Yesterday, I arrived home, happy and satisfied and slightly tired after a wonderful weekend at a friends farm/cottage up north. The smell of smoke lingered on my clothing and in my hair, the memory of the sounds of laughter of friends, the crunching of leaves, the honking of geese swirled in my mind. My cheeks were pink and my spirits felt alive and exhilarated after many hours in the wonderful Michigan outdoors.

Bob and Theresa own this farm on a lake up by Hart. It belonged to Bob's grandparents and he has inherited it. He and Theresa are lovingly restoring it one step at a time. The house has been charmingly fixed with a mix of modern amenities and period antiques. But what they are doing with the land is wonderful. I'm amazed at all they are investing into it in this labor of love. Yesterday we went up for a session of maple syrup making. Theresa takes on each of these new adventures with complete commitment and no intention of making this just a place of leisure. She's learned to tap the trees, collect the sap, the complete process of cooking and bottleing it. We were able to do this whole process yesterday. I can assure you now, that what you pay for pure maple syrup is really a great deal. She has also undertaken big gardens of fruit and vegetables, planting of rasberry bushes, pruning, restoring and cultivating a grouping of blueberry bushes, and their recent planting of a a new grove of pine trees. Bob loves all the work he gets to do up there with his big, earth moving equipment and building structures to help Theresa with her latest projects. On the weekends, after both of them have been busy with careers in the city, they head up to their farm, and undertake all this extra work. No sitting around for them in front of computers and TV just "chillin". They live and work hard and then invite friends and family to share in their bounty. I think they are on to the very best thing of all.