Pictures from the Great White North

It was a rather cool week up north. Bailey spent most of his time on the deck watching for the squirrels. There were a few nice sunsets. It rained a few times. We only took the boat out once and rode our bikes once. We went to a farm market but they mostly had cherries. It felt kind of nice to get back home.

Packing Again!

Getting ready to go up to the ole cottage in Boyne. Can't believe I haven't been there yet this year. Hope the boys can hold down the fort. And Renee of course, who will keep them in line. Got the cutest bird house from my sistopher Jan. It's a wooden camper. I will have to post a pic when I get back. See ya!

Pictures from Algonac Campground

Home Again ~ But Not For Long

Added 2 extra days on to our camping trip. Weather was nice, the spot was awesome. Right on the St. Clair River. I will upload pictures tomorrow. Stopped in Port Huron for lunch. Drove through a brief shower, then got home to sunny skies. I had 77 e-mails waiting for me in my "inbox." Gotta hurry up and clean the house and get the billing done so we can leave to go up to the cottage in Boyne on Friday. My bff Syd came over for BLT's tonight. Of course hers was just a B on toast. Then apples and peanut butter for a snack. We played "house." The garden yielded some beans and a cuke while we were gone. Gave the cuke to Syd cause she is the one who wanted us to plant them. Gonna cook the beans tomorrow.

Going Camping

To the Algonac State Park - It's right on the St. Clair River.
Come and Visit - Just call first.
Happy Birthday to me!

Big Dawg Water Ski Competition on Lake Jepawhit

When we lived in Gaines we heard about a private man made water ski lake that was built a few miles from the house. Whenever we drove by the gates were always locked. We were always curious about the place and just wanted to see what it looked like. Yesterday I was watching the morning news and they were talking about a ski competition on Lake Jepawhit in Gaines. Ah Ha I thought. That must be that lake we always wanted to see. So yesterday afternoon we drove over there and low and behold the gates were locked. Then we noticed a side road. Sure enough that was the access road to the lake. We could've seen the lake years ago, but we never knew about that side access road. Too funny. So we watched the Big Dawg slalom competition and had fun taking pictures and videos. Here is my favorite - shot by of course - me.

First Ever 5k Walk = Success

So, I started and finished my first ever 5k (3.1 miles) walk. No matter that I finished next to last. The point is after all that I set a goal to complete the walk and I did. It was amazingly hard. Couldn't have done it with out Sarah's gentle positive encouragement. It was a nice evening and pleasant surroundings. Crossroads Village. The only incident came when at the end the idiot who was running the finish line took it down about 5 minutes before we were done. Nice. Not so nice words I had for the race personnel. Needless to say we are supposed to get a full refund. I am expecting a written apology ~ or watch out they will get a scathing letter from me.

Blue Bird Family Returns

The bluebird is a symbol of happiness and optimism in numerous cultures around the world.

I am so excited. Mr. and Mrs. Blue bird came back to dwell in the old bird house again. We can hear the babies peeping every time their mommy and daddy bring them a fresh bug. They were very busy this afternoon going back and forth to bring the meal. It's so interesting to watch.

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
My, oh my, what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine headin' my way
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
Mister Bluebird's on my shoulder
It's the truth, it's actual, Ev'rything is satisfactual
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
Wonderful feeling, wonderful day.

Eggplant Parm

Went to Rich's Farm Market today and got a wee little eggplant. Made some awesome Eggplant Parm w/spaghetti on the side. It was quite tasty. Mom and Dad always liked it when I made that. Cleaned the house today, whew it was dirty. Watered my plants, you know the usual. Got my hiney kicked at the gym. Did laundry. Guess I was pretty busy today. Oh and Ricky came back to see if the garage sale was open and plied Sarah for another can of paint. Put in an application at the Know Place (teacher's store) yesterday.
Please pray for Sarah's cousin Chris's mom. She had a stroke and is not really doing well.

Independence Day

Fourth of July Fact:

304 million: The nation’s population on this July Fourth.Source: Population clock <http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html>

Today's activities:

Me and Bailey sittin in the garage again w/ G. Sale ~ made $4.50 so far

Bugging Sarah to weed wack the yard

Going to Katie's in-laws for picnic and fireworks

Running up to Kroger to buy something to take to the picnic

Trying to motivate myself to do some kind of exercise

Happy Independence Day Everyone! Let Freedom Ring! Be thankful for our freedom today.

Just Me and Bailey Running the Garage Sale

Selling some of the leftover "stuff" from last weekend's garage sale. I love getting rid of "stuff." I always swear up and down that after the garage sale I will buy NO MORE stuff. Actually doing well for a second sale. At least the sun is out today and it's quite a bit warmer than the past few days.Sorry to hear it was only 58 degrees up north where my sistopher and brother-in-law-opher are. It's supposed to be summer after all! Ricky from down the street was here 13 times. Funny kid. He took some free house paint and painted his bike with it ~ tires and all. I gave him a free item though because he went and checked my signs and then pounded them in with a hammer. Now he's mad at my because I wouldn't give him an electric scooter or tv for five bucks! He'll be back tomorrow, I'm sure of it.

