Serendipitous Intentions

Take a hike

2012-01-30T14:55:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like a strenuous hike (or two) in the woods to clear your head. Saturday, I called a girlfriend and the two of us headed for the woods with her dog for a very hard 5 mile hike in the hills. It was exactly what I needed to shake off both tears and grief. There was snow on the ground and the trails weren't too icy, but boy did we work it. Perhaps I should say the dog worked us. Goodness!

Later, we spent the evening on the couch at her house playing with Copic Markers, which are new to me and very cool to play with, but I don't think I'll be investing in them any time soon. Whew, they're pretty pricey. These were borrowed from someone else and I think K said we were playing with about $800 worth. Really!?! Wha...no way am I spending that kind of money on markers. Don't get me wrong, these markers rock, but $800??? And even then I couldn't find just the right color green I wanted.

If you can put aside the issue of price, these markers are very easy to use and quite easy to learn. At least, I think they're easy because I learned the blending technique in just that evening and I know it could be even better with a little more time and practice. I also love the contrast I achieved in the top picture, but again, I can not justify the price. I'll have to find a different medium for these effects. I should be able to get the blending effect from watercolors, but I'm not sure what else will give me the contrast pic yet. Sure was fun to play though.

Sunday sent me back outside to the lakeshore for a hike up and down through the woods, up and over the dunes, along the lake and back through the woods. Another strenuous 5 miles that left me drenched in sweat hiking through the woods, freezing by the lake and drenched again by the time I got back to the car.

My heart feels better, but I think I should go for another hike to be sure.

You'll know.

2012-01-27T15:11:00.000-05:00

This blog is, after all, written primarily to my son in Taiwan so the rest of you will have to forgive me for this post. Julie, I know you'll feel this too.

Everyone says, "you'll know." They can't tell you how you'll know, only that you'll know. Well, you will know and I'm here to tell you how you'll know. It's probably not polite to tell the truth here, but the way you'll know is that your heart will be ab-so-lutely breaking! For my situation, it was probably past time, as this picture will attest, but I kept hoping for a rally. It never came...

Kyle and I said good-bye to our family's beloved companion of 18 years yesterday. Oh, it was hard and many tears were shed, but his vet helped him slip peacefully away...he was so ready.

I spent last night cleaning the house and writing down all my memories as I moved from room to room. I didn't get rid of anything, in fact, his food dish is still on the floor in the kitchen, but I cleaned. Going from room to room helped me with some of the memories I didn't want to forget. It helped me to grieve. It helped me to cry. I hope it's okay that I put down this list even though I know you have so many of your own memories.

Dear Tim - these are some of the many things I'm going to miss about you.

Greeting me at the back door when I came home, you were so excited to get your tuna treats.
Sleeping on the afghan at the foot of my bed, your body curled round with your front paw over your eyes.
Lying in the sun by the front window.
How I always washed my hands in the kitchen sink because the bathroom sink was full of your drinking water, your favorite place to drink. Oh, how you loved a nice gentle drip...drip....drip...
Jumping onto the craft table and insisting on being in the middle of my work when I was sewing or crafting.
How you detested little kids and would thump them on the head when they least expected it - like you did to Kylee and Maris.
How you loved all the kids when they got older because they were so good about scratching your ears.
The warmth and weight of you whether sitting on my lap or draped over my shoulder.
Reaching out and gently touching my face with your paw to wake me in the morning.
How we would shock each other in the winter when we got close to snuggle, me laughing and you giving me that, "really!?!" look, as if it were my fault.
How you would sneak into the hall closet to sleep on all the stored afghans - it was so warm from the heat duct in the back. How you were accidentally locked in there a couple times because I didn't know.
How you perched on the kitchen table to watch me cook, often demanding in very loud meows that I give you a scratch.
If I'm sitting on the couch reading or watch t.v., you creep slowly onto my lap until you are settled squarely in the middle of it.
How you messed up our marble games by walking across the board.
Feeling you curled up next to me whenever I wake in the night.
You loved to be vacuumed, how odd!
Your favorite place in the summer was in the upstairs room. I thought it was stifling hot, but you thought it was the bomb!
Chewing on my knitting needles as I try to knit...looking all innocent when I try to make you stop.
Hearing that oh, so familiar thud as you jump off the bed, turning my head to see you come sauntering out of the bedroom, you walk over and jump on the couch with every intention of settling on my lap. Your lap, you say?
Your very loud meows, but soft and gentle purr.
That soft patch just behind your ears, like Chinchilla fur - my favorite spot on you.
Your striking eyes, and whiskers that curve outward and always remind me of a walrus.
The click of your nails as you walked across the kitchen floor.
How you would loudly tell me it's quite time for bed and gently wake me at 3:30 a.m., or not so gently.
I could never shut the door to the back landing because it prevented you from getting downstairs to the litter, but there was always a draft with that door open.
The cloth bag I made from a thrifted pillowcase to hold bags for cleaning your litter.
The magnet on the post to hold your scoop.
That stretch with your butt up in the air and your paws outstretched so even your toes were splayed...I always envied that full-body stretch.
Perched in the windowsill on the front porch in the summer, how you could curve your body to go from window to window without falling.
Loving the sunshine as you lay sprawled in my chair.
How you climbed into everything in the cellar because there might be something new or fun to play with.
How, if someone stood with the door open, you would nonchalantly walk outside as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It wasn't, you were strictly an indoor kitty.
How you would go nuts for the wire brush and by the third time I cleaned it out, you would take it away so you could brush your own face and chin.

Reading Walden Wednesday evening with you on my lap and being aware that with every breath, every second, your life was slipping away and I had less than 24 hours left with you. Being painfully and tearfully aware that your time with us was swiftly coming to an end.

I didn't realize how much I talked to you...about what I was doing, what I was thinking, things that were happening in the house...until I turned to talk to you last night...and you weren't there.

I'm missing you so.....it's gonna be a long time healing.

36 Hours

2012-01-17T13:58:00.000-05:00

We went from this...kids playing baseball in the park in their shirt sleeves...

To this...gobs of snow hanging heavily on the branches, in 36 short hours. Yay!

Oh, winter. You know how much I love you. Is there a reason you made me wait so long? Not that I'm complaining, because you showered me with sunshine whilst I waited, and you know I love the sunshine, but I'm wondering if you're going to have the snow stick around longer since you made me wait so long. Please? I promise to play in it every chance I get.

Whip it up!

2012-01-13T13:03:00.000-05:00

I'm working on a post about my word for this year, but I'm struggling with what to say and how I want to say it. Part of my plan for classes this year includes art. Art sort of scares me and I'm not really good at it, although that could be from lack of experience, however my intent isn't to be good, but to learn how to work with different media. I've already taken a pottery class, loved it, and I recently enrolled in a watercolor class to learn how to use the paint. I'm already pretty good at slopping paint around on the page, but I just know there's a way to make the paint do something intentional and that's what I'm trying to learn. But you know what's really cool thing about taking a class and needing supplies for that class? Ha! You get to sew something to hold your supplies, and though I'm not good at art, I'm damn good at sewing. Wouldn't you know that I would need a case to hold my brushes....

Too easy! The fabric was an upholstery sample I picked up at a thrift store for .50 and the seam binding was in a big box of sewing supplies given to me after a friend's mother passed away. Sewwww (pun intended), I'm pretty sure I can't beat the cost for one sweet Roll-up Brush Holder. It really was easy. I sewed seam binding on one of the shorter edges, folded the edge up 4 inches and sewed dividers anywhere between 2" and 3/4" apart to hold brushes and such. Then it was only a matter of adding a tie and finishing the other 3 raw edges with more seam binding. Voila!

I'm positive this case will make me a better painter.

Joy to you.

2011-12-23T20:00:00.000-05:00

You won't be with us this holiday. Can you see my sad face? I always want you home for the holidays (mom's are funny like that), but since I can't have you here, I'm sending the joy to you.

This is what I would have sent you had it been done in time. I'll save it in a very good place.

May your day be full of peace and joy. I love you Honey.

The extent of my handmades.

2011-12-22T10:00:00.000-05:00

I didn't make a lot of the gifts for this year. It just didn't fit with how I wanted to spend my days leading up to the holidays. Just a few and I'm thrilled with the results.

Sketch kits for the Littles for Christmas Eve.

Cashmere mittens for my niece. A special request from her.

A letter satchel for my nephew. He'll be overseas for a year and I wanted him to have something handmade from the heart to hold cards and letters.

Simple, easy, and lots of time for me to relax and enjoy this most wonderful of days. I feel good!

Handmade Love.

2011-12-21T10:00:00.000-05:00

When I began scrapbooking years ago, I was adamant, "I will not make cards!"

Ha...silly me.

I love making cards.

Totally C.A.S.E. from my local scrapbook store. She didn't mind. I bought my supplies from her. You can't tell but some of the Christmas trees are popped up.

Simply. Easy. Fun.

Just what these holidays called for.

I love these kids!

2011-12-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

Their mom was feeling a little taken-for-granted lately. (She's been filling some tough shoes and playing both Mommy and Daddy.)

We went shopping to get her some special somethings. Somethings just for her.

She's gonna love her Somethings.

Always learning.

2011-12-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

My sister and I visited a pottery studio during Art Prize and K mentioned that she would really like to learn how to make pottery.

As it happens, the proprietor teaches classes.

We signed up.

...and we've learned.

Simple techniques that we've had so much fun learning. I'm eager to see what they look like after glazing.

The real Santa

2011-12-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

She asked to see his ears.

He was a bit taken aback.

She said if he was one of Santa's helper elves his ears would be pointy.

He showed her his ears. They were not pointy. She was so excited that he was the real Santa.

So she posed with him and Mrs. Claus.

A 'Little' Sporting Tradition

2011-12-12T11:14:00.000-05:00

Great Grandpa was very involved in local hockey.

Grandpa and his brothers grew up playing hockey.

Daddy and his brothers grew up playing hockey. They still play.

Now he plays as well. A fourth generation continuing the legend.

Good thing she loves hockey because she'll spend many hours at the rink as well. Is it a time commitment? Yes, huge, but it's what we do. It's what we love. This makes me giddy.

Get Your Joy On

2011-12-09T15:42:00.001-05:00

We've been seriously lacking in snow and it's been interfering with my holiday spirit.

Normally it sweeps over me naturally.

This year I had to go looking for it.

That's better. Nothing like a little Holly Jolly adventure to get my joy on. I love downtown in the winter, anytime really, but especially in the winter. So pretty.

The Delightful Miss M

2011-12-08T10:55:00.001-05:00

She asked me what I was doing.

I said I was knitting.

She said she wanted to learn.

She had my undivided attention.

The following week I bought needles just for her, I made plans to keep her for the weekend and the two of us raided the box of gifted yarn that is stored upstairs. Then, with her sitting on my lap, we proceeded to learn to knit. It wasn't long before she had the technique down and was knitting on her own.

This makes me incredibly happy. I love watching her little fingers work the yarn.

Granola Drops

2011-11-10T12:36:00.001-05:00

Have you tried making chewy granola bars only to have them fall apart on you and turn into a big pile of chunky crumbs? Hmmm, well, I have and I had nearly given up on making the bars. I have a couple brands that I purchase that were suiting me well and I couldn't see going through the hassle of trying to duplicate them. There was that cost thing, but I was willing to pay to avoid frustration. Mm hmm, until I ran across these three recipes for granola cookies that don't use any sugar, dairy or flour. Oh my, oh geez, oh, these are delicious. I've been making them in cookie form, but got lazy this morning and made them into bars. Oooh, I can see the potential for changing out the dried fruit, using applesauce or pumpkin in place of the banana, using different seeds, etc. See, the possibilities are endless.

Here's my version:

Granola Drops

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup coconut flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup of mixed raw sesame and sunflower seeds
1 cup Medjool dates, pitted, chopped
1/2 cup chocolate or carob chips

2 large very ripe bananas
1/4 cup coconut oil, softened if solid
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F. In large bowl, combine oats, coconut flakes, salt, cinnamon, sesame and sunflower seeds, and dates. I chopped the dates a little more in the dried mix to get them coated, otherwise, they stick together in a clump.

In a smaller bowl, combine bananas, softened coconut oil and vanilla. Mash the bananas until well mixed with oil and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and drop by tablespoons onto a baking stone.

Bake for about 20 minutes until edges look golden.

Alternately, you can press the dough into a 7 by 11 pan and bake for 35 minutes. Cool and cut into 15 bars.
Perfect trail food! Finally!

North Country Trail

2011-10-31T15:04:00.002-04:00

I had made plans to hike in a beautiful location on Saturday, but at 10:30 in the morning, my hiking buddies for the day bailed on me. Now what? I had already hiked this area several times, but had chosen it again based on their hiking abilities. Hmmm, going for a hike by myself in this area would not have been my choosing. Instead, I called a girlfriend and accepted the previous day's invitation to join her and her daughter for a Halloween parade, then I phoned another girlfriend to extend an invite to hike on the North Country Trail the following morning. I think K said yes before I had finished asking. I laughed and we made plans to meet at 8:30 Sunday morning. This would be her first time taking her new dog on the trail with her and she wasn't sure how he would behave, so it would be a relatively short training hike, 4.25 miles, but it would be through the woods and up and down hills. A good hike to be sure.

A crispy, frosty morning to start.

After a short drive and vehicle staging, we were on the trail by 9:45, Dunloe in the lead, K and then me bringing up the rear. It was chilly, but beautiful...and the smell of the woods? Heavenly. I kept breathing deeply to take in more of the scent. I love the rich, heavy scent of the woods when they are wet.

We were past peak color on the trees, as witnessed by our leaf colored paths, but the outing was still spectacular. I think we saw an eagle, but I can't swear by it..

So much fungus and where was my mushroom book again? Yep, still in the bookshelf at home.

Nice views whether we were looking down at the trail, out through the woods...

or up through the trees.

We marveled at the size of these leaves.

Oh yes, we went up....

and then we went down and around, turning this way and that as the trail led us. The trail is well marked with blazes and we had no question about which direction to go. The trail I was on a couple weeks ago could have used a few more blazes on their trees...just sayin'.

All of us did great on the hike. We averaged about a mile per 1/2 hour and arrived back to the car just before noon. K & I both agreed we could have gone further, but we just didn't know how Dunloe would do before we started.

I loved this trail and will probably bring Sir S and Miss M out here to hike. K was delighted with how well Dunloe did on the trail. She was worried he would be straining at the leash the whole time, but the only time he did that was when the squirrels were taunting him. We were surprised that he even followed the correct path when the trail split. Pretty sure he sniffed it out. I think he'll make a great trail dog for her. lol...I suggested that I might borrow him for my solo hikes and she grinned and handed me his leash. Now that's the kind of dog I want. K has all the care and cost of owning a dog and I get to have the fun. Okay!

Now that's what I call a good hike in the woods.

Weekending in Michigan

2011-10-18T16:29:00.002-04:00

Well, you left and the weather ushered in a decidedly different season. Goodness! I had a color tour paddling trip planned, but Mother Nature decided this was a good weekend for strong winds and gusts over 40 mph. Not exactly good paddling weather. Ah well, there's always this weekend to try again.

This is what the sky looked like for most of the day. It was beautiful while the clouds were whipping by, but you better have held onto your hat or it was gone in an instant.

I joined Paula and Kyle at Sir S's football game. That boy is so intense when he plays sports, sort of reminds me of someone else, yes? He misses his dad horribly and is sure no one else 'gets' his football games the same way, but we try. I can't do anything to lessen the pain, but what I can do is help to keep him occupied. Guess he better dust off his hiking shoes. I wonder what his mom will think if I take him winter camping?

See this? It's a J Crew sweater that I picked up at a thrift store for $2, brought it home and promptly tore it apart. It will become felted slippers for me, and I'll need them since I'm bumping down the thermometer another degree this winter. I dunno if Tim can handle it though because his ears and nose are already cold when he puts his head against me. Poor kitty! Anyway, there are a lot of steps before I'm able to use this yarn again for knitting and I'm wondering if it's worth it. I suppose for $2 it is and, what the heck, winter is coming and I have nothing but time on my hands. ~grins~ You'll probably see all the steps in a later post. I know you'll be so thrilled about that.

I finished Appointment in Samarra Friday evening and spent a little time reading more of Justice after the game. I'm liking it, but I see what you mean about Sandel making his point and getting you in line with his thinking, and then switching sides in the next chapter. Liking it is an understatement. I'm really, really liking it is more the truth.

I'm torn on the next two. Do I read The Last Samurai...for the againth time...or do I start on Lightning Rods? Listening to you and Patrick talk, I realized I've forgotten so much of Last Samurai. It's sort of odd because I never understood how people could read more than one book at a time and now I do it all the time. I have two more books in the livingroom that I'm reading as well, but one of those is about nutrition and the other is on homesteading, you know, for when I get that cabin in the woods I'm always talking about.

I forced myself to get up and move in the afternoon. I was feeling a bit under the weather and wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day on the couch with a blanket and those books, but my list was calling me. I cleaned the house and switched all my summer clothes for sweaters and long sleeve shirts. Then, just because I could, I went for a very blustery walk. That perked me up and put a big grin on my face. I love this time of year!

I woke up to lots of clouds again on Sunday. I considered trying to clear out the leaves, but they were still too wet from the rains. It's not like they're going anywhere, darn it. Every year, after strong winds like that, I threaten to get myself some snow fencing to put across the driveway and side yard to keep everyone else's leaves from blowing into my yard. I have that one little tree, but leaves get piled up behind the house nearly to the windows. That's a lot of leaves to get rid of and they're not mine. Ha, I was raking earlier in the week and my neighbor said I should just leave them because they'll blow away. Um hmm, and whose leaves are in my back yard? His...<grumble>. Do you think he would notice if I threw them over the fence into his backyard? Do you think he would mind?

Anyway, what with the clouds and cold, it seemed like a good day for soup. And then I made more soup. And then I made some more. All told, I now have 11 pints of soup stashed in the freezer, I had a bowl for lunch and 2 more bowls were set aside for lunches this week. Not bad for a morning's work. As of yesterday, my house still smells d-e-e-licious.

Oh, recipes, in case you decide you want some yummy, easy soups to warm your soul when the rainy season hits for you. I ran all of these through the blender, but you don't have to do that. They're pretty darned good in their chunky form too. I think the recipes are all on my blog in different places, but here they are again.

Carrot Tomato Soup
Savannah Bisque - perfect because it's made with sweet potato and since you're back in the sweet potato...
Cream of Broccoli - I skipped the rice flakes and threw in a couple of potatoes to thicken the soup this time.

Sure would be nice if I could be eating these soups with you...just sayin'.

A little me time.

2011-10-12T10:00:00.000-04:00

Hey, I did my first solo camp and paddle trip over the weekend. I was nervous about it at the beginning of the week, but the more I thought about it, the more excited I became. What a blessing it was.

Due to some very poor directions from Google (wth?) and a bit of unexpected road construction, I arrived at my site after dark. Not to worry, I just happen to be a seasoned camper and setting up in the dark was no big deal. A quick dinner and a glass of wine, and I was off to explore my surroundings. Actually, I went down to the lake to see what I could look forward to. The moon was nearly full and the lake was lit up beautifully. Oh, this will be fun.
I was up before dawn and on the water before the sun rise. You can't tell with this view, but there was quite a bit of fog on the water. Oh, and I shared the lake with duck hunters. That was a little disconcerting, but they stayed on their side and I paddled on the other, and hoped that when they did shoot, it would be into the air.

