early in the week, the refreshing rain midweek, the pitter patter of mice feet, and the sheer pressure of relaxing at the lake, we had another successful family week. We weren't quite a full squad because Sawyer isn't make it up from Portland, but we had a face time session with him which these days is almost like connecting. No worries, life is still pretty good, especially today.

Uncle Pete spent time teaching Falc the mysteries of the foam noodle.

Mary Fritch, our old neighbor and friend, brought yummy pies for dessert.

Forced relaxation on the beach.

 

Carol got caught with a few dominos during one of the games.

Libby took over for Mimi and played the winning hand.

Falc was a witness when Mimi, the Wiley Cager, continued to whittle away at my lead.

Among the traditions beginning to be established is Paella night. Leticia outdid herself in last night's version, even though she forgot the paprika.

No bad days at the lake. The moon set on another good one last night.

Never enough Mimi time.
  

Adventure 882: Ferguson Lake House/6

So let's recap the thin gruel we've eaten for dinner so far this week. Mimi and I furnished the institutional lasagna, taco mix, and cookies. That took care of the first few days. Libby made enchiladas on Wednesday, and today Angela served us Spring Rolls with BBQ pork. Out of this world! The day itself was perfect. The temperature was a sunny bright 76, warm enough to swim, sunbathe, and generally frolic. Perfect, like I say. Falc swam on his own, or should I say kicked his legs like crazy. Nonetheless, he swam. I swam too, in my fashion, which means donning a life jacket and floating like a whisky cork on the waves. The water is fine. Join me if you dare. Otherwise, realize that life here is pretty good, especially today.

Family walk around the loop.

Hugs good bye to Bonnie, Emily, and Sarah.

Half moon twilight.

Angela at work making spring rolls.

Huckleberry pancakes for breakfast.

Nerves fray on the fourth family day. Water fight!

No harm done.

No fade.

Mrs. Ulmen bringing on the bruschetta.

Adventure 881: Ferguson Lake House/5

 A day of steady 18-20 knot wind gave way to a flat calm about 8 P.M., promising a bright blue sky tomorrow. If that happens, we'll likely experience two full days of perfect lake weather. Of course, there are no bad days at the lake. Today, our water bugs found time to paddle the boards, chase the fish, and build castles in the sand. What more can they want? And as usual, books were read, noses bent toward screens, and eyelids closed amid dreamy thoughts. And more is better, so we're happy that Bonnie came back from her meeting in town towing Liz Ulmen with her. We're now ten strong, not counting the mice, and who knows how many field mice have invaded the lake house. Rumor has is that there is a mouse track meet happening at night. I know we captured just one mouse despite the fact that we set five traps. We're all dutifully traumatized and sleeping with our feet up off the floor. Not really, but romance at short notice is one of my specialties. What would life be without a little drama? Tonight we're trying to entice the mice with Jiffy peanut butter. Last night, we tempted them with almond butter. Clearly, the rodents aren't interested in "foo foo" butter. Let's see if some sugar laden Jiffy can tempt them. Stay tuned for excitement, which we all clearly need so that life remains good, especially today.

Hey, girls! Go fish.

Tomorrow's promise.

Dock babes,

Water bug.

Mimi and the Falc.

No more mouse poop!

Rock and Roll runaway white caps

.

Sand bug.

Adventure 880: Ferguson Lake House/4

A steady rain today served as an answer to prayer. Hopefully, the rain will not only mitigate the smoke in the air, but also help in the efforts to fight the area fires, which were far from contained at the time of this post. But that's not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about the lake. Priest Lake is magnificent. Simply put it's a place loved and cared for by many. I've been fortunate, as one of them, to spend much time here. As I stood on the dock this afternoon witnessing full faced, the cleansing breath of a strong southwest wind, I smiled in deference to those powers so much greater than me thanking them for allowing me to be the luckiest guy on the planet. Here's some proof. I first came to the lake as a guest of the Curran family when I was fifteen. Through my teens and early twenties, Annie and I continued to spend time in the summers, mostly gorilla camping at Huckleberry Bay.  After our marriage, Judy and I rented a cabin in Outlet Bay for two weeks every summer for ten-twelve years. After that we spent several years enjoying the hospitality of of my cousin at his cabin at Eight Mile. I have also had several visits to the lake aboard the Cat Bilu, a 22 ft Catalina Sail boat. Oh, and who could forget the time I spent with my son hiking, camping, and paddling a canoe in Upper Priest. And now here we are relaxing in the very comfortable lake home of the Ferguson's just beyond Huckleberry Bay where it all began. I mean to tell you, life is good, especially today.

Forced inside, Aunt Libby fixed the Skinny Margaritas with tajin. Spicy with a kick!

I so admire the majesty of this place. Lucky just to stand here.

Indoor duty meant keeping this guy engaged.

Last night.

This morning.

This afternoon.

This evening.

 

Adventure 879: Ferguson Lake House/3

Two days in and already we're on lake time. Not much movement before 9 A.M. but anyone up early would have seen much the same haze as the day before. By evening the wind and rain came knocking some of the smoke down. Hopefully, that will be enough to freshen the air tomorrow. We'll see. In the meantime, we started the day with Abe K French toast, bacon, and cantaloupe. Delicious. When Judy and I were first married, the first issue to be negotiated was how to properly make French Toast. I came from the dipping school. Judy came from the soaking school. We've been soaking ever since. After breakfast, we gathered at the beach for water frolicking. Midday brought naps, screens, and dreams. Afternoon dominoes led to a dinner of sausage sandwiches smothered with sautéed peppers and onions, baked beans, Cole slaw. After dinner, we all snuggled up onto the two basement beds with our popcorn and watched an animated film called Back to the Outback. Quite a fun day filled with family propinquity, always something that makes life good, especially today.

By this evening the sky was more normal. 

Selfie of the Day: Mimi and PopPops enjoying the clan.

First order of business this morning was spending time with Falc.

Abe K French Toast. Tradition.

Señores riding the Mexican Train.

Falc's trying to catch some fish.

Art shot of the day.

Water Bugs: Sarah and Bonnie.

Sam getting ready for another swim.

Mid morning snacks by Leticia.

 Oh, and she fixed breakfast, too! 

Adventure 878: Ferguson Lake House/2

When we woke up in the morning we could see across the lake; a patch of blue hung above us, and an an easy breeze blew from the North. The weather warmed to the mid seventies with a nice orange sun hanging in the sky. By the late afternoon  when Angela, Leticia, and Falcon arrived ,the waterfront was open. The kids and Zam, the dog, frolicked in the water after dinner. Like I said, "Smoke be damned." We're all here now, save Sawyer, who still has to decide if he wants to make the drive into the smoke. In the meantime, we spent the early part of the day inside. We played dominoes and stuck our noses into our screens and created some pretty good nachos from the left over taco supplies for lunch. After lunch, naps were taken, knits were knitted, and everyone pretty much did what they pleased.All this makes it easy to realize that "Life is good, especially today."

No bad days at the lake. Elizabeth doing a little beach reading.

Sarah doing a little log jumping.

Falcon doing a little beach staring.

Leticia doing a little mothering.

Sunset haze.

Top of the morning to you.

And to you.

So Emily, let's decide on a bit of your future.

Blow wind blow.

Let the trains collide.

Emily stepping into space.

Lunch anyone. Nachos du jour.