two birthdays

A sweet girl and a wonderful woman shared a birthday yesterday.  One of them is still with us, the other is not, alas.

Olive is 12!  She had her regular grooming appointment, then she indulged Van a few minutes by tolerating the cheerful hat. 

I had the evening over there last night, and she was in a good mood for a little girl who is now 12.  Not a young dog anymore, but loving and lovely as ever.

By coincidence, Conrad's mother's birthday was yesterday.  She would have been 97.  It's two and a half years since she passed away.  I've only been back to Conrad's home town once since the funeral, a wretched trip up there for the burial, which I missed thanks to food poisoning.  I might go up there with Conrad this summer.  I know he misses his mom. 

family celebration

Another overdue post from the UP trip of earlier this month, this one to show off the family a little and spread some good cheer. You see, Conrad's birthday fell a few days after our trip up there, and so we had a get together with pizza, salad, and Conrad's cake.

Yes, Conrad's cake. I love this: Conrad, like me, had a special birthday cake while growing up. In my case, it was a chocolate-flavoured mayonnaise cake with green, mint-flavoured frosting. For Conrad, his Mom makes a white layer cake generous frosted with a chocolate fudge frosting.
And, because Hallowe'en is near, some seasonal candies for decoration.

Really, how can you not love it? And love it we did. We shared dinner in Conrad's Mom's kitchen. Karen was there (Terry was laid up with a dreadful cold). Justin and Tonna, too. Dan, Conrad's other nephew, was at a wedding that evening with his girlfriend, so no cake for him. Happily, he recently had a birthday and got his own special cake from Conrad's Mom.

After such a lovely evening, then, you'd think I'd let the birthday boy have a good night of rest. Sure. Mostly. Until around 7ish when I stuck the phone camera in his face and caught a little smile crossing his face. Poor guy, stuck with a morning person like me. Ah well. More cake makes everything better!

Traunik

I've written about this place before, but I'll keep singing its praises as long as I can. Lily's of Traunik. Check it out.

Conrad and I have been there a few times now, always with his sister but this time with his mother along for a sunny Friday ride. Somehow, at a "town" or "village" that is nothing more than a crossroads in the middle of the UP, there's this historic building (on the National Register) that now houses a cool little mostly-organic store run by a friendly couple.

It's funny. In some ways it's not a well-stocked store. That is, it's not crammed to the gills with merchandise. I tend to keep circling around inside, finding treasures bit by bit. Some are easy: candied ginger slices, bagged and selling for a marvelously low price. I think we bought ten bags. Organic wines that Conrad spent much time talking with the one owner about. Cards and good coffee and baked goods and...

Fun times. It may be a very small store, but we spend a long while there each visit, and happily so. The next trip up is scheduled for August, and with luck, we can get Justin and Tonna there and again enjoy the browsing. Such an unexpected gem, though. I can't rave about it enough.