It was beautiful and peaceful (in spite of the hunters) and I moved about the lake for nearly 4 hours. Not unexpectedly, I didn't see much wildlife, but the Autumn colors were in full bloom. And the weather? Wow, once the sun rose above the horizon it warmed right up and it would be in the high 70's later in the afternoon. Not bad for October. Actually, it reminded me of paddling the Crystal River a few years ago when it was also 80 degrees at this time. Mm hmm, but then the temperatures plummeted the following weekend.
I reluctantly left the lake and returned to camp for a quick breakfast/lunch. All that beautiful paddling makes a person hungry. After lunch I set off to explore the hiking trail. It was well and thoroughly marked, until it wasn't. The blue blazes simply disappeared and I didn't realize until later that I was no longer on the trail. There was no marker telling me which direction to go so I took the most travelled route. I looked carefully on the return trip and even though I never saw a marker, I suspect I should have taken a path to the right when my trail turned into a two-track. Next time. Still, my route was beautiful.

I have to remember to bring my mushroom book with me so I know if I'm finding edibles or not. I'm not afraid to forage in the woods, but I sort of want to know exactly what I'm eating.

This was wonderful and I couldn't help grinning to myself over my good fortune in the weather and location. Where to next?

Taiwan Son

2011-10-11T16:29:00.001-04:00

I sent him on his way yesterday. We celebrated his birthday Sunday evening with the family, but I still had dinner with him and favorite youngest son last night, his real birthday. He left for Chicago and his subsequent flight back to Taiwan. 75 days is gone, just, gone...really not liking this.

Who needs toys...

2011-09-08T10:00:00.000-04:00

...when you have rocks, water, logs, imagination and a sense of adventure?

Apparently, not us.

Spray Falls

2011-09-07T15:30:00.000-04:00

I have found over the years of camping in a group that things take time. Getting everyone going in one direction takes time and getting where you're going takes time. This day was no exception and we got a bit of a late start on our hike. Then, after the confusion of the missing spouse and child (neither of whom was really missing), having my oldest son and B turn back, much discussion and waiting around, and then stopping at the cove for exploration, it was now rather late in the afternoon. D-I-L turned back with the grandbabes after exploring the cove and that left only 4 of us to continue on - Taiwan son, youngest son, Julie and I. Youngest son said he started this hike to see the falls and he wasn't turning back til he saw them. Well then, none of us were turning back either.

The remaining 1.5 miles turned out to be the most challenging. We traipsed up the hills and down the valleys, scrambled over boulders and tree roots, pushed aside branches to get through the trees and scaled steps that literally had to be climbed, not just stepped up. Whew!

But always the view was right beside us, a glimpse through the trees or over the side of the trail! And the view repeatedly beckoned us off the trail to see what more there was. My goodness!
This was an outcropping of limestone that still had sand on the top. As you can see the tree hung precariously by it's roots, but it was still hanging on. If we fell off, it was going to hurt, but of course we had to walk out and get a better view. Right?

Y.M.C.A. shadows seemed appropriate.

We came from this direction. Can you see that it might have been a challenging hike along the top of the cliffs?

Ah yes, the adventurers!

Hey, they're getting married next year. How about this place?

Just a bit of a drop...and a few rocks down below.

She's not really fond of heights, but she's brave and there are such stunning vistas from along the shore line that she's compelled to go exploring too. I guess the view overrides the fear?

See? Like this one above. Fortunately, we weren't standing on this one.

Onward! The trail really was difficult and we began to wonder if we had missed the falls, even asking a return hiker how much further we had to go. "15 minutes," said he. And then we saw a sign for the falls...and there they were. Success!

Spray Falls. One more reason to add to my ever growing list of reasons why I love this area. The return trip? Oh, we hustled. No one wanted to be stuck in the woods in the dark with no head lamps. Plus, we were out of food and water. I think it was much more difficult on the return trip because we were tired. I laugh because just before we got back to the vehicles we had to climb up tree roots to get back on the trail up above us and I think all of us said, "are you kidding me!?!" Still, I would do this hike again just for the privilege of seeing that cove again. What a hike, what a view, what a day!

Beaver Lake Basin Trail

2011-09-04T12:01:00.005-04:00

1.5 miles to Lake Superior, hang a left, go another 1/2 mile on the North Country Trail and stop when your jaw drops. I've never been on this trail in all the years we've been coming here. Wow.

We didn't know what to expect or what we would find. Our mission was to find Spray Falls, which I'll tell you about next, but the whole family started out on this hike. Through a bit of confusion having to do with oldest son underestimating the speed and stamina of his daughter, we lost my son when he turned back to find his wife and daughter whom he assumed took the wrong trail. lol...they did not. Miss M simply put the pedal to the metal and beat everyone else out to Lake Superior. B turned back at the lake to go find my son and we proceeded without the two of them. Too bad because what we eventually found was breathtakingly beautiful.

Hiking, rock climbing, cave exploring...same thing right? My family thinks so.

Sometimes the view is better from the top too.

We're curious folks. We must see and touch. I'm sure we're not alone in those traits. I think those two are figuring out how to scale the face.

Miss M just before she sprinted to the lake.

Hey! What are you two doing up there? What are you looking at? And they point to...

this. Holy mackeral! Where did this come from? It's a hidden cove and the waves were coming in from crazy directions, swishing back and forth as if in a bathtub. It looked dangerous. Like, if you tried to swim in here you might get your head bashed on the rocks and your face scraped off too. But the beauty, yes, the jaws dropped.

Taiwan son is the only one who braved the water in the cove and even he didn't go out very far. Remember me saying that we respect this lake, but we still play in her waves, and that sometimes she wins and gives us a good soaking? hehe...Taiwan son was carefully picking his way along the rock edge to inspect that cave when a rogue wave came in and washed completely over him with verrry cold water. I could see him cringe from up on the cliffs. Score another round for Lake Superior. I swear I heard her laughing at her mischief.

Next up...Spray Falls.

The Beauty of Nature

2011-09-03T08:00:00.003-04:00

Mostly pictures today.

Oldest son and d-i-l.

We're drawn to the fierceness of this lake, but we do not underestimate her power. She's been a good lake to us and though we don't take her for granted, we do wander to the shore to experience her moods, whatever they may be. When she's in a tempest, we give her space. When she's calm, we run to her and in to her. And when she's in between, we playfully dodge her waves. Sometimes we win, sometimes she wins and gives us a good soaking.

More to come...

The Log Slide

2011-09-02T11:01:00.001-04:00

Taiwan son missed out on this hike last year, and after hearing our rave reviews of how spectacular the view is and how no one dared to risk the descent and subsequent climb back up, he insisted we go back to the Log Slide, but this time he was going down to the water and climbing back up. Try as he might, none of us would agree to run down the dune. There are warning signs stating the dune is 500 feet high and there is a 20 foot drop off at the bottom. haha...one of the sign states that it takes only 2 minutes to run down, but can take an hour, or more, to climb back up and if you have any medical conditions....don't do it! I'm not going down there. Well, I would, but I wouldn't climb back up. I would walk the 10 miles up the beach to camp. But not Taiwan son, oh no, he insisted he was climbing the dune and challenged every male in the group to join him. In the end, it was the two youngest boys who braved the climb with their uncle. We told them they were on their own, if they went down they had to climb back up, that if they got stuck, none of us were coming down to help. Understand? Got it! Good, we'll wait for you at the top.

The view really is beautiful from up here. There was a heckuva wind blowing off the lake and it was whipping sand up the dune into our eyes and stinging our skin. Rough day up here. But the gauntlet had been dropped and we were here to witness the agony of the climb.

Scoping out the climb. Yep, that's a long way down. Taiwan son is still unfazed. Oldest son isn't having any part in this lunacy and he says as much...repeatedly. Sir K, however, has agreed to the descent and return climb with his uncle...and now Sir S has agreed as well. The warning is repeated regarding the difficulty of the climb and once more they are emphatically told, "we're not coming to help!" No problem, they're sure they can handle it. The rest of us have settled in to the dunes to watch.

And they're off, leaping and bounding down the sand as they laugh and shout to each other. Sir S on the left, Uncle in the middle and Sir K on the right. It takes them less than a minute to get to the bottom, including the drop off.

Taiwan son is in the water attempting to rinse sand from his hair and eyes, the boys are simply dots on the beach. And then the climb back up commences. Good luck boys. Sir S gives out within 2 minutes and Taiwan son loads him onto his back like a monkey. This should be interesting. It's difficult enough without the extra load. I head for a viewing platform to try to get pictures of their climb, but I find I can't get a view of them at all.
I do get this killer shot of the beach. By the time I got back to the log slide, all three are back at the top. What? How long was the climb? Ha, it took them just over 11 minutes to climb back up, and that was with a monkey on the back for half the climb. So much for the warning signs. Still, I'm not going down there. I would prefer to see the view from the top.

Okay, okay, they get bragging rights. Congrats guys!

You know how there are signs in parks always telling you not to feed the animals? Well, how can you not feed something this adorable and cute. They know they're cute too and they use that to get you to toss them just a crumb...then a piece...then they get your lunch. We're suckers for the chipmunks and these were our after hike/during lunch entertainment.

"Please," he says, "just a little piece, like this."

With feigned surprise he says, "for me? This is for me?" Begger! Scammer.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna push it over here a little...just a little closer to this log." And then his friends came out to eat as well. They have a whole system worked out. I know they do.

More to come...

A Little Exploring

2011-09-01T14:07:00.005-04:00

Does this look like a comfortable way to read a book? Taiwan son seems to think so. Even with all the exploring we do up here, somehow a great deal of reading and knitting gets accomplished as well. It's always done in spurts, perhaps you get up before everyone else, or it's raining (not so much) or you're waiting for someone to get ready for an adventure. There is plenty of down time where you can do just exactly as you please and we're often pleased to read or knit, or carve a stick. I believe Julie taught Taiwan son how to knit on this journey and the littles carved up a whole pile of sticks.

B and I wanted to ride our bikes down to the pier and the lighthouse in the morning and we asked the littles to join us, but not until we gave them strict instructions about riding bicycles in the street and how careful we wanted them to be. It's not a busy town at all, but it still requires a ride in the street and I didn't want them getting hurt when they were with me. Right...should have given myself the same little talk because in the end I somehow got Sir S's peg tangled in my front tire and we tumbled over in a heap on the street. He was fine, but I was bloodied. ~grins~ I broke a couple of spokes and bent my tire, but thankfully, I could still ride the bike. Good grief!

What a bunch of hams! Don't you just love exploring with kids? They were all over the pier like a bunch of ants, exploring this way and that, climbing over boulders, looking for their uncle's names carved into the lighthouse, peaking down holes and balancing on the narrow walkways. I let them explore as they pleased as long as they stayed away from the edges. Not sure how much fun it would be to fish someone out of the channel.

The local historical society has a hands-on museum you can visit and it's filled with memorabilia from the area. Miss M played the piano and Sir K talked on a crank phone while Sir S wandered about the rooms, asking questions about this and that. Once they found out that nothing was off limits to them they really got to exploring and dress up is always fun, no matter how old you are.

These are the stairs we used to get down the dune and to the beach. I asked Sir S if he wanted to go to the beach...by himself. "Really," he asked? And then he was off, down the steps and across the sand to the water. Not to worry, I kept an eye on him from up top.

He won't go in the water without someone on the beach with him or he loses the privilege of being on the shore by himself. He will, however, spend hours picking up rocks and throwing them back in the water. I get that...I do the same thing myself.

Sometimes, though, we can't stay on the beach because the sand flies find us and chew on our ankles for lunch. At those times we retreat deep into the woods and find paths to hike instead. This day was one of those days. We went looking for a lake we wanted to paddle, and we found the Beaver Lake Basin Overlook.

It was a good place for an impromptu camp fire for cooking lunch...

and the view was spectacular! We were on top of the world...and loving it. And we found an amazing trail for later that we need to hike.

More to come...

And then I was home.

2011-08-31T16:51:00.001-04:00

Home, to my beach, my lake, my dunes, my woods. Yes, I was home again.

The water welcomed me back by showing itself in an extraordinary green hue and the waves tumbled over themselves in an effort to get to me first, to welcome me home with their soothing, rhythmic music. A blast of wind rushed over the water and blew my hair every which way, half blinding me with it's exuberant greeting after my long absence. Sand filled my shoes in an attempt to weigh me down, to prevent my leaving again.

There was a bit of housekeeping to do. Footprints needed to be laid down so I could find my way up and down the beach and rocks needed to be placed upon their pedestals again. They must have fallen during the winter storms.

A father and his young daughter needed to explore the shore again, you know, to make sure no rocks had gone missing. (That would be my oldest son and my granddaughter.)

Sir K was eager to do some reverse river tracing. This is one of our favorite rivers as it's only 2 miles down the beach from our campground and we can easily spend a entire afternoon playing in the water, climbing the dunes, hiking up to the falls, lazing on the beach as we inspect rocks...there is always something to do here.

The ascent. Daddy and Sir S have scrabbled their way up the river to the falls. Now what?
Ah yes, Daddy shows the little one how to pick his way amoung the rocks and place his feet sturdily in the stream, picking their way higher and higher.

Conquest. They've made it to the top. They'll continue moving upstream and I'll lose sight of them for the next few hours as they explore deep into the woods, and they couldn't be happier. They will eventually show up back at camp long after the rest of us have returned and begun the process of preparing dinner. Boys...

Youngest son also picks his way carefully. He's familiar with the nooks and crannies of the ascent - he's been doing this since he was a boy.

He knows from experience that these rocks are slippery. All fours is truly the best way to scale the face.
To the victor!

The beautiful Sable (Sah-ble)Falls. We've been climbing these falls for 20 years and getting to them always brings us joy. I never tire of watching and listening to the water tumble over the rocks.

And here we have Taiwan son who is so not used to the cold Lake Superior shore. It is good to have him back with me for a while.

Stay tuned, there is more to come...

It's been quite a summer.

2011-08-19T12:27:00.002-04:00

And I've been enjoying it immensely!

The gardens are loving the heat this year and they've certainly had a lot of it. Whew! I was practically melting there for awhile. My flowers are blooming prolifically and what's left of the food garden is producing fast and furious. I'm amazed at how early my tomatoes ripened, but it's perfect because the basil has outgrown it's boundaries and I've been forced to make bruschetta and pesto just to stay ahead of the bounty. Did you read that? Yes, forced to make our favorite summer foods. Darned bossy garden!

On a side note, I noticed last night that my compost space is looking better than the vegetable garden. Dang, I didn't plant there because I thought it didn't get enough sunlight, but the seeds have gone bonkers.What's up with that?

We've been doing a bit of swimming at the ole swimming hole. As a kid, I don't think you can beat a lake for cooling off in this heat. In Michigan we always get high humidity along with high temperatures, which means it's been a double whammy sweltering sort of summer. Yep, swimming has been extra refreshing this year.

We celebrated a birthday for Sir S. He is ever the gracious birthday child. Oh, he knows how to make it his day, but he's always concerned that his guests are having a good time as well. What character!

We enjoyed our first sunrise at the new place. I'm sure you'll be hearing more about this in the future, we just haven't had time to properly enjoy it. You should see more updates this fall as we get into the sunrise paddling again. Heck, let's make it a sunset paddle too.

Tried my hand with the dehydrator and the results didn't turn out too bad. My favorite is the pineapple...oh, so sweet. Mango is on the left, then the pineapple and then strawberries. All of this was added to trail food for Favorite Middle Son who came back from Taiwan, but has now left on another adventure to bicycle around Lake Michigan. Alas, he's not home for good, darn it, just for 75 days so he can have a family vacation with us before his brother deploys and to see his sister get married in October. Right, and to pedal around the lake...not like it's a big lake or anything. Ha! My brother said Alex should have pedaled the coast so I could paddle with him. Hmmm....sounds like another adventure brewing.

I tried my hand at kale chips. I have so much kale coming in and I just didn't know what to do with it. Several people have posted rave reviews about the chips, but I dunno. I think they're...okay. Not really. I sort of liked them initially, but then I chucked the whole bowl out in the garden for the birds after deciding that they just weren't good enough. Once you bite them they dissolve into nothingness on the tongue and I detected a slight bitter aftertaste as well. Did I do something wrong? Guess I'm back to freezing the excess, but I don't mind. There are plenty of dishes I can make this winter with frozen kale.

That family vacation I mentioned? Well, it seems Ruby Junes have become a huge hit up there. This pretty bottle is ready and waiting for departure. It looks and smells so good that it's hard to ignore it in the fridge. Soon, very soon.

Once you make the syrup you're left with this delicious rhubarb pulp that simply can not go to waste. I had a very unsuccessful attempt at making tarts with the leftover pulp and, well, they taste delicious, but they do not look pretty. Guess the tummy doesn't mind.

I spied this pretty at a summer festival and I've been lusting one ever since. I really am. I must have one of these. I will have one of these, but I promise to use it for more than just making pizzas, no matter how good they are. How about breads, or pies, or tarts, or...anything. How cool would this be as part of an outdoor kitchen?

So, it's been an incredible summer thus far and the best part is that it isn't over yet. The best is yet to come. Stay tuned.

Apricot Jam

2011-08-09T11:16:00.000-04:00

Somehow, someway, I got an idea into my head that I didn't like apricots. All my life I've turned up my nose at apricots as something distasteful, but the truth is, I had never eaten a fresh apricot until one week ago. Having found this jam recipe on Culinate, I needed to try them because the recipe sounded delicious and I thought, "it's jam, how could it taste bad?" I happened to be at the farm market and one of the offerings was fresh picked apricots. I bought two, just to try. Honestly, I still don't like the fuzzy skin, just like I don't like the fuzz on peaches, but once I blanched the fruit and slipped the skin off....oh my, I was wrong. Apricots are a heavenly fruit. Back to the market for more apricots.

And the jam? Yes, just as delicious as I suspected it would be. Do you have other fabulous recipes for apricots? I think I should make good use of these fruits while they're in season.

This basket of kale and basil were put up over the weekend. Basil became pesto which is now residing in my freezer and I froze the kale as well. For two years now I've grown both kale and collard. I feel so earthy when I walk out the back door, grab a few greens and toss them into whatever I'm cooking, so last year it seemed such a shame when I lost all the greens at the first hard frost. I had no idea they could be frozen until I went in search of a way to preserve them and let me tell you, it's crazy simple. Remove the tough stems as far up as possible, tear the leaves into 2" pieces, blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes (collard is blanched for 3 minutes), cool in ice water, pat dry, lay out on a cookie sheet so the sides don't touch and put them into the freezer. Once frozen I dumped the batch into a zip-lock bag for use this winter. Come on, how easy is that?

I love the harvest season.

On finding inspiration

2011-08-05T14:55:00.003-04:00

Every year I say I'm going to tear out my grass and turn my yard into complete gardens, and every year I still have grass. I have an idea of what I want to do, but I can't visualize how I want it to turn out. I was in need of inspiration, I was also in need of a granddaughter fix, and there just happened to be garden tours going on last weekend. Trifecta! I have Nicola to thank for reminding me about garden tours as inspiration.

