Monday, May 31, 2010

Bud is shopping for a new toy

You may notice a motorcycle helmet in the foreground of this picture. Well, as I indicated in the title, Bud is shopping for a new toy. He has been on the computer on and off all weekend looking for a smaller Harley Davidson motorcycle. I found out about this new quest last week when I heard him talking on the phone to a broker. He told me that he has always wanted to own another motorcycle. "Life is short and too many of his friends are having health problems so he decided to just go for it" Although I am not fond of motorcycles, I really can't do much to talk him out of this new toy. I told him he just needs to make sure his insurance is paid up. Men seem to have a strong need for toys.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Easy Rider

Leo went for a ride today and came to visit us. He arrived about 1 and we chatted for a while. I fixed him a nice dinner and he went on home. When he called this morning to let me know he was coming up, I mentioned going out for lunch. He 'hinted' that a b.b.q. would be nice. I took the hint and went out to buy steaks. We had steaks, grilled vegetables and fruit salad. He wasn't even surprised that I went out and bought steaks. He figured that I was good at taking the 'hint'. I must be the 'easy' one in this story. Anyway, it was great to see him. We are going to go out tonight and see the movie "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" It is a foreign film with subtitles because the author is Danish. It is a thriller book/movie that has become popular lately here in the states. I read two books by this author and loved them both. I just bought the newest one today. I hope that the movie lives up to the book.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Grocery shopping at Meijer

WOW, you may be saying, it must be a slow day in T.C. if she is blogging about grocery shopping. Well, it was a new experience for me. You see, I HATE to shop at Meijer because it is SO big and spread out. I can't ever seem to find the right things. But I know that they have the best produce so I decided that I would give it a try once again. I am now retired so I should be able to relax while shopping. I left my 'attitude' in the car and decided to call it an adventure. It really wasn't as bad as I thought when I wasn't hurrying around on a 'precious' Saturday morning. I did find some very good produce and was able to do more 'one stop shopping' than usual. SO, even at my age, I can try new things that gave me anxiety attacks when I was younger and working.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Memorial Day

Yesterday I drove down to Coleman to put a wreath on Mom and Dad's grave. It was a quick trip, I left here late in the afternoon, went directly to the cemetery and placed the wreath and then went to dinner with Leo. I did take a quick detour to drive by the farm. Everything looks great from the road. I turned around at the church and there was a sign for an auction of the church and the acre of land it is on. Does anyone want to by an old church??? I also noticed that they were planting beans on the front field. Time goes on.

Leo and I had a good dinner. He is not working the 12 hour shifts anymore and we are hoping that he takes a ride on his motorcycle this weekend and comes up to visit us.

This is the life of a retired person. Not too exciting but interesting enough for me.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Blessings

There is an old hymn that has a phrase that just 'jumped' into my mind a few minutes ago. "Count your Blessings, Name them One by One". Now all of you know that I'm not one to be quoting hymns but this phrase just stuck with me as I was going about my morning activities. SO, I am counting my blessings today. Here are a few that have already passed my way just this morning.

I received a wonderful phone call from Sara. In this day of text messaging and email and blogs it is still wonderful to hear the sound of a voice. You can hear smiles in a voice. I was blessed with the sound of her smile this morning.

While talking to Sara, a hummingbird appeared outside my window. It actually sat upon a branch. Us mere humans rarely get to watch a hummingbird while it is still. Than it took off in a blur. It reminded me of so many things like how busy we can be and don't get to see things when they are 'still'. It also reminded me of the farm and Dad. He always kept a hummingbird feeder on the porch.

I am blessed with a wonderful family that has filled my life with joy. I am thankful for my relationships with my brothers and sister. They enrich my life every day. We share such common experiences growing up together, the love and joy and sometimes fighting, that siblings have but when needed we are there for each other. Mom and Dad did a good job raising us and showing us how to love. We did a good job sticking together and remaining a great family.

I am blessed with wonderful nieces and nephews. I have enjoyed our many times together. I am thankful for the ones that are close by, like right across the road. They have enriched my life in many ways. I am thankful for the MANY years we shared the lives of Sara, Erik, Matt and Jessica as they grew up. I am thankful that even as they have spread away from Michigan that we continue to be a part of their lives. They have brought me much joy along with new family to love like husbands and wives and children. I am thankful for the many times I went down to Coleman and visited Josh when he came up to Michigan for the summer. That relationship has enriched my life in many ways. I am thankful for the times I have spent with Amy and Myria. They have been fewer, but ALWAYS full of joy. They too have brought new family to our little group. I am thankful that we have taken the time to go to N. Carolina every year and see the family there. They too are a blessing to our lives.

SO, those are just a few of my blessings. Take some time to 'Count YOUR blessings' today.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Summer time and boat chores

Bud and Walt are getting the boat ready for sailing. If you look closely you can see the two of them on the other side of the boat. They are loading the sails and doing what is needed to get Red Sky ready for another summer season of sailing.


