Holiday Weekend Update (feels like a weekend to me)....went to South Bend. Smooth sailing in and out. Spent a whopping 2.5 hrs. with the in-laws, cozy together in Merle's single wide. Came home to a nap, got fruit sliced for tomorrow's salad, called my aunt for a chat, and got the bills paid. Not bad a'tall. Lots of time left for a bath, a movie, and nails -- in that order.

It's early morning, Christmas Eve. Just checking the weather to determine if the forecast is dismal enough (please, please, please....) to keep us home today. I'll even get my bills paid today if I can just stay home...

Had a very productive day yesterday. Finished laundry, colored my hair, prepared food, picked up a few more groceries in the blizzard, visited my buddy Jack, napped, watched a couple of movies, AND -- got all the gifts wrapped -- yeeha! Went for a ride last night into Saugatuck to see the lights. Rather difficult to do, considering the blizzard. Not much happening down there. Tree-cutting and power management crews out everywhere. I could see dark patches around town where power was missing.

Decision time....head to South Bend for the day or stay home....if we're leaving, I gotta finish my pita Christmas trees.....

I'm perfectly 'OK' with 50 mph winds that may bring the blizzard from hell, thus keeping me home from my MIL's tomorrow -- oh, darn. However, I don't think it's worth losing my fence. I woke up this morning to the western most section resting in the lilacs, and the next section ready to give up. 4 new fence posts are toast.

On another note, I'm praying that the blizzard holds off until later tonight. There is a 5:00P flight toward Norfolk, Virgina that absolutely MUST make it out of Grand Rapids tonight with Jim P. on board. It's been too long since he's seen his family. Prayers offered and fingers are crossed that this flight safely departs on time!

Gift wrap supervisor...

Don't they look mellow....NOT! The only item under my tree this Christmas is Chaos' empty food dish -- a hint that she's hungry. The plastic baggies of gifts crammed into every nook and cranny of my closet are oozing out, begging to be wrapped. When I finally do accomplish this task, the festively wrapped packages will find a home in the loft. Puppy will eat absolutely anything that either hits the floor or appears to be close enough for a leap.















Had a lovely evening last night at The Felt Estate. 'Music at the Mansion' included 'Tarnished Brass' in the first floor parlor; 'Archive' in the second floor master bedroom; and 'Indacoda Blue' in the third floor ballroom. Every window in the mansion was lit with candles, every room was decorated with a Christmas tree, and the renovation has been, and continues to be, quite extensive. Nick has been involved in the restoration of the fountain, and has also spent the last several months painting the interior.

I failed to take my camera last night and was quite surprised to find that the Township allows photographs. Thus, a poor cellphone photo of the boys doing acoustic in the ballroom.












I think every bedroom has a tiled bathroom. Beautiful color schemes throughout, and they're decorated for the holiday too. Another bad cellphone photo.






I have lived many years in or around Laketown Township. I've been to this lovely home so many times but have never taken the opportunity to tour. It is definitely worth it. Lots left to do but so much has been accomplished.

FunkyC, I love the video. I look forward to more of the late night ramblings....you're much more entertaining than you realize.

I don't do winter well. Way too cold and dismal for me. Considering the wet, icky view outside my window today, I dug into the summer vacation archives.

Lake Superior, near Marquette

Chaos is always in motion. A bowl keeps her entertained. Watching her with a bowl keeps me entertained.

The '98 Camry with 250K+ miles is toast. 24 hours after driving it home with 4 brand new tires, it threw a rod. Final verdict is approx $4500 to repair, no matter which way you slice it. Tire Man will refund the tires and we can maybe anticipate $200 for scrap. Oh, boy!

On a lighter note, tonight I had the pleasure of watching one of my personal classic fav's, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Ya know, some days it doesn't take much.....

Now that the VCR is gone I gotta pick up the DVD version of Christmas Vacation. I can't start my holiday without it. Tis tradition.

