Dutch Girl

2012-01-28T09:55:00.002-05:00

I'm having a very hard time being motivated today. We woke up to cold, wet and blowing snow. This makes it difficult to get out of one's PJ's. Being January, life is getting rather boring. I found myself this week flipping through summer 'up north' vacation pictures, while emitting heavy sighs. The weather, coupled with the daily grind, presses the dream upon me of selling all my earthly possessions so I could move north to live in simplicity and peace. Ahhh.....one can dream. In the meantime, I'm going shopping for shoes.

2012-01-26T21:33:00.000-05:00

All this talk about a rich surtax. Someone has yet to explain why a flat, proportional percent tax won't work. Seems fair to me.

2012-01-25T23:47:00.002-05:00

I had an epiphany tonight. After years of struggling with political views that cross between the world of Republican and Democratic policy, I have come to the conclusion that I consider myself a Libertarian. Now, if I could just figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life, I'll have it made.

2011-09-05T20:11:00.001-04:00

Wow, I didn't realize how long it has been since I've posted here. A very long lag, and then came Facebook.....so many options.

2009-10-08T21:30:00.001-04:00

Yup, I'm still here, still alive and rather well. More later......

2008-12-29T11:18:00.002-05:00

Port Oneida - October, 2008

The sun is shining today -- whoo hoo, after a couple days of warmth and melting snow, though very rainy and yuck. Love that sunshine! And me, stuck in the house cleaning.....

Spent this AM dropping Chaos at the groomer, gas for $0.99/gal, getting my annual mammo, and, for the first time ever, a bone density scan. These and one more, yet to be scheduled procedure, are the signs of turning 50. Love it!

We took the Christmas decorations and tree down yesterday. I was going to wait till next weekend but chose to get the chore behind me. It's done and I was motivated to clean, which is a good thing. Notice, however, that I'm not cleaning -- I'm blogging. I do think a nap this PM should be part of the plan. zzzz........

2008-12-26T13:43:00.003-05:00

It's been a wonderful holiday for us. We've had the joy of Philip home for a few days. He is enjoying the simple pleasures of his own bed, his own shower, and access to a fridge whenever he wishes. Not to mention, he doesn't need someone to unlock the bathroom every time he wants to pee.

Santa was good to everyone at our house, as he usually is. Ed got a digital camera, which is keeping him occupied. He's learning how to use it. The biggest challenge for him will be when he wants to transfer the photos to the computer. While it is a simple task for those of us who do it without thinking, it will be a whole new adventure for him.

Santa brought me lots of wonderful things. Besides new boots, earrings and lots of cool socks, he gave me diamonds -- lots of them. Santa has been quite concerned that I don't have a wedding ring and truly felt that a wedding ring was more important than the iphone on my list. Because I was aware of his concern, I took the time a few weeks ago to pick out a few options for Santa to choose from, thus assuring fit and function to my tastes. It is a lovely ring and I am pleased.

Today has been wonderful. I was up early washing pots, pans and casserole dishes that collected in the sink. I've been putzing with this 'n that, making lists of tasks to complete, and making oodles of phone calls, catching up with friends and kinfolk. The boys are heading out to the pool hall this afternoon. That might be my opportunity for a nap. We take Phil back to GR this evening, though he has a day pass on Sunday and will be home with us all day again. I've enjoyed having him home with us.

Tis all for now. Merry Christmas one and all!

2008-04-20T22:04:00.004-04:00

Gorgeous day! People, dogs and bikes outdoors everywhere! Three dune hikes this weekend for me & the dogs; 2 car washes for the Highlander.

Chaos enjoyed her first trip to the dunes today. She was still leading the way enroute back to the car. Saw lots of deer, in and outside the park.

Thinking about taking time in a few weeks, head to the UP, to check out Northern Michigan University. I hear there could still be snow piles....

2008-04-19T07:03:00.003-04:00

Life is good........

It's been a busy few weeks in Lake Wobegon, my home town....and more busy ones to come. Though I must say, I feel that progress is being made in some areas of life, while others just don't get enough attention. Out of balance, out of sync, for sure.

But....spring is here. Thus, my spirits rise and I am content. Last night I hit the dunes for my 2nd hike of the season. The affects of winter hibernation are upon me, but I will prevail. Saw a deer while hiking and 5 more exiting the park. The sunset was lovely.

So, I don't know exactly at what stage I am in, or how long I have to go, but it is official......trumpet please...........hot flashes..........mood swings.........headaches.....no period..............YUP! Whoo Hoo!!! I have put to good use, frequently daily, my 'hot flash gal' fan. Glad I saved it from the book fair.

Today I’m off to work, though my list is longer than time will allow. Then, up to GR to see my auntie for awhile. Haven’t seen her since Christmas. My bad.

Another tid bit of good news. My folks' vow renewal/reception is next week Saturday. Thus, it's almost over....Hallelujah, Praise the Lord and Amen!

And, THE BEST NEWS OF ALL................this gal’s got a new toy....oh yeah!!!

2008-02-16T12:03:00.002-05:00

I tend to hibernate in the winter. It's not necessarily my favorite time of year. But, we have had 2 rather pleasant days. Though cold, the sun has been shining. I'm feeling the effects of my hibernation in both body and soul. Thus, a couple days of sunshine does quite a bit to fill the void.

The littlest mister turned 17 yesterday. We had a quiet evening at home last night with plans for the birthday dinner tonight. I have a pile of king crab legs and lobster thawing in my sink. This, along with some cheesy potatoes, and lots of butter, will be our dinner tonight. Birthday cake was baked early this morning.

I'm off to play this afternoon. Time to get out and enjoy the sunshine and do a little shopping for duds I certainly don't need.

Sunset last night in my backyard.....

2008-01-01T16:42:00.000-05:00

Tis a new year. Spent a quiet evening last night with the family. Went out in a snowstorm to see National Treasure; Book of Secrets. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the rock cropping from which we swam (and I took this photo) at Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park, was where Benjamin Franklin Gates and pals discovered the hidden entrance to the lost city of gold .

2007-12-24T19:52:00.000-05:00

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.

2007-12-24T07:33:00.000-05:00

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.....

2007-12-23T08:54:00.000-05:00

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...

2007-12-22T18:35:00.001-05:00

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.

2007-12-02T10:26:00.000-05:00

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

2007-12-01T12:25:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-27T21:00:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-22T11:38:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-22T09:47:00.001-05:00

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.

2007-10-05T18:56:00.000-04:00

Chaos and Baxter

A match made in heaven

2007-07-20T21:21:00.000-04:00

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!!

2007-06-14T20:16:00.000-04:00

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. . .

2007-06-06T21:22:00.000-04:00

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. . .

2007-06-05T20:29:00.000-04:00

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. . . .

2007-06-01T23:23:00.000-04:00

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

2007-06-01T22:48:00.000-04:00

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.

2007-05-31T20:48:00.001-04:00

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.......

2007-05-25T20:44:00.000-04:00

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.....

2007-05-23T22:28:00.000-04:00

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...

2007-05-22T21:43:00.000-04:00

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....

2007-05-21T20:45:00.001-04:00

2007-05-20T17:58:00.001-04:00

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

2007-05-19T19:44:00.001-04:00

We had our family portrait taken today on Windmill Island.

Waiting for the photographer.

2007-05-18T20:39:00.001-04:00

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.

2007-05-17T22:59:00.001-04:00

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!

2007-05-15T21:43:00.000-04:00

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

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

2007-05-13T22:03:00.000-04:00

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.

2007-05-12T19:31:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-11T20:23:00.000-04:00

Saugatuck Dunes State Park

Boring evening, nowhere to go....laundry chugging away. Bore, bore, bore.....

I should pay bills.

Nahhh.....

2007-05-07T21:23:00.000-04:00

I'm staring at a mountain of paperwork on my desk here at home. One word comes to mind: 'yuck'. So, I revert to an immature method of dealing with the situation -- avoidance and procrastination. Thus, I offer this evening, a series of photos taken last weekend at Oval Beach. Just in case you've never seen a sunset, here you go. I had all I could do to remain still, balancing the camera on the roof of the car for stability during heavy winds. Maybe if you scroll down real fast you'll get the full effect.

2007-05-06T20:24:00.000-04:00

Friday night was fireworks, the official kick-off for Tulip Time. Wandered down to the fire dock around 10'ish and awaited the first boom. Photographing fireworks always produces an interesting result. As good as the fireworks were, they can not be compared to Thunder Over Louisville. Thanks, Tom, for the video -- it was worth waiting for!

Saturday evening was spent at Central Wesleyan, enjoying 2 hours of Bruce Hornsby, a man alone with a piano, by request. Sat 4 pews back -- great view, great music. Gonna Be Some Changes Made..........geeze, I can only hope....

