Friday, November 16, 2012

North Shore Retreat

Last week Gregg and I rented a cabin on the shore of Lake Superior (about an hour north of Duluth).  We love to take the scenic route up the shore, and stay at different places.  It’s beautiful any time of the year.  November is one of our favorite times, because there is a good chance that the lake will have huge waves that crash onto the rocky shore (remember the Edmund Fitzgerald? Sad smile).

This year was a little bit different.  First of all, the waves weren’t so big.  Second of all, I’ve been recovering from a surgery, and I have doctor’s orders to pretty much do nothing.  Gregg and I usually stop at a few antique shops on the way up.  Once we are there, we like to spend our time hiking, climbing the rocks, walking the beaches, exploring, and taking pictures.  This year was spent taking it easy (for me anyway).  Gregg pretty much took care of me by doing everything from packing, loading the car, cooking, cleaning up, and waiting on me.  In general, Gregg was just being the best husband ever.  He actually seemed to enjoy being my caretaker.

The cabin had a comfy reclining chair by the fireplace with a view out of a huge window that looked out over the lake.  Ahhh…
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Down time for me means more time to spend drawing and painting.  Here are some of my creations…
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little watercolors
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ink drawing on birch bark
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love notes on leaves
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North Shore scenes on nature
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birds
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doodle on stone
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Some doodle corners
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birds in ink (I might add some watercolor to these)
Gregg went on a hike, gathered some nature items, and brought them back to the cabin.  I did art on them, and he did some still life photos.  This is one of my favorites that he took using a map of the area we were staying…

Down on the rocks…
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Pretty clouds…
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My photographer husband…
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In the evening we planned on watching movies on our laptop (no TV).  We weren’t able to connect to Netflix, so we spent time reading, talking, playing Yatzee, and eating yummy food.  The first couple of nights of this were great.  However, after a few nights, I have to admit that we missed our connection to the outside world (and our dogs).  Gregg said “being unplugged on the North Shore in November is overrated”.  Big waves or a local Red Box would have helped Smile Despite the technology withdrawal, God blessed us with a wonderful time.  Or maybe it was because of the unplugged status that we had a wonderful time.  Either way, we look forward to our next North Shore excursion.

Until next time,
Have a blessed day!

Jane

Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea – the Lord on high is mighty.    Psalm 93:4