Winter

Today we have sun and all the pets are soaking it up. I could have moved the boots and dog toys before taking this photo but that just wouldn't be representative of my front door right now. I love the sunlight through this door.


Some of us have been hibernating lately (always?).

Erin and I attempted melting snowman cookies using this tutorial from Truly Custom Cakery which I discovered in a google search. I saw photos of these cookies on Tumblr. Hers are much prettier.

We discovered two things. One, make sure you buy fresh marshmellows because ours were sticky and gooey before we even started so they turned out looking lumpier than they should have. Two, get a better cake decorating set so that you can do the detail of the face, arms and buttons better. We ate this batch ourselves but plan to make more that will hopefully look a bit less messy. Not that we minded how they looked when we ate them!

Weird Stuff Around Town

So I'm walking through the parking lot after dance on Friday with my daughter and we pass this truck. We both stopped and cracked up. I don't get it but it was picture worthy. Taken with my daughters phone.


Then to continue the weird, we stop by Target and here this in the check out lane:

"My I.D.? For a jar of tomatoes? "

More giggling. We must have been in a silly mood that all these things struck us as funny. I attribute it to TGIF syndrome.

Wonderful Gift!

I received a 1970 brochure for the Ann Arbor Car Ferry Line from a friend at work. It is in mint condition and full of lovely images. I remember taking the Arthur K. Atkinson across to Wisconsin as a kid with my family. The weather was rather nasty and we spent most of the time inside. I do remember waiting on deck while they unloaded our dark green station wagon from below.

What a lovely and thoughtful gift! I'm so happy to have this and I must think of a way to display it. I also have a bunch of postcards from way back that I'd like to display too.

Illustrations From Erin

My daughter is illustrating a story for class. How cute is this?

Coastal Living-The Recipe

This is actually from August but I have to write it somewhere because it is worth repeating. My brother-in-law concocted this beverage using stuff I had around.

Blue Curaco
Clear Rum
Pinapple Juice
Sprite

It was both delicious and beautiful. Darker blue=deeper water (more curaco) and lighter turquoise=shallower water (less curaco). I liked the shallow water better.

This along with the Coastal Living Magazine and a hammock = summer relaxation! Good bye summer, I'll miss you.

Looking forward to fires in the fireplace and long scrabble games instead though.

New Post?!?!

I'm back. I seem to have accidently taken a few weeks off. Where does the time go?

So, my plans for the weekend include organizing my photos and posting some on here. There are more mushroom pictures to post. I never realized there were so many different types of mushrooms in Michigan and at this time of year! Once I started looking they are everywhere. There is a huge clump growing in my neighborhood. I'm hoping to remember my camera the next time I walk and am also hoping they don't decide to mow their lawn soon.

Also on the agenda for the weekend - more art journaling. I saw this lovely post by Suzanne Cabrera on her blog the open [sketch]book and I'm inspired to do some investigating of my own. What haven't I seen in my neck of the woods that I should take the time to see?

And it's time to decorate for the fall. My petunias have had it and they must go. The front of my house has been so neglected this summer. I must do something. It may be time to call a landscaping company.

Looking Down While Walking

Sunday was a beautiful, sunny, cool, breezy day. Perfect for a walk in the woods with my sister. There were lots of logs and tree roots, so we spent most of the time looking down. This is what we saw.

Recently Fascinated by the Story of Huguette Clark

I read the first installment months ago. Apparently I wasn't the only one fascinated by her story because MSNBC followed it up with more investigation and reporting. Now it looks as though there will be legal investigation into whether this elderly person is being cared for and not exploited. Even if everything is ok, good for MSNBC for asking. It seems quite suspicious that her accountant and attorney are controlling access to her, even preventing distant relatives from checking on her.

Mom Just Locked Her Door

ROFL!

This is classic. How many times have I thought about doing this?! Mom needs a timeout kids. I love The Onion.

Will it make you happy?

While I am sitting here making a list for back to school shopping, I am struggling to get into the typical spirit of the event. I am having a harder time accumulating stuff lately. I just read this article and could really relate to it. I know my kids will need some new things, but I'm reluctant to add more stuff to our house until we get rid of some things. I think before school shopping, we will need to do a little more weeding out of things we don't need.

Even my kids seem to have caught this shift a bit, although, not when it comes to Moxie girl dolls or itunes stuff. I think back to school shopping will be a bit more subdued this year. My daughter had her grandmother take her to the Salvation Army Thrift Store for her birthday shopping. I think she realizes that her money will go a lot farther there. She came back with two shirts.

The things that have brought us the most joy this summer that were new purchases included trips up north camping, two new camping cots (it's nice to have a bed that doesn't deflate around midnight), fishing licenses and a hammock. That hammock has had so much use this summer and will hold two which makes it a lovely place for conversations or just hanging out together.

