We have been unbelievably busy this summer, running the full gamut of activities! Between traveling and creating art, there’s never a dull moment around here!

We’ve been staying in my parents basement, which is way better than it sounds. Right away, Caleb and Amy (my brother and his wife) came up to visit us. We all hopped in Dad’s truck and took a drive up to Bellaire, home of Shorts Brewery and very near the famous Torch Lake. We circumnavigated the lake and ended up on the shores of Grand Traverse Bay, a phenomenally beautiful body of water!

The following weekend, Mom and I had plans to go to the art show in Ann Arbor, but a heatwave made us rethink that plan. Instead, we went up the very tip of the Old Mission Peninsula!

We also stopped at a lavender farm on the peninsula, where Mom bought some lavender plants and I tested out some very strongly scented lotion.

You can’t go to Old Mission without stopping at a winery, so we made sure to visit a friend at Chateau Chantal!

A friend of mine was inspired by a woodcarver to start carving her own spoons, so she hosted a spoon-carving party! She and her husband have a well-equipped woodshop, and let me tell you: having the right tools is 80% of the battle! I think the other 20% is probably patience, as carving is a slow process.

That being said, my first spoon turned out amazing! I made a couple after that but they weren’t nearly as pretty or functional.

When we finally got the bus up and running again, Kyle said he needed a break, so we decided to head out to Manistee. First we walked out to the lighthouse.

After that we were ready for a beer, so we stopped at North Channel Brewing for a delicious IPA.

On the way home, we absolutely had to stop at a scenic road just off the highway to capture a few shots of the bus – this reminds me so much of the avenue of oaks that are so common in the Charleston area!

I got home from a coffee date one day and Mom said “put your berry-picking clothes on!” I didn’t really bring work clothes on this trip, I don’t know what I was thinking! We ended up in a wild berry patch, and picked a good amount of black raspberries!

Later we went to a blueberry farm and picked some delicious blueberries as well, so I ended up canning some jam. I tested a small batch of blueberry-lavender, which was good but not so good that I wanted 6 jars of it. I canned a batch of lime-blackberry and another batch of lemon-blueberry!

An artist friend hosted an art night, and we all had a chance to try fiber art. First we layered up loose wool fibers until the pile was a couple inches thick.

Then pour on hot, soapy water and let it shrink down. To get the fibers to bond together, we beat them with pool noodles!

And then wadded the whole thing up and pitched it at the table a few times. I didn’t know raincoats were recommended for this activity!

My layers still need a little work to finish adhering (maybe some dryer time?) but here’s the artwork we created!

Realtalk: this is the highlight reel. There are a million mundane things that weren’t exciting enough to list, like the time spent developing a daily routine because I was discouraged by not making progress on some personal goals, or the mornings spent curled up on the couch because allergies completely zapped my energy. We spent plenty of days at home with nothing exciting going on. We’re both incredibly grateful to have this time to catch up with people we don’t see often enough anymore, and to try new things, and to be a part of this community again. I’ve realized that northern Michigan will always be home to me, which is why it’s the hailing port we put on our boat even though she’s never been anywhere near Michigan!