Traverse City

Pat says we took "a little ride in the neigjborhood" of course if you call the whole State of Michigan our neighborhood then he would be right.

It was such a beautiful ride filled with a few antique stops, sunshine, bright yellow, deep burgandy, orange, smells of fall, Traverse Bay, great music blaring from the radio with our windows rolled down. We are almost home!

Shimmering Beauty

We are driving on M115 on this gorgeous fall day. The warm wind is blowing and it is making the leaves on the trees shimmer and glisten. It is breathtaking.

We were going to go camping but decided to drive around and see the color all over the State on short daily trips.

I do love Michigan.

Dinner with Ayva and her Grandma Caroline

We had such fun playing with Ayva. She played "My name is Chubby" with us. I brought these long fingernails to put on her but she didn't like them.

She was cheering on Inge which made Caroline happy. She danced for us. She ate a good dinner.

Mushrooms? ? ?

Yes, I actually cooked dinner and it included mushrooms. I made my own version of Kevin's vegitarian paella and it was yummy.

Olive oil
1/2 large onion chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
small container pine nuts
salt, pepper, garlic powder, Mrs. Dash, paprika
green pepper, zuccini, yellow squash, mushrooms, basil
2 Tbs pesto
1 cup Aborio rice
Veg broth
4 oz white wine

bring wine and broth to boil
saute vegetables
add Aborio rice
add broth/wine by ladles full until the rice stops soaking up the broth

Put pan in 350 oven for 20 minutes

SATURDAY

I'll be at SVSU Ryder Center for the craft show this weekend. I finished wrapping - I have all the dishes we purchased in Florida last year - and I can't wait to see all of you!

Stop by and say HI!

Jean Marie and Dennis

Mmmmmm.... No pictures to share.... The Galaxy is acting up (on to Verizon this morning) and Carolina Moon Keeps Shining borrowed the camera for the Tiger Games last week......

But - we are SOOOOOO happy for Jean Marie and Dennis. The wedding was held during Mass - very beautiful - Jean Marie left her husband's side and came up to the choir to sing with us - what fun - we all loved being a part of this wedding - and appreciate that we had the chance to do that for our good good friends.

What a great wedding reception too. Jean Marie looked beautiful - Dennis was regal in his kilt - the nieces and nephews that we have seen grow up over the years were delightful - Singing the Saginaw Blessing - Her Mom whom I always love to see picked the perfect dress - his son got up to toast and said how happy his Dad was and how he noticed that Dennis and Jean Marie just never quit smiling - the pipers and drums playing - but MOST of all - when Jean Marie got up and sang to Dennis asking if he would dance with her and then they danced their first dance - I just have it say it was a spectacular reception.

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Jean Marie and Dennis

What a nice night at Bill and Amy's. Jean Marie and Dennis opened their wedding gifts from several of us and we all got to visit with Kev.

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Fog Rolling In

I am SO glad we had already come over the bridge when the fog rolled in! Even Pat said he wouldn't want to drive over the bridge with this much fog. Within a half hour sitting at the lighthouse shoreline we couldn't see the middle of the bridge at all!

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Blue Sky and Sun

By the time we got to St. Ignace the sun came out. So we decided to stay one more night in Mackinaw City.

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Hi Janet and Mrs. Lepeak

On this rainy drizzly day when we left Grand Marais the sun came out. We are sure it was Janet and Mrs. Lepeak saying, "Goodbye come back soon."

Mr. Lepeak looked great. We sat and talked about family, friends and the delicious raspberry wine and made plans for him to have brunch with us after Thanksgiving.

77 is at its peak - the colors were spectacular.

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Back on the Road

It's a drizzly day in the U.P. However it looks like St. Ignace might be clearing. So we are going to visit Mr. Lepeak in Grand Marais then to St. Ignace.

This is a logging company in Gulliver - this pile of logs went on and on and on.

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Some Color

Some of the trees are beautiful!

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High Winds

Even though the warning for high winds was flashing when we got on THE MIGHTY MAC it turned out to be an okay trip over to the UP.