Weekword: Collection

My collections are many. Books:
Globes (and more stuff in the background in my kitchen):

And quilts:

These are just a few of my collections. I'm feeling the need to pare down right now so will be getting rid of some things but the collections listed here will stay. I may weed out a few afghans, kitchen stuff, vintage games, etc. but the quilts, books and globes will stay. I would also like to get rid of the collection of empty reusable waterbottles that my son leaves next to the sink, the shoes piled in the laundry room and the "to file" stack of papers on the dining room table. How do we stop collecting that stuff?! I need to stop with the physical collection and just collect memories, dreams and love.

I found this wonderful illustration on tumblr today that fit this week word perfectly.

See Elisabeth at Textilspanieln for other week word participants.

Weekword: Balance

I seem to have lost this recently and have no time for art. I haven't knitted in days. This is my attempt to get a little bit back. I whipped this up in a very short period and really just threw things together but it was fun. Goal for the weekend: Seek Balance. "Make time for art - It's Important" per one of my favorite prints from Aimee at Artysville. It is hanging in my art room but perhaps I need to move it to another room so that I will go to my art room more often!

Check out Mary's blog, No Polar Coordinates for other participants.

Wednesday's Finds

Impromptu garage sale stop today. Older woman cleaning stuff out. She used to sew prom dresses for others as well as clothing for herself. She happened to have lots of patterns in my size. I'm not sure I will actually sew them, but they are really fun old patterns. I also got yards of black ball fringe for 50 cents. I also got an old cootie game, old memory game and old scrabble game. All in all, I spent $2.60 there.

I picked up some books at a used book store today too. A productive day.

Tuesday Fun

Someone in the area was getting rid of a whole lot of magazines on Craigslist (free). I'm planning on hosting a vision board making session this fall for a small group of women, so I snatched up a few dozen. Yeah! Plus, I get some fun weekend reading for the next several weeks.

And I had a lovely drive in an area near my house where I've never been before. This cute little house was too adorable not to photograph. Unfortunately, I only had my cell phone with me.

On the way back, my son and I stopped and watched my husband play an inning of baseball. When my husband got home from baseball, the two of us went out on our monthly date to our favorite restaurant and sat outside. It was a lovely evening.

This place always has the most interesting beers on tap.

I enjoyed a lovely IPA and a steak sandwich with watercress, gorgonzola and tomato on a crusty farm bread with an old pickle.

Evening Sunset - Last Week

So how can I be so busy that I only post once a week or less? I even missed last weeks' word! Which is really quite amazing since I french braided hair several times this weekend. No pictures to show for it though. All I got is this lovely sunset picture from my phone.

Wet Hammock = Other Adventures

So it rained all day Saturday leaving my weekend plans to lie in the hammock in ruins. What to do instead. I got up Saturday morning and sent my husband and son off to boy scout camp for the weekend leaving me at home with a sleeping girl. What was I going to do? I didn't have plans for the weekend. I cleaned the house, started laundry and still my daughter slept.

Finally, nearly 11 a.m., the sleeping beauty awoke. I pushed a homemade blueberry muffin at her and told her to bring her garage sale money and off we went. First stop, FARR thrift store, my dear friend Becky's favorite stop on Saturday mornings. And who do you think we ran into at the thrift store? Becky along with her daughter and a friend. Yeah! What a happy coincidence. I was wondering what she was up to anyway.

After the thrift store we all jumped into one car and headed out in search of garage sales. We found one really nice one and got a few things and then stopped in my local yarn shop because we were in the neighborhood. I bought more sock yarn (you can never have too much). And then off to visit the community garden to see what industrious folks are growing.

And wow! talk about green thumbs.

We ended up going to a few more resale shops where we were inspired to go home and craft. One of the resale shops had the most fabulous altered book I have ever seen. If it hadn't been over $30, one of us would have bought it. It was lovely inspiration so we headed over to Goodwill to pick up some books to do our own. We cleaned them out of children's board books and headed back to my house.

The evening was filled with going through photos, gluing, paper, scissors, pens, etc. Lovely fun.

So much for my weekend plans...

I had planned to spend more time in my new hammock but the weather is not cooperating. I suppose I will have to see what else is on my list (sigh).

Weekword: Rebel

The Week Word was picked by Carmen.

So, I've had this huge to-do list for the week/summer/year (I'm a list maker!). However, I purchased a new hammock which arrived in the mail last week and has called my name quite often since it's arrival. I'm rebeling against my lists and listening to it's call.

Week Word: Number

The week word was selected by Peggy . Check out her blog to see the other participants as well as an explanation for the week word.

I have never done this before, but this week word comes at a month full of important numbers for me.

7-11 my birthday age 44

7-16 my annivesary (22 but I couldn't find that one)

7-13 my son's birthday and he will b-14

Port Huron Fun

A couple of weeks ago we spent the day in Port Huron to celebrate Mike's parent's 50th wedding anniversary. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed a lovely river cruise and dinner at the Thomas Edison Inn.

(above- Canadian Coast Guard Cutter; below- Port Huron light house- US coast guard station)

And if we get back to Port Huron, this is a must see. After all, I've been to the National Mustard Museum so why not the Ice Museum of North America?