The delightful Miss M stayed with me Friday night so we could go for breakfast together Saturday morning. I admit, I kept her up far too late on Friday, but there's so much fun to be had with this girl that it's difficult for us to get to sleep. Mm hmm, that lack of sleep did not help her decision making regarding what to eat at the restaurant. I went through the whole list of food choices with her and in spite of the fact that she's not a picky eater, everything was, "nah, no, yuck, don't like that, etc.," until I finally laid the menu on the table and said, "look, I've just read the entire menu to you so you just tell me what you feel like eating and I'll order it." "Fine," says she, "I'll have pancakes." Good! We'll have an order of buckwheat pancakes and Cuban eggs, please. Our plates arrived, and we ate and talked cheerfully for a bit until Miss M laid her knife and fork across her plate, leaned towards me and asked, "could we please switch plates?" Um, okay. She thought my Cuban eggs looked delicious and proceeded to devour them. This girl is eating beans, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, Gaia sauce, eggs and sour cream for breakfast - there might have been avocado in there too - and loved it. Oh, I love this girl. We ended up sharing my breakfast and ate her pancakes later for lunch.

Okay, time to wander over to the garden tours, but first we had to stop at a yard sale that looked interesting. I told her we weren't buying junk, but if we found something we absolutely couldn't live without...and we did, she did. See, I have a briefcase beside my desk that holds all Miss M's paper crafting supplies. Things like paper, scissors, stencils, pens and colored pencils, glue sticks, and she always gets my tote of paper punches out to make books and notes for everyone. She spends a great deal of time decorating her papers, punching out shapes and gluing them in her handmade books. Well, she spied a very large flower punch that was only 50 cents and right next to it was a complete stack of 12x12 scrapbook paper in patterns that a sweet 6 y/o couldn't help but swoon over, and it was only $1.50. As she walked to the car with her treasures she assured me that, "this is the best day ever." Oh, darlin', I know just how you feel.

I'm thrilled I brought her along on the garden tour. In her innocence she wandered everywhere in the gardens and found many cozy and hidden nooks that I would have missed. I followed her lead as she explored every area of every garden and she wasn't ready to move on to the next garden until we had covered the entire space. She made me look closer at the small touches that people used and how they formed their conversation spaces. What a day.

Water was a popular feature in these gardens and with the temperature well into the 90's by the time we were done, you know we had our hands in it at every opportunity.

See that wall behind her? It's not really a stone wall. It's actually a wooden wall covered in the fake stones. How smart is that?

Miss M found these cute little faces hidden amongst the hostas. I probably would have missed them, but she gave them a well deserved awwww.

(Where does she learn that pose from?) She loved this shady area tucked into a side yard. There was just enough room to walk past this table, but the area was so well decorated that you really wanted to sit down and have tea and sandwiches or something.

It's a path so it must mean there is something interesting at the end of it. There was, another water feature and while I don't have a picture of it, this house also had a larger pond that I was sure I would be slipping into in the evenings to cool off from the heat. When I asked the owner if he used it, he looked at me like I was crazy. Something about it being a fish pond? I'm telling you, I would have gotten in - that's how welcoming he made it look.

A clever use of stones. I have plenty of moss growing in my back yard and I thought this might make a nice patio area to sit.

See that red flower? It's a cut up water bottle. I'm pretty sure this idea will end up in my garden as a way to keep color during those lulls between blooms that inevitably happen. And the beads gave a wonderful sparkle to the tree. I have lots of beads.

Now here's a cute craft idea for me to do with the Littles and I get great garden decor as well.

Oh, she was a trooper. I had her slathered in sunscreen and she was practically melting at one point. We took refuge in a coffee shop for iced tea and water with lots of crushed ice. My gosh it was hot out!
She fell in love with these iron chairs and thought they were just the right size for her. We spied them in several gardens and she sat in them each time. You know I'll be on the lookout for some of these, but I'll have to decide if I'll put them in my garden or give them to her for her own home. We'll see. She would have done well with a gauzy dress and a parasol this day.

You can't see it but there's a stone heart on the ground near her that had a saying like, "all the trees in a garden have music, you just have to quiet your heart to hear it." She took that saying to her heart because I had called her to move on and she mouthed something to me that I couldn't hear. Three times I asked her what she said before walking over and telling her I couldn't hear her. She whispered, "I'm trying to hear the music." Just about melted my heart, I tell ya.

Another great use for all those feathers I've collected over the years.

Part of what intrigued both of us was the coziness of the paths. It all seemed so quaint and tiny and I think that was the point of the conversation areas too. I need to remember that when I implement my garden. Lots of winding paths leading to sitting areas.

Oooh, another fish and this one will use up those jars of shells in the cellar.

I think we walked a total of 26 city blocks before we were done. She hung in there though, right up until the very end when she hit her wall. Both of us were grateful that the tour was finished, but thrilled with our day. So many ideas. Such a wonderful time with Miss M. Best day ever!

Why didn't I do this before?

Sangria

2011-07-29T10:37:00.000-04:00

I've been making Sangria since I was 20 and a friend of mine served it at her cottage. Cid and her family were amazing cooks and every time I visited their cottage, I was in awe of the delicious food they served. My mother was not the best cook, nor was she creative in her cooking so everything I've learned, I've learned from other people. I have a couple other recipes of Cid's that I continue to make on occasion, but this remains my favorite version of Sangria, except for that time I had it with Tequila, but we're not talking about that one. (kidding)

This photo is just the base. I let it sit all day in the refrigerator and added the wine and soda in the evening.

Sangria

1/2 c sugar
1/2 c hot water
1/2 c brandy
1/4 c Triple Sec
1 orange, thinly sliced
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 lime, thinly sliced
1.5 liters dry red wine (use cheap, young wine)
1 liter club soda
ice

Dissolve sugar in hot water and pour into a large pitcher. Add Brandy and Triple Sec, orange, lemon and lime slices, give it a good stir and let marinate all day, if possible. Add red wine and club soda, and serve in pretty glasses with lots of ice and a slice of fruit in each glass. Enjoy on the front porch with your feet propped up and a smile on your face.

Really, I love this stuff. Would you please let me know if you make it? I would love to know how you like it.

Boating sort of week.

2011-07-27T14:44:00.001-04:00

I don't paddle my kayak much when the weather is in the 90's. I know that sounds counter intuitive, but really, it's hot on top of the water too and I can barely handle the heat wave as it is. Instead, I count my blessings in that I have friends with power boats, and that I live with an ocean just a few miles away. There is nothing like an evening boat ride to cool down.

This is a charming place to go for dinner on a week night and I get such a kick out of it's eclectic decor - definitely a throw-back to the 60's and 70's. During the week it's quiet, laid-back and peaceful, so unlike the chaos of a Saturday afternoon.

It's really called 'Red Dock.'

You tie your boat up to a floating dock, climb a couple steps, grab a seat and you're here. There is no indoor seating.

Oh, they mean it too. I was eating here with friends one evening, talking and having a good time, we turned around to order another beverage and everything was locked up. Closed. Not a soul in sight. ~grins~ It was sunset and they went home. We could stay as long as we liked, but we couldn't get service. How funny is that?

Another lovely evening on the water. But still, it was very warm once we got back to the slip. Can we go for another spin?

If only they could talk.

2011-07-20T12:12:00.001-04:00

Want another post about my love of old items? How about these?

These clothespins were rescued from the cellar of my friend's mother's house. They were given to me in a plastic bucket and had been stored for years. Being the particular person that I am, I wanted to clean and sort them so I took the pins to the back yard and dumped them in a box for sorting. Then I laughed. I laughed because I found two stubbed out cigarette butts in the bucket and the next thing you know, my mind wandered into a story of how they came to be mixed in with the clothespins. Now, my friend's mother died a few years ago, but it was much longer since she had hung laundry to dry on the line. I also know that she hadn't smoked since my friend was a young child so it was at least 50 years ago.

Imagine a summer day. With her shoulder, Mrs. L pushes open the back door with it's ever familiar squawk and steps barefoot into the backyard with a basket of freshly washed laundry on her hip. It's hot, not miserably so, but it is hot. Glancing up, she notices the sky is a gorgeous blue except for those couple of fluffy clouds that will provide brief respites from the blazing sun. From two doors down she can hear the sound of children laughing and the rhythmic squeal of metal on metal as a child pumps his swing back and forth, back and forth. Mrs. L sets the basket on the ground, reaches in for a piece of her child's clothing, shakes it out, takes a pin from the bucket and pins the shirt on the line. She does this repeatedly, finding the task comforting and thinking of her child as she slowly hangs shirts and shorts on the line. As she reaches for another pin, she notices the packet of cigarettes she has hidden in the bucket. You see, she doesn't smoke anymore, hasn't for months...well, except for those few she sneaks when no one is around and she has a few moments to herself. She glances about the yard and not seeing anyone close by, she takes a cigarette from the pack, puts it to her lips (she always wore red lipstick), lights it, inhales...and a slight smile forms on her lips. She really does like smoking. Just then, she hears the footfalls of someone running on the sidewalk along side the house and then the sound of her son's voice calling, "mom?" She exhales quickly, bends to stub the cigarette out in the dirt and pushes it down into the bucket so he won't see. She turns to her son and is soon lost in his questions and stories, and the cigarette is forgotten. That is, until I find it some 50 years later. It could have happened that way.

Did you know that Zippo made clothes pins? How about that? They make lighters for cigarettes so this mom from the 50's could sneak puffs while hanging clothes, so it fits that they made Zippo pins too. Imagine some marketing person coming up with that idea. "Hey, we know our customers sneak smokes while hanging laundry so let's sell them clothespins too." That's funny.

There was only one of these ingenius pins. Notice that it doesn't matter which end of the pin you grab because there are slits on both ends to hang clothes. Someone was thinking.

I should make some sort of shadow box for the laundry room with my collection of pins. You know, in case they have more stories to tell.

So, do you have any old finds you can make a story out of?

Playing With Knives

2011-07-14T14:57:00.000-04:00

B found an Ulu knife in the barn at his mother's house...I just happened to want an Ulu knife. I wish I had a before picture because the knife was in extremely rough shape. Apparently it took an entire day and every tool in B's arsenal to get this cleaned up and sharpened. He went a step further and made a knife case out of selvaged wood from a cherry tree that had fallen in his yard a few years ago. He went even further and made me a knife sharpener. When he gave it to me I asked him how sharp it was, "very sharp," he said giving me a knowing look, for I have a bad habit of not respecting knives. I can't tell you the number of times I've cut myself over the years...including my tongue. Ouch!

The next morning I oiled the knife to keep it from rusting. I was being very careful, I swear I was. How sharp is the knife? Oh, yes, it is very sharp. There were blood spatters all over the kitchen sink and I think I said something like, "oh, shoot," or something like that. I texted B to tell him the knife was indeed sharp. He immediately called me and said, "you cut yourself, didn't you?" I laughed...how did he know? And I hadn't even had the knife for 12 hours.

Still, I love the knife...and the case...and the sharpener. Thanks B.

I went for a walk.

2011-07-13T13:09:00.000-04:00

on the premise that I would forage some free food. I love free food. I wasn't disappointed. The sights were pretty darned good too.

Whenever I need a quick, simple walk, I head for the creek and this bridge. It's always a peaceful refuge in the middle of the city, but I was also sure the path would provide me with an abundance of summer fruit.

Just a few puddles left from the torrential rains on Monday.

I see you lookin' at me.

My goal was wild red raspberries, but they were well protected by these vicious, vicious things. I brushed up against just one when reaching for the red berries. Ooooh, instant searing burn. All of the red raspberry patches seemed to have nettles mixed in. The pain was just not worth it to me. I went looking for blackberries instead.

There you are my pretties...

There you have it. Free food. I now have blackberry cordial brewing in the cupboard and I have more berries stashed in the freezer. Not bad for a couple hours of foraging.

Composting

2011-07-12T10:29:00.000-04:00

I just found out I'm a criminal. Are you kidding me? Composting in my city is illegal???

Um, too bad. I refuse to stop. What are they going to do, dig up the compost area of my garden to see what I have buried there? "Hey, Mister, let me get you one of my shovels so you can turn it all over for me. It will decompose even better." Hah!

Stupid laws. Just sayin'.

Cherries are in.

2011-07-11T15:20:00.000-04:00

I love cherry season, and the sight of trees loaded with juicy red fruit just about makes me swoon. I love the smell, but especially the taste of freshly picked, sun warmed tart cherries. Heck, I don't even mind my fingers being sticky and stained from picking. Fresh picked fruit is so worth it.

Picking cherries (and blueberries) was my summer job for a few years. I always liked the sense of accomplishment that came with filling those buckets one right after the other, and of course I liked the money. Hey, five dollars a day was a lot to me back then. However, some of my favorite memories have to do with sitting perched on a branch high up in the tree, shaded from the blazing sun and gorging on juicy deliciousness as I watched others walking around beneath me. Oh, the taste...

As a young girl, I remember staying overnight with an aunt whose house was surrounded by a cherry orchard
and she would send us out to pick fresh fruit from the trees in her yard so she could make a pie. I. Love. Cherry. Pie. I really do. I'm trying to figure out what my favorite pie is and I can't be sure, but at the moment I'm saying it's cherry.

So, Saturday morning, tart cherries were in and my plan for the day was to pick some. I ended up with 15 pounds of tart and I could have used more, but I also accidently ended up with 12 pounds of sweet. I seriously only meant to pick enough to eat within a couple days, but because it took me a long time to fill a bucket with tarts, I guess I got carried away with how easy it was to pick the sweets and before I knew it, my bucket was full. So easy to pick. So easy to eat...I ended up giving away most of them, but I did keep just enough for me to eat within a couple days...or so.

The end result is cherry jam and canned cherry pie filling. I love having homemade pie filling in the cellar so I can whip up a pie any time I want during the winter. I'm thinking a cherry pie will be delicious in January.

Next up, blueberries and apricots. So much summer goodness.

African Violet

2011-07-01T10:23:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned before about my grandmother keeping violets in the north window and how she always gave them the remainder of her nightly drink of water--and how they thrived for her. Well, it seems mine also love her cake stand.

I'm sure they feel special and pretty sitting on this stand and that's why they bloom so profusely. That, and the light, and the extra water I give them all the time. Still, I miss my grandmother.

Unexpected Return

2011-06-28T16:42:00.000-04:00

I've been purging, slowly, deliberately and steadily. I've noticed the past couple of years that I'm getting irritated with the stuff in my house, stuff I've paid good money for, stuff that's stored in boxes or totes, stuff that's taking up precious space in my house and in my psyche. No one is using this stuff and no one wants it. Why am I storing it? Oh, because I might want this for the cabin, or the grandbabes might wear that, or one of the kids might want these--ya know? I know you know.

It's been hard--I won't kid you. At first, when I thought I was getting rid of stuff, I soon realized that I was really just moving everything around and repacking it better so it looked like I had more room. Later, as I was digging in an upstairs closet, I found a tote of stuff that I was sure I had gotten rid of and you know what? I was mad, like, grrrrr mad. I couldn't believe that I still had this tote of stuff, this stuff, this stuff I was positive I had gotten rid of. I needed a better plan. A plan that didn't include shuffling.

Here was my plan--start with three boxes. 1. Goodwill 2. Garage Sale 3. Ebay/Craig's List

Many days I would walk through each room and take at least one item and place it in one of those boxes. Some days I would tackle an area like my bedroom closet, or the linen closet, or the desk in the livingroom, perhaps a kitchen drawer or cupboard. If an item went in Goodwill, then I wrote the item on a list so I could deduct the donation. If it went in the garage sale, I priced it right then and there so everything was ready to sell. If it went on Ebay or Craig's List, well, I'm slowly listing those. Fortunately, that box is really bugging me at the moment so I'm researching the items to list at a fair price and in all fairness, there's not a lot in that box.

I've already made several runs to Goodwill and we just had a garage sale over the weekend. Whatever didn't sell, I logged and placed in boxes and then delivered the whole lot to Goodwill with a fond adieu as I drove away, relieved that none of that stuff was coming back home with me. Do I have lots more space? Not yet, but the space I have isn't crammed full of stuff anymore. I know I've gotten rid of boxes and boxes of stuff, but I can hardly remember any of it. Imagine that. I've found that the more I got rid of, and didn't miss, the more comfortable I was with letting more go. I stopped thinking about all the money I spent on this stuff because really, was it worth any more to me to have it boxed up and shoved in a closet? Okay, the money I would still have in my pocket had I not purchased all that stuff I just gave away would make me happy, but hey, lesson learned.

But here's the thing. I called this post the Unexpected Return because when I got up this morning I realized I didn't have anything pressing that I had to do. No clutter to take care of, no piles to sort through, no boxes accusing me of being a hoarder and slacker. Hmmm, I had time on my hands. My unexpected return is that I had time for doing what I wanted to do with no guilt, time for playing in the kitchen--which I did. It was a baking sort of morning and you know what? That's okay because I assure you, neither of these will be left in a week and they will certainly not be packed away in a box. No, they will most certainly be consumed.

Am I finished purging? Heaven's no, I still have a lot of purging to do, but I've eliminated so many of the glaring items that were in my home just because. I still have lots of boxes in the attic and cellar that need to be gone through, but for now I think I'll reward myself and spend some more quiet time in the kitchen.

Have you purged? Have you had an unexpected return? Would you care to share?

Snap. BOOM!!

2011-06-22T14:48:00.001-04:00

Wow, what a storm we had last night. I knew there was something wierd about it when I was driving home from work and the lightening seemed especially snappy, not like normally where I see the flash work it's way across the sky. No, these were like, snap!, sudden flashes that blazed and burned out. I sat on my enclosed front porch for over an hour watching the lightening and listening to the booms of thunder. Even the thunder was different in that I normally hearing rumbling, but these were just booms, like a gunshot. Oh, and something else that was unusual is that every time the lightening flashed, my front door crackled. Wierd, but I didn't give it too much thought. I went inside to check the weather on TV and B called. We talked for a bit about how wierd the storm was acting and then I opened the front door to go back out on the porch. Still holding the doorknob, and just as I stepped out onto the porch, snap, BOOM, lightening struck in the park right in front of my house. I screamed (I'm pretty sure B is deaf in that ear now) and then I laughed as I told B about the lightening. Then I saw all the steam coming up from where the lightening hit and wouldn't you know, I didn't have my camera handy. It was then that I realized that my hand and feet stung. Hmmm, I think I got a little flash from the lightening. Later, after the storm passed, I went outside and took this picture. You can see where it hit on the bottom of the picture and then the crazy squiggles from moving through the grass.

Guess I should pay attention when my door starts crackling...or just wear shoes during a storm. Perhaps I should just stay inside?

He's like that.

2011-06-20T16:35:00.003-04:00

He loves strawberries, almost as much as he loves watermelon and that's saying a lot. A few weeks ago when he went with me to pick up vegetable plants for the garden, he practically begged me to buy strawberry plants. I told him my garden isn't set up for a berry patch because they need lots of space. He thought he could take them home instead, but his yard isn't set up for a berry patch either. We compromised. I said I would take him berry picking with me this year instead. Can we say, excited?? Well, strawberry season is upon us and since we had to be to the berry patch early in the morning, he might as well spend the night with me. You like how I worked it so I could have a Little with me?

Friday night we went for a bike ride. We meant to go for a long ride, but I noticed he wasn't coasting and upon further inspection, I realized his brake was always rubbing on the tire so the poor little guy was pedaling twice as hard as he should have. We stopped to rest, he needed a breather, but we were devoured by mosquitos. Sorry darlin', I know you're tired, but you have to keep moving. We made it just over 5 miles by the time we finished and he didn't quit. He's like that.
We'll wait til the bike is fixed and try this again, but next time we'll bring bug spray too.

