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With little space in the Penthouse Cabin, any upward projection is fair game as a hook (noooo..not THAT one! LOL). We'd been using the top hook of the unneeded bunk bed ladder as a place to hang my camera bag, our laundry bag and a bag of candles I picked up at the thrift store. As Gene opened the fridge which is next to the bed and said ladder, the thing toppled over and everything hit the ground. I complained that his bunk beds had no bedpost at which point he broke into a one-line rendition of "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor On The Bedpost Overnight". Neither of us could remember the rest of the song though it did bring back memories of our childhood.

So...of course..I googled it...and Gene regretted even bringing it up as I proceeded to read to him my finding which was obviously more than he cared to know about said song, but that didn't stop me. As I'm sure your musical curiosity has been piqued (what? no?? LOL), the following is what I pulled up...

DOES YOUR CHEWING GUM LOSE ITS FLAVOUR ON THE BEDPOST OVERNIGHT?
Based on the 1924 original by Ernest Hare & Billy Jones
"Does The Spearmint Lose Its Flavor On The Bedpost Overnight?
(Marty Bloom / Ernest Breuer / Billy Rose)

Lonnie Donegan - 1958

Also recorded by : Ding Dongs



Oh me oh my oh you
Whatever shall I do?
Hallelujah, the question is peculiar
I'd give a lot of dough
If only I could know
The answer to my question
Is it yes or is it no?

CHORUS:
Does your chewing gum lose its flavour on the bedpost overnight?
If your mother says don't chew it, do you swallow it in spite?
Can you catch it on your tonsils, can you heave it left and right?
Does your chewing gum lose its flavour on the bedpost overnight?

Here comes a blushing bride
The groom is by her side
Up to the altar, just as steady as Gibraltar
The groom has got the ring
And it's such a pretty thing
But as he slips it on her finger
The choir begins to sing:

CHORUS

Now the nation rise as one
To send their wanted son
Up to the White House, yes, the nation's only White House
To voice their discontent
Unto the Pres-I-dent
The bonny burning question, What has swept this continent?
SPOKEN: If tin whistles are made of tin, what do they make fog horns
out of?
(2nd Voice: Boom! Boom!)

CHORUS

On the bedpost overnight
(2nd Voice: Hello there, I love you and the one who holds you tight!)
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sat'day night!
On the bedpost overnight
(2nd Voice: A dollar is a dollar and a dime is a dime!)
He'd sing another chorus but he hasn't got the time!
On the bedpost overnight, yeah!

Have a wonderful day..and just TRY to get that little ditty out of your head. Ha ha!

Love ya all,

Janet

Good Monday morning, Boomers! Life here has been inexplicably busy and I’m just now sitting down to post more about our U.P. Adventure and share more photos. I hope all of you had a great Father’s Day yesterday. Here I took Gene out for lunch on Saturday as we were in town and wouldn’t be on Sunday. We had a bountiful meal at Great Northern Buffet in Iron Mountain and then picked up some home-baked goods at a church outdoor rummage sale along the road home for dessert. They are collecting funds to put in a wheel chair ramp at the church and it felt good to help them out.

Sunday we went to church as usual. It’s called Witch Lake Baptist Church and somehow connecting the words “witch” and “church” seems odd to me, but it’s by Witch Lake so… Beside the fact that this church and the pastor always make sure to share the plan of salvation and make it clear that simply sitting in church on Sunday or knowing in ones head what the Bible says do not make one a Christian, their emphasis on music is what makes our Sunday worship something I especially look forward to each week. This Sunday the pastor invited anyone who would like to sing one of the hymns in an “impromptu choir” to come up front with their song book. Gene’s cousin’s wife sitting just in front of us turned around and encouraged me to join them up front, saying I sing very well. So, blushing, I joined the small group at the front of the sanctuary and felt, though new to the church, as if I was one of them which was nice. Most churches have an organized choir that practices on Wednesday night in preparation for the Sunday service, but this group with no practice sang in beautiful harmony.

