No, we did not serve ham for brunch.  We are vegans, after all, and we don’t serve animal products in our house regardless of who is coming to visit.  We’ve got some folks in the family who are pretty funny, including Marilyn, but this is not a reference to the family joker.  No, today was about family and ham radio, but not mixed together.

Linda was up at 7 AM to finish preparing the various brunch dishes.  She made:

• mini crustless tofu quiches;
• rice and raisin breakfast pudding;
• soft and chewy baked granola bars;
• mixed fresh berries, and;
• sliced fresh melon.

She also bought some gluten-free cinnamon raisin bread.  Our daughter is still experimenting carefully with foods trying to figure out what upsets her system and gluten is currently a no-no along with soy, dairy, and corn.

Shawna (mom), Madeline (center of attention), Grandma Linda, Great Aunt Marilyn, and Uncle Chris.

Brendan, Shawna, and Madeline arrived around 10 AM followed soon after by Meghan and Chris.  Everyone had a good visit and enjoyed the brunch.  Madeline was naturally the center of attention, but there were enough adults to keep her engaged and still have adult conversations.  Madeline normally naps from 1 – 3 PM, so her parents took her home a little past noon.  Meghan and Chris left shortly thereafter.  They are very big into sports, especially fantasy football, and the fall sports season is in full swing.

Aunt Meghan and Brendan (dad) looking towards Madeline (center of attention).

It had shaped up to be a very nice day so we drove to downtown Howell and parked near the Farmers Market area.  The Market was still open so we wandered through and bought some locally made apple cider to take home.  We then walked to Country Squire Fireplace and Lighting where we bought a natural gas outdoor grill and ordered a natural gas fireplace log set.  We drove back to the house and then I drove back to Country Squire to pick up the grill.  I did not realize when we bought the grill that we were buying the display model, but it was in perfect condition and I do not have to assemble it.  The store employees partially disassembled it and helped me carefully load it in the Honda Element.  We also bought a cover and quick disconnect for it, neither of which they had in stock.  The cover had to be ordered and they needed to check with another employee about the quick disconnect before ordering it, so I will pick those parts up later.

The fireplace logs also had to be ordered and will take two to four weeks to arrive.  Unfortunately that means they will not be here in time for Darryll to install them.  Country Squire has a subcontracted installer who will install them for $125.  That seemed excessive to me, but I did know how involved the installation might be.  If it involves unpacking, assembling, connecting, and adjusting the unit then it might be worth it.

We spent what remained of the afternoon visiting with Marilyn and just giving her the space to relax and recover from her new and very demanding job as the executive director of the St. Louis Province of the Congregation of St. Joseph – Carondelet (CSJ or Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet).  She assumed this role on July 1st and has been going non-stop since.  It’s a 5-year commitment.

The job involves a lot of meetings and a lot of travel as the St. Louis Province has sisters all across the United States as well as in Peru and currently has a couple of sisters doing mission work in Gulu (Africa).  Although Marilyn has been a dedicated member of this community for almost 50 years she is still very close to Linda and her brother Ron, and values being able to relax and spend time with them and their families.  Our homes have often been a holiday haven where she could escape from the very demanding jobs she has held over the years.

We had leftovers for dinner and then printed Marilyn’s boarding pass.  She had a 7:45 PM flight back to St. Louis, Missouri, so she and Linda left around 5 PM for Detroit Metropolitan Airport which is about an hour’s drive from our house.  I left around 5:45 PM for the monthly meeting of the South Lyon Area Amateur Radio Club, which started at 6:30 PM.  Our program this evening was a presentation by Gary (WA8TJA) on the technology and process he uses to make his own printed circuit boards.

Gary (WA8TJA) explains to the members of SLAARC the process and technology he uses to design and make his own printed circuit boards.

I got a call during the meeting from Joe Cannarozzi, the mechanic who has serviced our bus for the last four years, and called him back on my drive home.  He has relocated to the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area and is working as an RV technician and mechanic for an established business that currently services towables.  He is still servicing buses, Prevost units specifically, but the business would like to expand to servicing diesel pushers.  They are also opening a dealership for KZ RVs and he will be selling those in addition to his tech work.  He called me from Shipshewana, Indiana where he will spend the week at KZ getting dealer orientation and training.

It was a busy weekend and as much as I enjoyed all of the activity and company it was nice to come home to a quiet house.  I had been pondering the $125 installation fee for the natural gas fireplace logs so Linda Googled the model and found the Installation and Owner’s Manual on the American Hearth website.  I went there and downloaded it to my iPad2.  (This is one of the things I love about having a tablet; the ability to have lots of manuals, product spec sheets, instructions, and other documents at my fingertips.)  Although it covered several versions of our model it was none-the-less 36 pages long.  I looked through it enough to determine that $125 was probably a fair installation fee IF the installer started with a factory sealed box and then did everything that is specified in the manual.  We purchased a “millivolt” model and I saw some reference to wiring.  I was momentarily concerned that we needed to supply AC power to the unit, but more careful reading confirmed that this was not the case.

We had eaten dinner early and as I was reading and typing I realized I was a little hungry.  I should have gone to bed but instead had a couple pieces of toasted gluten-free bread with vegan margarine and a cup of hot apple cider.  I’m glad I did; toast is simple but satisfying food, and there’s nothing better than a warm beverage on a cool evening just before bedtime.