I was also struck by the beauty of the bay as I drove across town. I stopped at the Yacht Club to take this picture of the bay. However, the picture really doesn't do justice to how nice it looks. The water is a beautiful blue, the sky is dotted with clouds and the temps. are in the 80s. Yes, I think that summer has long last arrived in our beautiful corner of the world.


Thursday, May 20, 2010

Another quilt class is a success so far

A couple of weeks ago I started another quilt class with my friend Maryanne. It is called the 4 patch Posie. You start with a fabric that has a definite pattern repeat. This is the fabric I chose. Then you cut 4 strips of the fabric that are exactly the same repeat and stack them on top of each other, making sure that all 4 layers match exactly. Then you cut out squares through the 4 layers so that the 4 pieces that you cut are exactly the same. Here is an example of one of the squares that I could use. Notice that they are exactly the same.
Then you put them together in the way that is pleasing to your eye. This is one possibility.

Here is another possibility.
This is still another possibility.

This is my wall of the squares that I made with my 4 pieces. Each time you cut through the 4 layers and make the smaller squares you come up with different possibilities. You can see that there are many different blocks that I made with my 4 pieces.
Today we chose the fabrics that you put around the blocks and worked on that part. I put the dark color than another light color with a different color in the middle. I will show you later how it all looks together. I'm not there yet.

This is my friend Maryanne and her squares. She chose a different fabric and is putting her squares together a bit differently in the bottom of the picture.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Farm pictures from long ago

I was looking through the pictures the other day and found this lovely picture of Eva taken in about 1955. I thought it was a cute picture but most of all I wanted to show some of you that have never seen the barn a picture of it in the background. I was looking for a picture of the barn but I can't seem to find one of just the barn. I know that there is one because I have seen it many times. This is the best I can do but Eva is blocking the view.
This is a great old picture of Mom and Dad. It doesn't have a date on it so I don't know when it was taken but am guessing it was in the early 50s. Don't they look young?? Mom would have been in her late 20s and Dad in his mid to late 30s. It is a picture to put a smile on your face and remember that they were once young and at the beginning of their married life, starting out on that farm together. Dad is almost smiling.
Enjoy the day and remember all the fun we had from this time forward.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Springtime in Northern Michigan

Sara likes to put pictures of wildlife on her blog. I decided that I can't 'sneak up' on birds as well as she can but we do have some good flowers around here this time of year. I drive by this stand of lilac bushes every time I go into town. They remind me of the farm. We had all 3 kinds of lilac bushes there just like this picture although you can't see the different kinds very well. There are the traditional light lilac color, the very dark color and the white ones. I love the smell of lilacs and love seeing them in the spring. They bring back great memories. I wonder if the new owner has picked any blossoms and brought them into the house. They don't last very long when you pick them but they put off the most beautiful fragrance.
Once again this picture doesn't do justice to this little flower that is growing just outside our door. I think they are called primrose but I don't know for sure. They just grow there by themselves. I am guessing that some people would call them a weed but I just let them grow in our wooded lot.

Finally, these are forget me nots. I like them because of the name and the blue color. They are very plentiful in the neighbor's yard and a few of them have made it over to our wooded area.
AH, springtime and the flowers that just bless you with their ability to grow and share their beauty.


Saturday, May 15, 2010

Jessica's American Life

I was just driving home, listening to "This American Life" on public radio. They were talking about home videos. Immediately the funniest home video came to my mind. I remember watching it in Grand Rapids with the family around. This video is a legend in the Clarady/Schoon family including the family in Norway. For those of you that don't know the story, Sara spent a year in Norway with her aunt and uncle. Jessica got the idea of sending Sara a video of a 'day in the life of Jessica' or something like that. It was LONG and VERY FUNNY although the intent of the video was not comedy. I can't remember many of the scenes but I do remember Jessica spending a lot of time in front of the camera talking and acting things out. When we watched it several years later in Grand Rapids, Sara told us that it had been the 'hit' of her friends and family in Norway. Just the thought of the video makes me smile and I hope that those of you who have had the chance to watch the video smiled too. If you haven't been blessed with this experience, we could maybe replay it on You-Tube??????? I'm not sure that they take such long selections.

SMILE, Life is full of little pleasures.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Garrick Lewis newest pictures

Here is Garrick in his chair, it looks like he is ready for lunch.
I asked Josh to send me some new pictures of Garrick. These came to me through the phone so they probably aren't the greatest pictures. They also came without any dialogue so I am adding the captions.
I know that Josh likes to go to the Houston baseball games so I am guessing that this is Garricks first baseball game.
Look, he is standing by himself or at least it looks like it. I'm not a very good judge of the age that a child learns to stand.


I like the smile on his face. It looks like he can get into things. I hope he is good at getting out too.


Here is a close up.

I do think he is a bit too young to drive but it isn't a motorcycle. I hope you enjoy these pictures. I love this modern technology that provides us these pictures and the ability to share.


Sorry, I put this picture in twice and I don't know how to remove a picture without starting all over.







Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Our weekend travels.