2007-04-25T21:52:00.000-04:00

Tulip Time ~ 2007

'Splendor' by Catherine McClung

May 9 Wed 2:00P Volksparade (1.5 hrs)

May 10 Thu 2:00P Kinderparade (1.5 hrs)

May 12 Sat 2:00P Muziekparade (2.0 hrs)

Consider that a seat must be found no less than 2 hours prior to parade start time. Even if said seat is located towards the end of the parade route. Typically, if I plan to attend the Saturday parade, I trot my buns down to Holland High School about 7:30 Saturday morning, find a few square feet of open grass, mark my spot like a dog and pray nobody pilfers my blanket. Gee, you'd think it was the Rose Parade.

Since I no longer have a child marching with his class in the Kinderparade, I recommend the Saturday parade, with prayers for no rain. I've been fried in the sun, miserable from the heat but I've also been frozen stiff, miserable in near freezing rain. Ya never know! Saturday is not only a bigger parade, it's also longer. I always park at Aunt Trudy's, or Brother Tom's house. They both live about 3 blocks from the end of the parade, which is at Philip's school. The bad part about this is that the marchers are pooped by the time they get to us but they do rather well nonetheless. It's a good spot. Many folks in the crowd at the end of the route are there because they're picking up a parade participant -- everybody knows everybody -- fewer tourists. And, it's an easier exit.

2007-04-24T20:43:00.000-04:00

Finding that I am frequently kicking myself for not having the camera for that 'Kodak Moment', I need to go back to a bigger purse. It's much more pleasant to include a photo of the day. Otherwise it's just blog, blog, blog.....blah, blah, blah.....

Thus, another Parrish....'Waterfall'

I went patio furniture shopping tonight. Egads is that stuff expensive. I REALLY want comfy & practical stuff on my patio but I REALLY don't want to pull the wad out of the bank right now. Timing's never right to splurge. However, the patio IS, in truth, another room of the house in the summer and it is definitely one of my personal happy places. Sunshine, moon, stars, birds, squirrel, chipmunks, rabbits, raccoon, lake sounds and scents -- SUMMERTIME! It also does NOT include a TV and is, for me, an escape. Yeah, okay, it's justified. Besides, then Connie can have my Fiskars chaise lounge, for which she has been searching the world over.

So, what do I do with the 2 really cool, perfectly good, vintage metal lawn chairs that could be wonderful if somebody chose to be handy? I really want to keep them but....I also have 2 vintage wrought iron table bases with no glass tops & 2 matching chairs. What to do with all this stuff??? I need a barn. A barn with a work bench. Someday maybe, baby! In the meantime, the shit's still gotta go. I think of 2 piles: Donate or Dump.

I've been enjoying new tunes this weekend -- Greatest Hits of Lynyrd Skynard, as well as Molly Hatchet. This brings the ipod library to 2,569 songs, or 9.66GB of files, or 1/3 consumed memory, or 40.2 days of listening pleasure. Someday I'll pop it on 'shuffle' and let er go till done. We tried this once and couldn't keep from cheating. You're not supposed to skip ahead!

Bets started a few weeks ago in my neck of the woods: Tulip Time or Stem Fest? Stay tuned.....

New schedule posted for Indacoda Blue.

Tom: Update! Hint..hint...got Thunder photos?

Julie: Your mother cooks/bakes, I clean up. I don't do dough!

Think: Evening Thunderstorms; Daily Sunshine --

2007-04-22T22:35:00.000-04:00

Twas a picture perfect weekend. Started out Saturday AM, just me, the Jeep, and tunes, heading toward Indiana. I spent the day with my dear bud Connie, dodging Amish buggies, bikes and horse shit piles in the road. It was a gorgeous day to toodle the back roads of Elkhart and LaGrange counties. We procured baked goods, assorted bird seed, peanuts for squirrels, a Martha Washington geranium for mom, and an Amish lunch for us. The country was alive with people and critters, including a tiller pulled by 8 Belgians, harnessed 4 abreast. It was a great day but a lot of time in the car.

Are you aware that cookie dough tastes better in the rough than it does baked?

80+ degrees today with no clouds. Awesome day. I am enjoying a tingle to the pink tone acquired on the patio this afternoon. Ahhh, heat.

2007-04-20T21:37:00.000-04:00

After spending time this morning cranking out a couple loads of laundry, as well as focusing on a couple phone calls from the office, I spent time with two of the most important people in my life, Frank and Barb. I love and respect these two people dearly. I think we've reached a resolve with each other, to some degree. As time moves forward, what is truly 'important' is what ultimately prevails, despite the delta between our lifestyles and beliefs. Somewhere, however, we ultimately find communal ground.

Looking at the umpteenth condo with them over the course of 10 years, I have a feeling that what we saw today may finally be the last hurrah for these guys. They've got more patience than I do, tis for sure. We'll see how the deal goes down but I'm hopeful that we can help move them into the next phase of domicility (is this a word?). Zeeland would suit them well.

So, why is it that my ultra conservative, Calvinist parents, virtually adopt the local baker boys who don tattoos, earrings and long hair, but yet they can't tolerate their daughter's long, kinky do? Nor can they understand same daughter's seemingly indifference to her child's rather skanky locks. Why get your tit in the wringer about something that shall pass? As the Wise CJ Oz would say, ' ya gotta pick your battles'.

This afternoon I had the rare pleasure of sharing a few hours & 2 bottles of wine with a very special friend. I had a rare opportunity to let go; to free myself of an honest reality weighing heavily within for so long. It helped.

This evening I found Petoskey, sea glass, and a few other assorted stones at Oval Beach, as the sun was setting. It was a lovely evening with a very calm lake. After 2 bottles of wine I found no issue with finding a discrete spot along the beach to do what I needed to do.

Walleye at Spectators this evening. I'm finding a pattern to Friday nights. Somehow we seem to end up here. Decent food; good music; sports bar. And close to home.

Saw deer at Saugatuck Dunes State Park again this evening.

Plans are for me to visit with my bud, CJO tomorrow in Indiana. I am so looking forward to it. See ya 'bout 10A, darlin.

All in all, a rather full day, wouldn't ya say?

Lake Michigan from Alligator Hill, Glen Lake, Michigan - July, 2006

2007-04-20T09:30:00.000-04:00

During my formative years, this was quintessential to what life was about. Every Friday, beginning about 3P, LAV-FM played what became known as 'the Friday Song'. It took me awhile to find it. Wish I had a wav file to share.

Shanty - by Jonathan Edwards

Gonna sit down in the kitchen and fix me something good to eat.

Make my head a little high and make this whole day complete.

I’m gonna lay around the shanty, mama, and put a good buzz on.

Well, pass it to me, baby, pass it to me slow.

We'll take time out to smile a little before we let it go.

We’re gonna lay around the shanty, mama, and put a good buzz on.

Well there ain't nothin' to do and there's always room for more.

Fill it, light it, shut up and close the door.

We’re gonna lay around the shanty, mama, and put a good buzz on.

Gonna sit down in the kitchen and fix me something good to eat.

And make ourselves a little high and make the whole day complete.

We’re gonna lay around the shanty, mama, and put a good buzz on.

Every night and day!

We’re gonna lay around the shanty, mama, and put a good buzz on.

2007-04-19T21:47:00.000-04:00

Hey, don't get excited. This is last summer. I'm just getting anxious. 60's & 70's are predicted this weekend, with sunshine. I'm looking forward to cruising my Jeep to Indiana Saturday to spend a day with my pal. We are committed to a new adventure.

I had a pang of melancholy this evening while attending a session at West Ottawa High School about transitioning to college. I found myself at my high school alma mater, though it is only 2 years old. The building where I attended high school was built in the 60's. When I arrived in 1972 it was 7th through 12th grade, representing both junior and senior high. Today it has been converted into a middle school and the high school has a new home. It's a mega-school with more technology than printed material. It even smelled good inside.

It also hit me this evening that this year marks 30 years since I graduated from that institution. Egads -- what an incredible thought!

Hey, Go Panthers!

2007-04-15T22:57:00.000-04:00

Glen, by Maxfield Parrish

One of my favorites

2007-04-15T18:18:00.000-04:00

There were 4 of these guys at the park this morning. Saw them on one side of the entrance road coming in. They moved across the road as we were leaving, which is where I took this photo. In all the years I've been coming to this park, it is only the entrance area where I have actually seen deer.

These dudes were brave. While the sun was shining and there were no clouds, it was chilly at the lake. I was happy to have my earmuffs but regretted that I didn't have gloves.

From Saugatuck Dunes we headed into Saugatuck to pick up cafe latte (I said toffee latte but, oh well....to make matters worse he forgot the second key ingredient to toffee latte....whipped cream). Onward ho to Oval Beach where a tiny Petoskey was found, along with a few other goodies. I'm dying here as I can see Petoskey in the lake but it's too dang blasted cold to consider venturing. I did jump the water to secure a lovely fossil I couldn't pass on.