Though it WAS Father’s Day, Gene spent most of the day working and I napping after I made a frozen pizza in the oven of our “new” stove for lunch. One of his projects was to add this to our feeder tree, in case I decide to “throw in the towel” and walk home… LOL





But no way! I have never been in a place where the beauty of all God’s creation is so evident. I finally got a photo of a deer by day…





Mr. and Mrs. Finch paid a visit to our feeder tree and were nice enough to pose for me…





Mr. Chubby Cheeks arrived to fill up on shelled safflower seeds…





and a black and white butterfly landed on the deck mat…





I even had a tiny butterfly land on my foot and it stayed long enough for Gene to hand me my camera…








On top of all this Gene collects wildflowers for me on his walks. You KNOW how much a bouquet of irises and daisies would cost at the florist. Well, this floral display…





grew the next day to this…





and as I used to buy myself flowers when I was alone just because I felt I was worth it, I now have a man who tells me I am and brings them daily in abundance.

While sitting in the woods each evening this is Gene’s view…








I promised to share the photos from Pippen’s first swimming expedition so here they are…

I outfitted him with a life jacket since he’s not a swimming breed (though Gene just shakes his head and repeats like a mantra “dog paddle…dog paddle” thinking I have never heard of the concept)…





I thought he looked quite the sportsman. LOL

Arriving at the end of the pier, Pippen peered (no pun intended) over the edge and his mind began to race, I’m sure…





But I knew how hot he must feel and thought a cool dip in the lake would be quite refreshing, not to mention serve as a quick bath. Hm..well, unfortunately I didn’t get a shot of him swimming (read “struggling” in the water) but here he is just after the experience…





and again, drying off on the pier (and I’m sure thinking up things he could pee on that would serve us right for what we’d done..LOL)…





We have been amazed at how a city dog who reveled in barking at squirrels and brought us baby opossums he’d “bagged” has now become a calm little guy who seems to have become one with the woodland creatures. Here we captured what we saw as Pippen and a baby squirrel got “up close and personal”…





The squirrel drew even closer…





and then scampered off…











up a tree, to Pippen’s dismay…




After a day filled with adventure, you will find Pippen, head on Gene’s pillow, sacked out on the bed..his favorite spot in the Penthouse Cabin…






So that’s the week in photos pretty much. We’re looking forward to a visit, hopefully, from Annie, our friend here on Boomer and off-Boomer from Windsor, ON Canada this coming weekend. It should be fun.

I leave you with a photo from this afternoon’s thunderstorm on the lake…





and though this blog started out with “Good Monday morning” I wish you a restful Monday evening as we sit down to a meal of “Gene’s Shrimp Fried Rice”…mmm..very tasty!

Blessings,

Janet

Good morning, Boomers! Today is Father's Day here in the U.S.A. The idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington. A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.

Having been raised by her father, William Jackson Smart, after her mother died while giving birth to their sixth child, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.

In 1926, a National Father's Day Committee was formed in New York City. Father's Day was recognized by a Joint Resolution of Congress in 1956. In 1972, President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance of Father's Day to be held on the third Sunday of June. So Father's Day was born in memory and gratitude by a daughter who thought that her father and all good fathers should be honored with a special day just like we honor our mothers on Mother's Day.

In honor of this special day and all of those who are dads, those who are celebrating with their dads, and those who hold fond memories of their dads, I want to share this music video by Mark Harris entitled "Find Your Wings"....

Mark Harris: Find Your Wings

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Blessings to all the fathers!

Janet

Well, today we needed groceries and I needed to mail off my Father's Day cards hoping they'll arrive in Chicago by Sunday. Channing is the closest small town AND where Mary lives so we took off down the highway south.