Both of us were hot after the ride and since it's summer, and since the night was still young -- we stopped for ice cream, unintentionally big ice cream.
Hmmm, must burn off the sugar. I know, let's go for a couple mile walk to get a movie!

I have to laugh because he was crazy excited about the walk. He's like that.

And he talked all the way there and all the way back. He's like that too.

We were up late watching the movie and I reminded him that we had an early morning if we were going to pick berries. "That's okay," said he, "you just call me and I'll get right up." And he did. He's like that.

I picked most of the berries we brought home. He ate most of the berries he picked -- and he talked, to me, to the people running the berry patch and to the other patrons who were picking near us. I did say he loved strawberries. Did I mention how much he loves conversation?

I could hear him in the livingroom playing Legos while I cleaned and prepped berries for the freezer. It's so entertaining to eavesdrop on his imaginative play. 26 pounds of prepped berries later, the two of us wandered out to the back yard to sit in the shade and while I worked on an embroidery piece, he lay on a sheet in the grass playing with toy farm animals. It wasn't long before he lost interest in having his sheep attack the cows and his chickens beat up the pigs (he's like that) so he rolled himself up in the sheet, which set off a fit of giggling. He's like that.

After untangling himself from the sheet, he flipped it into the air to try to lay it flat again, but instead it blew over the top of him. Then, well, I don't know, but it seems his boyishness just overcame him because he was soon running, and jumping, and twisting and tumbling in the sheet and you would have thought it was the best toy in the world with all his grins and giggles and laughter.

He had a fabulous time in that silly old white sheet. It captured him, he captured it, it was a rug, he was a ghost, it was a flying carpet, he was a mummy. He thinks I should keep this silly old white sheet handy for the next time he's over. He really does think it's the "best thing ever!" He's like that.

And I love that about him.

Clearing my head.

2011-06-15T15:37:00.006-04:00

I arrived home in the early evening yesterday after a long and trying day. I wandered about the house looking for something to do to help my mind relax. Finding no crafts I wished to begin nor tasks that could be accomplished in the time I had left before dark, I fell back on an activity that has never failed me. I climbed on my bike for a ride...a 20 mile ride, as it turns out. I used to walk when I needed to clear my head, but after getting my bike in ship-shape condition I found that nothing clears the head better than a good hard ride. I'm compelled to focus as I frequently ride on city streets and so must be on the lookout for cars, pedestrians and potholes, all of which leave little freedom for dwelling on irksome thoughts. Just what I needed.

I rode through town until I picked up a trail following South along the river. I rode hard, feeling the burn in my knees and thighs - a good burn. I forgot to hang a left over the bridge to cross the river and ended up at Millennium Park. Hmmm, that's not where I meant to be, but since I'm here...

It's a beautiful park to ride in, the paths are clear and well maintained, and they wrap around a series of ponds and lakes. I often meet runners, roller bladers, bikers, fisherman and picnickers enjoying the park as well.

It looks like I used the wrong soap in the dishwasher again. (kidding) I'm pretty sure this is the fluff from the Cottonwoods. It looks cool on the ground, but it gets in my eyes and goes up my nose when I'm riding. achoo

When the park was developed from an old gravel pit, the planning committee had the foresight to be sure the meadows would be filled with wildflowers. I think the idea is that if a plant can't survive on it's own without maintenance and watering, well, it wouldn't survive then. They really do quite well here. Are they all native? I don't know.

I don't even know the names of some. I'm sure I could look them up, but hey, I'm just here for the ride.

And in some places the path winds it's way right next to the water.

I dawdled in the park, taking a few photos; stopping to enjoy the many views; gazing about at the scenery; enjoying a fabulous Spring evening.

And all too soon it was time to head for home. I had a long way to go to get back to the city and I don't like to ride the streets after dark. So, I pedaled North, enjoying the solitude and feeling the cool breeze on my face as I wended my way through the woods.

Just as I exited the path onto the street, I was greeted with this fine sight.

"Why, hello Mr. Moon. Are you here to keep me company the rest of the way home? Thank you, I would love your company."

I made it all the way, but for the last couple of blocks before the street lights came on. Home again, safe and sound, and my mind full of peace. Just what I needed.

Fire Engine Red

2011-06-13T15:06:00.002-04:00

Favorite youngest son was over this weekend and together we worked on one of the many projects in queue around my house that require orbital sanders, paint stripper and new paint. He has his own place and was in need of a coffee table. Hmmm, I just happened to have a coffee table that I had pulled from the dumpster where I work, and it was in need of a new home. How fortuitous!

I love my orbital sander. It makes short work of projects, but I wish it could bend around curves and reach into crevices. Would that be too much to ask? We tried hand sanding the legs and sides, but only until my arm gave out. Alas, time for the wicked paint stripper. Sometimes, it must be done.

The color he chose doesn't surprise me in the least as he's always been fond of bright color. It's not orange, even though the picture looks like it. It really leans more toward red, but it certainly has an orange tone to it. What a difference! This was our first time using the Behr Paint and Primer in One and I will swear by it. It took two coats to get the perfect coverage, which is much better than the normal two coats of primer and then two coats of paint.

This beauty is currently seasoning in my garage for a couple days and then it leaves for it's new home. Did I mention that I pulled this from a dumpster where I work so the only cost was a quart of paint?

Painted Fingernails and Fish Heads

2011-06-01T15:24:00.000-04:00

There is a campground close to where I live; it's right next to the highway and I, being the somewhat snobby outdoors person that I am, have ridiculed said campground my entire life. I am not alone in my ridicule as everyone I know ridicules this camp. It's too close to town, too close to the highway, too crowded and the lake is too small. But then in 2010 my daughter-in-law's father parked his 5th wheel there with the idea that it was close enough to town for everyone to visit without too much trouble. I reluctantly agreed to go for a visit, which inevitably changed my mind about this 'too everything' campground. If you have kids, it is the perfect campground as the whole park is geared towards family entertainment. When it's BINGO night everyone shows up to play and appropriate campground gifts are awarded to the winners. How about a bundle of firewood? Or a flashlight? Or a snack cooler? There are numerous potluck dinners, hay rides and barrel train rides, kid games and family activities. There are row boats and canoes and kayaks, as well as the swimming, fishing, and playgrounds. I joined my son and d-i-l this past Saturday over Memorial Weekend for another visit. Please join me for a brief summation of our adventures.

The Delightful Miss M was dressed appropriately for the morning bike parade and won 1st place. It might have helped that she was wearing camouflage and had an appropriate sign on the front of her bike. Hmmm...

Daddy took the training wheels off her bike and she learned just today how to ride on the trail that goes around the back side of the lake. Here she comes all grins and smiles...

And there she goes...

Sir S relaxing with one of his favorite pastimes. The lake is kept well stocked with all sorts of fish and while most of the fishing for this family is catch and release, sometimes a fish swallows the hook and must be eaten since it won't live anyway. Everyone baits their own hook (except for Grandma Mostly) while Mommy and Daddy help with removing the fish from the hook.

This would be Miss M making the fish head talk. She seemed fascinated with the innards of this fish after making daddy name all the parts he was removing. I think it's gross, but hey, I'm not 5. ~grins~

There was an after dinner dance in the club house complete with mirror ball and fog machine, and everyone, from the young to the old, joined in the dancing. You know how much joy and fun everyone has at wedding receptions with the dancing and when it's over you always wish there were more receptions to go to because it was so much fun? Well, these dances are the very same. You get all the fun of the dancing and you don't have to wait for someone to get married.

There was booty shakin'...

Move makin'...

And gettin' your groove on... Good times were had by all.

And when it was all over and the last song was about to play, the DJ said it had been fun, but he wanted people to remember what the weekend was really about. He dedicated the last song to those soldiers who came before and those who will come after...and he played "Proud to be an American."

And many of those in the room formed a spontaneous circle around this soldier who was dancing the last dance with his wife and daughter. Yes, we danced...and we remembered...and we were grateful.

I'm here.

2011-05-24T12:46:00.001-04:00

Now, but I've just returned from a trip out west - Reno, Pyramid Lake, Tahoe, Yosemite, Death Valley and Las Vegas. Oh my goodness! What a trip - up and down and all around. Whew! Pictures to come later because I'm also working on a project in my house that is taking a long time...and a lot of work. Goodness!

Oh, and one more item of interest. It seems K and Julie became engaged while I was away. Congratulations! I can't think of a more delightful woman to welcome into this growing family of ours. They've been together for 7 years and we've loved her for nearly as long.

A Night with a Little

2011-05-09T11:56:00.000-04:00

This Little is perfect for when I need a kid fix. His personality focuses on the right now and he thrives in one-on-one situations. He's also very attentive to the one he's with, which is really awesome because instead of me having to entertain him, we end up entertaining each other. It's awesome, I tell ya.

And he's adorable, and funny, and charming, and can spin stories like a pro. He's also very social and will strike up a conversation with complete strangers just to find out more about them. He wanted me to ask a stranger a question, but I, without thinking, wouldn't ask because I didn't care about the answer. "Fine," he said, "I'll ask." And he did. Yeah, not shy at all.

Bet you can't guess that he loves the camera...and reflections of himself acting goofy. Before we left the house he made sure I didn't forget my camera because, "you never go anywhere without your camera." He's right.

We went to the art museum mainly because they were having a talk and demonstration of Improv, but also because he loves to draw and paint. This was one of his favorite pictures because the reflection looks, "exactly, and I mean exactly," like it's real. He mentioned that there was a lot of art here. Guess he didn't quite make the connection that we were in an art museum. ~grins~ His two favorites were 3 Black Lemons and Seventeen Cats on a Ledge. Hmm...really? Cool!

I suspected he might get a kick out of the improv demo. Oh, man. Did he ever. Now he wants to go to one of the shows and we spent all of Saturday practicing our improv. It fits right in with his story telling abilities.

This was a spur of the moment ride when the groomsman offered us a free ride. Really? Okay...but I tipped him generously anyway.

Ah, yes, I love having little boys in the house again. If only for one night at a time.

Good morning...

2011-05-06T10:39:00.000-04:00

As you can see...

Tulips are up.

Have a lovely Mother's Day!

Warm Enough!

2011-05-04T12:57:00.000-04:00

It was finally warm enough to ride my bike again. Man, I love that. Let me just say, for the record, I throughly enjoyed this past winter with all it's bluster and snow accumulation. Gosh, it finally felt like a real winter, but now it's time for some Spring and Summer activities...like, bike riding. The trail along the river is always pretty and there's much to see when we're quiet. This time, however, several sections of the trail were under water. We ride on a levee between the river, which had completely flooded over it's banks, and the flood plain, which was getting pretty full. At one point we stopped to investigate an area where the water was a boiling mass and we couldn't tell if there was a culvert under the levee and the river was simply flowing through it to the other side, or if this was a weak point in the levee and the high water was forcing it's way underneath, which would mean we were witnessing a breach. We really couldn't be sure, but just in case, we didn't linger in that area.

It's hard to avoid the geese when they feed next to the trail. Geez, I wasn't going to mess with her baby so there was really no need for all that hissing and head bopping at me. Geese can be so mean, yeesh!

And the trail...just...ends... That's the river over the trail. It happens. I wasn't going to test the current, but someone thought he was brave enough to ride across. I laughed and told someone I would meet up with him...somewhere. haha...B got wet feet from paddling through there and the water is darn cold right now.

He turned to ride back to me and wouldn't you know but a muskrat swam across the trail in front of him and then this goose did the same thing. How often can you be riding your bike while chasing a goose through the water? Guess she didn't like being followed. She should stay off the trail then. Hmmm, maybe there is a reason for all that hissing and head bopping.

Sure signs that the winter is quite done! Love the red contrasted against the blue.

Are you riding your bike now? Do you have good trails to follow?

Aw Shucks!

2011-04-25T14:47:00.000-04:00

Warning: this post is heavy on paddling pictures. Haha...paddling seems to be what I post about the most.

Due to some miscommunication, I ended up with no plans for Easter. Shucks, guess I'll call B and tell him we can go paddling after all. He took it one better and we loaded up the truck and boats Saturday evening and headed to a favorite lake of ours to sleep in the woods and have ourselves a pretty little sunrise paddle. It was his favorite lake, but now I've sort of taken ownership of it too.

We pulled into a cozy launch site just before sunset, quickly made up the bed in the truck and headed down to the water with our chairs, a bottle of wine and sandwiches so we could watch the "nature channel"...we were not disappointed. The frogs were singing when we arrived, but just after we sat down, the water fowl started returning to the safety of an island in the lake. Geese came skidding in for their landings with a great deal of honking and grunting and each time a new pair arrived, it would set the others to honking and greeting. Lots of ducks did their graceful ski landings, but they weren't quite as noisy as the geese. Sandhill Cranes were returning to their nesting sites in the cattails. If you haven't heard them before, it's sort of creepy and prehistoric sounding. It's not hard to understand how they could have dinosaurs as distant ancestors.

There were also a couple of Muskrats making a spectacle of themselves with their splashing and swimming back and forth in front of us. Little bit of muskrat love?

7 a.m. and we're on the water. We love our early morning paddle adventures, but both of us agree that it's much nicer when we're actually camping on the water instead of driving here in the morning.

This water path through the cattails leads to another lake that we like to explore. Four lakes will be explored today after we find a similar, but narrower path that leads to a new to us lake, and later still, we'll explore a stream we have seen on previous visits that opens into yet another lake.

Someone had to have been up really early to have worked geometry on the lake before I got here. I've said it before, but I just love the reflections in the morning. Some are pretty funny.

Loons.

Wood Ducks

Coot.

Red-winged Blackbirds are one of my favorite birds to hear out-of-doors. It's one of the first bird calls I can remember learning as a child and they always tell me it's summer and I'm having fun.

The choir.

This path lead to the third lake. I had to take my kayak paddle apart and work my boat like a canoe. There was no room to paddle normally. Wait, did I just say that paddling a canoe is abnormal? haha...just kidding, B. Loved this path, narrow, twisty, turny, and then it opened out onto a delightful lake with a series of little coves and nooks. I could spend a whole afternoon just lazing in this lake with a good book and a little bit of food to snack on. So pretty.

Mm hmm, that stream I said we explored? In order to get upstream we first had to get under this bridge by laying down in our boats and pulling ourselves along by grabbing the underneath of the bridge. Oh, the things we'll do for an adventure. ~grins~ We didn't know there was a lake at the end of the stream. We just hadn't paddled here before. Now we have and we'll probably do it again, especially since we rarely see other people on these lakes. We saw our first turtles of the season in the stream. Someone was pointing them out to me by t-thunking them (gently) on the back with his paddle and then he asked me if I thought it bugged them. Gee, I dunno, but it might bug me. ~grins~

Marsh Marigolds are in bloom.

I don't know what this is really called, but I call it skunk weed and it's always one of the first woodland plants to come up.

We joked that we had found our Easter basket when we saw this nest of goose eggs hidden in the cattails. Apparently, it wasn't hidden well enough since we noticed all the eggs were broken.

This turtle was not t-thunked, but he sure was enjoying the sunshine.

A member of the Muskrat Love gang?

And finally, some of the new Spring blooms happening in the woods all around us. How different the woods will look in a week.

Until the next time, enjoy your Spring.

Spring?

2011-04-19T11:11:00.002-04:00

I was thinking how green the grass was looking on Sunday. I went to bed with a clear sky full of stars and a beautiful moon. Monday morning I was startled upon opening the blinds to find 2 inches of snow covering the ground. By Monday evening, I was walking around in my shirtsleeves with 'the roofing guy' while we discussed the upcoming project. All the snow had melted away. Welcome to Spring?

Ah, yes, that roofing project. I'm now putting myself on a spending sabatical to save the rest of the money for the roof because I refuse to finance a roof, and it really needs to be done this year. Fortunately, I have until the snow flies again to get it done.

We were going over the proposal at my kitchen table when 'the roofing guy' asked me if my flowers were real. I said the daffodils were, and fresh from the garden, but the tulips were fake. He was shocked and thought they looked to be just the opposite because the daffodils looked perfect and the tulips looked like they were on a decline. Well, when I bought the tulips I didn't want them to be perfect and look fake, so I guess I succeeded.

Welcome to Spring!

What I miss...

2011-04-12T14:43:00.003-04:00

now that I don't have littles in the house anymore. Well, one of the things I miss.

Having someone to bake for, someone who will walk in the door and say, "oooh, what smells so good? Can I have some?"

Having someone to lick the bowl. There was always a certain amount of hovering when I baked, in anticipation of that moment when I would push the bowl across the counter to eager, waiting hands and salivating mouths.

Having someone to share the treats with.

Yep, I really miss that part because as much as I love to bake, I do not like having all those tempting goodies in the house with only me to eat them. It's necessary to share delicious treats like this with someone. Necessary and fun. Thanks for sharing the best cocoa brownies with me, darlin'.

Mm hmm, they were so good, it was imperative that I send half the pan home with him. I think he was going to share with his roommate, but I'm not entirely sure. They were that good.

So much fun!

2011-04-06T17:02:00.000-04:00

It was a whirlwind trip that encompassed Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Illinois and Indiana. It's impossible to tell you how much fun we had.

We began our holiday in Georgia where we grabbed him for her because she's missed him. So have I and it's nice to have him back for a little while.

So nice...

We bought this in GA and drove across the bridge to Alabama and ate in her father's Cadillac while parked along the river. We were very careful not to spill, but oh, did we ever laugh about how her father would have reacted had he known. It was warm enough to have the windows down. We strolled the footbridge and the boardwalk, then sat on some rocks to watch cranes or herons fish the riverbank.

Caught one!

Back to GA and a delightful little pub named Scruffy Murphy's. There's a cozy outdoor courtyard in the back that is surrounded by brick walls, but no roof. It was warm and somewhat muggy, we had the place to ourselves and we talked, drank our beers, laughed and got caught up. The atmosphere filled us all with a sense of happiness...it was one of those perfect evenings that gets embedded in your sensory memories. You know what I mean? The next day we had obligations to fulfill and afterwards, we dined with some of his friends, told them about Scruffy's and took them there to see if we could capture that feeling again. It was not to be. It was colder, louder and just not the same, but that's okay. The three of us had already shared our moment and we were happy.

Friday - we left early in the morning to head for Memphis where we would meet up with B who promised us the most amazing BBQ dinner at Rendezvous. Dry rub ribs served with baked beans. Oh, and it was amazing. The restaurant is down a back alley and you can smell the BBQ long before you get there.

Just being silly after being in the car for so long. We're in Memphis, walked a few blocks to Beale Street where we laughed ridiculously hard at all the fun we were having.

Crazy, but I like the fact that I can buy a drink and walk down the street with it.

Did I mention how hard we laughed? You would have too had you seen the crazy hats we were trying on.

I think she does the Southern Belle quite well. Perhaps she's more of a Derby girl though.

And what would Memphis be without a little side trip to Graceland? We didn't actually go inside because, well, none of us really wanted to, but we took the obligatory pictures and visited the giftshops like good little tourists. ~grins~

And we laughed some more.

We managed to get in a little thrifting in Arkansas. You just gotta love a couple of guys who will prowl antique stores with us.

Across the river into Illinois.

It was late by the time we arrived at our hotel, but not too late to end up at the I & I Tavern for some pool and juke box tunes. I did say it was a whirlwind trip.