I forgot to put this picture in at the beginning so this one is out of order. On our way home we stopped in Ann Arbor and had breakfast with Brittany. She so nicely got up early and met us at a local dinner. It was fun to see her. One of the good things about all this traveling downstate is that we have been able to stop and see family along the I-75 downstate route. We didn't stop and see Leo this time because he is working nights and was sleeping when we drove past Clare.We left here on Thursday evening and drove to Toledo. We were pretty tired but it was an easy drive. We got up early on Friday and drove the rest of the way to N. Carolina. We arrived about 7:00 that evening. The next morning the weather was warm and nice. It was a good day to do outside activities. The boys went swimming. Bud got a sliver in his foot so David is doing a little surgery as Joseph watches on.
This is Joseph . He is the youngest and 9 years old. He is an outdoor guy. We found out that they have adopted 2 dogs that showed up in their neighborhood. They are named Lewis and Clarke.


Bud and Joseph had a good time swimming in the lake/reservoir right down at the bottom of their hill.



Here we have Joseph, Paul and Bud after their swimming adventure. It was pretty warm, in the 80s, so they had good weather for swimming.


Paul and Bud are playing checkers here. Paul is 4 years older than Joseph.


Here we have David and Joseph just relaxing around the house.


Joseph decided to be the photographer too.


This is Olivia. She is 17. She was home from school for the weekend. It was good to see everyone.


Sunday the weather was a bit cooler. The boys went on a hike up by the dam. I didn't take along my hiking shoes so I stayed behind and did some reading and chatted with Olivia.
That evening we took Olivia back to school. Here she is outside the school with a friend. It was a nice campus about an hour from their home. She is doing very well at this school this year.



I did take some pictures around the house. This is a view of the lake from the dock. It is a dammed up lake, full of little inlets. Saturday David, Bud and I went out for a kayak ride round the little area around their house. It was a nice time on the water.


These pictures were take of the back of their house from the water side. They have a nice big deck on the back.




Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Home

We are back from our wanderings. We had a great time in N. Carolina visiting Bud's brother and his family. The weather was great on Saturday so we did some fun outside activities. I will share pictures tomorrow.

I am ready to spend some time home. I realized that I have been gone for the last 4 long weekends, the quilt show, our trip to TN, graduation and NC have kept me busy. I will take some time to stay home and work on some projects that I have started.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

On the road again

We are traveling again this weekend. We are leaving tomorrow afternoon and returning late Monday. We are going to visit Bud's brother and family in N. Carolina. We both have meetings tomorrow (well, Bud has a meeting and I have a quilt class) and so we are leaving about 4 in the afternoon. We will drive south until we get tired and then finish the trip on Friday. It is a quick trip but should be our last one in this series of travels. I will take pictures and share. Enjoy the weekend.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

water levels

I heard from Diana yesterday and she said that the water is down and it didn't reach to their house. They don't have a basement so no problems there. I'm glad that they are dry.

Monday, May 3, 2010

How high's the water??????

Matt and Diana didn't know it but they have waterfront property. They seem to be maintaining a sense of humor since this is Matt with 2 of the girls in the front yard with his boat. I haven't heard from them today but it was still raining yesterday. On a serious note, I hope that the water is going down and there wasn't any damage. This is a picture of the neighbor's yard. It looks like the water is almost up to the edge of their above ground pool.


Graduation at the BIG HOUSE

Bud and I were blessed with the opportunity to attend Brittany's graduation from U of M this past weekend. We drove down on Friday and had an early dinner with the family at the Weber Inn. That evening we attended the graduation of the College of Kinesology. This is Brittany crossing the stage in the distance.
Here we are right after the ceremony.

Proud Dad.



Proud Mom.



Proud little sister.


Friend Cam.


Mom and Dad both very proud that Brittany did such a great job her 4 years here at Michigan. Now medical school is her next goal.



The whole family.


The next day was the ceremony in the BIG HOUSE. The day started out early because we had to be in the stadium by 9:00. We took the 8:00 shuttle and waited in line for the security check. It was raining a bit but not as bad as it had rained earlier. We took along rain gear and just prepared to wait.



Waiting, and waiting and waiting because even though we had to be in the stadium by 9:00, the ceremony didn't start until 11:00. I thought about taking a book but didn't know if it would make it through security and the rain so we just sat and waited and waited and waited.


The guest speaker was President Obama, in case you didn't know that. It was very exciting to listen to the president speak. He gave an inspirational speech about the world, our role in government both past and present, and listening to other opinions just a few of the highlights.
We really couldn't see him very well but the big screens did a great job of bringing things up close.





The celebrations continued after this graduation too. Bud managed to 'jump' into this picture of all the Noble kids.





Mom and Dad again. One done and 3 more to go.



This is Brittany's boyfriend, John. He graduated too and is going on to law school at Michigan.



In the afternoon and evening we shared great times together with gifts, laughter, hot tub, naps and finally dinner in the evening. It was a great weekend and we were thankful that we were able to share this weekend with Brittany and all the Noble family.


We were up and headed north on Sunday. We loaded up some of David's belongings and stopped in Clare to have lunch with Leo. I thought I would update a picture of him for those of you who haven't seen him in a while. We found a new place to have lunch and enjoyed his company before coming home.