This afternoon has been lazy and wonderful. A needed nap; a little cooking; some laundry; and a visit from my sister, which resulted in the requisite country drive. Making a vague plan for next weekend which involves men and children taking a whirlwind trip to Thunder over Louisville, by way of Butler University in Indy, while Con and I seek out a new adventure, yet TBD.

The sun this evening set like a fried egg. Lake Michigan gently rumbled, flowing dark like molten jade. It was a beautiful sunset, complete with seagulls bombing the lake, coming up with their catch of the evening. My catch was a few pebbles and a Louisiana quarter in the parking lot.

The heart and soul remain bruised by recent events. The light burns dimmer. I know the fuel generated by the hamster wheel isn't going to cut it.

2007-04-12T21:42:00.000-04:00

Wow! I just realized I've been doing this nearly a full year. It may not be consistent but there is a regular presence.

The Boys....

April 21 - Village Inn - Be there or be square.....

2007-04-03T19:29:00.000-04:00

No photo tonight. Just a quick post, only because I'm here.

I've been a bachelorette for the second night in a row. I could DEFINITELY get used to this. Outside of having to leave work at a reasonable time (oh, darn) to allow puppy to relieve himself after 12 hours, I am responsible to no one -- until about 10:00 tonight, that is. Dude is in Lansing all week at some building inspection tadoo, child spent 2 days in Chicago museum hopping. Including, I might add, a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry to see Body Worlds 2. If you haven't seen it -- GO! It's definitely worth it. I saw the exhibit in Chicago 2 years ago. It's amazing.

So, last night it was Cold Mountain all to myself. Tonight, it's a glass of wine and, hmmmm.....not sure which one yet.......TBD.....

You know, it's a strange feeling to walk into my house 2 nights in a row to find it exactly as I left it in the morning. Not a thing out of place. Bizarre.

2007-03-26T20:51:00.000-04:00

Rosco is looking for a new post so here you go, slim pickin's though it may be.

Hey have any of you eblog folks figured out what's so new and improved? Seems the same to me.

So, it hit somewhere in the 80's yesterday. Here you go. One week ago there was still ice on the lake. Today, fishermen in boats; shorts and tee shirts. If I'd known, I would have left the dog home, taken a blanket, and donned swimwear. A 1 hour nap could have left a warm glow. Somebody mighta thought I'd been to Florida.

Nothing much new. Discovered that my 'puter has it's own cardreader. I don't need that extra little device I keep sharing USB space with. Whodathunkit?

On another note: 16 year olds -- can't shoot 'em, can't eat em. What's a mom to do with one? No wonder my mother is half nutz -- she had three!

P.S.: The dog is at the OTHER end of the leash....

2007-03-04T18:18:00.000-05:00

Twas a sunny day at our house today and everybody found a sunbeam.

2007-02-05T22:03:00.001-05:00

It's still cold; I'm still bitching. I want my flip flops!!!!

2007-02-04T21:16:00.000-05:00

For whatever reason, every few years after multiple cleanings, the silicone goo that holds the whole aquarium together decides to give way. Thus, a trip to the pet store this weekend during a blizzard ensued. Not that the loss of the 3 remaining fish would have been a disaster, should we have decided to wait. No, the guys braved the elements and came home with one twice the size as our previous minnow house. 30 gallons of water perched precariously atop a desk. Additional fish were purchased, as well as living plants and a chunk of lava rock.

Jah, we've had a blizzard. It started Friday afternoon while I was in Meijer. As I was checking out my groceries I peered outside and realized a moment of panic as I looked at a wall of white outside the windows. I couldn't remember where I parked my car. The snow and blow hasn't ceased. Activities in the region have been cancelled throughout the weekend. You know things are not pleasant when good Dutch churchgoers take a snow day. Schools are closed tomorrow. 5 inches of new snow expected tonight, along with wind. All of which will continue through tomorrow. Oh, joy. High of 8 tomorrow. Whoopie!

I must say, however, for all my bitching about the weather, I'm glad it hit on a weekend when I could stock up on necessities and stay home. It's been a perfect winter cocooning kinda weekend. A short 4-wheel drive through Laketown Township both Saturday and Sunday afternoon was just enough to keep the heebeegeebees at bay. I'm grateful for my little Jeep. She was the transportation vehicle of choice this weekend and she performed like a trooper.

2007-02-03T12:28:00.000-05:00

We've moved from our mild winter, full steam ahead into old man wintertime. Egads, the view from my bedroom window, overlooking the backyard, is a frightful sight. Philip walked 3 blocks this morning to a buddy's house and just blew back in the door. Tis ugly outside this weekend. More snow and high winds coming too. I'm happy to have hit the grocery store yesterday and finished essential errands. I have no intension of leaving my nest till Monday.

I've been underground for a couple of months. My 'free' time has been spent keeping up with the bare essentials at home as well as procuring as much rest as possible. Thus, somethings have moved to the backburner of life. This blog is one of them. Dusting too. I just realized I haven't dusted since the Christmas tree went up, somewhere about's the first of December. Double Egads.

Talked to my folks in Florida who, after countless calls home over the last month, finally now feel that their visit to the Sunshine state is worth it. Once we get snow up here, they breathe a sigh of relief that their investment into a 2 month rental is worth it, even if it is in the lukewarm panhandle.

Fresh baked brownies and an orange cake are cooling in the kitchen. Homemade manicotti is the menu for tonight, along with a loaf of baguette bread. Yum.

In the meantime, until we meet again, stay warm and keep an extra gallon of milk and a stash of TP on hand.

2006-12-16T19:24:00.000-05:00

Yippee! I am officially done with Christmas shopping AND everything is wrapped! Lists and most plans are made and most of the grocery shopping is done too. It's time to start baking and cooking.

To get this all accomplished, we missed out on last night's do at the Corner Bar, where we understand Indacoda Blue rocked the house. There's always Friday night. Check out the link to their updated website. This evening we've been listening to a rough cut demo we received for Christmas.

It's apparent to me that winter is setting in, although the weather here today was quite lovely. Blogger is slow tonight which indicates many folks are at home, cacooning. We have a lovely campfire blazing away on the patio with nobody out there. Geeze.

Someone told me that if I believe I will receive an ipod for Christmas, I should start downloading my music collection to the computer now. Oh, this is a wise man. After 2 weeks I'm about half way through my collection. Current count is 1,031 songs and 4GB. MAYBE I'll get the job done sometime in 2007.

It will be another busy week at work, what with trying to get out of there at a decent time on Wednesday to make it to THE concert. Yeeha! That is, after dinner at Ruth's Chris - yum.

2006-12-03T11:54:00.000-05:00

Well, we got our tree. It's perfect for our house -- tall & slim. It's in a new location this year and I think this might be the right place. The guys went out yesterday and spent $40 for this baby. My only peace over spending that much dough for a dead tree is (1) monies went toward a charity (2) another reason for that rather brand new chain saw -- I've got $40 worth of firewood sitting in my living room.

After spending all day yesterday cleaning, I'm now prepared to decorate the tree. That is, after number one son digs out the ornaments from the crawl space. Christmas cards were finished this morning and I even got some presents wrapped. O00h, doggie, I'm ahead of the ballgame already.

So, everybody is always asking -- what do you want for Christmas. Okay, here you go:

- ipod 80 Gig color: Black - Now, Philip says I don’t need this much hard drive space. This coming from a kid who has a hard drive on his Christmas list! How dare he under estimate the amount of music his mother has or could possibly want at her finger tips.

- IF Santa brings an ipod, I need a gizmo attachment that will frequency into my Jeep radio. Get it at the Apple store at Rivertown.

- A cleaning person.

- Of course I’m going to want to keep that new ipod looking pretty. Something maybe to protect it – a skin of some sort?

- What’s the quickest method to burn all my CD’s to that ipod?

- So, while we’re on the wonder of ipod, what about those real cool home stereo units you can set your ipod into so you’ve got an instant library of all your tunes - plugged in, ready to go?

--World peace.

- A GOOD, quality spring form pan to make cheesecake (Williams & Sonoma?). Mine gets rusty.

- That my kid studies and performs to his utmost potential. I know it’s in there somewhere.

- DVD’s – the old Thin Man movies with William Powell & Myrna Loy.

- More room in my house. Though I highly doubt I will receive this as a gift, I decided to add it to my list. After all, miracles have been known to happen at Christmas.

- Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. I’m still waiting…..

- Roller blades – shoe size is 8.5 Used blades would be a fine start for these (Play it Again Sports). After all, the ski boots disintegrated before our eyes from lack of use. By the way, you might want to include body padding too while you’re at it.

China

cabinet/side board to put in that extra room.

- New black leather jacket – slightly fitted, just below the waist – Medium.

