Colds, yuk

We did so well at the show last Saturday - but we both had colds and our back hall is still filled with containers that need to be reassembled and put away for another month until the next show.

We don't often get sick but this cold has wiped us both out. Everyone at work has it so I didn't use up any of my PTO time at work - I figured they gave it to me I wasn't going to waste my days off being sick!!!

The weather here is perfect Michigan weather. In the 60's with blue sky and lots of clouds - it is so pretty. We are going to have our Maple tree cut down - I am so sad - it was the prettiest tree on the block. They said it might have been stressed by so much cement around it but just recently the two trees across the street are starting to look like ours did a few years back so maybe it was just sick. I know I have always killed my plants in the house but never a tree!

I've been trying to get so much done at work - I know they will never hire someone in time for me to train that person so I'm making a tickler file that has worksheets about anything I am doing. I would ideally like to spend two pay periods with the person but who knows what will happen.

SVSU

Well - I wrapped and matched knives to plates all week long - I'm ready for the show at Saginaw Valley State Univeristy at the Ryder Center tomorrow morning. I expect this to be a good show - can't wait to see so many of you.

I had lunch with Peggy and Shelly today - it was so nice to catch up with them. We stayed longer than we should have and we laughed louder than we should have and we ate more than we should have (or at least Peggy did after she went back to work and munched all afternoon!) It was so nice.

Joanna came over for a bit this afternoon - Sheala dropped her off when she was coming into town - then Robin came to pick her up. Robbie and Robin are going hunting this weekend - I hope Robbie gets a deer. Then Caroline came over later on and FORCED us to take her to dinner - just kidding - we had a nice visit too.

So - see you tomorrow at Ryder Center!

Frankenmuth Weekend

We sold over 100 plates this weekend - it was really a good show. Even though it rained and was really cold for most of Saturday we had great customers. We usually do not sell well on Sunday in Frankenmuth but this time we did - I think everyone was so happy to see the sun that they felt like shopping!

I met so many really great people - sisters outs shopping together - families having fun teasing each other - lots of dogs in strollers, just when you look in one to see a cute baby there is a little dog panting away looking up with big brown eyes at you - we had fun people around us selling, always a bonus!

I kept praying to St. Anthony for people to find my booth if they were looking for something small to buy for Christmas gifts. He keeps coming through no matter what I'm looking for (someday God will tell me I could have asked to find salvation and I spent all my prayers on finding stupid things around the house and selling plates!)

So this week I have to wrap until my fingers bleed in order to have enough knives for next weekend at Ryder Center at SVSU. So I better quit writing in here and go downstairs and wrap, wrap, wrap.

Getting Ready for Frankenmuth

This weekend Friday through Sunday I will be selling at the Frankenmuth show at Zehnder Park on Main Street.

We had Caroline and Javier and Joanna and Robin and Sheala and Robbie over for dinner last night and they were a big help bringing up the tables and dishes for the show this weekend. Now everything is a mess upstairs! But I wanted to get two more containers done by tonight so I wanted to get started on them.

I love it when I unwrap dishes I bought months ago - it's like a fall day when my Mom used to say all excited, "oooohh look at that tree!" and two minutes later, "oooohh look at that tree!" Same thing last night, "Oh look at this dish!" What fun it is. I forgot about buying a watermelon bowl - it is so cute. There are several Asian dishes on pedestals that are so cute - they would be great all together on a table with different dips in them. Some reindeer plates and lots of snowmen plates - I know, I know - it isn't even Halloween!!!!

We had a fun time last night with Javier - he talks and talks and talks - he went outside with Papa with the chalk and came back in for dinner - afterwards Robbie found a box of wind up monsters and superheros in the basement and he and Javier played with them.

Yummy Salad

We went to Harvey's the other night and I had the new Anti-oxidant salad - it was so good I decided to make a version of it tonight for our dinner. I used Spinach for mine and romaine for Pat's then I topped it with:

Strawberries
Kiwi
Dried Cherries
Red Peppers
Green Peppers
English Cucumbers
Walnuts
Turkey Hot Italian Sausages - hot off the grill cut in slices

The dressing was pomegranate juice, olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper

IT WAS REALLY GOOD! Pat loved it too.

I went to my doctor appointment and found out my bad cholesterol is down the good is up and my blood pressure was fabulous. I guess starting back walking is working! Really the first of September was such a turn around from the knee surgery - I can walk without feeling awful afterwards - no more leg cramps either - so maybe I'm on the mend for good!

We just got back from Huron House for our 38th anniversary weekend - we had such a nice time - the sunrises were spectacular - the room was warm and cozy and newly redecorated and we had two trips out to Tuttle Marsh with Eagles close by each time!

There was also a triathlon in Tawas that we got to see and that was fun, too.

The sunrise this morning was through the clouds - so instead of one line coming at us from the sun there were several - it was too cool.

We had the best time ever - we love Huron House in Oscoda, Michigan!

Last Day at Pier 23

We drove to Tawas on Sunday to have lunch on the deck for the last day of the summer for Pier 23. We love going there - the day was a little cool but with sweatshirts on we had the deck all to ourselves. It is our favorite pastime - watching sailboats skim on top of the waves in front of the lighthouse. We always feel sad when they close and go back to Florida for the school year.



I bought some beautiful beads Cloisonne Beads in Tawas - there were red beads, white beads and blue beads all with flowers on them. Round, oval and heart-shaped. I wrapped about 50 knives for the upcoming shows. I also set aside some of the heart-shaped ones to go on the forks and cake server that will go with a beautiful cake plate I bought for the Children's Museum annual auction in February.

Sheala and Robbie to the Rescue

We invited friends over for dinner but there was one problem - we wanted to have a chicken on the rotisserie but we had to go to church during the time it had to roast and it had to be basted every 15 minutes - thankfully Sheala and Robbie came over to chickensit.

While their parents went out for a romantic anniversary dinner they came over and basted that chicken to perfection. Then they set out our humus and cheese and crackers and everything was ready when we came home! What sweethearts! Thank you.

I made the salad that was on the first "Aarti Party" show on Food Network. She is the winner of this year's Next Food Network Star. It was fabulous - everyone liked it. I had never heard of it before. It was kale and mangoes that had to be massaged for two minutes - she said it would start smelling like bananas, and it did! Then added mangoes and (she had pumpkin seeds but I used sunflower seeds). The link to her recipe is below. You can see her make it On Demand if you have it.

Aarti's Massaged Kale Salad



Then I stole a recipe from Steve, the chef at Fandangles in Flushing, Michigan,
but I added to it - he grilled peaches and put them with Mango/Coconut Ice Cream - yum - but then I added a little stream of Apple Jack that our friend Jack made. Some concoction that has hard apple cider and rum - oh my goodness that was a great dessert.

We had a great time!

Dinner with Friends

We had dinner with Jan and Rod last night - it was so nice to catch up and hear all about their grandchildren. An extra bonus was Jamie joining us for dinner, too. It was a fun night - the food was spectacular from Rod's main course - chicken and roasted vegetables - to Jan's Aunt Maimee's pound cake in a delicious sauce with strawberries and cream! YUM - GOOD.

Jamie - I think he talked me into a Droid - we'll see what goes on sale before Christmas - I can't wait to buy one - my friend at work, Jim, has one and he really likes it - so I'm going to start looking around so I will be ready for a sale.

The weather has turned to Michigan Fall - I love it - I wish we were camping!