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Up North

It looks as if the UP may only have a few showers, so we packed up and left the dreary rainy Saginaw day. We are thinking Manistique for a couple nights. We are already by Houghton Lake and it is much brighter. Some of the trees are turning and the trunks are jet black - makes for picture perfect opprtunities if I didn't think Caroline and Jesse would have even better ones
They have tickets for tonight and Wednesday night right at the bullpen - this is their anniversary celebration so we are praying the rain stops so they can enjoy their evenings. And since we loaned them our camera we can only hope they come home with lots of great pictures.

I've already wrapped almost 100 knives since 4:00 am - my fingers need a rest!

I'll post as we go along when something catches my attention!

Dishes, Beads and Goo

The duplex is in total chaos and it is about to get worse! I am determined to get things organized, matched and put in buckets ready for shows. The kitchen table is filled and this morning every single open space on the cupboards will be full - and I think my craft tables will be up in the living room - YIKES!

When we were in Florida we got the cutest snowman plates - they are going to sell fast!

I wish stores would use pricetags that dissolve in water - even Goo-Be-Gone doesn't work very well.

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Evening Ride

We waited all day for the showers the weather people said we would get and then decided to drive through Shiawassee just befoe sunset. I like morning better.

There were tons of mosquitos so I had to keep closing my window. But other than that it was a fun drive. OK I just had to look up the correct word - I almost typed flock - but we saw a sedge of sandhill cranes. There were so many of them and they were the exact color of the dirt, except for the red on their head. I did get a picture with my camera and if it turned out I'll post it later.

See the correct terms for collective nouns for birds!

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Scored Big at Michaels

A couple times a year Michaels has a 15% coupon off your total order - even sale items! Yesterday after finishing up at the craft show it was off to Michaels.

I got $200 worth of beads for $89! THAT'S A GREAT DAY!

I wanted jeweltones and I got lots of blue. I love buying beads - now I have to get busy wrapping for the rest of the shows.

Central Division Champs!

First time since 1987 - what a game! Fister pitched great - he is getting a champagne shower as I write this! All the great hits and outs! Inge getting the ball for the final out! Valverde doing his thing 45 times in a row! (He just said he will make it to 50!) Even Leyland whom I was so sick of when he made some of those decisions this year - thanks for those difficult decisions! THIS IS A TEAM TO REMEMBER!

As Mags says, "We have to keep going!

Go Tigers!

And the Craft Shows Begin for 2011

My first Fall craft show is this weekend in Frankenmuth at Zehnder Park on Main Street.The weather is supposed to be great so I can't wait to be outside all weekend.

Come out and celebrate the beautiful Michigan Fall weekend!

Friday (Today): Noon - 6
Saturday: 10 - 6
Sunday: 11 - 5

Cooking Blitz

90 meatballs done with homemade tomato sauce made from tomatoes from the farmer's market this morning, 7 chicken breasts in the slow cooker, stewing beef and pork roast thawing to be cooked tomorrow morning. Two days of cooking for three weeks of meat for Pat's parents freezer. It gives them a good headstart on their meals. The whole house smells so good!

Halloween Fun Already?

You betcha! Javier told us he wants to be a magician so we found a little suit for him at Salvation Army and on the Internet I found a pop up top hat and a magic wand. Everyone (except Robin who had to work late) came over for Pizza and Papa brought up the Halloween bucket from the basement and the fun began..... Everyone was laughing and some were just a wee bit unsettled by the witch masks!!!! I'm not talking Javier and Ayva either!!!!! Joanna, Ayva and Javier helped me make the salad and the four pizzas - the crusts were from Roma's in Lansing. Joanna made two alfredo sauce pizzas and Ayva's had pepperoni, ham and green peppers and lots of cheese; Javier's had onions, peppers, pepperoni, ham, chicken, hot sausage and lots of cheese. All of the pizzas were so good.

Artist Open House

We went to Fandangles in Flushing for the open house for Clarence Lum. It was a fabulous affair. Thank you Steve and Tom!