- A few more hours in my day.

- A small toaster oven – notice this is way down on my list. I don’t need or want another appliance so our current, perfectly good, toaster would have to go. This little item was on my 2003 list and nobody bit.

- The family needs (1) State Park sticker. To Ed or me, doesn’t matter.

- More room in my house.

- Gift cards/certificates:
- --Quality Car Wash
- --Barnes & Noble (yeah, like the 4 foot high pile of books getting dusty next to the bed aren’t enough). Yes, but there’s always music.
- --Via Maria (restaurant – pricy, but good)
- --Boardwerks (restaurant)

- Last, but certainly not least, for the cold and snow to depart on December 26, followed by sunny days in the 80’s – low humidity.

- No-No’s: Clothes & froo-froo items. I’ve got enough of both, thank you.

So, how many spring form pans do you think I'll get?

2006-11-26T14:09:00.000-05:00

We found ourselves this morning hiking the south side of the park. The dunes are more open and create quiet valleys. It's a beautiful part of the park and much less traveled. As we approached the lake we came across this old, large concrete structure. While it doesn't appear to have a proper entrance, it does have 2 large holes on top -- one of which is plugged with concrete, the other is open with no ladder to get out if one should decide to take a trip. We're not sure what this is but we suspect it might be part of an old water tower or cistern. Looks like a bunker to me. Remnants of a water system can be found throughout the park. Not sure if anything is still in operation. Behind the structure, up in the tree, are large pieces of rusted scrap metal.

2006-11-24T18:45:00.000-05:00

I am thankful for the most glorious, warm, and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday anyone could ever wish for. It's kinda like we're cheating or something. Thursday morning started out with a chilly hike through the dunes. Nobody was out except us. Thank heavens for ear muffs and gloves. The afternoon found us with family at the Brown's, enjoying a lovely traditional turkey dinner and games with friends. The evening is now a blur.

Somewhere in here we made a trip to Oval Beach, putting our total through today (Saturday) at 3 beach trips. We have discovered petoskey stone at Oval Beach - who knew? It was confirmed to me by a local that petoskey is found frequently along the rocky areas of the beach between Saugatuck and South Haven, especially in the spring. Oh, my, I have a mission.

Friday at the dunes was absolutely out of this world. Busy, busy...tons of people and dogs. It was warm and, if I had taken a blanket and left the dog home, I would have been perfectly content to have taken a nap on the beach. Maybe Sunday.........

Friday afternoon was errands, house chores, and more errands, including 2 trips to the grocery. Ed's birthday being the next day I decided that a cooked dinner was in order so we invited Doug and Daisy. Had a lovely evening till taxi guy had to mosey on down the road....Had a kick ass campfire going too.

Did I tell you I'm a band groupie? The Smut Puppies have developed into quite an interesting team of 3. Indacoda Blue is the grown-up version. From garage band grunge to a maturing blend of rock, blues, and a little fun stuff (thrown in for good measure), the boys are keeping the local winter Saugatuck crowd havin fun down at the Corner Bar. Tis fun stuff. Twas looking forward to seeing them again Dec. 1 but the gig has been cancelled. College commitments come first, after all...These boys need to grow their repertoire and cut another demo. Then, update the website.

Okay, so today we hit the road by 8:30A, headed the Camry towards Goshen, with a stop at the Niles Martin's for a Starbucks. Connie and I promptly hit the road in the Caravan towards our planned trip of necessary stuff. After a quick stop for cheap (ah hem) smokes, we pointed our missle in the direction of E&S Bulk Foods in Shipshee. About twice a year we hit this joint to load up on pastas, baking needs, herbs, spices, candies, and cheese. Oh, yeah, and cheap tampons. On down the road for a trip through Yoders where I picked up cotton dish towels for Christmas baskets, socks, and a few other oddities. All this followed by pizza and a lovely country drive -- both ways.

So, about my pictures. The first two -- guess where those were taken. Awesome beach day on Friday. I followed this up with a quick trip through Castle Park and finally had the nutz to get out of the car and take photos of the front and rear of one of my favorite homes. I don't even know what it looks like inside but.....I don't think I'd mind. As I look closely, from lowest level to attic room, this house is 4 stories high. The western wing of the house appears to be a more recent addition to a home that most likely started out as an old family cottage, dating back to the turn of the twentieth century. It's now quite mammoth and very intriguing to me.

The tug is on the Kalamazoo River, across the docks in Saugatuck.

2006-11-12T13:14:00.000-05:00

I don't have a clue how these pictures will appear once I upload this blog. I am challenged with, and have no patience for, fine tuning the html code. I'm a WYSIWYG kinda gal, in more ways than one.

Yesterday we hiked the trails at Van Raalte Farm. It was a first for Baxter and me. Nice trails for dry days. The terrain is clay, thus there was a lot of held water. Wait for dry weather.

Today we climbed the steps at Sanctuary Woods Preserve. The best time to climb the steps for hiking is when the leaves are off the trees. The center photo was taken atop a bluff, looking northeast toward Holland and Lake Macatawa. The photo below is the Holland channel, looking northwest toward the Holland State Park.

It was a beautiful, crispy morning. The sunshine is invigorating. Too nice to dust.....think I might just take a drive instead.

2006-11-11T06:59:00.000-05:00

It was on my calendar but I missed it. Yesterday was the birthday of a dear friend. I never have trouble finding just the right card for this guy. I just forget to send it.

Happy Birthday, dear Tom. Such a youthful dude, you are!

2006-10-28T23:12:00.000-04:00

Felt Mansion, Laketown Township

Another rainy, windy day here. It's been a month of this kind of weather which drove me to clean out my closet this evening, pull out the winter wear, and put away the summer. Egads. The yard is a mess. The yard knicky knackies call out to be put away. Which means, the garage needs to be cleaned. Too cold, too wet, and too pooped to consider it.

The big guy is gone this weekend so I find myself with a rare opportunity to do as I choose (I rather do this usually anyway....), play new music, light candles, drink tequila, read, and relax. Putting first things first.....a 4 hour nap this afternoon. After about 65 hours at the office this week I found it odd that I was up at 4AM paying bills. Back to bed at 5 and up at 8. Thank God for naps. They're highly under rated.

2006-10-15T09:31:00.000-04:00

It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my home town....oops, wrong story...

Actually, it has been a relatively quiet week(s) since I last posted. Autumn has certainly moved in, along with rain of Noah's proportions. It appears we may have sun today and, since my chores are relatively finished, it might be a good day for a ride after our hike. The colors of trees would certainly make it worth an adventure.

Fall cleaning comes by nature. Weather changes cause some sort of physical and psychological change in me. Outside of the rather daunting jobs of cleaning the garage, cleaning up the yard, and cleaning the treasures above all my cabinets, general fall housecleaning is near finished. I'm saving the worst for last this time. Maybe next weekend...

Boring news, I know. But it's something.....

2006-09-30T09:14:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is the price for yesterday
A billion waves won't wash the truth away
Someday you'll be ordered to explain
No one gets to walk between the rain

--from No More, Bob Seger

2006-09-24T10:16:00.000-04:00

Yeah, there is a reason why I am posting photos of the bathroom door that was in our hotel room at Crystal last week. They're here for my master craftsman to peek at. If you saw my fence gate, you'd understand. Whatcha think there Tom? Can it be done?

Will it ever stop raining? The sun is out this morning, the wind is blowing, but there are huge gray clouds coming over the lake. Everything is wet. I've tried to keep the patio cushions dry but it's pointless. The end of summer is coming faster than I anticipated and I'm not yet ready for it to go. The thought that flip flops and tank tops are a thing of the past is depressing.

I have 2 beautiful new willow trellis' in my garden. They still need to be mounted. They are absolutely gorgeous. Thank you, dear friend, for them.

Ed's bummed this AM, learning that turning off the TV last night before the Michigan State/Notre Dame game was over was a mistake. Notre Dame ended up winning in the last 2 minutes.

2006-09-22T12:44:00.000-04:00

1947 Chris Craft

What a gloomy day. I'm supposed to be working at job stuff but I'm cleaning up my desk, blogging, and sending e-mails. I'm procrastinating....but I AM getting some things accomplished -- home stuff, that is. I could start the laundry.....nahhhh...

We had a great evening last night during conferences at Sylvan. Philip will be finished 10/3, earlier than he thinks. We're not telling him -- we'll surprise him. As far as he knows, he's 'on schedule'. He's off to a great start in school, everyone is seeing a mature difference in him this year. So far, so good.

A couple more photos from the Leland Classic Wooden Boat Show last weekend:

2006-09-21T22:28:00.000-04:00

Wow! I’m excited. Just bought the new Bob Seger CD ‘Face the Promise’. If you’re a Seger fan, it won’t disappoint. It’s classic Seger, beautiful new music, and a great bonus DVD. This is the guy who performed my absolutely favorite rock tune of all time….’Old Time Rock and Roll’.

