Circle of Life

The big news of the week is the casting of "The Lion King" in which Raif will be playing Mufasa while Cora will play the young Nala and also a dancing lioness. Raif will have a solo song, and Cora will sing a duet with Simba. The nerves gave way to excitement as we listened to the soundtrack numerous times and the kids practiced their lines. The show is January 15, so there is plenty of time to prepare, but I am already impressed with the dedication these two have shown to their parts.

Other big news relating to the property that we are living on came at the end of the week. The surveying company has enough information to rewrite a complete legal description of the property, and Mark's parents will be able to close on the house as well as the rest of the land hopefully by November. Great news!

MEA week featured sunny and crisp weather along with a visit from my mother and her boyfriend Tom. They arrived Thurs. afternoon, and we enjoyed many delicious meals as well as lots of outdoor activities. Unfortunately, Fiona was sick during the night and that kept us up quite a bit in the night. Luckily, Mom and Tom stayed at our friend's cabin a few miles away so they didn't have to try to sleep through the noise and commotion of a puking toddler.

We put them to work straight away Friday pulling nails from the rafters in the old building. These are pine rafters which have a beautiful reddish color, and tight growth rings. Mark plans to rip them down and make trim from them. Each piece of trim will have a story to tell that includes nail holes from the many different times this wood was used and reused. Many hands touching the wood makes for a warm house. Some people pay money or spend time trying to create a faux distressed look on wood. We are getting that look without much effort - except the elbow grease we used while pulling all those nails. We got that pile done in one day, and what a satisfying task it was! Mark and Toby worked on the shop more, finally finishing one corner of the log work.

Great shot of the weekend crew working on pulling nails.

Toby cutting rebar into spikes to hold the logs together on the shop.

We had a variety of tools to choose from while pulling.

The sunny day and good company made the work go by quickly.

That night we had a fire in the gazebo, roasted eggplant over the fire in preparation for making baba ganoush the next day. Mark and I made krautburgers for dinner, which had to be rescued after I accidentally put one cup of flour too few in the dough. Luckily, Mark is a bread master and fixed my error. Krautburgers are a specialty of Mark's and consist of a bread pocket filled with ground beef, cabbage and onions which have been browned and caramelized before baking inside the dough. The outside is then brushed with butter once removed from the oven to emphasize the pretty brown crust of the dough. Even though the word "kraut" is in the name, Mark does not make them with kraut but you could try that if you wanted to. Finishing the meal off with a fresh apple pie was a perfect fall treat!

Sat. was our play day. We went out for breakfast at Insula, a local restaurant which has rather tasty breakfast options. Then Mom and Tom decided to buy a used canoe for use by the whole family (my siblings and their families) when they come to visit. It is a light one, proved when I flipped it up and onto my shoulders easily. What a great present!

We took a short hike back to the Kawishiwi Falls that pour into Fall Lake and power the hydro plant on the lake. It was a chilly day, but the sun poked through the clouds occasionally, and the falls are beautiful. The kids spent some time exploring, and Fiona fell asleep in the boba. Cora had a mini photo shoot on a big rock by the water's edge.

After the hike, the big kids took Tom and Pam out on the water to try out the new canoe. They toured the bay and islands of Fall Lake on our end. The canoe handled well and proved to be a good purchase. Raif and Cora were proud of themselves for being strong enough paddlers to lead the tour on their own. The party even got out of the canoes on the other side of the lake for a short exploration of the shoreland.

We relied on our standby meal of pizzas on the grill for a satisfying end of the day meal. Fiona entertained us while eating pizza. Grandma taught her how to bite the crust with a growl. They decided to bring Raif and Cora back to the cabin with them for the night for a fun overnight. Games were played and fun was had, while Mark, Fiona, and I just went straight to bed.

On Sunday after Mom and Tom left, we went to Mark's parents house for football watching and more pizza! Jake makes a mean pizza, and we enjoyed several dips with crackers including the baba ganoush we made on Sat. A weekend full of family makes for a happy household. It was a perfect way to spend our fall break.

Grandma Pam and Fiona holding "Orangey" her stuffed bear that is white. No clue how the name came to be.

Cuddles with Raif and Grandma Ann - still holding Orangey.

This corner of the shop is complete. The logs will only go up 3 levels, and then post and beam above that. The joints look great, and the progress is fun to watch.