Cowboy Hot Tub

Our friends Gail and Mike were married on Friday afternoon.  Gail is a potter here in Curtis and Mike is a harbor master in Florida (where Gail spends her October-June).This was our wedding gift to them.  It is a
"Cowboy Hot Tub".  They had one already but a hole wore through the bottom.  It is sitting elevated on large flat rocks in a fire pit.  When they want a relaxing soak a fire is built underneath the stock tank and voila! Instant hot tub.  It was hard to figure out what to buy them so it worked out great that theirs had sprung a leak.

Lila had one more childhood dream come true...she was the flower girl at the wedding.

The wedding was held on the shores of the South Manistique Lake.  Gail and Mike exchanged vows there and then rowed off in a boat for some quiet contemplative time before heading back to the reception.

 

 
There were opportunities for the kids to collect some of natures treasures while out and about at the lake.

One of the wedding activities was "chicken poker".  There is a grid laid out in the enclosure and a card in each grid.  Everyone places a bet on a square and whichever square the chicken poops in, that person wins the pot of money.  That is my favorite barred rock hen Alice helping out.  Sam was quite excited about the poker game...he has to stay away from casinos!

For the reception, Gail made a mess of cups so that each guest could take one home as a momento.  We got to take home Five!  Oh joy! There was a mess of good dips (Skordalia, smoked fish, apricot bean dip), Conch salad, stuffed grape leaves, fresh corn and seafood gumbo.  Before dinner, a few people toasted the bride and groom, recited poetry and sang songs.  Lila created a poem for them:  "  Two swans on a lake, a perfect pair. Like two wings on a bird, they must work together".  She stole the floor with that one...it was quite touching.  Not to be outdone by our own daughter, Will and I sang "My Husband's got No courage in him" to the couple.  Maddy Prior and June Tabor sing this song.  Look it up- it has great lyrics!  The night rounded out with a camp fire and more singing.  It was a great evening with great people.