Garage Sale Extravaganza

4 days of garage sale bliss. What a sale. We grossed over $750 dollars. (Total of all people in sale.) Long and tiring days. Now we're gonna do it all over again. Have another sale this weekend at home and see if we can get rid of more "stuff." Why not. Not doing anything else. No money to spend anyway. There was a few funny moments, you know the weirdos you'll never forget. Some old dude asked for a bag and filled it up and then asked if he could have it all for $3. Uh, noooooooo. It was getting crazy though. The people had 7 dogs at their house. Yikes! Bark-O-Rama.
Happy Anniversary (H.A.) to Mar & Don AND Tom & Renee!

Finally Over The Hump

I hadn't lost a pound in over 3 weeks. Finally today I hit the mark! That's because I sweated it off yesterday, I think. And because my pt session was brutal. Anyway, yea!

Hot, Hot, N More Hot

Just trying to stay cool. Packing the trailer full of stuff to take to the BIG garage sale at Katie's mother in law's. Hoping it's a success. They live on a main drag. Getting rid of lots of stuff. Will probably be over there helping this weekend. No fire works in Flint this 4th ~ they said they don't have any money.



**stuff = junk in this blog.

Proud Lake, Wicked Thunderstorms & The Zoo

The camping trip to Proud Lake was lots of fun ~ cept for the wicked bad storms that kept us all up 2 nights in a row. Oh yeah, and the part where we arrived at the Detroit Zoo on Friday and found out it would be closing in 2 and 1/2 hours for a private event. So we drove back to the campground and decided to return back to the zoo on Saturday. Meanwhile we went to Kensington Metro Park for a picnic and some wildlife viewing.

Saturday we went to the zoo - whew it was hot! We walked til we dropped. Saw a lot of cool stuff. Pictures of some of the more unusual animal sights. The sloth in the rain forest exhibit was actually on the move (very slowly) to it's food. The docent said we were lucky to see it move - it normally sleeps up to 18 hours at a time. The next pic is one of the polar bears that decided to sit right on top of the viewing tube! The last pic is of some free roaming mammals - cute huh?

Gone Campin

Going camping with the Renee's to Proud Lake campground for the weekend. We are planning to go to the zoo on Friday. Hopefully no bad weather! I would like to go canoeing on Saturday. The storms need to stay south of us. See ya later...

It's Raining, It's POURING ~ June 17th

Happy Birthday Sarah (41) and Riley Rose Fisher (5). We have wet, soggy, soaked TP all over our front yard and trees. Sigh...... The idea was good, but now I'll be picking up TP all summer. It is so hard to get off once it's been wet. Going to make a birthday lowfat/sugar strawberry cheesecake. Can't wait to try it. Probably going to Mongolian BBQ for dinner. Coupon for free BD dinner.

I Love Good Morning Time

It was a beautiful morning this a.m. Just the right temp & breeze. Smells so fresh in the morning. I inadvertently scared some birds off the feeder when I put the blind up. Opps. The phrase "Good Morning Time" I stole from BFF Sydney. That's what she calls morning. Went to the Doc for my annual. He said my BP was perfect, my EKG was great, couldn't even make up something wrong. Hoping my A1C is down also. (blood sugar) He might let me take off one diabetes med. Depending on how the test comes out. Anyway, it was nice to hear the doc say, "you're doing awesome." For once!
We are cleaning blinds & windows today. Love the way the house smells after you clean. I think I'm a very sensory person. Especially as far as the olfactory goes. Nik is gone to her dad's for the summer. It is rather quiet. We will see how that goes...

Going to start the Dave Ramsey $$ stuff. I just kept hearing the name so I decided to look it up. Would really like to be debt free. That is not even a concept that sounds remotely do-able. Worth a try.

Ristorante de' Wheat Way

Ristorante de’ Wheat Way ~ Swartz Creek, Michigan


Main Course ~
Parmesan encrusted grilled grouper sandwich
On Grilled onion-rye bread with dill mayonnaise

Side Dishes ~
Homemade fresh low fat/sugar Slaw
Grilled seasoned asparagus spears

Choice of beverage tonight ~
Water with lemon slice
Red wine fruit spritzer

French Laundry, Karen Pianki (Mayes), & Chicken Salad

Had a wonderful breakfast with Karen who I haven't seen in way too many years. It was fun to catch up! I am glad to know I am not the only one who can't believe I'm 50! We met at the French Laundry in Fenton. They serve wonderful food. I am happy to report that I didn't over do. For dinner I made an awesome Grilled Tarragon Chicken Salad over a bed of spinach, drizzled with raspberry vinaigrette. Even Nik said it was deliciouso! Secret ingredients were: tarragon, apples, walnuts, dried cherries tossed with a little light olive oil mayo. Oh and of course grilled chicken.