Sharing a passion for design and building by hand.
Growing up around a community that shared creative independent thought, nearly everyone I met was either building, planning, or designing houses with one thing in common. Handmade.
No one had any money, but we had energy and the desire to learn !
There is a strong CURRENT revival of hand building that was
once practiced by our ancestors, these techniques have continue to be perfected around the globe.
2018-2023, A few leaps of faith, helping my parents with end of life process,
and a slight derailment of health but we are once again,
fully engaged in another historic restoration.
One creation that remains as mysterious and functionable as ever,
is the native american indian tipi which I built and lived in for over ten years.
Lily's would be an incredible leap of faith.
Located between Marquette and Escanaba in a very rural area,
this had been a very busy stop with lumber, general store goods, etc but was
no longer served by the busy rail or US Mail, and had been for a time, a Museum.
Having been now empty for years, the siding was peeling and barn failing.
We jumped into work.
After creating the Lily's cafe, filling the store with organic foods, and imported goods,
Jeff got busy with a builder, flipped the cedar siding inside out and applied a beautiful wood stain.
It was a grand opening with the original brothers and their families attenting, it was a party!
( link below), Lily's Inn and the General store beamed with life once more,
and after customers grew, and several bloggers wrote storied about us, we got busy.
So busy in fact, that we decided to sell the stone house and move into Lily's.
The Stone House & Lily's Organic Market
We eventually sold Lily's - Jeff says we enjoyed 'going' to cafe's, more than running one.
We also sold our parent company Fishdady Grafix in Fort Lauderdale,
and took the winter off enjoying a house sitting job in the Keweenaw.
One of our favorite projects remains the restoration of
a stunning 1920's mining house which featured restored Italian stuccos,
and clay and lime plastered restored walls and became one of our favorite living spaces to date.
commonly referred to as "grandma's house", Calumet Michigan was enjoying a renaissance.
After restoration, we moved in spring of 2015 and eventually started Bohemia Printing there.
Grandma's House
Bohemia Printing grew so fast, we moved the print shop downtown locaton, but we didn't last long.
Dealing with non matintained vintage building, a low rent weird landlord,
we decided to scout for our own commercial building. grew so fast, we moved into a downtown locaton which did not last long.
Dealing with a vintage building, a low rent weird landlord,
we decided to scout for our own commercial building.
21 businesses moved from Calumet that winter,
and continues a serious flux with waves of blight to bright times.
We did find a commercial building which took some major restoration and another move,
but L'Anse became the five year home of Bohemia Printing, and our commercial loft apartment.
Pics coming soon.
and the Home of...
A j ~ F I S C H E R ' S
MUD & M U S I C
Performance Guitarist & Composer
Northern Michigan
A Music Story
Reverb Nation
Spotify
there on the road. Minnesota
once Lakota - riding the plateaus.
And I dreamed of Indians out there fighting for their lives, thought about the pioneers.
Gets awful cold out there at night...."
'Austin Chronicles
9th Book of Songs
Aj
What's on the Spinner:
Performers Most likely In My Ears:
Chubby Wolf, Arthur Lyman, Glass Frog by Golden Brown,
Massimo Gatti, Minerals by Golden Brown,
Brian and Roger Eno, Astor Piazzolla
Stars of the Lid, Steve Tibbits, Otto A. Totland,
Iron & Wine, Mico Nonet, The Handsome Family,
Dj Cheb, Django Reinhardt, Romane,
The Meditations, Wailing Souls, Bob Marley
Diana Krall, Ella, Chick Corea
Richard Shindell, Jason McGuire, Kronos Joe Pass
Beppe Gambetta/Carlo Aonzo
Eric Satie, Putumayo Records,
John Mclaughlin, Ravi Shankar, Bill Frissell
Daniel Lanoir, The Rice Brothers, Stan Rogers
Frank Zappa,
Ernestine Anderson, Barry Walker
Crooners like James Hunter, Ray LaMontagne
Rani Arbo & Daisy Mae (You Tube) "Farewell Angelina"
Slaid Cleaves, Devendra Banhart, Turtle Island Quartet
Yorgui Loeffler ( incredible gypsi jazz guitarist )
Gina Forsyth,
Steve Baughman
And our all time favorite artists,:
Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan
After 13 summers of building and living in Tipis,
I got a hair-brained idea to construct a small cabin on my tipi site made from cordwood masonry.
There was lots of snickering.
With no access to water or electricity, it was bound to be a challenge.
Hand mixing cement, filling and carting fifty gallon barrels of water, laying courses of wood in an old growth forest, battling roots and buzzing clouds of mosquitos - I would do it again in a heartbeat..
Every mason will tell you that working with lime plasters is hard labor
and unforgiving, but a totally rewarding experience. After 2 summers and a little help from my friends, I had a very snug,
beautiful little bungalow to live in..with a cost of about three thousand dollars and just wee bit
of sweat equity.
I didn't hear anymore snickering.
Girls can do anything...
May Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower.
The Eta Aquarids are a light shower, usually producing about 10 meteors per hour at their peak.Best viewing is usually to the east after midnight, far from city lights.
Equal Exchange
Café Campesino
Peace Coffee
Equipment
Leave no Trace
Invest in Good Reading
Aj's Kayak: P & H
Aj & Jeff in Snowbound Calumet
- Read
Co-op America Quarterly
Independent Media Center -
ProgressiveThinking
Sun Magazine
Alger County Upper Peninsula, Michigan
State Parks -Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region
Lake Superior Kayaking Adventures
Lake Superior Weather Report
McCormick Wilderness Area
Kayaking
Hand Built Souix and Cheyenne Tipi (1979)
Hand Built Cordwood Cabin (1984)
Dania Beach Garden House (circa 1950s)
Melrose Swan Lake Scout Camp (circa 1940s)
Lake Superior Stone Farm House (circa 1930s)
Lily's of Traunik AKA Traunik General Store Restoration (circa 1922)
Calumet Italian House (circa 1920s)
L'Anse Lumber Company (circa 1920's)
Pine Grove House (circa1950s)
Bellaire Lake House (circa1970's)
Ann Arbor, MI
Dallas & Austin TX
Leadville, CO
Gulfport, MS
Abbeville, LA
Seattle, WA Portland, OR
Glennallen, AK
Southhampton, NY
Hilo and Kailua-Kona, HI
Jekyll Island and
St. Simon's Island, GA
Pasadena, San Francisco,
Los Altos, CA
Florida Landings:
Met Jeff in Key Largo, Melrose, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Michigan Landings with Jeff:
Chatham, Traunik, Calumet, L'Anse,
Traverse City, and Detroit.
Hitching a Ride,
Tok, Alaska
E v e r y M o m e n t C o u n t s
aj ATstonemiceDOTcalm