I’m behind the 8 ball here with my blog. So, we’ll start this back a few days:

September 9, 2006
I spent my entire day in the kitchen to produce 38 pints of salsa. I am down to my last 2 pints of last year’s vintage and I have 2 brothers chompin at the bit for more. So…all the ingredients are in season, thus, it had to get done.

September 15, 2006

Ed has been at Crystal Mountain since Tuesday at a building code conference. Sound exciting? Our plan was that I head up early Friday morning so we could spend a couple of days/nights on our own, sort of a celebration of our 25^th wedding anniversary, which has long since passed. After working until well after noon, I headed north. Our room is comfortable but the best part for me is that awesome tub! Humungous Jacuzzi to die for. Too bad I didn’t have bubble bath, but I enjoyed the bath just the same.

We spent the evening walking & riding around Crystal Mountain, which covers a rather large terrain of dunes. The facilities are excellent and the grounds are manicured to perfection. In fact, it was almost rather annoying how ‘perfect’ everything was. Even the lettuce is evenly cut. Cookie cutter white bread, not necessarily my cup of tea. A pleasant place to visit, nonetheless.

September 16, 2006

What an incredible day this turned out to be! Went to bed rather early last night so I was up at my usual weekday 5:30A. We hit breakfast at Wildflowers shortly after 6:00A, then on to the Michigan Legacy Art Park which is 30 acres within the Crystal Mountain campus. We hiked the dunes through this magnificent display of art work and were not disappointed for our efforts.

After our hike we packed ourselves some munchies and headed to the rock shop in Honor where I purchased 2 pounds of agate and a ‘thunder egg’ geode/agate conglomerate. Heading up the back road we came to the narrows at Glen Arbor 3 minutes before the Tour de Leelanau raced west down 616 and crossed before our car as it continued southwest on M-22. What a rush – all those bikes! We were given a Tootsie Roll for our patience, although it was worth the wait even without the Tootsie!

Heading through Glen Arbor we ended up at my favorite rock beach, for which this barn is a landmark. Down Little Bohemia to this beautiful bay.

While I found several Petoskey’s at Little Bohemia, I didn’t find my usual cache. We headed north on M-22, with Leland and blue slag in our sites. Combing the public access in Leland, I found a couple tiny pieces of slag but hit pay dirt with some of the best Petoskey specimens yet.

Heading towards Leland we knew there was a Fishtown festival of some kind. We didn’t expect to find such an incredible display of vintage automobiles as we did at the inaugural Leland Classic Car Show. Beautiful automobiles, most of which were sports cars.

And then, across the street, we find a classic wooden boat show on the river. Beautifully restored Chris Crafts and others, including the Amphicar which qualified at both shows!

After a drooling visit to Becky Thatcher Designs (got my eyeball on a ring – if only I didn’t spend the money last week on a new refrigerator – where are my priorities any way!), and my unsuccessful attempt at navigating us to Fischer’s Tavern, we ended up back in Glen Arbor for a quick bite at Boonedocks, a trip to Tiny Treasures for bubble bath, and a trip through the sports store for new shoes. As we were getting ready to depart for Beulah, we were once again detained, although this time it was for 100 to 200 motorbikes, making up the North Woods Ride. We followed them to Empire where they went to the beach and we continued south on M-22. Had great success at Crystal Lake where we filled our pockets with green slag. Who knew? The sales lady at Becky Thatcher, that’s who!

A bath and nap before dinner – filet mignon at Thistle Pub & Grille – another bath….(love that tub). Night, night.

Back to September 21: Well, there you have it. A synopsis of our little trip. Crammed a lot into about 48 hours.............

1960 Jeep Surrey

Curly:
When I take you out tonight with me
Honey, here's the way it's gonna be
You will set behind a team of snow-white horses
In the slickest gig you'll ever see.
Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry
When I take you out in the surrey
When I take you out in the surrey with the fringe on top
Watch that fringe an' see how it flutters
When I drive them high-steppin' strutters
Nosy pokes will peak through their shutters and their eyes will pop!
The wheels are yellow, the upholstery's brown
The dashboard's genuine leather.
With eisenglass curtains you can roll right down
In case there's a change in the weather
Two bright side-lights winkin' and blinkin'
Ain't no finer rig I'm a thinkin'
You can keep yer rig if yer thinkin' that I'd keer to swap
Fer that shiny little surry with the fringe on the top

Eller:
Would you say the fringe was made of silk?

Curly:
Wouldn't have no other kind but silk

Laurey:
Has it really got a team of snow-white horses?

Curly:
One's like snow, the other's more like milk.
All the world'll fly in a flurry
When I take you out in the surry
When I take you out in the surry with the fringe on top.
When we hit that road, hell-for-leather
Cats and dogs will dance in the heather
Birds and frogs'll sing all together and the toads will hop!
The wind'll whistle as we rattle along,
The cows'll moo in the clover
The river will ripple out a whispered song,
And whisper it over and over
Don't you wish you'd go on forever
Don't you wish you'd go on forever
Don't you wish you'd go on forever
And you'd never stop?
In that shiny little surry
With the fringe on the top.
I can see the stars gittin' blurry
When we ride back home in the surry
Ridin' slowly home in the surry
With the fringe on top
I can feel the day gettin' older
Feel a sleepy head near my shoulder
Noddin', droopin', close to my shoulder
Till it falls kerplop.
The sun is swimmin' on the rim of a hill
The moon is takin' a header.
And jist as I'm thinkin' all the earth is still
A lark'll wake up in the meader.
Hush, you bird. My baby's a sleepin'
Maybe got a dream worth a keepin'
Whoa, you team an' jist keep a creepin'
At a slow clip, clop.
Don't you hurry little Surry
With The Fringe On the Top.

2006-08-20T16:45:00.000-04:00

I have spent the better part of today editing my travel journal and putting it into this blog. I'm still officially on vacation so I took a short break this afternoon for a trip out to the Saugatuck Dunes for a hike through the woods. It's been a constant 80 degrees with low humidity and it's a clear blue sky kinda day. The winds coming out of the north brought small waves to Lake Michigan where the water was crystal shades of blue and green. Boat traffic was further out to sea. It is a perfect beach day. We didn't stay long, however, as we had Baxter in tow and he doesn't appreciate folks just hanging around trying to get a tan. Besides, if Mr. Ranger decided to take his quad for a ride, we'da got ourselves a tongue lashin and maybe a ticket to boot.

Following is the journal. There's always more to tell......

August, 2006 – Virginia

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

It’s been a rather long day looking for the perfect campsite near the Blue Ridge Parkway. After finding Peaks of Otter not to our liking, we have situated ourselves at the Cave Mountain Lake Recreation Area, which is managed by the US Forest Service in Jefferson National Forest not far from Buena Vista.

If we are satisfied our intent is to stay here for the next 3 nights, assuming we can find enough to keep ourselves occupied.

Our trip officially began at 11:30A on Saturday the 12^th, much later than anticipated. Heading south, we took a left turn at Louisville, Kentucky and proceeded East on I-64. Basically, outside of side trips to campgrounds, Monticello and trips on the Parkway, everywhere we go has been I-64. Our first night was spent at Clear Creek Campground in the Daniel Boone National Forest, East of Lexington. We had a lovely private site but, as has happened to us in Kentucky before, the air was heavy. Camping in the foothills isn’t as pleasant as camping in the highlands. Our neighbors played music till well after 2AM. The tunes kept us from sleeping, but their tune selections were to our liking, nonetheless.

Sunday morning we broke camp and off we went due east. We found Sherando Lake Recreation Area in the George Washington National Forest, not far from the Parkway near Waynesboro, Virginia, and within 30 minutes of Monticello. Site A22 turned out to be perfect for this trio. I have been thrilled with these US Forest campgrounds. They all seem to offer stands for stoves and tall lantern posts. The bathhouse at the campground is new and the entire park is spotless. This campground has seen bear and lots of them. They work hard at keeping sites swept free of any debris that might smell good to a critter.

Sleeping was much improved at Sherando. Waking Monday AM we headed (guess!) YES, East to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. Arriving for the 1:00 house tour, we spent the entire afternoon learning about Jefferson’s home life, his management of the plantation (Mulberry Row), and a little about the Jefferson lineage. Oh, he was a busy, busy boy. It’s a beautiful home and garden. Well worth the visit. I think an earlier arrival (opening time) would have allowed for more time to see the grounds and the dependencies, which is where most of the household action took place.

After leaving Monticello we took a short trip into Charlottesville to see the rotunda at the University of Virginia. This is what Jefferson chose to do during his retirement – build a University. Talk about a hobby!

