New Year's Eve

unfortunately this is my normal working weekend.  Joe grilled our steak and shrimp for dinner, and it was very tasty. 28 degrees is a grilling weather in winter. 

I didn't make a special dessert, but we toasted with Manhattan a couple hours before midnight. We aren't sure if we can make it to midnight. Happy New Year!!

WHITE Christmas

This year has flown by so quickly... so did this holiday shopping season for my work. We both worked one last day yesterday and started our super WHITE blizzard Christmas weekend. We are staying home and chilling. Our front window is currently white nothing, and the blizzard is supposed to last all day. It feels like a continuing tradition from the Covid years. 

As busy as we have been, we somehow managed to check off essential things on our holiday to-do list. We probably would have gotten more done... if we didn't stop for treats and libations here and there while running errands.

Also we hear that nasty flu bugs are going around. Wherever you are, whatever weather you are having on this Christmas, have a wonderful time celebrating! 

Hawaii Vacation to Deer Season

Just like that! It's deer season again... and Joe shot a 4-point on the second day yesterday. He didn't wait around this year, since his work prevented him from taking too many days off. 

And what a month! Exactly a month ago, already, we had over a foot of wet snow and left for our vacation on the Big Island. Our time in Hawaii feels like a sweet warm dream, so far away.

We indeed had a great adventure, exploring as much of the unique and diverse island as we could in a short week. We watched a sunset from the highest point in the US, on top of Mauna Kea, 14000ft above sea level. Though unexpected weather with cold mist and snow later on made our star gazing impossible, the Volcano goddess let us have a clear view of Milky Way briefly. 

Even just driving around the island, our mind was blown how quickly the landscape changed, from the powerful and massive volcanos...

To tropical paradise. 

So much more to explore, not enough time! Finally the last two days of our stay, we took it easy and enjoyed relaxing and floating in the lagoon at our hotel. 

We miss our wonderful view of the ocean to wake up to each morning. But what we miss the most would be all those colorful fish we could watch from the shore... even on our morning walk to grab a coffee. Well, Joe did not win the lottery, so "a hui hou," till we meet again, Hawaii.

Enroute

Currently waiting for our flight to LA in Detroit. Still hard to believe only yesterday morning we dug ourselves out of 1 1/2 feet of wet snow back home to start our vacation!

Only a few days ago we were at our beach... with winter hats and jackets.  Hawaii 10 hours away feels still surreal. Cheers!

 

4 More Days...

4 days till we leave for the the Big Island... though we're still in our work mode. We really need to start packing! We had our official first snow of the season last Friday, October 7th, and are expecting a winter storm Sunday through Tuesday. More than ready to enjoy the sun and warmth in Hawaii. 

Last Two Days of Trout Season

We've been taking extra fishing trips in the last few weeks, chasing fall salmon. No salmon caught, but enough large brown trout. Still, we were not expecting this monster, a 24" brown, on my first cast last evening. The truth was... the fish almost got away if Joe hadn't pounced on, grab, and throw it onto the bank, just like a hungry grizzly bear. All because I didn't tie my lure correctly, yet again! And no, I do not feel comfortable at all holding a fish this big!

Today was officially the last day of trout season, so we both took a day off from work. We savored one last time to to be on Apple Creek in the morning sun. No room to complain about not catching any salmon. We had plenty of fun catching a few decent size trout.

Fall colors are popping out.

It was a pleasant fall day to be outside. After walking back to the truck (starving) and taking a lunch break, we even went to one another spot to try catching a salmon. No luck. On our way home we gave thanks to Fish God for another fun season.

For dinner we put together homemade pizzas. Not a shabby day, enjoying simple things in life. It is hard to believe that we have only 19 days till we leave for the Big Island. Here comes October! 

"Dark Arts" and Autumn

Joe calls fly fishing "Dark Arts" of fishing. All I know is that fly fishing is very deep... I was perfectly happy with simple-minded spin casting all day long. Recently Joe dug out his fly rod from the depth of his closet and bought me a beginner set. This year though we just practice in our back yard, snagging neighbor's fence.

Trout fishing is slowing down, and now we wait for fall salmon. Meanwhile Joe started to get ready for deer season, checking and clearing his trails.