Au revoir mon ami....dog not included

Thanksgiving is such a goofy day -- so far out of the norm that I don't know what to do with myself. I am just not used to being home on Thursday. While I was up reasonably early, I'm still in my jammies while approaching noon. Running between the computer, a little laundry, and a whole lot of general piddling, I'm accomplishing very little but okay with that. The key to today is getting to mother's by 3:30 with 2 folding chairs and a pumpkin pie I did not make. Beyond that, who cares?

Got lucky and saw Julie's alma mater, Concord HS Marching Band, perform in the Macy's parade. Very cool.

The boys are performing Friday night at the Boathouse. There was confused discussion as to the true 'start' time. I see this morning that the website is updated to 9:30P.

Saturday I hope to rendezvous with Connie and Cathy, with their daughters in tow, for breakfast in Schoolcraft. It's a mid-way point between Clio, Goshen and Holland. Although, my guess is that Cathy will be coming from Kalamazoo, where she is probably spending the holiday with her beloved in-laws .

I'm ready to be relieved of the guilt of not posting the vaca photos. So, here is a sampling of the rest of my summer, from Sleeping Bear, over the bridge, up to the Keweenaw Pensinula, and then on to the Porcupine Mountains.

I'll give you a hint who I took the last photo for: Hint

It's been awhile since I've posted and I've been remiss in putting any photos from summer vacation up. So, until I have anything of substance to convey, I'll just post summer vaca photos.

Remember my comment about coming down the hill while speaking with Connie, waiting for that moment of 'ahh'? Well, here's the view...pictures don't do it justice.

Chaos and Baxter

A match made in heaven

Getting ready to take a vacation is too much like work. After working 16 straight hours yesterday and getting 4 hours of sleep, I started today early attending to errands, doctor appointments, family visits, dog duty instruction, shopping, packing, baking, making appointments, laundry, watering flowers, child chore instruction, and general coordination of all events which lead ultimately to departing first thing tomorrow morning for my happy place. Outside of packing up the computer when I've completed my blog, and packing myself, I think everything is checked off the list. Oops, pick up fruit at Orchard Market in Manistee.










I was speaking to Connie last night as she was traveling down the connecting road between Honor and Glen Lake. I knew exactly where she was and, when we lost the cell connection, I knew she had reached the bottom of 'the hill' -- the moment one gasps 'ah', catching the first glimpse of that incredible blue/green water.

Yes, connection at the cottage is interesting. Sometimes one might catch a bar or two at the end of the dock, but the better connection can be achieved if one walks to the bridge. That seems to be a magical spot. Last year there was a magic spot on the bed in the back bedroom where I was able to secure a wireless internet connection. As long as I didn't drift too far from the wall, I was able to blog. Get too close to the other side of the bed and access to the outside world was lost. So, maybe I will get an opportunity to blog -- maybe not.

In the meantime, I look forward to my Sunday morning coffee, still in my jammies, right here at the end of this dock, about 36 hours from now. Of course, a gin and lemonade upon my arrival, only 17 hours from now, sounds better!!

I've been a bad blogger, bad, bad bad.....thirteen lashes with a wet noodle. No posting since last Wednesday.

My view this evening. . . .












Another way to look at it. . .












It has not been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon. Saturday evening was set aside to celebrate Branden's high school graduation. Grandma Karen came home Friday with Hospice, intending to attend the party being held in her own barn. However, it was not to be. She passed away about noon on Saturday. The party went on as planned -- she would certainly have expected it to. But, as much as everyone could enjoy the festivities, it was certainly not the celebration it was supposed to be.

Shake, shake, shake -- making hillbilly lemonade for a toast to Mom. . .She was much loved and will certainly be missed by many.















Found myself a few times at the beach in the evenings, even during the storms that rolled through a couple of evenings. But then there were the quiet evenings, with barely a ripple.

Good night, Karen. Sweet dreams. . .

