Quick Trip

We made a quick trip to Lester last week for Aunt Esty's funeral.  I spent a lot of time with Fred and Esty's family growing up (and since) and have a lot of good memories.  None of the surviving Illinois sisters-in-law or brothers-in-law could make the 1150 mile round trip, so we were glad that we could go and represent the family.  We enjoyed our overnight with Art and Kris, but would have liked to have had more time to visit with them and our other relatives.  It was peaceful at the cemetery, and my thoughts went to Grandpa and Grandma, Aunts and Uncles, and cousins as we strolled around looking at the graves.  Our van load headed back after the funeral meal, and we were home before midnight.

At home, the Hollyhocks are having a particularly good year.

Sunday evening, we went out to eat with the oldest farmer and his wife who were celebrating their 67th anniversary. Afterwards, a small group of us met at Glen Oak Park for the Municipal Band concert.  It was a cool and beautiful evening to be outside, and Michelle and Nathan brought ice cream to enjoy with the music.

The band setting up and tuning up as people find spots on the lawn.

Our group getting settled in for the concert.

We have cut some wheat, but ours is not really dry enough yet.  We finished our neighbors first, but every time we get started on ours, a shower moves through and chases us from the field.

The combine header clipped the wheat just above this nest of baby birds.  With less shade, they are now working on their tans.

The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
Song of Solomon 2:12

Meat

A T-town potluck bought a meal on the LSM Benefit Auction and each couple invited a guest couple.  We were guests of Steve and Sara.  Saturday night the meal was held at a cabin south of T-town and Dean B. was the chef.  He had spent a lot of time in Brazil when working for Caterpillar, and enjoyed the food, preparation, and social time that their meals entail. So he brought the experience back with him.  He had a brick oven/cast stove-top/open oven/grill built in his cabin so he could recreate the meals he had in Brazil for groups here.
  He started by marinating the meat the day before, then started a pot of beans simmering on the stove-top early afternoon.  When we arrived at 4:00, he had all the meat in various stages of cooking in the oven/grill.  We first sampled the salt pork he had rendered on a disk blade turned cooking utensil.  We ate mostly with our fingers as we progressed through the meats; grilled bacon, steak strips, sausage slices, chicken, veal steak, Picanha steak, and finally prime rib roast.  All grilled/roasted on a cherry wood fire.  We ate for 3-4 hours!  We also had grilled cheese slabs, rice with the beans, salad, and fruit.  After all this food, we topped it off with a Brazilian chocolate cake.  I was uncomfortably stuffed.  It was a fun and interesting evening.

We drove home in a driving rainstorm and the closer we got to home the worse it was.  There was water running across our road in several places as well as some in our basement.  When I checked our rain gauge Sunday morning, we had received 4 inches in the storm!

Father's Day, we had everyone that was available to our house.  We had three generations of Dads here.   The original suggestion was to pick up chicken, but we wanted man food for Father's Day!  We instead served BBQ ribs and beef brisket.  More good meat!  Daughter #2 brought me a coconut cream pie she made for my gift, so it will be a good week!

And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the fryingpan, and in the pan, shall be the priest's that offereth it.
Leviticus 7:9

Memories

The last weekend in May, we took a little trip up to Germantown Hills to eat at the Germantown Grill.  They have an interesting menu including nine different types of horseshoes, and several unique pizzas.  I had the Texas BBQ Shoe and it was very good.   We will definitely go back again.

After our meal we stopped back in Washington and walked around the town cemetery.  It was a beautiful evening in a beautiful cemetery.  It was interesting to pick out the grave sites of old town fathers as well as some of our former landlords, family doctor, lawyer, eye doctor, and banker.  It is a peaceful feeling being in a cemetery knowing that this really is not the final resting place, and if we know Christ, our eternal home will be in heaven.

On Memorial Day, I stayed home and cleaned all the gutters on the house.  I got my workout moving ladders around, and climbing up and down.  I did take time to ponder the wonderful freedoms that we have, and the price that was paid for us to be able to enjoy them.

Last weekend we took our children and grandchildren to the historic Delihant Farm near Three Rivers, Michigan.  It is an old, updated farmhouse that had a pool, playground, trampoline, patio, large tree shaded yard, and a few trails.  We enjoyed our stay, had nice weather, and enjoyed good food.  It did get a little noisy at times, but it was mostly good noise.

Sunday morning we drove down to Milford for church.  It was my first time back to Milford since my Sunday School days.  We enjoyed the day of worship and fellowship.  I especially enjoyed meeting a lot of new people as well as renewing some old friendships.  I would like to see a Beer family tree, because I am a little confused after meeting so many!  And they served brownies and ice cream with toppings at lunch!  It's always extra work to take church clothes on vacations and to get up earlier than you would like to on a vacation Sunday morning, but it is always worth it.  A Brother thanked me for thinking to come visit a smaller church and what a blessing visitors are.  I told him that anytime we have made the effort to do that, I always come away with the greater blessing.  This time was no exception.  We have a blessed fellowship.

God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
I Corinthians 1:9