After 2 nights at Sherando Lake (highly recommended), we headed out this morning to find ourselves here at Cave Mountain Lake. We made this choice after several hours of driving the Parkway South, then back North. We hit a patch of rain at a higher elevation that followed us here but politely cleared when it was time to setup camp. Our friendly neighborhood Volunteer Campground Hostess just stopped by to say hello, hand us a trash bag, and tell us about the Natural Bridge we might want to go see tomorrow. There’s a package deal with a wax museum which I think we might pass on....

Camping has certainly changed for us over the years. Yeah, I know folks out there have fancy RV’s with satellite, air conditioning, TV’s, etc.. But this family has been strictly tenting it for 26 years. Granted, we have added many amenities as we have gone along. If you figure Ed and I could get all camping gear and a dog into the back end of a small Subaru wagon 24 years ago. Today we have to rent a van with stow-n-go seats to take us down to half the van for people, half the van for stuff. And boy do we have stuff! But, we use most of it. A small amount of stuff is packed for no other reason than a good intension. Last year it was my hiking stick. It never left the van. It’s with me this year, hoping to make a good intension come-back. I hope to squelch that idea by actually using it. No excuses. I’ve got a hiking trail running up the other side of the creek next to my campsite.

So, speaking of how camping has changed for us. Check out Number One Son. He’s charging Mom’s laptop, his ipod, and falling asleep watching the movie ‘Office Space’.

Every once in awhile he yells, ‘WI-FI’. By the time he’s unplugged himself and handed the portable (hah!) laptop to me, I’ve once again missed an opportunity to get on-line. One can mooch off somebody else’s signal just so long. But what Mom can do is sit quietly at her picnic table, sip a cup of cappuccino, listen to Mozart over the sound of water cascading along Blue Ridge Mountain rock, and journal to her heart’s content. Ahhh, bliss…

In the meantime, critter count so far is about 6 deer, including 1 Philip fed and petted, 3 groundhogs who hardly had enough sense to get off the road, an infinite number of butterflies, an anonymous visitor rattling my cooking pot in Kentucky, and 1 snake which Ed called a ‘rattler’. Yeah, right….but it did remind me to be careful where I drop my drawers.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Today started out as one of those lazy days. Everybody slept till they were done. We made a fine breakfast of spicy cheesy eggs and bacon. Yum. After morning chores we headed out to see what we could find to do. Coming around a curve, just before departing the campground, we screeched to a halt. A beautiful red & green 3 legged turtle (identification yet unknown) was determined to pull his heavy body across the road. After trying to get the perfect photo (he kept moving) we assisted him to the other side of the road, thereby avoiding the possibility that we would find him squished flat by the time we returned.

Rolling through the hamlet of Natural Bridge, we determined the natural bridge was not something we needed to see. It is a tourist trap, definitely. We continued on along SR 11 toward Lexington, where we found a very helpful host at the Visitor’s Center. We were guided to points north on SR 11 that sounded interesting and were given a good overview of opportunities within the downtown area of Lexington.

After a quick drive through Washington & Lee University, as well as the Virginia Military Institute, we headed north on SR 11. Stopped at Rockbridge Winery where we tasted and purchased a sampling of the local vino. On to a wonderful old farm that was recently lovingly restored to an herb farm and private residence, next door to Wade’s Mill, another historic landmark. After a quick stop at the lookout on Goshen Pass, we headed back to our campsite.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Considering that today would be our last day of exploration and adventure we rose early, departed with pancakes in our tummies, and headed toward Lexington. Back to the Visitor’s Center where we could leave our car all day if need be. Next door to the Visitor’s Center is the Stonewall Jackson home, where we purchased tickets for a tour and brief history lesson. It was a short tour but interesting. After our house tour we decided to tour the city via carriage. We met Shanna and her two helpers, Danny and Charlie. Danny does all the work (left) and likes it that way. Charlie is one full pace behind. They work an average of 4 hours per week, with Poptart treats in between. What a life!

Philip has come to enjoy spending time in military cemeteries. While mom went shopping and dad went for ice cream, the kid explored one of our country’s oldest cemeteries, last resting place of many historical figures including General Stonewall Jackson, less one arm.

Lexington is a very, very old city. It is still quite small and dedicated to its history and the universities within its borders. The homes in this town are absolutely gorgeous, with ongoing renovations strictly controlled. It was well worth our time and money for the tour.

If I was going to hike, today would have to be the day. Ed and I decided to take the trail around the lake. It turned out to be what I would call a wussy hike, only about 45 minutes over easy terrain. But, it was a hike nonetheless. The Mountain Cat trail would have been over 4 hours one way to go only 4.5 miles. Considering the fact that we had walked all afternoon in Lexington, the wussy way to go sounded okay by me.

Tonight’s dinner of steak, southwestern style mashed potatoes, and canned corn was a delightful end to a wonderful week. Not too much bickering, no rained out campsites, no major bug issues, lots of wildlife, excellent camping facilities, and just the right pinch of historic education. I’m not yet ready to go home. I’ve got another week’s worth of food and clothing. I do, however, need to wash my hair. I haven’t washed it since Monday and I plan to hold out until we arrive home early Saturday morning. Brush and pin it up is my method. So far, so good.

Friday, August 18, 2006

Last night we packed up everything we possibly could with a plan to depart immediately upon waking. Our departure from the campground this morning was 8:30A. We headed north on I-81 with a plan to drive home via Maryland, West Virginia (twice), Ohio, Indiana, and on to Michigan. After making several stops enroute, including a short visit to the Rocky Gap State Park in Maryland, we arrived home shortly after 2:30A Saturday.

It was a lovely trip. The Virginia landscape was exactly as every travel photo I’ve seen has shown – mountainous in the background, historical farms dotting the hills, horses and more horses everywhere (Jeannine, I thought of you often). It’s not as mountainous as North Carolina, therefore the elevation is lower. There is so much more history in the small area we explored. We have barely scratched the surface.

Epilogue

Well, the hair got washed, the camping gear is stowed, the laundry is done, and our house is in order. All there is left to do is shave my legs and sort through 6 inches of travel literature.

I am a reader. However, I picked up crossword puzzles a year ago and haven’t put them down. All reading and handwork came to an end. This past week I put the puzzles down and picked up an autographed book dear Connie gave me and I was again bitten by the pleasure of reading. I came home from my vacation with a few new books. One book about Thomas Jefferson, a 3 inch volume about General Stonewall Jackson (promised to read like a novel), one about slavery in Lexington, and a book about hiking trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway (planning for a future vaca – all hiking). I always appreciate the opportunity to get recommendations on books from people who are familiar with the available options and willingly offer their suggested good read.

Sorry to say I didn’t come home with much in the way of geological wonders. Just a couple pieces of Virginia granite. We unwittingly brought home a very well preserved and pressed lizard/salamander (we don’t know what it is) who stowed himself away in the tent. Ed found him this morning when he pitched the tent to clean it. This little guy is beautiful. He’s various shades of iridescent blue. Too bad he’s toast now.

Returning from vacation is such a bummer. I could have kept going – I wasn’t quite done yet. Although, I still cried the usual ‘YEAH’ as we crossed the Indiana/Michigan border early Saturday morning. I’m looking at a week of adventure at my company. Things are changing. No doubt some changes will be positive, others negative, for me as well. But, life is about changes. It’s about how we deal with those changes that will make or break the situation. In the meantime, I will look forward to next year’s getaway. Philip is growing and his life is changing too. I keep thinking this might be the last year we can do a full week of family camping as a trio. We are thinking big for next year, anticipating that we go ‘whole hog’ for a 2 week trip out west, focusing a chunk of that time at Yellowstone. It’s a trip the guys have talked about for several years and I think it’s something we need to do. We don’t know yet if it can happen BUT, YA GOTTA HAVE A GOAL….

2006-08-10T23:13:00.000-04:00

Guess Who Came to Dinner?

There are 2 teenagers who have spent the last 3 nights entertaining us. They are fearless and think nothing of coming up close or allowing us to get close to them. They have climbed every tree, every metal pole, dined at every bird feeder, drank from every water source, and performed amazing acrobatics in the process.

Needless to say, this could become a problem. But, in the meantime, we're amused.

2006-07-30T10:53:00.000-04:00

Well, we're home. I'm housecleaning and catching up on details so the vacation is definitely over.

The official final live count as of departure was 17 deer (1 with a rather large rack, 1 with a small fuzzy rack, and 1 that was almost road kill under my wheel), 1 porcupine, a baby chipmunk and 4 turkey. Rumor has it Madonna and family were sited in Empire.

The celestial count was 6 shooting/falling stars & 1 rainbow. Also the possibility that we saw a bit of Aurora Borealis.

Petoskey stone count? Dunno...gotta dump the buckets to get that count. One of these days I'll crank up the ol tumbler again. Gotta use the 3 pounds of grit I bought at the rock shop. Maybe when I get home from the next vacation I gotta plan, 2 weeks from now.