At the post office I thought we might find out where to find Mary since she lost her computer access just before we could get her address. Sure enough..and thank heaven for small towns! The postal lady knew exactly who she was, simply by first name and a few details we'd gleaned off Boomer blogs, etc.

A short drive off the main highway and there was the house. A young lady came to the door and I asked, "Are you Mary of the blue eyes?" She said she was not, but when I asked if she lived there, she said yes, and went back inside to call Mary.

Boy, what a welcome! Mary was so happy to see us and after a big hug we chatted a while on her front porch. She asked us to let everyone on Boomer knows we saw her (like THAT wasn't going to happen..lol) and to say "Hi." She's working on finding a used computer at a decent price so she can get back online. She said she doesn't miss anything online, not e-mails, etc. except for Boomer. If anyone has an old computer they'd like to send, I'm sure she'd be pleased as punch. Mary Miller of Channing, MI should get it to her.

Today it's steaming hot here, the "weather" says 86 at 5:30 pm, and no breeze off the lake this evening. Pretty much a repeat of yesterday. Ah, at least I got a real shower at Mark's before grocery shopping. Bless him!

I'll leave you today with this photo I captured this morning of Mr. Chubby Cheeks as he filled up on seed at our feeder tree. I'd forgotten chipmunks do that. Cute!



Have a restful evening.

Blessings,

Janet

Good Evening!

As Gene is off to town with a friend plus pick-up to pick-up our “new” stove, I’ve a little time here so I thought I’d say “Hi” and add a few more photos of our U.P. Adventure. After working SO hard to clean up Gene’s stove and then finding it emitted fumes of some strange nature when turned on, we bought a used stove to replace it. I’m watching some yellow finches out the window that have finally discovered our thistle finch feeder. Yippee! The chickadees, those little gray and white fellows with jet black toupees and beards (or so they seem) continue their daily feeding on shelled safflower seeds (they have no idea the work they’ve been saved!). The baby squirrel likes that convenience as well. The deer come to feed on the corn Gene puts out but only at the break of dawn and once dusk has set in. I don’t have an infra-red camera for night shots, so this is the best I can do to document their presence here…





On our way down the dirt road out to town yesterday, we found a sad sign of some marauder having found our turtle’s “nest”…



Oh, well…that’s the way it goes out in the woods. Better luck next year, Mrs. Turtle.

While stopped to view the turtle’s nest, Gene spotted some blackberry bushes just blooming in preparation for the fruit that will follow the small white flowers…



He told me that’s how you know where the berries will be to pick them quick before the bears do. Bears??!! Hm. Gene says if I’m outside and notice a “god-awful” smell it’s best to run for shelter as bears rarely use body deodorant and you can be sure there’s one not far off. I think seeing a bear would be, well, interesting, but hope I don’t come upon one just the other side of the berry bush while gathering dessert as Gene did one summer. Yikes!

While in town we stopped by the Yooper Tourist Trap again. This is one of their signs and indicative of the Yooper hospitality toward “trunk slammers” (visiting tourists)…



It says: “WELCOME TO YOOPERLAND Relax, enjoy, spend all your cash, but don’t move up here.” LOL

I got a photo of the largest working rifle…



a chainsaw named “Gus” big enough for Paul Bunyan…



a Yooper riding lawn mower…



and, last but not least, a “Finnish love seat” which Gene tried out being he’s a Finn…



We had a visit from Gene’s friend Mark yesterday evening who arrived by canoe with his two children…



Here one never knows when company will arrive or if “by land or by sea.” LOL Just have to keep an eye or an ear out for unannounced visitors (WHO has a phone up here to call ahead??) or one can be caught napping, half-dressed, or "busy".

Well, my stove delivery men have arrived. Our good friend Spider (Dave) who provided the pick-up is installing it now. Hurray! Roast chicken tonight! I’ll leave you with wishes for a restful evening and this photo Gene took at the crack of dawn this morning…



Blessings,

Janet

Hello to all our Boomer friends from the beautiful upper peninsula of Michigan! Life is heaven here and sitting at the computer happens much less frequently these days. I've finally made myself sit down and document, for your enjoyment, Gene (Easy) and my first week on our U.P. adventure as he has taken me "home" to the Penthouse Cabin and paradise.

