The Summer Solstice or The Longest day of the year

                                                 Our Anniversary

We got married on the Longest Day of The Year.  It was a little over 4 decades ago.  It happened in Northern Wisconsin/Michigan.  Where I grew up was actually 2 towns.  I went to School from 4th grade to 12th in Watersmeet Michigan.  I am a Nimrod.  (There once was a commercial run during the professional basketball finals about my town and then PBS did a story about it.) My parents house sat on the shores of a lake in Michigan the other side of the lake was Wisconsin.  Our mailing address was Wisconsin.  The Catholic church I went to was in Land O' Lakes.  (No that is not where the butter comes from that is Minnesota.) We met because he rented from a resort on the lake.  He was working on a project in Sylvania Tract.  This at one time was a privately held property in Michigan.  When it was owned privately my father (he was a Chef at a "special" resort,) made dinner for Eisenhower.  He made dinner for him at the resort too.  My childhood was interesting, filled with "B" movie stars, and even Senator Joe McCarthy.  We Met Memorial Day weekend and a year and 21 days later got married.  We were attending 2 different colleges.  I was at Northern Michigan University in Marquette Michigan and he was at The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
I chose June 21st because I felt we would never forget the date.  I think we have each only forgotten once.  Not Bad.
We did something that was quite fun, for us.  Last year we picked our Green Gage plums and instead of me standing at the stove making jam we made Plum Brandy.  There are lots of recipes for "Slivevits?"

Here is a picture of the the tree this year.  The Fisherman thinned some of the plums so they were bigger than last years.  They are very tasty on their own.

We had a little problem finding the right kind of jars, but a local Michael's store had them.  We put the cut seeded plums in the jar added the amount of sugar suggested and then Vodka.  Our first 2 batches (we decanted one in December) were lighter in color.  The plums weren't quite as ripe as the second 2 batches.  We also had issues decanting the first batch.  I realized I really needed cheesecloth to strain the brandy.  On the first batch I tried different things.  But on this second batch the cheesecloth is the thing.  

The second batch is slightly darker than the first.  We sampled and the second seems to have a higher alcohol content.  But Yummy Yummy it is gooooooood!!!!  The fisherman is sampling right now as I am typing.  The aroma is incredible.  This is definitely a great gift for people. If it lasts that long. The first decanting we did in December we gave away as gifts.   The Fisherman wants to make a brandy using cherries, plums and peaches.  This was prompted because we went to the Farmers market and bought some.  We didn't buy enough so next week we may experiment.  The only limitation we have is the jars we use.  

On Monday we head back to the cabin and I hope take some photos to share.  The lake is dropping dramatically as we are facing a drought.  The birds are very active and fun to watch. 

My knitting has been very slow, and I think it is because we have been busy with the Fisherman's work and out travel back and forth.  I hope to really start doing more I have all this yarn at the cabin. There are more baby things in the future, not for my kids but another part of the family.  So I need to get my knitting mojo on and knit clickety clack as fast as I can.