Houseboat 2013

OK,OK,  this is a difficult posting but it is a random selection of our houseboat pictures because the numbers on the photos that I have in my camera do NOT correspond with the numbers that come up on the computer and just when I thought I had a system figured out it didn't work any more AND I am getting tired of trying to figure it out.  Just go with it and enjoy.  

Our trip to KY is started with a stop in Glasgow at our favorite Mexican place and a drink.  This year it was just Eva, Bud and Me that stayed in Glasgow for the night.

We went to Wal-Mart and loaded up.

The car was full.  We usually have Leo along to take some of the groceries but he was in Louisville picking up Josh so we had to do it on our own. 

Our first meal was at the dock while waiting for Josh and Leo to arrive.

It was worth the wait to have father and son together again.  Josh has missed the last two years but did make it this year.  We were all glad to see him but especially Leo.

The handsome guy is getting older.

Birthdays were celebrated our first night.

Saturday morning was B. birthday so Gram put candles in her French toast for breakfast even though we had birthday 'Death by Chocolate' the night before.  

The water toys were fantastic this year with an addition of the stand up canoe.  Even Eva tried it out but I just can't find that picture.  Matt did a head stand but once again I can't find that number.  Just trust me.  Maybe I will figure out the sequence and try again at another time.

Doug was the designated climber.  He said that Matt always leaves his climbing shoes behind so that Doug has to do all the climbing to tie up.

We ate well. This is Eva's flank steak dinner.  Every meal was fantastic.

The talking and laughing was a great part of the trip.  We also played Mexican Train every night and it was a great time.  Lots of joking and laughing.

 Ok, now things get a little 'hinky' from here on.  Sorry but I am too frustrated to try to figure it out.  H, came home with us and spent a couple of nights here.  We went out sailing and I delivered here back to Gram on Wednesday night.  We met in Big Rapids for the 'transfer.

 While she was here we did a cute sewing project.  I have cute pictures that will try to share later and we also went sailing for the evening.  A beautiful evening sail on the bay.

 I'm not sure when this picture was taken but they all sure look cute and I think maybe I already showed this picture.

 After the houseboat trip we stopped for a picnic and then Leo and Josh took off for the day.  They had a overnight in Louisville but were stopping in Mamouth Cave area to take a tour of the caves.  I heard they had fun.  It was great that they had some time together, just the two of them, like old times.

 On the way home we stopped for dinner

 Here is our last picnic at the park.  It was a wonderful trip this year.

 Doug's first year as an official family member.  We are planning to keep him.

 Jessica took pictures of the grandchildren for Gram.  I could only find these two and gave up.  They look great.

 LOTS of flip flops were a part of the birthday gifts.

Finally, us three wonderful woman.  I don't know where Diana was when we took this picture but I think she was packing up the family.

It was another wonderful year for our family and I will try to sort out the pictures later and put on some more.  Just too confusing for me this afternoon.

Playing the Lottery at the gas station in N. Michigan

Sorry, no pictures this post.  Just my latest 'rant'.  It seems that the gas prices in N. Michigan are VERY volatile.  One day it could be $4.29/ gallon and then the next day it starts dropping so you go out and buy some gas hoping that you are catching it at a new low price.  I did that last week when it dropped to $4.10 thinking I was getting a real deal catching it before the next raise.  Well, WRONG, I missed it again.  Today the price was down to $3.75/gallon.  We here in Traverse City are accustomed to the fluctuation  of prices in the summer when they try to 'stick it to the tourists' on the weekends so we try to buy our gas during the middle of the week but there doesn't seem to be any 'rhyme or reason' to the prices this year.  What frustrates me the most is when I drive across town and notice the prices but am in a hurry so don't stop only to find out that when I come back across town the price is up 25 to 30 cents a gallon.  What happened in that short time to warrant the rise of gas that far????  Is there a new crisis that occurred somewhere in the world that I missed in my every vigilant news monitoring on NPR????  You just have to wonder about such unfair events in your daily life.

Summer time, and the living is easy

School's out for Summer or at least here in N. Michigan.  