Apples were dropping at his old boss's apple orchard, so Joe went to pick them for deer feed (and a small bunch to make apple crisp for us).

And our grapes started to color.... Every week, or every day, autumn progresses. This Monday we took an after-work fishing trip to Apple Creek, hoping to see salmon. No signs of salmon, but fall colors were popping up. Joe was surprised to see the change over night, since he was there the morning before. 

End of Summer

When we get to enjoy sunflowers and sweet corn, you know summer is coming to an end. And once the State Fair is over... we start thinking about the fall salmon season, and then our grapes... just before our first frost.

No matter how pretty, tasty and fun, it always feels bitter sweet. Ever slightly melancholy. This week Joe lost a cousin to a fire. Another reminder that life sometimes is not fair. A good reason for us to go out fishing more often, only to enjoy a beautiful moment in the woods. 

On a lighter note, we finally booked our October vacation to Hawaii's Big Island. Something lovely and exotic to look forward to.

Frenchman's Pond Comes True

Joe came back from his business training trip. All his flights were on time, and all in all he was glad to have gone. But we are glad he's home. We enjoyed a relaxing Saturday, checking out our local farmer's market, skipping rocks at the lake, and of course having a pint at our usual brewery. Back to normal.

Sunday we had a very special fishing adventure. By chance of meeting people at work, we were invited to Frenchman's Pond, which we have read about. 

We were even more honored that our host let us spin cast instead of fly fish this one time, hoping the old judge/author/fly fishing legend John Voelker in heaven wouldn't be upset. I suppose he wasn't too offended, we got to catch a few native brook trout.

The whole experience felt, and still feels, surreal. Almost like time traveling or stepping into a different dimension, in this case inside a book!

July Recap

In a few hours it'll be August! July up here was very pleasant, perfect summer days. Warm days and cooler evenings. From our road trip we picked up fresh strawberries at a roadside stand, so I made strawberry shortcake, which made a perfect breakfast one ordinary work day.

We even managed to have a beach day. Not often the conditions are beach worthy around here. Air and water have to be warm enough, and also bugs can't be swarming all over to bite us. On such rare occasions we are starting to appreciate the magic of a sandy beach.

We've been enjoying yakiniku a couple of times a week. Such simple cooking, yet so tasty and satisfying!

Joe even hasn't gone fishing much, avoiding a bug season. Last Sunday we went to Apple Creek and actually had lots of small and medium size fish chase after our lures. It was such a fun fishing trip, we were glad we went.

So that's pretty much our recap of July. We both worked hard, yet looking back, we had some summer fun as well as some friends and family time. As I type, Joe is getting ready to leave for Denver early tomorrow morning on a week-long business trip. Here's our hoping for a good start to August!

A Little Bit of Adventure

It was already a week ago... but last Friday we played hooky and went for a drive. Joe actually took a day off from work, first in many month. We hopped into his truck and drove. Our first destination was the highest point in Michigan. We had no idea what to expect, but there was a road all the way up, with some bumps. Probably more meaningful if we had done the 11 mile hike. Then we drove out to Agate Beach. Joe always wanted to check it out. Well, we only found a couple of small agates. Still it was fun to be on a new stretch of lakeshore on a work day!

On our way back for dinner I got to taste my very first drive-in burger experience.

Our food was served on a car window tray! They had very good classic sodas, I imagine, like going back to the 50's. All in all, we had a good day on the road, a much needed adventure.

Lastly, this week I lost my grandmother juts before her 90th birthday. I wished we had been able to travel to Japan in 2020 to see her one last time....  So we had Japanese BBQ to honor her life. And it was a good yakiniku session!

Kayo's New Toy

This week my new printer arrived. My old Epson I've had for a long time still worked, except it wouldn't take my new ink cartridges. It turned out that the global part shortages due to the pandemic affected printer inks, too. Simply, my printer was too old... surrounded by all new technology. My new Epson is very smart. I can even print from my phone!

I had a successful day with my new toy, and the day got warm. After dinner we went out to the lake for a stroll.  The air was actually warmer there, and we watched a storm roll in.

Later, at home, we watched a rain/lightening storm with small mostly-pea-sized hail. So the month of June is coming to an end. We wish you all a safe and fun July 4th weekend!