Twas another lovely evening for a stroll, despite a few raindrops. Music from Saugatuck wafted it's way across the harbor towards Oval Beach. The village is getting ready for tomorrow night's kick-off of the Waterfront Film Festival. We're thinking about wandering down to the street party for awhile. It should be a nice night for a movie under the stars.

The best of tonight's catch. . .

I'm bored and avoiding the obnoxious chore of e-mailing 4 pages of contacts who may care to know about the phone number changes at my house. Sounds like work to me.

Tom, I love the hummingbird video -- way cool. I saw this just moments after spotting my 2nd hummingbird of the season, and just 30 minutes after hearing my sister whine about not yet seeing any this year.

I heard a freighter close by this evening. Awhile later I heard it from Lake Michigan. Obviously outbound.

Can someone please tell me how I can permanently change the text size on my screen? Gads, I hate having bad eyes.

Looking north toward Holland from Laketown Beach on a hot, hazy Friday afternoon. Therefore, no visibility of Big Red. . . .

This is absolutely wonderful. Typical Tom. I cop'd it off cadillacmike's site. I've just gotta share....

June 1, my first swim of the year in Lake Michigan and boy was it sweet. About noonish I decided to proactively sharpen my saw. 8>)) As my errands were generally finished, I set about a plan to hit the beach...solo. Packing my beach backpack with essentials, I steered the Jeep toward Laketown Beach. I figure it's been about 20 years since I hoofed myself up that dune to get to the other side. Now there's a series of stairways to get up and over. It's an incredible workout for the legs and cardiovascular system. No pain, no gain, no guts, no glory, no beach. My legs were jello by the time I hit home.

The session at deVries with the folks this morning went better than I anticipated. Daisy is awesome at what she does -- I am truly amazed. Atta girl!

The sky was hazy today but I came out crispy nonetheless. It was an afternoon of spoiling myself. Gotta do it. It fills me up.

Where I'm going......











Where I've been and must go again.......











Daisy joined us for a toddy after dinner on The Deck. The Shirey Brothers were a pleasure.... We look forward to seeing Nick playing with them soon.












Saw a former classmate of mine tonight. Very strange. He hasn't aged at all. Well, maybe a little.

What an incredible evening last night at the beach. The weather was mild, the water was smooth and clear as glass, and it was warm enough to roll up my jeans to the knees and go wading. This all made for a most perfect evening for hunting treasure. I came home with 2 pocketfuls of the little buggers, several which winked at me and are near perfect specimens. I'm still in awe that I can find treasured Petoskey in my backyard. Who'd a thunk it?

So, I'm running a silent feud with my mother over cell phones and family portraits. I need a vacation....

Construction at the Gordon's coming, possibly next week. We're replacing the patio door and jamb, along with adjoining siding and flooring. Actually, I'm not totally clear on 'the plan' for the flooring. There goes the new patio furniture.

Hoping to scoop up trays of annuals at the farmer's market on Saturday. There are oodles of clay pots on my patio, waiting to be made beautiful again.

Happy Trails to Leonard. Life was an adventure.

And they lived happily ever after.......

Happy Friday and Happy Memorial Weekend too!

Spent time with CoCo this morning. Breakfast was, as always, at Wolfgang's in Eastown where we gabbed and caught up on life in general. We then toddled across the brick streets to Eastown Antiques, where I purchased a 1909 first edition of Gene Stratton Porter's A Girl of the Limberlost. Carol invested in a wonderful bit of bling. I swear it must be an Albert Weiss brochure/earring set, although it is unmarked.

We then breezed through Moonshadow on Diamond. I drooled over a large window that had been covered in a mosaic of broken colored glass -- predominately greens and purples. Hmmmm... It's heavily discounted to boot! Then, our usual final stop at Encore Consignment on Plainfield, where I acquired 2 shirts; 1 trouser; and 1 lovely funky green vintage brooch which matches one of the shirts, perfectly. Everything 25% off except for one of the shirts which was already a rock bottom price of $3.10.