We lingered over breakfast and agreed to slowly wend our way home on the backroads. You just never know what you'll find, and what we found was a hilarious 'supposedly' historical park. I'm afraid to name it here because I wouldn't want to offend anyone, but really? An ancient campfire ring from 6500 years ago? Oh, yes, we laughed again. I have no idea what I'm holding in my hand, but they were everywhere.

By this time we were only a couple hours from home and it was time to go. So much fun. So much laughter. I'm excited to do it again. Perhaps next year?

Paddle Days

2011-03-28T14:05:00.001-04:00

Pictures are very limited with this post as we had camera issues. My battery froze, B's exposure compensation was accidentally set to -4 and since he's no longer chimping, he didn't notice, and K didn't bring her camera at all.

My paddling buddies and I stumbled upon a sweet little treasure of a river two years ago and had a delightful experience. The same can be said for paddling a slightly different stretch this past Saturday. No one will let me name the river here until we've actually written about it (think, paddling book), so the best I can say is it's somewhere in Michigan. haha...that doesn't help at all, I know, because Michigan is full of rivers and lakes.

Saturday was crisp and cold, but clear skies and a bright sun had me convinced it should have been much warmer. Sunlight glinted off a thick layer of ice covering the trees and though I kept expecting the ice to melt, it did not as the temperature never rose above 28 degrees. I was ever so grateful for the extra layers of clothing I packed and I wore my winter coat on the water, which I typically don't do. Ice shelves lined many sections along the banks and on occasion, one would break free and crash into the river. Clusters of icicles and ice pendants dangled like jewelry from low hanging branches. So much ice. It felt like I was paddling through a crystal forest sometimes.

Very poor example of the ice crystals. In reality, some were so thick with hanging crystals they tinkled like wind chimes in the breeze.

Eagles and vultures, a hawk, sandhill cranes and blue heron, deer and muskrats, a mink and birds too numerous to name. Such a lovely way to spend my day.

The river was running high after the snow melt a week ago and the water flow moderately fast at times with enough riffles (and rocks) to keep it interesting. No one got wet except for the occasional splash over the cockpit rim as we dipped through waves. That said, the tips of my gloves were frozen ice and the drops of water that landed on my boat froze, as did parts of my paddle. This was a good day to stay on the dry side of the river.

Will you look at that blue sky? Not a cloud all day.

Ice ribbons - the many different layers and curves found along the edge of the river.

To me it looks like a dragonfly is stuck in the ice in the photo above.

The take out. I said my battery froze, and it did, so how could I get a picture of the end of our trip? I didn't. B and I had left earlier than B&K to look for photo ops and scout take out sites downstream of our launch site. I was immediately intrigued by how deep into the woods we were going to have to paddle to find dry land at the end of our float. I've been on many rivers over the years, but I have to say this has become my all time favorite take out because, on account of the high water and flooding, we were literally paddling through the woods and I've never experienced that before. It was sureal to be maneuvering between and around trees. So cool.

By the way, when we paddled this river two years ago I spied a red wooden stool stuck in the branches at the high water line. I managed to get the stool out of the tree and B carried it all the way downstream for me. I love that stool and it has a place of honor on my front porch. This has to be a fluke, but B found another matching yellow stool stuck in a brush pile at the high water line on Saturday. You know I went after it. It's now drying in my garage and it too will take it's place on the front porch. What are the chances?

The Rogue

2011-03-22T15:49:00.000-04:00

A beautiful day, a boat that's been dry far too long, friends eager to get outside...only one choice when you have a springtime trifecta. You load up the vehicles and head to the river.

I know I heard this Chick-a-dee say, "well, there you are, we've missed you." I've missed you too little bird.

"Follow us, we know where the fun is."

I've only seen mink twice on the Rogue, but perhaps that's an indication I need to paddle it more often. He wasn't the least bit shy with us. In fact, B stayed behind to take pictures and said the little guy kept popping out of his hole as if he were playing. I see a downed Sycamore in the background, one of my favorite trees because of the bark.

That's a heckuva tree for the beaver to be dropping, and it won't be fun to try to get around once it's in the water. Maybe they've become bored and won't drop it after all.

Yep, that's a very pleasant start to the new paddling season. Next up?

But wait, I had the oldest grandson say he didn't want to come along. What!?! I need to have a face-to-face with that child because I know he loves the outdoors. Must they grow up?

What would you do if you weren't afraid?

2011-03-10T10:02:00.000-05:00

That's been my mantra for years. It's how I've learned to take steps towards my own happiness and how I've made some pretty big decisions in my life. I still ask myself that question when I'm struggling with decisions. I will always ask myself that question when thoughts start swirling around my head and I start wringing my hands in angst. By asking the question, I come up with answers, which leads to options, which then allows me to come up with a plan for attaining the option I choose. It's always good to have options, to have choices. So I ask you, friends and family, what would you do if you weren't afraid?

What do you do...

2011-03-07T12:07:00.001-05:00

when the cat decides that 5:54 a.m. is a great time to get up...on a Saturday morning? If you're me, you give up and get up and wander into the kitchen to see what sorts of messes can be made.

I started with this. Okay, I really started by making a pot of coffee because for me there is nothing like coffee on the weekends. I love that I get to keep refilling my cup and I can easily finish a whole pot throughout the day. To me it says 'nesting'. Then I raided the refrigerator and pantry and filled the kitchen counter with ingredients. By 6:30 I was cooking!

By 10 a.m. the squash above had been roasted and put in the freezer. A batch of Creamy Mushroom and Wild Rice soup had been made with both fresh mushrooms and dried shitake, and 4 jars were headed to the freezer for upcoming lunches. I even ate a bowl for my breakfast because, well, I could. I know, I've been making lots of different mushroom soups, but the mushrooms were on sale for $1.00 each so I stocked up. I'll share the recipe if you would like it, but it's from a cookbook so I wasn't comfortable posting it here. By the way, this is one cream soup that can be frozen because it's made with soy milk and doesn't separate like cow's milk does. If you aren't familiar with Asian markets, I suggest you go visit one and prowl the aisles. Everything is so cheap there, much cheaper than shopping your local grocery store. The shitake was outrageously expensive at Meijer, but a huge bag was just a couple dollars at A Dong Market. My pantry is full of foods from the Asian and Indian Markets.

I had a whole batch of confetti meatballs ready for the freezer. These are made with ground turkey and a broccoli slaw mix. There's a recipe on the back of the bag, but I didn't follow it exactly. Next time I'll use fresh garlic rather than the dried garlic powder it called for, but still, these are delicious. The broccoli slaw was also on sale for $1 and now that I know how to use it in a recipe that's not loaded with calories...

Just after 10, the only thing left on the counter was this cup of coffee. I gave the cat a nice pat on the head and said, "thanks, that was a productive morning." He said, "my pleasure" with a little more smugness and pleasure to his voice than I would have liked, and then rubbed himself all over my legs in that catty, curvy, rubby way that cats do. I actually don't like it that he thinks I should get up so early on the weekend.

See these tools down below? Yeah, they're my favorite kitchen tools that I never want to live without. B gave me the scale about a year ago and I don't how know I lived without one for so long. I use it constantly when I'm cooking. It comes in real handy when weighing vegetables or converting metric to whatever it is we use here in the states. I use the kitchen shears for everything from cutting bones to mincing herbs. This time I used it to cut the broccoli slaw into smaller pieces and to cut up the rehydrated mushrooms so they were bite sized. And then there's the potato masher. I don't have a hand-held blender and with this masher, I don't really need one. It's perfect for mashing up soups and potatoes and squash and...oh, ever so handy.

And that, my friends, was only my Saturday morning. Do you have a favorite kitchen utensil I should know about?

Added: If I didn't exactly follow the recipe, changed amounts, substituted ingredients, etc., does that make the recipe my own and can I post it here? I'll reference the original recipe, but I didn't make it like the book said to.

Mushroom Barley Soup

2011-03-02T16:49:00.000-05:00

No picture and I'm real sorry about that. The problem is I'm too busy drooling over this soup while I'm preparing it and then I sort of gobble it up before I remember I should have taken a picture. This soup is thick and very flavorful, cooks up quickly and freezes well. What's not to love about it?

Mushroom Barley Soup

8 oz whole mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
2 bunches green onions, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cups Imagine Organic chicken broth
1 cup Chardonnay, use the cheap stuff, it's awesome in soup
2 medium carrots sliced into thin rounds
1/2 cup barley
1/4 teaspoon Savory
1/4 teaspoon Thyme
1/2 teaspoon Basil
olive oil
salt
pepper

Toss mushrooms and green onions in a little bit of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and roast 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine chicken broth and Chardonnay in a saucepan. Add sliced carrots, barley, savory, thyme and basil. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until mushrooms and onions are roasted. Add these to the soup and continue simmering until carrots are crisp tender and barley is swollen. Oh...my...gosh, enjoy! This has become my new favorite soup.

Note: I roast the mushrooms and onions with lots of root vegetables so I make better use of the oven. I figure I'll eat the root vegetables with another meal.

Tears were nearly spilled.

2011-02-22T12:39:00.004-05:00

Oh, my goodness. My son is pretty particular about his daughter and how quickly, or not, she is allowed to grow up. Mind you, Miss M is only 5 but he's already told her in no uncertain terms that she will NOT be dating. And in his mind, he means it. Miss M may have different ideas and although she's pretty outspoken with daddy (and the rest of us), she's still his little girl and is eager to please him. He has not wanted her to get a haircut. He likes her hair long and insists that her hair is a part of her and does not need to be altered. Daddy has insisted and Miss M has willingly gone along with this. Haha...until this weekend when it was three ladies ganging up on daddy. I started it (bad grandma), momma chimed right in and then Miss M instantly climbed on the bandwagon. Daddy conceded the loss and suddenly, Miss M was getting a haircut. Oh my...

This is where she started. It's curly so hard to tell, but if you straighten those curls her hair comes nearly to her waist. That's a lot of hair to be taken care of and she can't do it herself.

Here we are negotiating the length. Daddy is about to get bamboozled by a very wise momma who knows her husband well. Momma's hand is on the left and she chose her length first. Daddy's hand is on the right making sure we don't take quite that much off. After the first cut, momma looked at daddy and said, "that's where I wanted it anyway." Daddy has clearly been bamboozled. Momma's also wise because she knows to take baby steps with daddy where Miss M is concerned and knew she should only take a little bit off. Well, except for that part where she said, "oops, cut it crooked," and had to trim it up a little more. She's smart, I tell you.

Here goes...

Daddy's clearly not liking this. He picked up this curl, which you can barely see in his hand, and said, "two minutes ago, this was a part of her and now it's not.Can we glue it back on?" I laughed and said it was just like cutting her fingernails, but then momma laughed. She said daddy never liked her to cut Miss M's fingernails when she was a baby either, for the same reason. Really? I did not know this about my son.

Oh my...all done. But wait, doesn't she look suddenly grown up? That's not what we wanted, not one little bit. She was only supposed to get her hair cut, not look so much older. Um, can we glue it back on?

Home again...

2011-02-15T16:35:00.001-05:00

B and I thought we needed a little mid-winter break; North seemed like a good idea.

Sunrise over Lake Huron. We stopped to sleep in Mackinaw City the previous evening as we follow an ancient unspoken rule about never being in a hurry when one is heading North. (Okay, I might have made that part up.) Since the beach was so close, we couldn't imagine missing a perfectly good sunrise even if it was frigid cold on the water. 0 degrees frigid. Brrr...

Soon, I was home. I don't really live in Grand Marais, but I would...if I could.

We dropped our belongings in our room, donned snowpants, boots and hats, and promptly headed for the beach. There was no sand and rocks today, no crashing waves, no sound of laughter as children played happily on the shore. No, there was only deep snow to be trudged through and ice to be scampered over if one wanted to see what there was to see. We were the only souls on the beach. Those dunes in the distance? In the summer we hike down the beach with snacks and beach towels to spend hours climbing the dunes, playing in the river and exploring the waterfalls. Today, it took all our effort to get over the ice without falling...too many times. I have a couple bruises because I simply had to explore.

Looks pretty desolate doesn't it? I assure you, it was anything but.

I'm grateful for my 70-300mm lens for close-up pictures of the lighthouse. It didn't take long to realize that if you slipped on the ice you would go over the edge and there was no way out of the water, so no, we didn't go out there. I'm not nearly as close at it seems.

The channel, full of ice. It was all so fascinating, the way the ice piled up on top of itself, the holes that were formed from the waves, the patterns from the wind and spray.

We did some exploring in the woods too...I love Birch trees, the different tones and how the bark curls around itself.

Amazing shadows as we were driving along in the woods.

I might have to print these for framing.

We did manage to find a windblown open area close to the pier. See what I mean about the patterns?

A small cairn was built in honor of my visit to the beach.

I don't read bones, but if I did, I think these sticks would say something profound.

Oh, alright, I admit...we did look for agates for just a little while. B found the only one and it was really nice. I'm not sure I should have showed him what to look for because he's prone to finding better ones than me now. Hmmm...

This little treasure now graces my souvenir bowl at home.

Three days, that's all we had and it was time to head south again. Drat! But there's always summer to look forward to. Yes, my beautiful home, I'll see you again in a few months. Until then, be kind and be well.

Sunset over Lake Michigan on the way home. Wow!

I was pretty proud of myself.

2011-02-10T16:31:00.001-05:00

I was, truly. See, I've been playing around with paper folding and found a simple tutorial online for a folded heart in which I could write a message inside and then mail it to Alex in Taiwan. I thought I was being very clever writing the note inside. I thought I was pretty good at what I made. Don't you think it was clever and good?

I thought so too, and I loved the stamped heart image on the outside. Really, I was feeling quite proud of myself and maybe a little bit smug. Mm hmm, until I got home last night and found a package waiting for me. Upon opening it, I found this...

Oh my... The package was from the lovely Megan who spent time in Taiwan working in the same school as Alex and I stalkerishly followed her every move through her blog. She's a darling.

These pieces came from Mrs. Kuo who creates folded paper masterpieces out of recycled boxes. Now when I compare my heart with what Mrs. Kuo made, well, it's sort of like comparing a 2 year-olds writing with someone fluent in Spencerian Script. ~grins~ Now don't get me wrong. I love what I made for Alex, and I'm sure Alex will be happy with it (he'll at least humor me), but Mrs. Kuo's work shows me I have a lot of practicing to do before I can truly get to the smug part of paper folding. Not to worry, I don't feel the least bit bad about it. I laughed when I held the little teapot up next to my heart. And here I was thinking I was all that...ah, yes, it's good to laugh at oneself. Now where's that tutorial on how to fold paper like a rock star?

Snowy Walk in the Woods

2011-02-08T15:00:00.001-05:00

I spent the weekend with two littles, two dogs and two cats whilst the parent's were away. Whew...I am soooo not used to that anymore. ~grins~ It's one thing to have them stay with me in my home because they're in my element, but staying with them, in their home? Oh my, it's a whole different game. By Saturday afternoon, I was ready to pull out my trusty, no-fail secret weapon. Ahhh, the woods. We (meaning me) were ready for some serious outdoor adventuring because there is nothing like a little trailblazing to take the edge off excess energy. Let's go!

This boy would spend his life in the woods if he were allowed. There is nothing he doesn't like about being outside, in the woods, preferably on an adventure.

For as girlie-girl as this one can be, she holds her own out here too. She's one tough Chick-a-bee and thinks this is a grand ole time. She's right, you know.

Trail blazing is a must when you find snow this deep. Oh, there are trails here, but it's always more fun to blaze your own path. Besides, the rabbit holes, fairy rings and animal tracks aren't on the trail. They're off to the sides so that's where we must go. We did have to talk about being aware of holes that one might tumble in to and where the trail ended and the edge of the lake began. From all the holes in the ice close to shore, it appears some people weren't aware this is a spring fed lake and therefore, thin ice. The littles took note and stayed back.

"I think we have to go this way, but I also think we're lost," said she. I pointed out that the trail we were following went along the edge of the lake and as long as we stayed close to the lake, we wouldn't get lost. The world seems so big when you're so small.

He always finds a hiking stick when we're in the woods. Smart boy. It comes in handy for getting through deep snow, climbing over fallen logs, giving a boost onto various benches and testing how deep holes are.

You really meet all kinds in the woods, seriously. A x-country skier actually suggested she should walk the whole trail (2 miles) in snow this deep...you know, so we didn't wreck the trail for skiers. We politely suggested that he should go find a designated ski trail and stay off the hiking trail...you know, if that was an issue. I was a bit incredulous over his request. I wouldn't have taken them hiking on a designated ski trail. Note to the littles, don't be like that guy in the woods.

I think the fresh air and the hike are working. He's looking calm, serene...

She's tired. We made it nearly to the end of the hike before she asked if we were almost there yet. Yes, darling, nearly there.

See, it's a trusty, no-fail secret weapon...works every time.

Snow Day

2011-02-03T11:22:00.002-05:00

They said it was going to be historic. They said it was going to be epic. They said it was going to be snowmageddon. I woke yesterday morning, looked out my window to see pavement on my driveway and cried, "wolf!" Yep, then I went outside to shovel. Haha...I couldn't get into my garage to get the shovel without going over a drift that was thigh deep. And that was just the beginning. Oh, we got snow, finally! I happen to live in an area that gets threatened with bad weather all the time, but the storm front always splits and goes North and South of me. That's not cool for someone like me who looooves inclement weather. I love this snow. I think we're going snowshoeing tonight. Hope so.

I couldn't get out the front door. There was too much snow in the way and this stuff was heavy to shovel, but it sure is beautiful outside.

Oh yes, it was definitely a snow day. Practically the whole city was shut down, which was fine with me because look what I got to do...

It's a sewing machine cover with fabric from Sew Mama Sew. They always have such lovely goodness there and I can usually find what I want on sale, you know, being the thrifty person that I am. The cover wasn't all that difficult to make following these directions, but it was my first time with free motion quilting. Yeah, I was scared, I made a few mistakes, my techique was rough, I broke a needle and I had to oil the machine before I was finished, but I did it. And it fits, and it looks great if you don't look too closely to see where I started quilting again after oiling the machine, but without adjusting my settings. Oops. The thread is a little bit loose in one area. I should also mention that I ran out of thread and had to switch to a different color - because it was a snow day, after all, and I was pretty sure my fabric store wasn't open for me to bop in and grab another spool.

Here's a sewing hint for you if you are working with two pieces of fabric, one of which is a straight piece (Piece 1) that needs to go around a corner or a curve to attach to the second piece (Piece 2), like the picture above. Always start with Piece 2 on the bottom so that as you are sewing, the edge of Piece 2 is your guide and you can ease Piece 1 into the curves and move any excess fabric out of the way and behind the needle. It's much easier this way as you can see what it is you are moving rather than trying to see underneath Piece 2 to make sure you don't have bunches of fabric going all wonky from Piece 1. If it's a corner, stop at the corner with your needle still in the fabric, lift the presser foot, turn your fabric (Piece 2) 90 degrees and move all the excess fabric from Piece 1 to the back. Lower the presser foot and continue sewing. Does that still sound complicated? I suspect that if you follow along as you are sewing, it will make more sense.

Look who stopped in for a visit a couple days ago...