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Goodbye Huron House

Another honeymoon weekend done! We had a wonderful time. Now we are on our way to Tom Price's restaraunt, Fandangles in Flushing for Clarence Lum's artist open house.

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God's Gift

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Sunrise on 9/11

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Cougar!

We saw a cougar - our first siting ever! We had just turned off M65 East onto M72 in Alcona County. The cougar was about 20 feet in front of us. It ran down one embankment, across the highway and then up the other side. It was so cool!

Good Morning Sun!

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Goodnight Moon

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The Oak Tree that Throws Acorns at us

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The Garden Outside our Door

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Sunrise Room

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Huron House

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A Beautiful Beginning

The weekend is off to a beautiful start - the weather is fabulous, the jaciuzzi was hot, the lake is blue and the sky is even bluer! We love our honeymoon weekend!

Back to the Shiawassee Auto Tour

Yesterday we went to the Shiawassee Auto Tour again. I took my camera and we got some really good pictures - it took us an hour and a half because we kept stopping and watching. We never have seen deer stopping to drink water - we did yesterday. The picture shows a Sunflower Field right at the beginning of the tour, a Goldfinch and a Bumble Bee on Thistles, the Buck by the water and a Great Blue Heron that just sat there posing for us.

39 Years

I am so blessed to be married to Patrick. Today is our 39th anniversary. We love to spend time together. So many people say they can't imagine being retired and home with their spouse all day every day.

I LOVE BEING WITH PATRICK EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Behind Arthur Hill

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What a Beautiful Sunset

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My Favorite School Sign

Welcome back children of God

Just reading the sign in front of Peace Lutheran gives me peace in my soul. Each child walking through those doors knows that they are a child of God and will be treated as one. A good start to the school year.

However, this is not only for the students! Teachers, principal, janitors, secretaries, lunch staff, volunteers - you too are children of God. Promises of a good schooly year for all involved seem to be in that sign!

An Afternoon at Wildlife Recovery

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The Day the Egret Flew

Our good friends, Amy and Bill found an egret in a cemetery by their house a week ago. The called wildlife recovery - Joe and Barb Rogers - by Oil City to ask for help.

For a few days the egret had been in a ditch and let people come close. They called Chippewa Nature Center and they were referred to Joe and Barb.

Yesterday we went with Amy and Bill to see the egret go back into the wild. Barb said that the egret, now named Casper (cute since it was found in a cemetery), had probably been hit by a car. When they first got the egret it was starving and it ate and ate and ate. Now it was ready to take flight.

We got to see all the birds (owls, hawks and eagles) that had been injured and were recovered as much as they could be - the work they do is unbelievable. We felt as if we had walked into the greatest classroom and spent time talking with the best teachers anywhere. We so enjoyed the afternoon that we decided to send a small donation to them to help them continue their work.

If you want to join their effort you can become a member (click on the link below) or to just donate money to help them recover wildlife that are injured send your donation to:

Wildlife Recovery Association
531 S. Coleman Rd.
Shepherd, Mi 48883

Shiawassee Wildlife Auto Tour

We went out Curtis Road to the Shiwassee Wildlife Preserve yesterday afternoon after seeing a news story that we could drive through the area now. It had been closed for repairs to the trail that kept washing out when it rained and because an eagle's nest was in a tree by the road. However no eagles used the nest this year.

It was great - it took almost an hour driving 15 miles an hour.. The Galaxy did not take good enough pictures to post. We will take the camera out and take lots of pictures - you have to be able to zoom in on the birds.

We saw so many egrets, great blue herons, goldfinches, swans, ducks, turtles and butterflies. The drive was beautiful. We will go there often while it is open through October 25th.

Carolina Moon Keeps Shining

Pat had an eye appointment today and we got to see Caroline at her new job. Got to say she looks cute as a bugs ear in blue!

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Ouch!

My back has been bothering me for a week - nothing I couldn't live with - until this morning!

I couldn't get out of the chair without awful pain. So I began the 20 minutes of ice, 20 minutes of heat and lots of ibuprofin regimen. It took all day but it worked. Thank goodness. But we had to stay home all day. I really hate not feeling good.