Having fun playing with my new phone. I discovered another benefit of ditching the land phone -- I have more room on my kitchen counter.

Twas another beautiful day 'round here.....

Bought myself a new cell phone today. Now, everyone has their own cell phone at our house. Thus, I plan to eliminate all home phone service tomorrow. Of course, my mother had to point out that she will now need to call long distance whenever she wants to speak with me. Oh, well. It saves me $50/month to make the change. I guess she'll just need to be brief and to the point. Yes!

Nick's office...

No less than 4 people, upon returning from lunch, announced in horror that they saw gas for $3.65/gal. Egads, I am below a half tank. How far should we be traveling these days? Scary thought as I think about vacations. Gawd, I need to go north! I mean, I NEED to go north!!

Thursday an installer will bring me a new dishwasher. After several repairs on my 4 year old, I refuse to invest another dime in the lemon. Thus, I am thankful I chose to restrain myself from purchasing the patio furniture. I may not be able to veg out on my new Bosch, but at least I won't be standing at the kitchen sink this summer.

Not to mention the fact that the gas powered trimmer bit the dust this weekend. 1.5 months out of it's 2 year warranty and the shaft breaks in two. Repair bill will be 2/3 the price of a new one. Shit! Jury is out at the moment on this. One repair/replace situation at a time, please.

On a lighter note, HUMMINGBIRD ALERT in my backyard today -- May 22 at a feeder. Not to mention 3 rambunctious chipmunks who stuffed their cheeks full with peanuts and birdseed leftovers this evening.

Another frenzy of fireworks....

Lazy Sunday. Hiked, groceries, doing laundry, cooking, resting, pacing. Too chilly and overcast to catch rays. Napped briefly. Boring...

We had our family portrait taken today on Windmill Island.


Waiting for the photographer.

I was pleasantly surprised recently to find a built in card reader in my laptop. Duh!















This afternoon, Jeannine and I were discussing avian sanctuaries in our yards. Some of us feed the birds, while some of us feed the cats.

Last count, 10 feeders & 6 houses. Cat bit a tire a couple of years ago.

I find it rather amusing that there are segments along the eastern time lakeshore where one's cell phone registers central time, picking up towers in Chicago.

And in response to Julie's comment, I introduce you to Double Zout. Yum!

Wilfred Sykes came by my house today.....

I'll leave you with that while I force myself to go buy shoes on-line.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in my life.

I've often wondered if anybody is out there. Turns out I have a new friend in India and Mr. Tom commented recently. It's nice to know I'm not just talking to myself.

Oh, my, what an incredibly cool day I had yesterday. It started with an early morning phone call from my pal Daisy, asking if I might be interested in joining her and her bud Arnie at the parade in the afternoon. I poked my nose outside, saw the beginnings of a perfect parade day, and enthusiastically announced 'yes'! So glad I did too. Turns out Arnie's sister Karen marked a bit of turf directly in front of the Peanut Store, front row center, downtown Holland. What a deal.












Of course we had to pop in to see the Fabiano's working diligently to serve the bazillion customers who needed a sugar fix. I was disappointed to find they were out of my favorite French Burnt Peanuts. I settled for Boston Baked Beans and Dutch Salted Licorice. Yum. This, of course, was supplemented later by a freshly shaken lemonade and a monster elephant ear, balanced precariously while winding my way through parade goers.












The best band, in my opinion, was the Benton Harbor High School Band. Rhythm, dance, good music. Behind them came Unity Christian High School. Literally and metaphorically, the difference between night and day!



































I offer a variety of parade photos, including some real cool vintage auto photos. I found the 59 BMW Isetta the most fun.
























Girls need a ciggie and a rest after winding our way through mass quantities of parade goers.















The end of a perfect day..... County Park near Pier Cove, Fennville, Michigan