It's a Cooper's Hawk in the tree next to my garage. I often see these hunting in the neighborhood and as much as I would like to stop them from killing, I know it's nature's way and I let it go. The time that really bothered me was when both hunter and prey slammed into the side of my house during the chase and tumbled down onto the driveway about 15 feet away from me. The prey was stunned and the hunter took full advantage of it. I think he looked at me and dared me to stop him. I didn't even try.

Tea Time

2011-01-27T13:09:00.002-05:00

Sometimes life deals you little blows...sometimes you deal them to yourself. Doesn't matter, both require a pot of tea and some quiet time to think.

Then everything seems to work itself out. Life is so much better with a pot of tea, don't you think?

Decluttering gone awry.

2011-01-26T16:03:00.001-05:00

heh heh...I can laugh, you may not. I mean it! It could happen to you too.

So, I got a little carried away in my quest to either use things up or get rid of them. See, I tend to collect free samples. I don't know why I don't just use them right away, but I don't. I was moving things around under the kitchen sink, not that there's much under there, because there isn't, but I ran across a sample packet of dishwasher soap and I thought, hmmm, gotta run the dishwasher so now is as good a time as any to use up this packet. Um hmm, I turned on the dishwasher, went in the other room to work on some project or other, came back in the kitchen a while later and found water....and soap suds....all...over...the floor. This is where you can't laugh. Right, I pulled the empty packet out of the trash and found that is was DISH soap, not dishwasher. Oh, and not just any dish soap. Nooooo, this had to be super concentrated. Crap! I threw towels on the floor, got a bucket and started scooping suds out of the dishwasher. Okay, you can stop your snickering now. The photo below is after I ran the dishwasher for the third time. Let me tell you, there were gobs of suds. Ya think the dishes are clean yet?

I guess there's bound to be a mishap or two along the way. This is the second this year after I accidently dumped the contents of the compost bucket back into my dinner so I'm hoping I'm done for awhile.

Come on, tell me about some of your messhaps. (Incorrect spelling was intended.) And I promise not to laugh.

Oh, really?

2011-01-25T11:45:00.003-05:00

This is another declutter post. You don't get to see everything I declutter because there's just too much going out too quickly and I don't take the time to photograph all of it. However, this bit is about candles. I love candles - really love them. In the past, if I saw a good deal on candles I would buy a whole box because, hey, I love candles. But now, I'm pretty particular about the candles I burn so what was I supposed to do with this whole drawer full I was holding on to? I kept telling myself that I love candles so I would get around to burning them....eventually. Except that this drawer was filled up shortly after moving into my house in 2003 and I haven't burned any of them. I also had 2 full baskets and other miscellaneous candles taking up an entire shelf in the linen closet. That's where I kept the candles I burned the most. So, I emptied out the drawer and the linen closet so I could see eveything I had. I put the candle holders out there too. See?

You know what I found? Boxes and boxes of tapers...but I don't burn tapers. Used to, about 3 houses ago, but I haven't burned one since I moved here. This should be an easy declutter.

There is a candle in there that drips in multi-colors and I bought it for camping because I thought it would be cool to watch how it covers a bottle. The problem is that candle has been in this drawer so I never remembered to take it camping with me. Well, now it's moved to the camping tote. Those boxes of tapers? Yeah, those are double layers, at least, Straight to the Goodwill bin. Sorry, I know I spent good money on them, but I'm never going to burn them. Those pillars in the background? I had a few more, but they never burned well so why am I keeping these? There's also a zip-lock bag sitting there with leftover wax pieces from burned candles, you know, for when I make my own. Hmph! Like that's gonna happen any time soon.

This really was easy. This is what I'm left with.

Yep, once I finished I only had this little basket left of candles and holders. Okay, I also have a jar that holds my tealights, but I burn the heck out of those too. I have one jar candle on my kitchen table, one on my dresser and a pillar on the coffee table. Each of those are burned nearly every day, but otherwise, this little basket is all that's left. I now have an empty drawer, an empty basket and an empty shelf in the linen closet. How cool is that?

Make It Simple

2011-01-18T12:03:00.002-05:00

Have you ever been afraid to try something new, worked up your nerve and found that the thing you were afraid of wasn't scary or difficult at all? Happens to me all the time so I suspected it happens to others as well. I hosted a craft class this weekend where everything we did was new for the ladies. Well, except for Julie who has done a bit of embroidery on her knitting, but the rest of the tasks were new to everyone. I heard it, I heard "I'm afraid" a few times, but we forged ahead with simple, easy instructions and the results were fabulous.

It was a simple Valentine's Banner in which I had cut out burlap hearts and letter stencils ahead of time. The ladies then stenciled the letters and embroidered small felt hearts for the ends. Each heart was then strung on twine for hanging. Simple.

My girlfriend trying her hand at embroidery.

While you can see Julie's banner here, this picture is actually an excuse to show off her first finished project for the new year. The Owl sweater. Awesome!

Ah, yes, and here we have my sister being assisted by Tim the cat. Crafting time could never be complete without a little help from him.

This one is mine, but I actually left the design of the embroidered hearts to each person's interpretation. There was such creativity in that room. Julie added little floating hearts, Regina added beads and my sister did this beautiful vine with random leaves containing satin stitches. Did I mention the embroidery was new to them? I saw running stitch, lazy daizy, starburst, satin, backstitch, french knot and stem stitch. Perhaps a couple more, but I was delighted with how everyone took to this.

The finished product. Just a little something to add some Valentine Love to our homes. Pretty cool, huh?

Inspiration is from here. The burlap hearts are 6" while the letters and small felt hearts are 3.5". Oh, and if you plan on cutting burlap with an Olfa cutter, also plan on getting a new blade because it will be shot.

Happy crafting!

Well, that was easy.

2011-01-12T13:24:00.008-05:00

Do you follow the Dave Ramsey Envelope System for budgeting and saving money? I do and so do some of my family members. The idea for the fabric envelopes is not original, I found it online, but really, if you're going to save, shouldn't you be saving in an envelope that is stylish and fun to use? That's what I thought. So, here you go J, K, and P. These are for you, made with love...by me, of course. Once the fabric is cut I can put two of these together in an hour, but do you think I remembered to make a few for myself??? Hmph!

Next in queue...what could I possibly be making with this little pile? It's for a sewing class I'm hosting on Saturday. I'll show you the finished product next week along with, hopefully, pics of the class.

What's in your queue? Have you finished projects already this year?

Added: I don't want to seem like I'm copying everything Heather does, even though I think she's awesome, but I did want you to know that I got the idea and the tutorial for the cash budget pouches from here.

Perfectly sunshiney weekend.

2011-01-10T15:31:00.002-05:00

We don't usually have much sunshine in Michigan during the winter, but this has been an exceptional year. You will not hear any complaining from me because I thrive on the sunshine. Even better is when I actually get to experience it on the weekend. It sets the tone for my whole day and I feel energized and want to do all sorts of tasks around my house. It started with this view Saturday morning and I grinned. Will you look at that sunshine on the wall? It's gonna be a great day.

Right, I was supposed to be out the door early to run errands, but instead I ended up with a screw driver in my hand, which then caused a few doors knobs to be removed for inspecting.

This task was one of those 'duh' moments. See, I've been frustrated by the fact that my doorknobs stick so badly and I've threatened to replace all of them just to get them to stop sticking. And I would have, except I have this rule for myself and that is to not compromise the original integrity of the house if at all possible, and since I didn't want to spend money on antiques that may or may not work any better, the doors have continued to stick for 8 years. However, the other day it occured to me that the doors just might be sticking because the dear things are over 60 years old and it's doubtful that anyone was nutty enough to take them apart and oil them....until me.

Yep, before I knew it I had cleaned the paint off them (bad previous owner!), gave them a good scrubbing, oiled them good and voila, no more stuck doorknobs. Love it! I open and close the doors now just to see them not stick. I know, you can say it, "who does this wierd stuff?" haha....me!

I unpacked the few Valentine decorations I have. I made this heart runner a few years ago and it's always nice to see it again after being packed away all year. Now that was a fun handwork project to make.

Oh, and I sat in my chair and watched the water drip off the icycles, because I could.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies were baked. Gosh, I love sunny days.

See? Shadows mean sunshine. I did finally get out to run the errands and even those weren't so bad with the sun shining. There were a few more quicks projects crossed off the list, then dinner with good friends to round out my fabulous day.

B and I were planning on a sunrise walk Sunday morning, but it was bitter cold outside, and you know what? After finishing those tasks on Saturday, I felt no guilt about spending the whole day with B alternating between working on a jigsaw puzzle and watching movies while more sunlight streamed through the windows. Made for a great weekend for me. Call me greedy, but may I have another one please?

All I did...

2011-01-06T13:15:00.002-05:00

was walk in the room to put away a paper and the next thing I knew, this was completed. I have no idea how this happens...in this room...it must be magic. Funny thing is, I read Heather's post this morning and she had the same thing happen to her. She meant to be doing one thing in 'the room', but the fabric got touched, then matched, then cut and since it was cut, well, one might as well sew it together. Next thing you know you've got something very useful and practical sitting in front of you.

Someone will be happy about this as he has been patiently waiting for me to make it. I made similar embroidered covers here and he asked for one to hold the highlighters at work. I didn't mean for it to take this long, but I suppose I was waiting for inspiration (or magic) to hit. But there you have it. Another item off the ever increasing list of projects I want to do.

Speaking of lists, I'm trying out a new calendar method that I accidently stumbled upon during December. I love lists and I'm a huge fan of the list of three, but December always has a flurry of last minute baking and crafting that should get done, and I wanted/needed to be organized and know at a glance what I still had to accomplish. I printed a blank calendar page from here, pasted it into a spiral notebook and scheduled tasks or wrote completed tasks in the squares. The opposite page held my list of tasks to be completed. I knew at a glance what I needed to schedule time for, but I could also see my progress and I love knowing how much I've accomplished. It worked so well that I decided to keep going with January. Heck, maybe I'll do it through the whole year. Hey, then I'll have a momento to look back on and see how much I've accomplished throughout the year.

I'm putting everything on the list (and still using a small pad for the list of three), like making up that granola recipe everyone is raving about, making homemade laundry soap for the January One Small Change, making cash budget pouches and scheduling a Valentine Bunting class. I haven't hosted a sewing class in a while and they're always fun. Perhaps I'll even schedule a sledding party. I can do anything as long as I'm prepared and organized. Love it!

So, tell me, how do you keep yourself organized at home?

hehehe...

2011-01-05T16:48:00.001-05:00

I'm a winner....just sayin'. I hope you'll consider joining this fabulous community of change. It's easy, you gets tons of support and you feel pretty darned good about your life. Think about it?

How I spent my weekend.

2011-01-03T16:41:00.003-05:00

Peacefully, quietly, serenely.

B and I ditched the holiday parties in lieu of doing what we do best...we headed for the woods. B found a wonderful rustic cabin at the tip of the Lower Peninsula and right on the shore of Lake Michigan. We had the woods to ourselves. The cabin was bare except for the beds, a table & chairs and a wonderful wood stove, which we kept blazing all weekend. Our only light was from candles and the fire in the stove. And then there was the quiet...

The beautiful quiet so we could hear the sound of the rain falling on the roof. We spent the evening tucked inside our warm abode, feet propped in front of the fire, glasses of wine in hand and the occasional sip of Absenthe. A delicious, wonderful evening, just perfect for bidding adieu to the old year and welcoming the new. We loved the quiet.

We woke early, dressed and set out to explore the beach, thinking we would eventually make our way down to the point. Oh, it was beautiful on the shore. The weather hadn't yet turned cold so we took our time gingerly picking our way over the ice and frozen rocks. How was it possible that we were so far North and yet the temperature was close to 50? On January 1? A cold front was on it's way, but for now, it was pleasant and peaceful on the shore and the lake was flat. I collected a few clam shells and a heart shaped rock, but mostly, we took pictures. Pictures to capture our moment and to remind us of the beauty around us.

Slowly, we moved down the beach and as we did, the wind picked up and carried with it a definite chill. I bundled deeper into my coat and gloves. I had left my hat at the cabin, lulled by the unseasonably warm temperatures. Silly me. We turned from the shore and moved closer to the tree line, hoping to block the wind. We walked further, then followed a trail away from the water into the trees, now protected by the deep cedar forest. Do you hear how quiet it is? Yes, we hear the wind, but it is far over our heads. Silence surrounds us except for the sound of our footsteps crunching on the ice and the squeak of the trees rubbing against each other.

We didn't make it to the point. We walked for a while in the trees, but eventually our path opened out into a clearing and the wind buffeted us and bore through all layers of clothing. We could see the front coming across the water bringing snow squalls with it. Time to turn back into the woods and head for the safety and warmth of the cabin. We found Wintergreen and picked a few sprigs for tea. Very tasty.

Later, snugged back in the cabin, we listened as the wind picked up and blew the snowstorm into our little haven of woods. The waves crashing onto the beach broke up the frozen ice we were walking on just a few short hours earlier. Really, it was wonderful. Another quiet evening, another restful night of sleep, and we woke to find this little guy frolicking on the ice in front of the cabin.

He half-heartedly tried to catch a couple of crows that were diving at him, but he really had no chance of catching them. I suspect he was out for a stroll to see if anyone had foolishly left food where he might find it. We did not.

Our morning was spent walking in the woods again, exploring a different direction and then slowly packing to leave this tiny little haven. What a wonderful way to start out the new year. Peaceful, quiet, serene.

No picture...

2010-12-31T11:22:00.001-05:00

Because I was too shocked to think about fetching my camera. Earlier this year I had joined the One Small Change community and one of my earliest changes was to compost year-round instead of only when it's warm. I've been very faithful to that change and while some might say I've been a fanatic, I prefer to think I'm just being responsible. Anyway, last night, as I was preparing a stir-fry with some vegetables from my freezer, I tossed some cauliflower into the pan, but then decided I didn't like the look of it. I thought it might have gone bad somehow so I started picking it out and placing it into the composting bucket that always sits on the kitchen counter. It was bothering me that I was going to toss the vegetables so I took a taste of another piece from the pan, decided it was good after all and dumped the cauliflower back into the pan. Yeah, except I had already used the bucket for other scraps and it all got dumped into the pan. Now, before you go, 'ewwwwe,' I have to tell you that I wash the bucket every time it's emptied so there aren't any nasty, smelly things in there, but still, my beautiful stir-fry was now full of the scraps from making dinner, a whole bunch of pistachio shells and the rinds from tangerines. It took just a moment to realize what I had done and then I laughed. I laughed because really, how ridiculous was it that I had dumped the whole bucket in the pan without even giving it a thought? And let me tell you, I was ever so grateful that I had emptied the bucket just before making dinner or else there would have been coffee grounds in there as well. Now that would have been an 'ewwwe' experience. Lesson learned? I guess it would be to keep the compost bucket far away from my dinner. It was delicious, by the way. I just picked out all the scraps and kept going. ~grins~

Happy New Year and may you find wonder in the year and humor in the moments.

Back at it.

2010-12-29T12:23:00.001-05:00

So, I say that I've learned a lot from all of you, and I have. I've learned things I didn't know I needed to know, and I say that's wonderful. It's crazy easy to get lost in blogland as I click from one post to another, follow the occasional comment, browse what this or that blogger finds interesting, and before I even realize it I'm off on a site with information I didn't even know existed let alone having ever given a thought to. That said, I'm also fascinated by the commonality of the sites I end up on. For instance, I met Shannon a year ago and joined her for the Reduce Clutter, Create Space, and though I love the feeling of not being owned by my stuff, I eventually got sidetracked by other pursuits and stopped purging. Baaad me. A couple months ago I met Pamela via a comment she left on one of my posts. More recently, I was browsing her site and clicked on a couple links for Minimalist bloggers and was floored by how little stuff they can live with. Mind you, I'm not going to pare down my clothes to 33 items (I don't think) or join them in their 100 things challenge, but it did get me back to thinking about the amount of stuff still in my house. I'm feeling renewed to continue purging and relieving myself of more of the accumulated stuff. And I'm feeling more ready to let go of some of the sentimental items, but I'm still worried about regret when I get rid of something that belonged to, say, my great grandparents. Man, that's my family's history! I'm trying something different for a while to see if I can really let this stuff go. This morning, I tackled a drawer in my kitchen that was full of useful items and hand-me-down cooking tools that are in perfectly good condition, but I just don't use them. I emptied the drawer, put a new liner down and slowly put back just the items I really and truly use. Things that didn't make it back into the drawer: Candy Thermometer - you know when the last time was that I used this? Like, never. I have never made candy, but I might. My dad's ice pick, which has a nice wood handle and the pick side slips into a convenient matching wood handle. Cool, but I don't use it. My grandmother's sieve and funnel. A cake tester - really? Skewers, a basting brush, extra tongs, pie server, large serving spoons and meat forks (notice the plural), and many more things that I can't remember just now. I didn't toss them. I put them into a clear tote and put them on a shelf in the basement - right next to the tote labeled 'extra glasses and coffee cups' and right where I can see it every time I go downstairs. I'm doing the one year rule - if I don't use anything in there for a year, then, well, then I have to decide if I really want to get rid of everthing. I suspect the items that belonged to my family will still not be tossed, but I'll bet I get rid of a cake tester and the multiple serving spoons and meat forks. Actually, I'll bet those get put into a garage sale next summer because I just know I don't need that many. Anyway, this is what the drawer looks like now and it contains only the items that I use on a regular basis. I know it's odd, but it makes me happy to look at this drawer.

Next up? The cupboard underneath this drawer. It's full of useful items like an oversized baking pan that hasn't fit in my oven since the day I bought this place nearly 8 years ago. I used it extensively before I moved here, but I've learned to function quite well without it. Why is it still in there?

So, friends, what's on your agenda for the coming year?

Just a quick post...

2010-12-23T15:03:00.002-05:00

in case you still need something quick to bake. A couple things. First, I happened to stop into Penzey's the other night to browse the herbs and spices. I love Penzey's for their variety and the fact that there are jars of every herb and spice available so you can smell each one. I fell in love with the Vietnamese Cinnamon and had to bring some home to try. It's an amazingly pungent cinnamon, oh my.

Second, I was browsing my holiday recipes last night and I ran across an old favorite for cinnamon nuts. It's a delicious recipe, but the amount of sugar called for always bothered me. I just happened to have a jug of maple syrup sitting on the kitchen counter and since I had just bought a new cinnamon, I thought, "why not?" Why not, indeed. I've already made my second batch.

Cinnamon Almonds

2 cups raw almonds (or pecan or walnuts or whatever you have)
1 T maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons Vietnamese cinnamon (2 teaspoons if using regular cinnamon)
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Toss almonds with maple syrup until coated. Mix cinnamon, clove and nutmeg together and sprinkle over almonds. Mix well. Place nuts on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 30 minutes, stirring every 10 to prevent burning.

'Tis the holiday season so you must share these...no keeping them all to yourself. See you back here next week. May you find peace and joy in your holiday.

Handmade Holidays

2010-12-22T16:08:00.001-05:00

I'm pretty happy with what I've made this year for the holidays. When I look at the stack of handmade gifts it's pretty impressive, at least, it is to me. Here are the last of the projects I completed. The journal covers were hinted at in the post of my grandson where he is sitting in the window sewing. The littles each embroidered their handprints and I quilted them into the covers. My intent is that the journals will be used by the kids and their dad together, and then sent back and forth in the mail. I'm thinking that Dad will complete a page, send it to the child who then completes a page and sends it back to Daddy, etc., but it doesn't have to be writing. (Thanks Shannon) It can be pictures, collages, painting, found objects, really, anything they want. I made individual journals so Daddy can write personalized information to each child and they can feel more connected to each other.

