Art & About

Art and About, an outdoor sculpture exhibition sponsored by the Saginaw Art Museum features 20 works by artist Seward Johnson. The exhibit is May 17- September 6. 

We had so much fun finding them throughout the city. If you are anywhere near Saginaw you must see these.

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13 Missing Saginaw Art Museum

Must be inside?

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Watching the Riverbank Conservation

Last week the surveyors came. They marked off with stakes. Then they tied yellow ribbons on the dead trees.

Today a backhoe is building a bridge to cross the ravine. As he builds he uses what he just built to creep across the ravine.

He's across in just a half hour! 

Churro Ice Cream Bowl!

Jesse would like this!

Click picture to go to YouTube video

Click on more on that video to get recipe

Pentecost 2016

Pentecost 2016

St. Dominic's Parish

SS Peter and Paul Church

Bathroom Shelves

I love both of these.

This one was the Kool Aid Stand my Dad made for us from Orange crates. Casters on the bottom.

This one he made was for our toy dishes. We hung it upside down.

Sugar Cookies

Aunt Betty's Easy Sugar Cookies recipe - the BEST cookies ever - you can roll and reroll your dough over and over again and the cookies never are tough.

Here is the recipe:

Preheat oven to 400

1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla (I double this to 2 tsp - Clear vanilla makes all the difference if you can get some)
½ cup sour milk (add TBS lemon juice OR vinegar to milk)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
4 cups flour

Put baking soda into sour milk (do this first - it expands)

Cream sugar and shortening, add one egg at a time, add salt and vanilla.

Add baking powder to flour and then alternate that mixture with milk mixture.

Make sure you watch them in the oven though because they brown very quickly.

Boy oh boy oh boy oh boy

I have got to get back in the groove of writing.  It seems we are always busy.  I remember my Mom telling me she didn't know how she ever found time to work - I get it now!

I did send out a few chapters for a local teen to read and critique.  I am friends with her Dad on Facebook so I saw pictures of her first track meet.  I asked him to ask her if she would read a few chapters about the girls in the book running track.  She agreed and I sent it off tonight.

So here it is 1:28 am - I'm going back to bed.  I just couldn't fall asleep until I sent those chapters out for her to read.

Ayva's Big Day

Fr. Steve's First Eucharist homily

This was one of the best I've heard. Fr. Steve always has a red backpack with something he will use in his homily. Today he had two large heavy gymn bags. He pulled the heavy bags down the steps and in the first was an electrical cord and a leaf blower.

He asked for a volunteer from the kids making their First Eucharist. Matthew volunteered, but when he saw the leaf blower he looked puzzled. Then Friday. Steve pulled out the huge deflated plastic bubble from the other bag.

He blew it up with the leaf blower. At this point even the wiggly youngest kids in the church were paying attention and pointing at the bubble.

Fr. Steve stopped and told Matthew to get in. Then he zipped it back up and finished blowing it up.

Matthew then walked in the huge plastic bubble and Friday. Steve told the kids that now they had made their Confirmation and First Eucharist they were protected by a big invisible bubble. He told them he could throw a ball at Matthew and it would bounce right off. Same with sin and temptation that could bounce right off because the Holy Spirit was protecting them.

Maytag Coming Again

This is the second service call we have had to make since buying the Whirlpool appliances.  My oven doesn't get hot enough.  I'm guessing it is about 50 degrees off.  I set the temperature 50 degrees higher and still it takes longer to bake something.

Last time the serviceman callibrated it.  I told the service rep this was the second call. Then i asked if they would send parts to fix it. She said they would come check it first. Calibrating it is not going to be the answer today.

Yup - he was here five minutes. He just ordered the parts. This was a waste of their time and mine.

Feeling Old

Prince died yesterday - I know of him - but never was a fan.  When Purple Rain was recorded, in 1984, I was already 33 years old.  I was working at Blessed Sacrament.  That was the year the nuclear power plant in Midland halted construction and Pat was layed off.  The next two years were financially heartbreaking.

It was not a time to listen to the radio - I frantically began my word processing business and working part time at Blessed Sacrament.  I also had an office in my home for Michigan Council of Cooperative Nursery Schools and Michigan Forest Association.  Pat started working part time at Blessed Sacrament hoping construction jobs would become available.  We both agreed he should not travel to work.  Family was most important.

I was working on a textbook for Clark Most.  An Organic Chemistry book for college students.  It took two years of very difficult word processing.  He used Screenwriter which I was proficient in - but it was not condusive to making a pattern of an element equation.

Imagine - every time I needed to type one of those numbers I had to type:

CH control h 2 control y - CH control h 2 control y

But most of the time - it was not in a straight line!

Imagine this:

Dr. Most would come over with corrections on his draft saying, if you could just move this part down an inch........

So, I feel bad that I didn't follow Prince, but I was really busy. Here are his top 40 songs - Even I know many of them.

But did you know how many songs that man wrote for others?

So even if I didn't know Prince - we all knew so many of his songs.  There are many people that feel like I did when John Lennon was killed.  And how many people felt when Elvis died.  These artists find a way into your soul and it is difficult to let them go.

I think we are home

I know I keep thinking that I will feel like we are home, but it has been up and down.  Most of the time I feel as if we are on vacation.  This morning though, I was surprised when I thought of it at all.  It has been a few days that I didn't think of whether it felt like home or not.  So, I think I am on track to knowing it for sure.