We took off Friday morning, June 1st, from Summit (Chicago area) in Illinois for our first trip together to the Penthouse Cabin on Island Lake, 14 miies from Republic, Michigan and nowhere close to the city life we left behind...



We bought a '98 Nissan Pathfinder to replace my old station wagon and it's just what we need for the rough back roads. Gene let me outfit it with a "frog" (my favorite and a collection I have) steering wheel cover...



Driving north we went through Sheboygan, WI where we saw what Gene called "the biggest flag you've ever seen...



We arrived in the evening to a welcome committee of mosquitos at the Penthouse Cabin on Island Lake….



As I took my first step into what had been Gene’s bachelor pad for 10 years, I questioned my sanity at having said, “No, there’s no reason you should go up without me first to clean up…” LOL After a week, however, our home in the woods is looking much more civilized with the help of a lot of elbow grease and some creative additions thanks to Beautiful Homes by Thift Stores Decorating.

Our first morning here I awoke to a breathtaking work of art out our window, one of many of God’s daily masterpieces here in the north woods…



Our wonder dog, Pippen, has taken a break from his usual guard duty in the city….



He’s earned it!

As many of you have heard, the amenities here at the cabin are rustic, with no running water or indoor bathroom facilities. So…here is a shot of my “powder room”…



As you can see, it’s state of the art!

When we need water, Gene goes down the road to the culvert (a spot where the lake water is diverted to avoid flooding) and fills up a water jug. On a recent water run, we discovered a mama snapping turtle in the sandy road, laying her perennial eggs…



and we shoo-ed her off into the grass, afraid she’d be mistaken for a road rock by less observant drivers…



I hope the turtle hatchlings make it to the lake water when they emerge in a few months.

For water that is more pure there’s a well at a state park down the highway. Gene pumps the water into large containers and I often take a bathroom break at a very well kept outhouse there. The state washes it down daily and its cleanliness amazes me. My funny man just had to surprise me as I exited…



As the day progresses so does the view….



It took a few days but Gene’s woodland friends slowly returned and my camera got a workout…

In the city I’ve never seen a baby squirrel. This cute little guy visits our feeder post daily…



and Mr. Bluejay shows up to display his azure plumage…



We put up a hummingbird feeder on the window…



and a ruby-throated hummingbird makes his rounds throughout the day…





In town we saw an ever-present sea gull (though no official sea is anywhere close)…



One of the “must see” stops in nearby Ishpeming, MI is the Da Yoopers Tourist Trap. Here’s Gene with one of the locals…



who I found so “hot” LOL I just had to give him a smooch…



In the Yooper store yard is displayed a tall structure which shows the height of the record snowfall in Marquette County there in the winter of ’96-’97…22 feet!!...



Buck’s Wilderness store is another stop we made in Ishpeming to pick up some fishing supplies and licenses. I was amazed at the size of this moose head the owner has mounted among the firearms…



I learned this moose is an Alaskan, hence his size. There are moose in the U.P. but they are a bit smaller. As an aside, I dislike guns and only feel comfortable with hunting by others when they intend to eat their prey. When we entered Gene’s cabin, his son had left a repaired gun lying out in the open. I flinched, having never seen a gun (yes, I grew up in Chicago..but never saw a gun..lol) and he quickly hid it in a corner.

Returning home from town, we spotted a very unique mailbox…



Mornings here are often cold, causing fog to rise over the water until the sun burns it off….