It would be awesome if the journaling were about the everyday happenings in their lives while apart. See, I have a journal from 1865 that was written by one of my relatives and I love reading about what he was doing on a particular day and then trying to figure out where he went in town. He wrote about the everyday, whether he was working in the sugar shack, or went to a party, or how much he paid for a pair of pants, or the weather. He wrote about making fur mittens and selling them to make a little extra money. Simple, daily life that I find so fascinating and I'm hoping these journals turn into the same thing, that someday, someone will read these and get an idea of what life was like for these people who will be half a world apart for a time. Wouldn't that be awesome?

Hey, I made my first bound booklets for the inside. Have you ever looked at the bindings in books and tried to figure out how the heck they did that? No? Well, I did and I just knew it was some complicated process that would either frustrate me or make me buy fancy, expensive binding equipment. Nope, crazy easy and I found many, many posts online about how to do this. You need a needle, and some thread, and although the online posts tell you to punch holes using an awl, I didn't have one so I used a hammer and nail. Doesn't sound very difficult or expensive does it? I'm just tickled by the results.

Pockets were necessary on the inside to hold the signatures in place. (I learned that's what the bound pages are called) I only put a few pages (5 folded) inside because I didn't want it to seem overwhelming that a whole journal needed to be filled. This way, when one of the signatures gets full, I can take it out and replace it with another of the same size. When the journal is really complete (when Daddy is home for good), I'll bind all the signatures together to make a book for each child. I think it's a brilliant idea and I can hardly wait to give these to my son.

The last project I finished was these cute little hats that were made up in less than an hour...aand I learned to make a blind hem using my presser foot. The process seemed complicated while reading about it, but when I actually sat down and did it step by step, well, it was sort of like magic because even though I couldn't puzzle out how it was working, it was working. Cool! So many new techniques this year, I wonder what next year will hold for me?

Happy holidays to you and I hope you're ready because it's here, ready or not.

P.S. I'm thrilled that the days will now start getting longer. So thrilled...

Snowstorm

2010-12-13T11:22:00.001-05:00

Knitters - want a quick and beautiful pattern that does double or even triple duty? Please check out this post by the lovely and talented Jewleigh. She's an amazingly gifted knitter who has just designed her first pattern. Is this not beautiful? I think this would be a beautiful gift for the holidays.

I stole this photo right from her post but I'm pretty sure she won't mind.

Jewleigh began knitting only a couple years ago and immediately surpassed me in talent and knowledge. She knits socks, which I haven't, and sweaters, which I haven't, and now she's designing patterns? Which, of course, I haven't. Amazing. You can also find her on Ravelry.

Please, go take a peak at some of the amazing work she has done.

Making a list...

2010-12-09T12:37:00.004-05:00

checking it twice, gonna find out...

And checking items off my list. I actually made several gifts earlier this year like these and these, and though I have a few more to make, I'm getting very close to being complete. It feels good, but I think it feels best that I let go of the frantic Christmas a few years back. Many of my gifts are now handmade and straight from the heart, and I've cut back on the number of gifts I give. That came after much soul searching and realizing that I was only one of many who gave gifts to my family members and there was just too much 'stuff' for the recipients to keep track of and take care of after the holidays.

Another change I made is to make name tags for each of my kids' and grandkids' gifts instead of buying an ornament. This will be my third year of doing this and I've just finished up this year's tags. Tah dah!

My intent is for each of the handmade tags to be hung on their trees in subsequent years and I'm hoping they have fun looking back at the year each was given.

While the idea for this year's tags came from the purl bee from way back, I saw an opportunity to use up some of the felt, beads and sequins in my stash. Stash busters are the best even though I barely put a dent in the sequin supplies. Why don't they offer just little bits of colors instead of whole bottles? I'm not sure about you, but there is no way I would take the time to sew a whole bottle of sequins on anything at one time. By the way, I sewed jump rings onto the back instead of making my loops out of thread. This way, an ornament hook can be slipped onto the jump ring to hang. Just a thought.

Now, back to that list...

That sewing project.

2010-12-07T15:07:00.004-05:00

Yes, well, I was so engrossed with the telling of my latest adventure with a Little that I completely forgot to post this picture of the sewing project I was working on. It's a gift for my niece. She and her brother are in the middle of the pack as far as gifting goes. They're not young enough to get in on the fun projects I make for the Littles and they're still living at home so they don't qualify for the family gifts I give to my siblings and their spouses. They've never complained, but I suspect they didn't exactly appreciate things like the family market bags or the homemade wash cloths and scrubbies, however my niece is very appreciative of the biscotti I bake for gifting every year. But still, for the last couple years I've been making them something special for Christmas Eve. Last year I made her Cashmere mittens from a thrifted sweater...they felt (haha, pun) delicious. This year, as I was perusing blogland, I ran across the tutorial for this make-up bag and I thought it would be perfect for Miss K. I sort of love it and now I want one for myself.

Sometimes I can't believe how I'm intimidated by new techniques, but when I actually try them they turn out to be the simplest thing to do. I quilted the fabric for this. First time. Now, all of you quilters out there might scoff and think I'm being a pansy, but I truly didn't know how to quilt and I was afraid to try. What was I thinking? It's not like the sewing police were going to swoop in and haul me off to jail. It's just a simple 1" grid that I chalked off and machine stitched. Oh my, it made such a difference in the look, and the quilted fabric is just sturdy enough to help this bag hold it's shape. I suspect this pattern might have been created by a quilter (now I know it is) because there are a fair number of hand-sewing steps and the inside seams are bound off, which is good because it makes for a very professional looking bag. I like the hand-sewing. It quiets my mind and I feel like a little more love goes into each project. Will she appreciate all that work? Probably not yet, because she doesn't sew, but someday, if she takes up handcrafts, she will surely understand how much love went into her gift. Until then, I know and I'm happy to put a little piece of my heart into her gifts.

Just the two of us.

2010-12-06T15:33:00.002-05:00

A weekend spent with Sir S (or any of the littles) rates high on my list of favorite things to do. This night it was just the two of us goofing around, walking around downtown, sharing a light dinner, visiting the theatre, talking and enjoying our time together. Oh, and I noticed something very cool about him as he was walking in front of me. This boy has a very suave style of walking, sort of a loose, languid gait. I grinned.

I've made scrapbooks for each of the kids over the years that they love to look at. Some of the pages are serious and some are just plain zany, but after seeing how their pages come to life with the pictures, all three of them have begun to look critically at their surroundings and they now point out 'good pictures'. He told me this tree would make a great picture in his book. I think so too, darlin'.

We purposefully walked out of our way to this coffee shop because a movie is being shot here tomorrow. It's supposed to be a car chase, robbery and gun fight, and the windows of this café are going to be 'shot out'. We thought it might be really cool to be here when they shoot the scene except that the gun fight is happening sometime between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. and that seemed a bit long to be standing around in 30° temperatures. Brrrr...good call. I think we'll sleep in and then make waffles instead.

The theatre before all the guests arrived and like most kids, he was fascinated with how the seats work. I remember that fascination.

Peter Pan - what a great show for Sir S with the Indians and pirates and Lost Boys. He tried so hard to puzzle out how the sets worked and the tricks the actors used, and he had an 'aha' moment when he realized that the father and Captain Hook were the same man. He never did realize that Peter Pan was played by a girl until he was getting her autograph at the end. As we walked away he said, "that's a girl!" Later, on our walk back to the car he told me a secret about his feelings for Wendy, but he swore me to secrecy on that one so I can't share it with you. ~grins~

And suddenly, this boy can eat! We had dinner just before the show and during the intermission he announced that he was starving so we stopped for another meal on the way home. Wow, this is new because this boy is known for not eating. It was late, but he asked if I would work on my sewing project once we got home so he could play Legos. He. Loves. Legos! Oh my, of course I did as he asked and we finally stumbled to bed about 12:30 - that's the luxury of staying with Grandma.

He didn't sleep in like I thought he would. In fact, the moment he woke he came padding back into my sewing room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he asked to play Legos again. Have I mentioned how much he love Legos? And no matter how carefully one tries to tiptoe through knights and horses and alligators and other miscellaneous pieces covering the floor on one's way to the ironing board, those little pieces hurt! Ouch!

It was a peaceful, easy morning in which he softly exclaimed, "it's so quiet." I asked if he wanted me to turn on the radio, but he shook his head no. "I like it," he said. "I never get quiet at home because K is always fighting with me and M never. stops. talking." I grinned, I get that, I really do. And we continued our tasks in the quiet, this middle child and I. Later, we ate and returned to the sewing room to work on a project for his dad. Daddy will be spending a great deal of time away from the family in the next two years and everyone is feeling the loss. We're proud of him, but his presence will be painfully missed and I was searching for a way for each of the kids to connect with Daddy on their own. I'll show you more when all of them are complete, but here is S diligently working on his.

Daddy's gonna love these gifts from all of you.

May you always seek and find bits of quiet to refresh your soul.

Edited to add: I should clarify, the Littles that I speak of are my grandchildren. My oldest son is their father, my middle son is living in Taiwan and my youngest son still lives in this city.

In three short weeks...

2010-11-30T16:59:00.004-05:00

The days will start getting longer again. Thank goodness because it's getting real dark, real early and I feel like I'm in hibernation mode. It's a struggle to stay awake when I get home from work because my body is telling me it's time to sleep, but my mind knows it's only 5:30. Shoot, even the little puff balls (Sparrows) are curled up and sleeping under the awning when I get home. It's crazy!

Okay, I know I can't really sleep the days away, but I can slip into my pajamas and enjoy the quiet and comfort of home, and that feels pretty luxurious. I have plenty of projects to keep me occupied and I continually look for little moments to bring joy and brightness to my evenings. And I keep reminding myself that without the shortened days I wouldn't get to see the stunning blooms from the Christmas cactus. Tell me this wouldn't brighten up even the gloomiest day. Dang these are gorgeous!

I do spend a fair amount of time in my office working on sewing or scrapbooking or knitting projects. Or painting, or felting, or writing, or reading, or...you get the idea. The picture below is a recent repurposed project from the leg of pajama pants. It has now become a bag to hold all my cookie cutters. Crazy easy and required just a little bit of imagination to make it something useful. I've got several more projects in the works, but not yet finished. Soon.

This is another of the few good things about the shortened days. This is a sunrise and they're much easier to see when the sun doesn't come up until nearly 8 a.m. I went outside to put the recycling in the bin and saw this through the houses in the backyard. Just beautiful. I couldn't enjoy it for long because I was shivvering in my pajamas. You know, the ones I put on last night nearly the moment I walked in the door, just after feeding the cat. ~grins~

Spur of the moment

2010-11-11T14:11:00.009-05:00

Saturday:

5 p.m. - B and I are at a birthday party for the delightful Miss M. It's winding down. One moment B and I are discussing where we want to go for a sunrise paddle tomorrow and the next we're planting hurried kisses as we bid goodbye to our loved ones. We have a plan and not surprisingly, none of my family thinks it odd.

7 p.m. - Upon leaving the party, we quickly hit B's house to get his boat, the storage unit to get sleeping bags and minimal gear, my house to get my boat and now we're on the road heading North

9 p.m. - We've just pulled into a campground and are marveling at the number of stars in the sky. We'll sleep in the woods tonight, get up early and slip into the water for the sunrise. I tell you it was a brilliant idea.

Peaceful...calm...beautiful. This is why we paddle.

Here it comes...

Reflections are stunning on this river/pond. It's the backwater between 2 dams and we've paddled here several times.

See? Beautiful. Those ripples on the water are from B's canoe having just passed by.

We paddle upriver, slowly, enjoying the morning and the quiet. We spy swans on the other side of an island. B goes to the right to get pictures and I swing around to the left to drive them toward B. But wait! What's this? Incredible! I have the honor of witnessing an adult Bald Eagle teaching a Mudhead (immature eagle) to fish. I forget about B because I'm too busy watching this training and snapping pictures. Seriously, how many people actually get to witness this?

I did eventually turn back to the swans. Five of them and they do as expected when caught between the two of us. B has wonderful pictures of them taking flight, but I was watching and grinning. Goodness, they are regal. Two Mute Swans and three Trumpeters, most likely on their way South for the winter. B noticed one of the Trumpeters was tagged so after reporting where it was sighted, we discovered the swan had been tagged in 1999. That's pretty cool.

Sometimes the reflections are just darned funny. Looks like crazy hair and mega-teeth.

See this? This, is snow, and I'm telling you it's the coolest thing ever! Yes, I love snow and I was thrilled to find it in the woods. That means it's only a short while before we get a good snowfall around here. Bring it!

So, anything exciting happen to you lately?

A 'packpack'.

2010-11-04T11:10:00.005-04:00

The ever delightful Miss M is having a birthday soon and you know a Grandma gift is in order. It has to be the handmade, heartfelt type since I rebel against gifts of toys. The idea came together as a compilation of repurposed items and a bookmarked idea on Astrid's blog. And because I think it's way cool Miss M says packpack instead of backpack. hehehe....I'm just giddy with love for this!

The owl applique comes from a shirt she outgrew, but it was too cute to let go of. I know, I wrecked the shirt, but now she/we can enjoy her owl for many years. The fabric for the outside and the lining are both thrifted and repurposed and they go so well with the cute little applique. The color on the top photo is a little off due to the early morning lighting in spite of the fact that I used all of my lighting knowledge to get the best shot I could. It's tough, man. The next photo of the back is more accurate for colors.

Perks: an outside pocket, a drawstring closure and a magnetic clasp not to mention the cute factor. Overall, I would say this was fairly easy, but not for a beginning sewer, mainly because it's an interpretation of a Japanese pattern and that always requires one to use their own knowledge of 'what's next'. Still, I thought the directions were pretty straightforward. However, you must remember that the pattern sizes are in cm and NOT in inches or you'll end up with a couple really big pieces. Trust me on that one.

Mmph, Crunch, Mmmm...

2010-11-02T10:39:00.002-04:00

Oh, sorry, I was eating and didn't see you there. Want some? Yes, you do, you really do.

Five easy ingredients, mixed, roasted, cooled, devoured. The love for this is unanimous and it has instantly become the new family favorite.

May I please introduce you to:

Cranberry Crunch
1 c pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 c whole almonds
1/2 c sunflower seeds
3 T maple syrup
1 c dried cranberries

Mix together pepitas, almonds and sunflower seeds. Toss with maple syrup. Bake 300 degrees for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Let cool and toss with dried cranberries.

To be fair, I got the original recipe from here and as you will see, I've adapted it just slightly. This is on the list to be given as Christmas gifts this year. Try it. I know you'll love it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some munching to do.

You must be kidding me!

2010-11-01T12:26:00.004-04:00

See that....thing....below? Uh, that's a squash. No, it is not a gourd. It is an honest to goodness squash. A Cashew Squash, to be exact. Yeah, and that jug it's leaning on? Yep, that's a gallon jug of baking honey just to give you an idea of how big this beast was. I admit, I was intimidated by this baby and it sat on my kitchen counter, taunting me, mocking me for 3 weeks. I can't tell you the number of times I heard, "what is that?" when people came to visit. I began to refer to it as my nemesis.

But I'm a determined soul, if nothing else, and this weekend, after finally tiring of the relentless mocking, I fetched my biggest knife and chopped her up into pieces (in honor of Halloween?). It wasn't easy because even my biggest knife wasn't really big enough. I think a chain saw would have been in order. It took two loads in the oven to get it all roasted, but now my freezer is chock full of delicious Cashew Squash. It's much milder than I thought it would be, but still delicious. Squash Quinoa Soup anyone?

Squash Quinoa Soup

2-4 cups cooked squash ( like my soup thicker so I add the full 4 c)
3 T olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 c Quinoa, well rinsed
4 c vegetable broth
1/4 t red pepper powder
Salt and pepper to taste

In large pot, saute onion in oil about 5 minutes, until transparent. Add minced garlic and saute for just a moment until you start to smell the garlic. Add Quinoa and squash and saute 2-3 minutes. Add vegetable broth, red pepper powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Notes: You can use any squash you prefer and the monster squash is not necessary, but it was fun. I added the red pepper because this particular squash is very mild, but I think I'll try it this way with butternut squash too.

You had Megi...

2010-10-28T10:33:00.005-04:00

but we had this!

Oh man, it was awesome! It started Tuesday morning with drenching rain and straight line winds up to 60 mph. The winds continued into Wednesday evening so it's no wonder Lake Michigan was stirred up into such a tempest. We weren't the only ones who had to go see what she looked like because the beach was crowded with people happily braving the stinging sand and water spray, each of them enjoying Mother Nature while trying to capture images of her in one of her petulant moments. "They" said we hadn't had a storm like this since 1998, of which I have vivid memories of being transfixed in front of a plate glass window as I watched that storm move across the woods staight towards me (someone wisely suggested I step away from the window), but still, I didn't think this one was as bad. It certainly was spectacular though. If you look closely at the top photo you will see a man standing outside a door on the right side of the lighthouse, just below the catwalk. That's the place I would have liked to be watching the waves from. That and from the windows up top.

And you know what? These weren't the big ones. Those were breaking further out. Drat! Why am I not a surfer?

Apple Crisp

2010-10-27T11:49:00.000-04:00

From this:

To this:

in exactly 2 hours and that includes baking time. That's how good it is. I've tried to improve on the recipe over the years, but it all comes down to the same two things. Is it easy, and is it delicious? Yes and yes, so why bother with changes? And you only need look at the pictures to see proof. The littles were over for the evening along with their mom and B. I knew this was a favorite dish and since I had apples in the house...

Apple Crisp

8-10 apples, peeled, cored and cut into bite size chunks
1 T flour
1 t cinnamon
1/2 c white sugar
1 c flour
1 c brown sugar, lightly packed
3/4 c oatmeal
1/2 c butter, softened (don't melt or your crisp won't be crumbles)

Place apples chunks in 9x13 dish. Mix 1 T flour, cinnamon and white sugar together and sprinkle over apples. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the 1 c flour, oatmeal, brown sugar and softened butter using a pastry blender until it's mixed, but still crumbly. Spread over apples and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly. Let cool until you can't take it anymore and then devour.

I would love to hear if you make this and how well you liked it.

Weekend Roundup

2010-10-25T11:50:00.012-04:00

Ahhh, what a delightful weekend. It's always a good weekend when tasks get crossed off the chore list. I was able to have the windows open most of the weekend and that's always a bonus.

Friday was a scramble to get the gutters cleaned out and all the leaves up before the rain. I love the tidy look of the yard when it's raked and trimmed, but it's Autumn so once I finished I sat on the front step to watch many more leaves doing their slow back and forth dance as they fell from on high. Aric stopped by for a visit. Okay, he really came over so I could sew rank bars on his cover, but still, it was a visit and that's always good. I still had time to meet up with B and a friend for a quick drink as well.

I found puff balls sleeping under my awning lately. I assumed birds stayed up until dark, but they're tucked under here by 6 every night.

