I love stories.

I am sitting on the front porch of Balgownie, a 94-year old cottage near South Haven, Michigan. My task today is to finish making new end caps for the swing bed. I started making covers for the porch beds two summers ago. I finished the bed covers but didn’t get to the end caps. Last summer I didn’t make it up here until September and at the end of the weekend I didn’t feel like sewing so I packed it all up and brought it back home. (I have to admit that I really wanted to tear the whole swing bed down and build another one, but the family likes their traditions and I couldn’t get Johnny to build me one anyways.)

This morning I ripped off four layers of cloth covers. Kind of like ripping up old linoleum, only a lot easier. The fabric was rotted and tore away easily. But I couldn’t help thinking of Polly and Mae Bendelow who did all the original decorating. They would come up to the cottage and spend the summer cooking and cleaning, hosting a steady stream of guests, and decorating, rarely ever going to the beach.

 

 

 

 

 

Polly and her husband, Tom, courted on the Brig o’ Balgownie in Scotland since Polly’s father didn’t approve of the relationship. They came to America in 1892 and Tom began working at a newspaper in New York. He also started teaching Americans how to golf and that turned into a career designing golf courses. He designed a 9-hole course here at Palisades Park in exchange for a lot in the new development. In 1920, he and Polly built Balgownie. That same year, Ernie and Mae presented them with their first grandchild and namesake, Thomas Gibson Bendelow. Sixty years later, Tom (the grandchild) actually died here, his rheumatic heart giving out suddenly at dinner one night after spending the day making repairs around the cottage.

More than twenty years ago, his wife Shirley invited some of the “young” girls from Woodside up to her cottage for a fall weekend. That turned into an annual event that I regularly attended, sometimes a crowd and sometimes just a few of us. About ten years ago, I started re-decorating with cushion covers and reupholstering in the living room. Next Marilyn and I made a handkerchief quilt for my favorite room in the back. I made new curtains for the living room and back room and supplied a few more quilts (not handmade) for some of the beds. Two years ago the family asked me to make new porch covers.

I’m looking at the handmade sign, “East. West. Hames (home) Best” and thinking of all the stories that this place holds. Six generations of the Bendelow family have enjoyed this cottage. Tom begat Ernie. Ernie begat Tom and Bruce. Tom begat Craig and Nancy. Bruce begat Sweet Sue, Sharon, Sheila, Drew and Sarah. I can’t name the rest of the generations but every summer the family comes back (as well as the regular renters) to enjoy the history and beauty of this place. And even though I’m not related, I come too and love its history. Epic.

I’ve also been working on my Swedish genealogy this month, delving into the stories of my great-grandfather, Carl Freeberg, and his siblings who came to America in the late 1800s. I’ve written my 750 Words each day this month about the Freeberg family and used the library’s Ancestry.com to find additional information. This Saturday I’m going to go to a Swedish Pancake Breakfast at the Methodist Campground (DesPlains, IL) where one of my mom’s aunts resided for many years. Epic.

And last, but not least, this week we started using a new Electronic Medical Record system at work called–guess what? Epic. Monday was go-live day and was an challenging and fun (and exhausting) day on a steep learning curve. We’d had numerous hours of class and practice, but actually working with it was a whole new experience. The hospital supplied a lot of support personnel and a tableful of candy to keep up our spirits as we made the change. We’re still working through it. I managed to have these two days off while they work out more of the bugs (I hope) but I have to go back to it tomorrow and Friday.

P.S. I love what I call “cottage sewing.” It doesn’t have to be perfect and it’s fun to try new things. Here are some pictures of what I finished today. I got a little carried away and made eight pillow/pillow covers. I’m especially proud of the upside down separating zippers on the end covers so that they can come off for the winter and can be washed 🙂