I know Gene left you all waiting to hear what his “surprise” would be last Thursday. He took me down a back road which was once a railroad embankment where the tracks have been long removed that used to serve as the means of transporting the processed iron ore from the mines in Republic. It runs along a trout stream and Gene was in heaven fishing it once again, something he had thought he’d left behind, along with his full eyesight and subsequent inability to drive…



Beavers had built a dam along the stream…



and ponds with water lilies had formed off the stream…



Gene spent a peaceful afternoon below an overcast sky fishing and reminiscing and feeling alive once again…





On our way back from the stream, we stopped at the old open iron ore mine which is now filled with water. Originally the town hoped to use it for swimming but insurance liability concerns left it as simply a memorial to what gave the Republic residents of long ago their livelihood…





Here you can see a couple of raw solid iron ore rocks left unprocesses…



Another day we took a ride up to Champion where Gene first lived after he was born and home to the Plankey clan since 1875. We drove to the cemetery where many of Gene’s family are buried, a peaceful picturesque spot at the top of a hill just outside town….





I hope you’ve enjoyed our week in photos as much as I have. To conclude until next time, here are some photos that pretty much sum up life here at the Penthouse Cabin, three miles from nowhere and in the middle of everything good and pure and God-given….


[“Please Go Slow..We’re Playing”]





Thank you all for your patience in waiting for my photo blog and an update on our great adventure….We’re off to a lunch date across the lake…bbq pork chops.... and a Scrabble game afterward. You KNOW who will win THAT one!

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend..

Blessings,

Janet (and Gene)

Hello to everyone from the penthouse cabin on Island Lake in beautiful Upper Michigan! Just a short note to let you all know we arrived safely last Friday night...and promptly found Gene had NO internet! We just got online at 11 pm and it's Monday night.

Meanwhile we've been having a great time. On our arrival we were greeted by the U.P.'s finest...mosquitos! The troops were out in full force and Gene feared I'd jump back in the car and head home. I've had a mosquito phobia since I was a kid. But I hung in there and entered the cabin...and have been working on whipping it into shape ever since. LOL

Gene had a moment of terror earlier this evening when, having tied our dog Pippen to a tree, he glanced out to find an EMPTY COLLAR where our little black Scottie had been minutes before. Where did he go? Which way into the vast surrounding woods could he have gone? So off went Gene calling "Pippen!", getting eaten by mosquitoes all along the way, and finally tracking him down as Pippen, the city dog, began losing steam as he took advantage of his new-found freedom amidst the glorious scents of the woods and its inhabitants.

Speaking of woodland inhabitants, I've seen NONE..not alive at least. Road kill is another story. It is the time of year when the does are giving birth to their fawns and become scarce, but I have barely seen a squirrel, much less the "blimpies" Gene talks so much about. Hopefully all the woodland creatures will begin to venture out and fulfill my expectations fueled by Mr. Easy's idyllic description of his homestead here in the wilds of the UP.

Oh, the highlight of my day was the $4 shower Gene bought me at the truck stop this morning. If it had been my birthday, I couldn't have received a better gift. I'm getting used to the outhouse by day and a "Lugable Loo" (Google it) by night, but a full shower and shampooed hair felt marvelous! Good thing Mr. Easy loves me no matter what. LOL

Well, it's very late and my eyelids are drooping. I just wanted to say a quick "Hi" to y'all and hope to get caught up on blogs, etc. tomorrow maybe. Hope you all are well and enjoying the beginning of a beautiful summer.

Blessings all,

Janet

PS Hope to get Gene's computer hooked up soon. I brought mine and he's letting me get on to start. He'll be on here soon to greet everyone.

Memorial Day weekend is almost over. We've had rain and we've had sun. People have barbecued, traveled and just sat home enjoying a few days off. Many have wished us a "Happy Memorial Day"...

"Happy" is not what I feel when I think of those we are memorializing..or should be..on this special day that comes once a year. I think of...



and I hope and pray for...



May God make this real..in a world that longs for peace, in our country that says we will find peace through conflict, in each home that "remembers" a loved one lost, and in each heart that is hurting as each day passes hoping it will ends.

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