I am really excited about a new project.  We are going to try to put up a few items my Dad made out of crates for us when we were little.  There is a little kitchen cupboard and the Kool-aid stand.  I want to use them in the bathrooms for towels and toilet paper.  They are a little rough looking - but I think it gives them character.

I will post a picture when we get done.

Cindy Doing Well

I stopped to see Cindy - she looks so good.  The surgery went well.

She has to go back to U of M on Tuesday for a checkup.  Kim arrived last night, so Jim and Cindy are in good hands.

Cindy received a rose from Ethan that he made for her to get well.  Jim has been praying a novena to St. Therese for healing for Cindy.  Ethan has never heard of the way this Saint has been there for our family.  Cindy told Ethan she wants to tell him the stories next time she sees him.

This family has lots of love and faith.

A Few Different Sets of Wings

Finally! Spring!

We spent a lot of time watching our friend, the Pileated Woodpecker. He kept coming closers and closers.

Then Pat heard theWhip-poor-will. It stayed for quite awhile. I could hear it from the kitchen where I was preparing dinner. Pats sister, Cathy, was coming for dinner.

Then I went back on the porch and the mosquito plane flew over several times.

I made a new recipe that was really good. It was spinach artichoke stuffed chicken.  I found the recipe from menumusings on Pinterest.  It was delicious. Click the picture to go to the recipe.

Working on Ayva's 1st Eucharist and Confirmation Gift

I have been working on a gift for Ayva for her First Eucharist and Confirmation this Spring.  I was inspired by Pinterest - which happens very often.  We are going to get her a bible to journal in.  I am looking for quotes that she will look up - highlight - and then draw a picture on the page.  She will learn where the books are in the bible as well as how much God loves her.

As I work I will post here - adding pictures she may want to paint - verses that will be on her list - ideas as they come along.  This will be an ongoing post.  Probably never ending.

1.     Psalm 145:9 -The LORD is good to all. 

2.     Genesis 16:13 – You are the God who sees. 

3.     Philippians 4:4 – Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 

4.     Numbers 6:24 – The Lord bless you and keep you

5.     Colossians 3:2 – Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

6.     Colossians 3:16 – Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly

7.     1 John 5:3 – This is love for God: to obey his commands

8.     Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

9.     Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

10.  Proverbs 3:5 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

11.  Matthew 5:14 – You are the light of the world.

12.  Psalm 145:9 – The Lord is good to all.

13. Matthew 17:20 - He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

14.  James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.

15.  Matthew 28:20 – I am with you always.

16.  Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind to one another.

17.  1 John 3:23 – Love one another.

18.  Psalm 56:3 – What time I am afraid, I will trust in You.

19.  Psalm 118:24 – This is the day the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

20.  Psalm 119:105 – Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

21.  Psalm 136:1 – Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.

22.  Luke 6:31 – Do to others as you would have them do to you.

23.  Philippians 4:13 – I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.

24.  Psalm 138:1 – I will praise thee with my whole heart.

25.  John 10:11 – I am the good shepherd.

26.  Ephesians 6:1 – Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

27.  Proverbs 30:5  – Every word of God proves true. 

28.  Matthew 6:24 – No one can serve two masters. 

29.  Deuteronomy 6:5 – You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 

30.  Matthew 22:39 – You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 

31.  1 Corinthians 10:31 – Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 

32.  Psalm 19:1 – The heavens declare the glory of God. 

33.  Genesis 1:1  – In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 

34.  Psalm 139:14 – I praise you God, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 

35.  Isaiah 43:5 – Do not be afraid for I am with you. 

36.  Psalm 1:6 – The LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

37.  Matthew 28:6 – He is not here, he is risen!

38.  Acts 5:29 – We must obey God rather than men.

39.  1 Thessalonians 5:17 – Pray without ceasing.

40.  1 John 4:19 – We love because he first loved us.

41.  Psalm 46:10 – Be still, and know that I am God.

42.  Proverbs 2:6 – The Lord gives wisdom.

43.  Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

44.  Isaiah 26:4 – Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

45.  Galatians 6:7 – Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

46.  John 11:35 – Jesus wept.

47.  Exodus 4:12 - Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.

48.  Revelation 21:4 - He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

49.  Luke 12:34 - Your heart will be where your treasure is.

50.  Philippians 4:6-7 -Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

51.  Psalm 147: 3-5 - He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.

52.  Ephesians 2:8-9 - For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast

Memories

This is so true. Even after all these years I miss the people that have died. Something will happen and I still think about calling my Mom. Or Janet's first grandchild was born and I think how much she would live holding that munchkin.  Watching Jane read to Margot and remembering my Dad reading to us. 

Spring - Where are you?

It was so cold today,  I couldn't believe the Tigers played in Detroit today.  The pitchers didn't even have long sleeves on and it was only 31 degrees!

We haven't been able to sit on the porch for two weeks now.  I know we were spoiled rotten in March with beautiful afternoons on the porch, but I really would like a day soon.

Baseball!

Loving every minute of this 1st game of the season. Joanna posted this picture from Field of Dreams.

Love, love, love the Tigers.

Michigan Weather

This afternoon it was snowing big snowflakes.  It was beautiful, for March, not April!

Tonight the sunset was all rosy and apologetic for the weather earlier.

View from sofa

Kay and Jerry came over and we enjoyed the sunset. It was too cold for the porch, but the sofa was just fine.