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.

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.

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.....

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.

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!?!

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

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.

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...............

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.

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!

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.

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>)))

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....

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.....

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.....

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!

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.

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....

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.

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.