Saturday was spent in the pleasant company of my brother as we ran new electric wires in the cellar and added another outlet. It started, as all things with homeownership do, with a simple request to expose my laundry chute. The previous owner (oh, how I love him! not) covered the opening to the chute with conduit so I could never toss clothes down without them getting hung up, literally. Aaaaand, since we were going to expose the chute, well, we might as well run new wires to the light fixtures, and while we're at it, could we please put in another outlet because, really, can you ever have too many outlets? I thought my request was a simple hour task, two at the most. Unh uh. It took us all day Saturday and part of Sunday morning to finish. But it's done, and I love it, and I went right upstairs to toss laundry down the chute. Then I ran downstairs to see how it landed in the basket. Call me wierd, but it was new and I had to try it, you know, just to see if it worked.

Got together with several friends in the evening and played the most ridiculous game, ever. I can't remember the name of this game, but other than the action cards, the game was really dumb. But the action cards, oh my. At one point, Regina is required to keep her hand on the floor at all times, Jill draws a card that requires everyone to stand when anyone else does, so Regina now has to stand with one hand on the floor. And, according to a prior card, Jill also has to laugh whenever anyone else does. Marilyn has to stand in the shape of an X, which meant we all had to stand (with Regina's hand on the floor). I had to say a line and then put my head down on the table. I was laughing so hard my nose was running, which of course meant Jill had to laugh with me. Regina offered to go get me a tissue, but she couldn't pick her hand up off the floor. Yeah, and then Brent draws a card, walks away, out the front door and closes it behind him all the while saying, "wah, wah, wah....", which leads to more bouts of laughter and more runny noses. And poor Charlie walks in to the middle of this absurd scene. Gah, it was ridiculous, I tell you.

But! We made delicious food as we always do when this group of friends gets together. This was new for me. Gingersnap crust, lemon cheesecake and raspberry topping. I need to tweak it a bit, but it was pretty darned good. Really darned good, in fact.

Sunday brought fabulous weather! After we finished up the electrical work and I sent my brother on his way, I cleaned the basement, put a new door sweep on the front door (another item off my list), and installed tilt-drawers on the kitchen sink. Really now, it was far too nice to continue working inside so I wandered out to the yard and took the rain barrel down, cleaned it and put it away for the winter. The garage got swept, cleaned out and organized too. I did a little more work on winterizing the gardens and spied these pretties around the corner. Such a delicious scent. Tropicana is the name. They are currently gracing the window sill in my kitchen.

And then, I went back inside and finished purging in my bedroom. My goal was to completely empty one dresser and get it out of there. Finally! It's empty. Many clothes were donated and out-of-season items are now stored elsewhere, jewelry was sorted and some was donated, but I still have a lot of my mother's jewelry that I just don't know what to do with. I don't wear much jewelry so I put it in a box in the attic to figure out later. I know that's not how one is supposed to purge, but I just can't toss her jewelry. She loved it, even if I don't. I just realized that most of the jewelry I kept to wear is my grandmother's. I guess I like her style (she said as she shrugged her shoulders).

Finally, one of the highlights of Autumn for me is the changing of the bed linens from cotton to flannel. Oh, heavenly delight! I love the weight and how flannel drapes around me when I snuggle in.

Can I just say that I slept very soundly last night. It was still warm enough to sleep with the window open and it felt wonderful to have all those tasks completed. What a way to start my week.

Mother Nature

2010-10-22T09:48:00.000-04:00

I love it when she gives me a 'wow' moment. I stepped outside before dawn this morning to see just how cold it had gotten in the night. I walked toward the garage to peek at the backyard. No frost, good. I turned to walk down the driveway to check the front yard and, Wow....

Hmm Hm Hmmm Hmm

2010-10-13T11:30:00.002-04:00

Hi. I went to the woods and water again for the weekend. Bet you aren't too surprised. Aww, yes, it was beautiful. Thanks for asking.

I'm never lonely in the woods. There always seems to be a tree nymph close by to keep me company.

Oh my beautiful Autumn. Could you be any more spectacular? It's no wonder you remain my favorite.

Let me explain about this guy/girl...and his/her buddies. We paddled the Crystal River on Sunday. It's a very beautiful, shallow and clear river. Might I say, crystal clear? The salmon were running and the crazy things just get a bit more crazy as we paddle by. I know they're trying to figure out how to jump in our boats to go for a ride with us. It's nuts, and because of that, you do hear the occassional yelp from the ladies as we paddle downstream. But, come on! They run into our boats, splash us with their tails as we go by, and bump underneath. And they're big! You can hardly blame us for yelping, and laughing immediately after.

I'm just sayin'

2010-10-06T15:27:00.003-04:00

http://www.danoah.com/2010/09/you-just-broke-your-child.html

Amazing! Truly...

All things.

2010-09-24T15:57:00.002-04:00

I slept with the windows open last night. I awoke this morning to the wind. Not a breeze, not a draft, no, a full blown wind...and it was warm. Warm as in wet, tropical warm. I lay there for a while listening to the predawn noises, a dog barking in the distance, the trees rustling as their branches were whipped about, the occasional car in the distance and I smiled. I smiled because I realized that the only thing missing was the cheerful musical jingle of the garbage truck as it heralded it's approach so the people would know to bring out their trash. I'm wondering why everything, everything reminds me of Taiwan lately.

a scent, a sound, an outdoor cafe at night, a warm breeze, a crowd of people...a feeling

It's baaaack!

2010-09-23T14:17:00.001-04:00

Words can not describe what is happening in this city...again. ArtPrize happened last year and though I only wrote about it briefly, I was there all the time. I plan to be there as much as I can this year too. The weather was wonderful on Tuesday so we rode bikes downtown thinking we could get a sneak peak at some of the art already on display. Ha, downtown was already filled with people doing the same thing. Nearly 2000 pieces of art from artists all over the world on display throughout the city until October 10. I am in awe...

None of this is real. It's a small portion of a larger sculpture, but will you look at the detail in the hands?

Each piece of pottery is fired individually and threaded onto a metal cable.

The more I looked at this one the more I found. Every angle gave a different perspective of what it could be.

This is just clever...and thought provoking.

This full size lion is made entirely of nails. You know what else is cool? A lot of these sculptures are made to be touched. Some of the art is 'hands off', but there is an abundance that you can touch and interact with.

More nails and also full size.

Ooooh, you should see him in real life. Very large indeed.

A giant aerie. Watch out for the eagle!

This panel and the next one go together as one is the front and the other is the backside. I kept going round and round this and realized that you can clearly see the bottle and two glasses from this side...

but this side shows the table clearly and not so much of the glasses and bottle. How did they do that??

Excuse the noise in this one. I just wanted you to know that it's Tuesday night and downtown is hopping! How cool is that?

I'm gonna have so much fun in the next few weeks. Oh my...

'Bout time!

2010-09-21T16:07:00.002-04:00

That we got back out for a sunrise paddle and took the boy with us.

Apparently, it is possible for the weather to be too hot to paddle. Seems a little odd since we're on the water, but it's the getting ready, and loading boats, and putting them in the water and the fact that we're paddling on the water...not in it. Yes, it's been a very hot summer so I'm thrilled with the break in the heat so I can get back on the water.

He had been sick earlier in the week, but when I called him on Saturday to ask if he was willing to be picked up at 6 a.m. the next morning he said without hesitation, "yes, I'm all better. I'll get up at 5:45 and be waiting for you." He was.

And he was happy about it. That's my boy. This is only the second time he's been paddling and frankly, he's a natural. I thought so the first time, but now I can see he has good balance and he's quick to feel how the boat moves and the different strokes needed to make it move the way he wants it to.

There he goes...not a care in the world...simply relaxed and attentive to the natural world into which he was floating.

These were a pleasant find and though we watched for a while from a distance, we eventually closed them in just long enough to get pictures before giving them lots of room to move away from us. I'm a little afraid of swans (as I should be) and these were noisily chattering and honking at us as they expressed their displeasure at having their exit blocked, if only for a little while.

I'm not sure who was the more inquisitive about whom...the Heron or us? He/she was funny and let us get quite close before flying down the shore.

Hehe...I apologized to Paula because I can see he's going to be addicted to 2 potentially expensive hobbies, but that's what we do outside, we document our adventures. It can't be helped.

See? He doesn't go far. Do you suppose he knows we're no threat?

Already angling for the perfect shot.

It was a gorgeous morning to be on the water. I thought it was going to be chilly, but it warmed up quickly in the four hours we spent paddling in and out of coves and across the lake. Not quite as much wildlife as when we were there in the Spring, but it's such a pretty lake that we didn't mind. You know I'm thrilled that he likes paddling so much. I anticipate many grand adventures with this boy.

No picture

2010-09-17T12:24:00.002-04:00

I have no pictures for this...pictures aren't necessary for this story.

I've been busy lately, so so busy and I'm having a difficult time finding quiet so I can refresh my being. After a while, all that busyness begins to make me feel claustrophobic and to compensate, I look for tiny pockets of time in which I can relax for a few moments and feel myself again. Music has always had a powerful influence on my being and I use it often to help me relax. A few weeks ago I had an opportunity to spend some time on Charlie's boat and as we're sitting there, chatting with other friends, the most heavenly, glorious music began to play and I nearly choked on my drink as I tried to ask him who was playing. Oh, my goodness! It was a boys choir, Libera, in fact. Have you heard them? You must. They are incredible. I was ready to go buy the cd in that instant, but Charlie, bless his heart, handed me 2 cd's and said he knew I would love them. That has been my music of choice since then. I'm instantly calmed and sometimes, while I stand in the living room absorbing the energy, I just smile. As I was listening this morning I started thinking about your grandmother and how I loved to hear her sing, and then I realized that the tone of the boys voices reminded me so much of hers. It was the clear soprano and I was nearly in tears remembering the times I would sit on the piano bench next to her as she played and sang. Wonderful!

She left the piano behind when we moved to the Jenison house and none of you ever had the chance to experience her voice as I did while growing up. I wondered why she would leave it, the piano, how she could walk away from something that was clearly so precious to her. What made her give up such a beautiful gift and whom or what made her think so little of such a gift that she wouldn't impart the importance of it to her children. I found that so sad, that life would deny her the beauty of her music. She grew up with music, she was surrounded by music her whole life. Her parents and grandparents and great-grandparents, all of them filled her life with music and yet something, or someone must have happened to make it seem of so little importance to her. How sad...it makes me sad. I don't know, and I no longer have her voice to listen to, but I have Libera...and it reminds me of her. So I listen, and I cry, and I somehow feel refreshed.

So hold fast to your dreams, child of mine, and never let anyone or anything rob you of them. I love you. 媽媽

Oh My Heavenly Goodness!

2010-09-16T13:06:00.008-04:00

You know what happens when I'm left alone on a cool drizzly weekend? I end up at the farmers market where suddenly my car is full of delicious treasure and my wallet is empty, like, not one single dollar left. It was time to go home. What heavenly goodness. It certainly filled up my weekend.

1/2 bushel Bartlett Pears - canned. A&P already took 3 quarts and I think Kyle has spoken for 6 pints. Perhaps I should have bought a full bushel?

4 lbs Big Boy Tomatoes - roasted and frozen for Carrot-Tomato Soup this winter. On a side note, I've already got broccoli and asparagus frozen for making this soup over the winter.

Patty Pan Squash - roasted and frozen (okay, some were eaten as soon as they came out of the oven)

Red and Green Peppers - roasted, some were frozen

There was lots of chopping and dicing and slicing while I made Orzo, Feta and Tomato Salad; Tuscan Bread Salad; and Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Garlic. I ate extremely well for the next few days.

Eggplant - sliced, roasted and frozen. Chicken Parmigiana?

Buttercup and Butternut squash - both are stored in the cellar awaiting another cool rainy day, which is always perfect for baking and comfort food

Garlic - lots of it, now stored in the cellar

Nectarines - Most of these were sliced and frozen for smoothies, but I did eat one while emitting euphoric 'mmm-ing' noises because really, is there anything more delicious than fresh ripe nectarines?

Asian Pears - eaten! These were a complete surprise to find at the market as I've only eaten them in Taiwan with you. Sweet, juicy with a crunch, delicious! I've missed these.

I did some baking. Berry and Buttermilk Cake. Wisely frozen after eating a couple of pieces.

and because I found spelt flour from one of my favorite vendors, I baked a batch of Carrot-Spelt Muffins from Good to the Grain. These are not diet food by any means, but they are the moistest, bestest tasting carrot muffins ever...in the history of the entire world even. That's how good they are. Egads. These too, ended up in the freezer. I think I'm less apt to eat the whole plate if they're frozen.

It feels good to have fresh food put up and stored again. I feel so smug and self-sufficient. These muffins are going to be scrumptious with a cup of hot Taiwan tea while watching the snow flutter down soon. Ahhh...you know I'll be thinking of you.

This is how we roll!

2010-09-08T12:43:00.004-04:00

You know that fun, adventure and curiosity rule the days when we go 'home'.

Um, because the tree was leaning and we had to hold it up so it wouldn't fall on the truck? I know we're not the only ones to do these shenanigans, but I swear, I have yet to witness other families doing what we do. As we were packing to leave, the neighbors came by and said they were going to miss us. haha...is that because we're funny and entertaining, or were they being facetious?

Creative and industrious, that's what this son is, especially when said son forgets to pack chairs.

It would be more fun to say that she kept wandering off and this was the only way we could keep her around, but in truth, we all climbed in this log because it was there. I have lots of pictures to prove it, but no one will let me post them. She's standing, by the way.

Of course we rerouted the river...it was going the wrong way!

Must find out where the water comes from. I heard them say they climbed to the top of the falls through the water.

Sand dunes demand that you leap forth into thin air and that you scream for bloody joy as you do so. By the way, if you look close you will see white caps on the water. We were ridiculously high up. A sign said it was only a couple minutes to the bottom, but over an hour to climb back up. This is the old log slide.

Monkey see...

He had this delightful little sing-song to his voice as he danced a jig on the platform.

Off to go exploring...again. This boy would have stayed on the beach the entire trip if we had let him.

I think you can figure these out.

This was new this year - adventuring via boat. I must say that the view from the water was incredible. I heard 'wow' at least a bajillion times as we cruised up and down the coast.

I love this. I just do. A boy and his dog.

Darling, imagine my surprise...

2010-09-07T13:28:00.004-04:00

as I wandered aimlessly about the pier, reading names etched into the metal and exploring the graffiti covered rails when I suddenly stumbled across these.

These have to be from no sooner than 1998. I believe that's the last time we were here with your grandmother since neither of you would go once she became too sick to go with us. I almost remember you telling me you did this. What a delightful surprise.

This one certainly doesn't look the same as he did all those years ago,

And he certainly had no thoughts of her back then. Remember the clay pit?

Some things do remain the same though. He still looks for agates,

and now she looks for them too. Did you know she fell in love with the place from the moment she first arrived 3 years ago?

I never would have let him do this when you were both younger, but I had no fears of him reaching for the waves now.

She was a little apprehensive, but the power of the waves bade her come closer. I'm sure his encouragement helped.

Simply enjoying the power and beauty of nature and her tempestuous ways, letting down their guard just for a moment...

And nature laughed...as did I...as did they...and then we went to find her some dry clothes.

I've been away...

2010-09-02T12:45:00.001-04:00

but in truth, I went home...

and now I'm back.

To celebrate...

2010-08-17T15:37:00.002-04:00

the boy's birthday.

We celebrated a week early. He didn't mind. It's supposed to be all about him, but he didn't eat and when his momma asked him why, after he so carefully chose all those special foods, his reply was, "I picked it for them." He meant his guests, those of us who came to help him celebrate his day. How sweet...how like him.

I made him a crazy, zany sort of alien card because he's a crazy, zany sort of kid. The idea for the card is not my original idea. I copied a very similar image I found online, but hey, isn't that why we have the internet?

I wanted to give him a special gift (no toys) and this one is straight from my heart. Last year, I took a series of photos of him launching himself off that big tire when we were on the beach in Grand Marais. He was so full of joy as he sailed through the air and I wanted his gift to capture that joy. Besides, who doesn't like to see pictures of themself? I used an exacto knife to cut the images of him from the photos, I collaged the water and sand from the photos onto the paper and placed his images so it would imply motion. When he opened his gift, his words were, "that's me!" Then he looked at me and said, "this is awesome!" Exactly what I hoped for while making his gift.

Oh, and there was cake, of course there was cake. And of course he ate his cake.

Happy birthday, darlin'!

Relaxing...

2010-08-06T14:43:00.001-04:00

on a warm summer evening. It's not often that we have absolutely nothing to do in the evening. It would be silly not to take advantage of that down-time, don't you think? We did that, just the other night.

\
The charcoal was lit while the salmon was soaking in a Ceviche-ish marinade, and the vegetables were cleaned and given a light coating of oil. Mind you, I didn't do a thing to get this dinner ready. Someone did all the work and I simply showed up for the cooking and eating. That's kinda nice.

However, I did pour the beer. Cold, refreshing - we're quickly running out of our stash from the duty-free shop. It tastes so darned good though, we can't help it.

Gin Rummy anyone? I like this game. It's quick and easy, and perfect for two people sitting outside on the patio enjoying a gorgeous evening.

Well, how about that? I haven't seen a walking stick in years. ~grins~ Might it have something to do with their wonderful camoflage?

Okay, you've got me here, this has nothing to do with relaxing on a warm summer evening. It's just me wanting to show off my new toy. I had this lens a few years ago when I was shooting film, but it sort of went swimming with me one March when I rolled my kayak in the river. Oops. Water and cameras don't mix too well. I think I'll try harder to keep this one on the top of the water. This was my favorite lens and I've missed it. I'm so excited to play with it again.

I'm just sayin'...

2010-08-03T16:09:00.001-04:00

that somebody should have told me.

I won't buy toys for the grandbabes, but I don't consider Legos to be toys. No, they are so much more than just a toy. They require my babes to use their imaginations, which is why I still have quite a large tote full of them from years of purchasing for my sons for Christmas and birthdays as they were growing up. Nearly every time the babes come over, that tote is thumpity thumped down the stairs from the attic and unceremoniously dumped upside down in the middle of the livingroom floor...and the adventures begin. Am I the only one who loves the sound Legos make as kids (and adults) paw through the piles?

But really now, they make Star Wars Legos? For how long? Why didn't I know? I so would have bought these for him. C'mon! It's Yoda for heaven's sake. No one rocks like Yoda rocks. Seriously!

Summer Entertainment

2010-07-30T14:02:00.000-04:00

Yes, on my bike again. Exploring more of the city and finding that people are loving the heat and the fabulous weather and are really taking advantage of being outdoors. Every night of the week I find things of interest and entertainment somewhere in the city. Look at what you can do when it's hot outside.

You can admire the beautiful birds. Seriously, are they gorgeous or what?

You can express your inner artist by chalking a masterpiece or you can express your inner child by blowing bubbles. These are out all the time and available for anyone use. Isn't that a brilliant idea?

You can perfect your form at hula hooping.

You and your sweetie can show off your best dance moves to an approving audience.

Or you can dance in the fountain because it's hot, and there's water, and there's music, and you're with your best friend...

You can even roll around in the fountain...because you can.

You can pack yourself a delicious snack, grab your lounge chair and search out the best spot to watch a free concert. Actually, you can find free outdoor music every night of the week in my city. I love that.

You can lose yourself in a good book.

You can catch up on the local news.

You can dance around the flowers with your babe.

And you can take your longtime love on a romantic outdoor date in the park surrounded by all your friends from the city.

With so much to do, it's no wonder I'm never bored. No, instead, I'm always wondering how I'm ever going to experience all the fun and joy my city has to offer. Summers really are made for living!