It was an awesome week at Glen Lake, as usual. Nothing new to report, which is how we like it.

2006-07-27T21:33:00.000-04:00

Lake Michigan - Where I come from, the water is brown. Light brown or pale green on a good day. Up here near Glen Arbor, the lake is pristine. The worst day gives you a little algae. The best of days look like this. Clear as clear can be. At a distance it's various hues of blue and green. Gorgeous water, the way it was in the beginning. Photos can not do it justice.

Life changes as time goes by. Used to be that when we were up here we couldn't be reached. As of last year we didn't even get cell phone reception. This year we are able to get not only cell phone reception but also we've latched onto somebody's wi-fi signal. We've all been able to remain current on e-mail and our blogs.

The official live count as of today is 15 deer (1 with a rather large rack and 1 that was almost road kill under my wheel), 1 porcupine, a baby chipmunk and 4 turkey. Rumor has it there was a Madonna with family siting this afternoon in Empire.

The celestial count as of today is 6 shooting/falling stars & 1 rainbow.

Petoskey stone count? Dunno...gotta dump the buckets to get that count.

And the counts continue for another 1.5 days. I'm in no hurry to leave, as usual. I continue to ponder what it would take to become a professional beach bum. Hmmmm.....

2006-07-26T20:02:00.000-04:00

Petoskey Stone - sometimes these little treasures just kinda 'wink' at ya when you walk by. Gotta love em.

The official live count as of today is 13 deer, 1 porcupine, a baby chipmunk and 3 turkey.

The celestial count as of today is 6 shooting/falling stars & 1 rainbow.

Petoskey stone count? Dunno...gotta dump the buckets to get that count.

2006-07-24T22:13:00.000-04:00

View towards South Manitou Island from Glen Haven Beach.

Tis a lovely Monday. Thundershowers in the AM followed by warm sunshine and beautiful rock hunting conditions, excluding the annoyance of biting flies. 2 full buckets of assorted Lake Michigan stones, oodles of which are the elusive Petoskey. And I've still got 4.5 days to go. I need more buckets......

The official live count as of today is 13 deer, 1 porcupine and a baby chipmunk. I'm not allowed to count the 2 dead porcupine. Say's who!?!

2006-07-16T11:47:00.000-04:00

Long time no talk to....

Did you know there is a cactus that grows in Michigan? I was amazed to find this growing at the Saugatuck Dunes State Park. This is what it looked like last weekend. Today, it is shrivled, with flowers faded and gone.

Prickly Pear

2006-06-26T22:02:00.000-04:00

Clematis - I wait all year for this showy cascade. About the time these drop off, morning glories will appear. Easterly facing, it gets better every year.

Let's see, son is back from camp. After 5 loads of camp laundry it appears the only thing that didn't make it home was the beach towel. Oh, well. I must say that digging wet, muddy, paint strewn, crud war leftover strewn, and general body odor aromatic clothing out of the duffle bag, has been known to be worse -- much worse! This year the only thing that really hinted at camp were the socks.

2006-06-14T21:22:00.000-04:00

Twas a very busy day at the office today and I'm absolutely pooped. I've got way too much to do at home over the next few weeks and no time to get it done. Oh, I'll figure it out somehow.

Not much news to tell. Garden looked a little peaked today. It needed the rain that was promised.

By the way, I think that Vroom Vroom girlfriend moved out, along with her child and pooch. Vroom Vroom himself hasn't been seen in two days. The grass got mowed two weeks ago but the weeds in the beds are reaching up to the windows. The mystery continues...............

2006-06-12T22:16:00.000-04:00

I cleaned the fountain this weekend. After taking several photos I realized they were appearing a tad murky, due to a bit of bleach clouding the water. But I was pleased with this photo. I had turned off the pump but, as I snapped the shot, a lone drop of water hit the surface. It reminds me of a suction cup used to hang a suncatcher in a kitchen window.

Northern Lake Michigan rocks and iron slag & a lone broken Indiana geode in the upper right corner.

2006-06-11T22:16:00.000-04:00

Today is my father's 70th birthday. Dad's been a loving and giving father all these many years. I couldn't have asked for better and I am truly blessed.

Luv Ya, Dad!

2006-06-09T09:42:00.000-04:00

I have 2 buddies who visit me frequently throughout the day and evening. Generally, they just hang around. Though skiddish, they are both used to humans on the patio. Bunny allows about a 3 foot distance. I can't get close enough to Chipper where my 5x zoom is helpful. Obviously, the red eye reduction on my camera didn't perform well. Other than that, I love my new camera and find it very handy. I will always wish for more zoom, however. One can't get enough.

2006-06-05T20:35:00.000-04:00

I had a really cool weekend, working with dear friends toward a common goal. Everybody pitched in and things came together rather well.

Thought I might share a photo of my soul sister's rock garden. It has developed into a beautiful blend of succulent color and texture.

Number one son was asked to take all trash out to the bin this evening. He complied without issue. I thanked him after his chore and stated that I would return the favor by washing, drying and folding his dirty laundry 8>)))

2006-06-04T22:26:00.000-04:00

Congratulations Julie Ann!! We are so very proud of you!

It was a lovely Sunday afternoon to celebrate Julie's right of passage. She's a good kid, or rather a fine young woman. With the exception of clean rooms, what more could moms ask for, right Con?

Party was a success. Many happy visitors and lots of good chow. As with any good dutch girl, Connie provided more than enough with leftovers for all.

I failed miserably at getting a photo of 3 of the most memorable characters of the day. I'm hoping my buddy Tom can help me out with that one. If you visit and they're here, well, he did it. If they're still not here when you come, oh well....

2006-06-02T19:22:00.000-04:00

Imagine my surprise when I ripped my grocery list from the pad last night and found this. After quickly disqualifying two likely candidates I have determined that a gremlin visited my house last week Saturday while we were away.....

2006-05-28T21:31:00.000-04:00

Memorial Weekend, 2006

What can I say? I had 2 glorious pool days, perfect pool days as they are affectionately known. Sun, warmth, and an 80 degree pool which I had the pleasure of christening this year. I'm nicely toasted. Thanks, dear friends -- it's always a pleasure. Aahhh......

We had a lovely visit with plenty of yummy food. I even had the pleasure of 2 naps. With 1 day left of my holiday I'm staring at 7-8 loads of laundry with the washing machine & dryer chugging away. I'm already looking forward to next weekend, even though I'm not quite done with this one. If the sun presents himself, maybe a trip to the beach tomorrow will be required. Oh, darn.....

2006-05-24T21:33:00.000-04:00

It's trash day. That's about the most exciting thing I can say about any Wednesday. People talk about it being hump day. For me it is definitely a hump kinda day, every single week.

Nothing much to say, so I won't say much more.

Ed and Baxter at Saugatuck Dunes beach 2 weekends ago.

Ciao!

2006-05-21T16:45:00.000-04:00

Well, we did it. If you've ever been to my house you will agree that this is an improvement. This morning we ripped out rotted railroad ties, removed a 5 ft cone shaped evergreen, removed every perennial, rock, stone, hen and chick from the bed. Next came a trip to Lowes for 34 paving bricks and a trip to Huntree Nursery for 160 pounds of topsoil, 3 dune grass plantings, and 2 additional perennials. The fun part was putting it all back, including most of the large rocks. The small stones went back into other beds. Not bad for a day's work.

The honeysuckle will need to wait for another day. One day I'll take photos when the sun is in a different position. Late afternoon is not the best time of day to take a photo of the front of the house.

2006-05-20T20:35:00.000-04:00

MY HAPPY PLACE....

Hallelujah, the rain finally came to an end. It was a gorgeous day. I spent most of it on the patio, planting 3 flats of annuals I purchased yesterday. Then, I allowed myself the joy of spending time and guilt-free bucks at Jonker's Gardens. More annuals, vegetables, and lots of perennials. More planting....including a long awaited lavender wisteria.

Ed scrubbed the fountain. I cleaned out the tubing. It's bubbling away nicely....

After a hike through the Saugatuck Dunes, I'm bushed....Dinner was burgers on the grille and leftover corn on the cob. Yum.

I have high hopes of re-building the flower bed near my garage door tomorrow. That is after we cut down the evergreen that has taken over the place. I also need to transplant what appears to be a honeysuckle that was found sguished between two large evergreen trees at the back of our property. It's amazing that it has survived all these years.

Thunderstorm due tonight.

Oooh, one more thing. I changed my settings regarding comments. Anyone should now be able to leave comments without registering for a blog. Try it out. Hint, hint, hint....

2006-05-14T22:12:00.000-04:00

I was going to blog a bunch this weekend but, quite frankly, I just don't feel like it. Thought I would share a photo of the treasure I found yesterday while hiking at the dunes. This lovely 5.5" morel mushroom was found along the trail. It appeared to have been freshly picked and recently dropped. Tis a beauty.

