"It's important to double check quotes found on the internet." - Abraham Lincoln

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Day two in Michigan. The trees are beautiful and falling, where people will rake, and rake, and rake. The wind is cold and the cars rusty.

We were out running errands this morning and drove by the 1894 house in the suburb of Wyoming that was our first real rehab/restore. The guy who bought it from us in about 1997 still lives there, was home when we stopped, and has kept the place up very well. We talked for about 30 minutes and he told me some of the things he's had to do, including (another) new roof, a new furnace, more jack posts in the basement, and more insulation in the attic.

We drove out to a nursing home to see Skip, a great ol' lady who's now 94 and attended Celebration when I was the pastor. For reasons no one could explain she took a liking to me, so I try to see her when I'm in town. She's deaf as a post, but otherwise doing well.

If you missed the first episode of the new PBS Masterpiece Theater episode last Sunday night you NEED to fix that and either watch or tape the second episode of "The Durrells in Corfu." And because I really do think you should watch, here's all you need to know:
I think it's the 1930's or so, and a widowed mother of four kids moves from England, where it's too expensive, to the Greek island of Corfu. The five of them move into an abandoned and derelict house, the only thing they can afford. Each of the kids, ranging from late teens (maybe 20) down to a 10-year old, are each quirky in some way, and the family dynamics are both hilarious and poignant. The cinematography is great, we laughed out loud several times, and quickly grew attached to the characters.
At least on our PBS station the hour before that is Masterpiece Classic, and they've just started "Home Fires," a series new to us. It's set in England in the months just before WWII. Also very good, but not as funny.

Between the time zone change and all the other things that are different neither one of us is sleeping well. Pam deals with that better than I do.

Tomorrow morning we'll go to Celebration. I look forward to that.

Before we left I spread more of the pasture grass seed I got a month ago over the ground that was covered by a pile of split wood. The seed was in a big sack, most of the 30# already spread. When I opened the sack now stored in Chevonshire a small mouse scrambled up the inside of the sack and darted across and under the wall.
Soon I'll have a bale of hay, a bale of straw, and a container of mixed grain in that area. The mouse will be back with his friends.
I told Pam we may have to get a barn cat.
"Oh Boy! We get to have a kitty!!"
No, we'll have a barn cat. It will never be in the house, it will not be named, and it will be tolerated only to the extent it keeps the barn free of mice.
Besides, I'm allergic to cats, as I am to all other evil creatures.

Pam's got chili going in the crockpot back at her mom's that will be dinner for us, including her brother and wife who will come over. So we need to head back (we're at Wendy's now eating lunch) so she can tend to that. I'll go for a brisk walk in the brisk weather to get some badly needed exercise for body and spirit.

More anon.