At the Blue Moon Lodge.
Even though it’s 45 degrees and raining.
It’s always a challenge to choose the perfect weekend to open our cabin and pull out the porch furniture.
This weekend has failed us. No sun, strong chilly wind. Yet I’m about to set out my bright, summery rugs and cushions and hang graphics that depict moments of summer that are still a fantasy.
We celebrate so many wonderful family events at our cabin – the 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving. But our busy winter schedule, and the mud and gloom that prevails in Indiana then, holds us at bay until spring cleaning brings us back. Our screen porch at the cabin is almost as big as the cabin, itself! I’ve collected comfortable chairs for years to create private little areas where guests can sneak away. Seeing my chairs in place makes me think summer, but I have to keep my gloves on as I pull them from storage!
So I may postpone the porch until further into May…
I’ll take you on a tour instead.
It seems that spring arrived very late at the cabin. Looking across the lake, I can still see through the trees, so that means the leaves have a way to go to reach their full glory.
And my cattails haven’t sent up many green shoots yet. Although they’re usually exploding by Labor Day.
We lost half of one of our big, beautiful pine trees over Christmas in a horrific wind storm. Got a call from our neighbor who gave us the bad news. Fortunately the top fell toward the dock and didn’t really damage anything.
I’ve put a few accessories on the porch, but only half-heartedly. There’s a green dust that settles at some point in April. Although it’s a month later, I don’t see any traces yet, so putting out the rugs and cushions this weekend could be counterproductive.
This tiki bar was a find last summer in a local antique barn/shop. I do leave it out all year, although looking at it now does not make me want to hear the clink of ice cubes.
My cabin is a wonderful hodgepodge of everything that doesn’t work in my city house. I admit it, I am a collector. Just can’t resist buying little vintage touches that make the cabin seem like it’s been in the family for decades, (although I guess it actually has… We’re going on 32 years here!).
I’ve done a ridiculously crazy mix of patterns in drapes, rugs and upholstery, with a very clear goal of creating the “Bloomsbury” mood found in Virginia Woolf’s country house. An Asian, native American, Moroccan, and Victorian concoction of furnishings that seem quite happy together. And the natural pine log walls do so much to complement the bright colors.
Just redid these 30-year-0ld chairs (vintage Crate & Barrel) because they are everybody’s favorites. Billy, our dog, moves from one chair to another, then back to the sofa, just like our guests.
I have a small collection of Mississippi mud pots(pre-Columbian era) made by the tribes in this area, and a genuine papoose carrier that we bought in a gallery, in addition to several small native American relics.
Many years ago, for a school project, we painted these Sunday School chairs for the kids to use. And now there’s a whole new generation who pulls them up for games…
Last year I purchased two side chairs from Crate & Barrel and transformed the den/guest room/TV area into a thing of beauty and comfort. All the guys have a place to sit while watching the games, and I actually find that we often congregate in here for quiet conversation.
My choice in drapes is vintage bark cloth, which offers texture and colors that you just can’t find anymore. There is some fraying and thin spots – but when they get too far gone, I buy more yardage on Etsy for making panels.
Upstairs, in the bunkroom, I display my collection of paint-by-numbers that feature barns and country scenes. They’re still very inexpensive if you collect in Indiana and Michigan.
My husband I purchased this mirror in Bluff, AZ one summer from a guy who picked and steamed his own reeds to weave it. There’s a bald eagle feather hanging from the bottom, which he told us not to tell anyone, because it’s illegal to have them (oops).
Here’s another confession – I always wanted to have a horse. A lifelong dream. Since it never happened, I created a small part of my make-believe life as a horse woman on a wall above the bookcase. My horse even won ribbons in the 80’s, which are on display. My real cousin, Sandy, was lucky enough to have a real pony, so I put her pictures up as well.
In the master bedroom I have two major collections. One is native American princess paintings from the 30’s.
The other is my canoe collection over the bed. 
Since I have no more large walls, my collecting may have to slow down.
Found this once in a collection of reproductions – I do believe it’s Zelda Fitzgerald on the beach with her friends!
Now that I’ve had a chance to look around and talk about the many items that make up our cabin, I realize how much I love all these silly things. This place draws us out here to slow us down and take it all in. The family fun, the seasons, the solitude. The sounds of geese and frogs and owls.
And soon we will hear the clink of ice cubes and the whirr of the ceiling fan.
Because summer does start here.
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