2006-05-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

If I could figure out a way to put a slideshow on my blog, I've got this great succession of sunset photos I took this past weekend at Oval Beach in Saugatuck. The sun ended up looking like an uncooked egg yolk on the surface of the lake. Way cool.

It's been a very wet, very soggy couple of days around here. My lilacs are hanging low with water. They're in full bloom and I'm drying to get them into my house but they're soaked at the moment.

Tomorrow is my 25th wedding anniversary. Boy, oh, boy. It's an amazing thing. Tonight our big date was a trip for our usual anniversary Italian dinner at Via Maria. A great restaurant in the building where my husband worked when I met him. Very strange. Great meal, great wine. We were entertained by an accordian player who played wonderful Italian love songs, dressed as a Dutchman. Then it was off to the Evergreen Commons with the old folks for an evening of the Windmill Chorus. An awesome display of barbershop quartet. Tonight the theme was 'Irving Berlin'. Wunnerful, wunnerful..... Saw 2 highschool classmates; and 2 others I know in the Chorus.

Enroute home we had the pleasure of watching the neighborhood around Van Raalte Avenue putting out their tarps and lawn chairs. These folks are aggressively marking their territory, roping off sections for themselves, for the Muziekparade on Saturday. No rain or cold will slow this parade down. I marched, danced, and drove in rain and cold many a year. Miserable but always having fun.

2006-05-10T21:48:00.000-04:00

Jah, I know. I haven't posted in days. What of it?

Did I mention that it's Tulip Time in Holland? Somehow I completely forgot it was a parade day today. The Volksparade, to be exact. Therefore my child had a half day of school, which I also forgot. Not that this was a problem, however. It just reminds me that my brain is running at warp speed.

A tradition amongst the locals is to eat out at least one night during the festival, dining downtown at the vendor wagons. Or, as they are more affectionately known, the junk food wagons. No doubt this is a tradition amongst any local population who provides a human gathering large enough to support a small carnival, fair or parade. Except maybe, Anchor Days in Empire. Anyway, tonight was my night to stop with child in tow at a perfectly respectable elephant ear establishment run solo by somebody's great-grandma. She made delicious ears. We went home with 3. I soon remembered why I don't eat that stuff.

2006-05-07T18:35:00.000-04:00

WOW! What an incredibly gorgeous day it's been. It started early for me. After throwing in a load of laundry I headed off to the grocery store. Realizing I had my 35mm camera in the Jeep along with a fresh roll of film, I took a side trip to the tulip plantings near Window on the Waterfront. The sun was shining down on rows and rows of color. The tulips are perfect.

A lengthy trip to the grocery store included a trip through the garden center where I found a few of the perennials I wanted for the fence area. A ride through the Douglas and Glenn areas this afternnoon included scouting for the perfect trellis. While we found several that were appealing, the prices weren't so the hunt continues. After ice cream at Earl's Berries, we headed home with more perennials from Huntree Nursery. One can never have too many.

Although I found my list of chores lengthy today, I did take some time to sun my buns. At maximum exposure I furthered my splurge with a nap. Ahhh..... Dinner tonight will be chicken and corn on the cob on the grille. The sun is dropping slowly into the west and I might just be tempted into a ride to the beach for a sunset. We'll see.

Did I happen to mention it's Tulip Time in Holland?

Gert & Neil

2006-05-06T09:25:00.000-04:00

This blogging thing can lead one to an obsession. As if I need another obsession. I missed a couple of days due to the flu and a night out with the girls. I chastise myself needlessly for the lapse. All the photos I've been capturing over the past couple of weeks have a purpose, as well as the snippets of my day I wish to blog. Things are getting backed up.

Enough, already. Like the tulips? Did I tell you it's now officially Tulip Time in Holland? I heard the rockets red glare of the fireworks last night as I was trying to go to sleep. Friday night out with the girls and I'm already in bed by 10:00. Pathetic.

Yesterday was Jeannine's birthday. She's a wise young woman of thirty-something. I'll be kind and not share what I know about the 'something'.

Then, there's Jamie. Remember, 'low and slow'. This photo puts a tune back in my head that was brought to my mind recently:
' Through early morning fog I see
Visions of the things to be,...' - Name that tune! (T&C, please abstain)
You know, it took me a few moments this morning to remember why I took a photo of this wall. Ah, hah! It's Jamie's wall of fame. If you want to know more, you'll have to ask her yourself.

A very fine evening at Tavern on Kraft where the hummus plate is out of this world and the pool table was available. These ladies are quite special. They keep me sane and grounded in the neverland of chaos we work around daily. Lady Lyn, you were missed.

So, after spending a few moments this morning downloading photos, writing part of this blog, and taking a photo of the apple tree in bloom on my patio, I headed to Grandville to meet my mom at her church for their annual Mother & Daughter Luncheon. The church ladies always put on a lovely do with an interesting theme. This year it was a tea. Thus, the hats. Quite a variety of hats were doned. Many beautiful tea services were on display. The food is always wonderful and the fellowship with these ladies is quite special. Here is me next to my Aunt Carol (right) and my mom, Barb (standing).

After spending a few hours with family and friends playing high society ladies at tea, I switched to cargo pants and garden clogs. Off to the landscaping supply outlet for 35 more landscaping bricks and 4 bags of cocoa mulch. Time to landscape the new fence. I won't bore anyone with a photo, as there is nothing planted yet. The hard work is completed. Picking out the perennials, the trellis, and planting is the fun part. When that's done, I'll bore you with a photo.

Ooh, one more tid bit before I sign off for the evening. While I doubt you can see him very well, he's just right of the feeder. A male hummingbird in my yard yesterday, May 5. A whole tree filled with apple blossoms where he could join the drone of mammoth bumblebees, but he chooses the feeder. What a treat.

Happy trails. I'm bushed!

2006-05-02T19:07:00.000-04:00

'Big Al', aka Albertus Van Raalte, our founding father.

Not bad for a Tuesday, I'd say. It rained ALL day. Except when it was time to leave work and travel toward home. The sun poked through the clouds and 'voila'! The break in the weather prompted me to make a pitstop enroute home. I made a visit to our Centennial Park to take a few tulip photos. How many photos of tulips does a woman need, anyway? But seriously, they're pretty.

2006-05-01T20:39:00.000-04:00

I was very pleased and surprised to find evidence in my garden today that 3 out of 3 ferns planted last year decided to return to me. Such is the joy of spring!

Speaking of spring, the carnival rides have arrived, as well as junk food wagons. The tulips are blooming and the city is being scrubbed from stem to stern. Although Klompen Dancing begins May 3, the true kick-off in my mind is the Fireworks Display Friday, May 5. For me, from that moment, it's Tulip Time in Holland through Saturday, May 13. My wedding anniversary, by the way. And a BIG one at that. Reminds me of my honeymoon weekend. We slept in a tent at the Saugatuck KOA. As we were living in Fort Wayne at the time, we came home to Holland for a family visit and Tulip Time. Pathetic, aren't we?

More on tulips and Tulip Time in the coming days. http://www.tuliptime.com

2006-04-30T20:24:00.000-04:00

In Holland, Michigan today we hit a high of 60 degrees. It was overcast with a consistent drippy drizzle and slight wind. Twas not a lovely day. It became a rather lazy day for everybody.

Thus, as the sun goes down on this very dismal day, I offer a warm and clear late July sunset, viewed from the beach at Glen Haven, Michigan. The southern tip of South Manitou Island is viewed in the distance to the right.

2006-04-29T19:58:00.000-04:00

We grew a fence today, or at least part of a fence. It's a little drastic but it lends itself to privacy. I can enjoy the patio in my jamies without the congregation across the street watching me on Sunday mornings as they park their cars.

Famous last words...."Kick it -- I'll tell you when to quit".

Thanks again, Tom!

2006-04-28T11:36:00.000-04:00

THE LAND OF OZ.....

Some call it a cottage. I call it a little slice of heaven....

2006-04-27T19:35:00.000-04:00

A wise woman recently shared this with me: "Pokemonetise: to make money by appealing to the stupid human instinct to collect dumb things." Oh, yeah, this is me.......and others I know. Can you say Beanie Babies?

2006-04-25T21:46:00.000-04:00

I can think of many things to post while I'm sitting at work or driving in my car. However, once I'm settled in at home, sitting at my computer, I draw a blank. Duh....it's Tuesday. What exciting things happen on a Tuesday?

Is the fact that Moi (aka, superwife, supermom) was able to secure tickets to the Tigers/Cubs game at Wrigley Field, for which my husband couldn't get, considered an exciting thing? Maybe it will when the credit card statement shows up next month. Egads...what I won't do to get the guys out of the house for a day.