Pine Lake - Day #4

   Rain had been in the forecast all week for Tuesday, so we decided to make our annual trip up to Benzie County to visit Benzonia and Beulah.  The cheery Cherry Hut restaurant is in Benzonia.  They have a wide variety of cherry products and dishes - from cherry chicken salad to cherry salsa to cherry BBQ pork.  I tried the cherry cheeseburger (I really couldn't taste the cherry in it at all. At first, I thought there had been a mistake and that I had gotten a regular burger.) and I always love the cherryade.  

   Next we drove to the next town over, Beulah, to wander around Gwen Frostic. Gwen was an artist and a naturalist that used wood block printing as her medium for her art.  She passed away in the 80's or early 90's (I need to check on that) but her prints and legacy still live on at her store.  I always love buying the stationary and cards, but this year I just chose a small 2015 calendar. 

The store overlooks the printing shop.  This man is working a press that is printing Gwen's artwork.  The papers go trough one at a time and each color has to be printed separately and lined up perfectly.

So many prints to choose from! All original print blocks were hand carved by Gwen.

This is a photo that has hanging up in the shop of the famous Michigan native.

Paying for all our purchases!

   Back at the lake, we took Ruby on a long walk since she had been in the kennel in the cabin while the rest of the family was out.  Patrick went herping in the woods off of Pine Lake Road and found several differnt species of frogs including a Norther Leopard Frog (photo below) and wood frogs.

 A scarlet tanager was also spotted on our walk.  We didn't end up finding any salamanders, but we did see eggs under several logs.  

Ruby had an AWESOME time running in the woods!

   Of course were had to put on buckets of bug spray to keep the bugs at bay as we were out in the woods and Ruby was filthy from running through the vernal pools, so a dip in the lake was in order.  Ruby and I splashed around by the bank while Patrick swam several laps out in deeper water.

Ruby seemed very concerned about Patrick out there and spent a lot if time watching him.  

After we dried off, Patrick made a fire.  It took a while to get started.  When it was finally burning, we roasted hotdogs and grilled sausages for dinner.  It was a perfect calm evening.  

   

After dinner, Patrick took the boat out, but those fish were just not biting.  I think our count so far is just 1 keeper.  That is only 2 fillets for the freezer.  We need to pick up the pace!

   After dark when I was back in the cabin, I really struggled with feeling like our cabin was dirty and smelly.  (Which it really is! I mean, carpet in a lake cabin?! Seriously?)  I began to despair over this fact and meltdown!  I had to spend some time cleaning and shaking the sand out of everything.  Eventually, I just had to spend some time in prayer and realize that it was my attitude that was rotten.  After all, attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure.  Next year I have amended my packing list to include more cleaning supplies and a change of sheets and towels for the middle of the week.  Live and learn, right? Right.