 I stopped by the local park on Tuesday morning to pass out Popsicles  to the Third Grade students.  I go every year and meet them when they get off the bus.  It is just my way of treating them at the end of the school year.  It was a difficult year for the teachers.  They had large classes and some very unusual and 'quirky' students.  All of them are glad to have this year behind them.  I worked mostly in Molly's class (she is on the right) but I also helped the other teachers.  Tonya, on the right, is going to teach kindergarten next year.  There will be 2 new teachers in Third Grade next year.  They are going back to having 5 teachers at that grade level.  I think that will be better for the teachers and the students.  I enjoy my time working with the teachers and students.  I don't miss teaching and I often get to keep my skills active by teaching a subject or two for many of the teachers.  I do get to know some of those more unusual students sometimes since they are the ones that need the little extra attention or just need someone to work with them before their classroom teacher 'kills' them.  I know that feeling and am glad to take a child 'off their hands' for a short time so they have a little 'rest'.  Those 'quirky' children aren't so bad if you don't have to work with them all the time.

I usually stay at the park and chat with the students and teachers through lunch but I had to leave right away this year.  My quilt group was meeting for lunch and I needed to join them.  Next year I will be the leader of this group.  It is a fun and good group of women.  They do a lot of 'charity quilts' which means that the members make quilts that are donated to area charities.  Our main charity is Habitat for Humanity. We give a quilt to every member of a family in the new Habitat houses that are opened in the area.
Our group meets once a month for a meeting. There is usually a program in the morning and a meeting in the afternoon.  One of the most important part of the monthly meeting is the 'Show and Tell' time at the end of the business meeting.  This is just one of the members displaying her latest creation.  There are some beautiful quilts displayed at the meetings.  You may have noticed on my blog page that there is a link to this group if you wish to see more of the activities.

 Friday evening we DID manage to get the boat away from the slip for the evening.  This is Charlotte and her new boyfriend, David.  They joined the 'old folks' on an evening sail.  It was a beautiful night, a little chilly but       it was good to be out on the water anyway.  With sandwiches and all sorts of snacks we criss-crossed the bay and enjoyed the wonderful evening.

 Ringo came along, he is a good dog on the boat.

 The captain had a smile on his face,

I love to go sailing when Walt comes along.  I don't have to do anything except sit around and enjoy the scenery.

I have been working on some quilting projects but I can't show them online.  They are gifts for people that might read my blog although I'm not sure that I have many readers lately.  It is a good thing that I don't rely on readers and people that comment to 'feed' my need to continue to blog.  I do know that I will NOT be pursued by advertisers wishing to reach my readership but I will enjoy my 'quiet fame' among family members or any strange readers out there.
However few you are, I do appreciate you.

Summer wedding season begins

Brittany is getting married in August and the Traverse City family drove to Ludington this last weekend to attend the first shower.  

 We look pretty good don't we?  Charlotte, Sonja, Brittany,me and Sue.

It was a kitchen shower so I made an apron for her and made some place mats with the fabric that I used for her wedding table runners.  Along with some napkin rings and napkins it all made a good gift.
It was a fun shower and us T,C. ladies had a chance to meet John's family.  John is a wonderful man and I am sure that the two of them will have a long and beautiful life together.  Meeting the right man or woman is probably the most important thing you can do in your life.  I wish them well.

Many shapes and faces of love

I am blessed with many wonderful people in my life.  I thought I would share some of their wonderful faces in appreciation of the ways they bless me and each other.  

 This weekend Leo came up and once again helped me with my outdoor flowers.  Bud usually doesn't come along on this adventure but he wanted some additional flowers on the the deck on the back AND wanted to make sure that we didn't make the flowers by the driveway too tall like I did one year.  I guess he thought I needed supervision and we were glad to have him along.

 We didn't have trouble finding flowers like some years since I am doing it earlier this year.  Some years I have waited until after the boat trip and that is too late to find a good choice of flowers and the first year (the time we found things too tall) I didn't know what I was doing.
It took a while to find the right kind of pots to put on the back deck.  We were looking for something in the blue color to match the pots out by the road but blue just isn't the color this year.  We finally settled on these red planters.

 We came home and rested, had some refreshments and then went right out to plant.  These planters will go out back so we can see some color from the kitchen window.

The blue planters go out by the road.  I am hoping that they grow and spread out a little but you will see that there aren't any tall grasses or flowers in the middle.  I tried to talk Bud into something big in the middle that was about a foot tall but he kept saying NO.

 I went with a plain geranium in the space between the garage doors.  I like how it looks against the color of the garage AND as an added bonus, it picks up the red in the pots outside our kitchen window. That was purely coincidence, not planned by me or anyone else.

 SO we have two pots that are up higher and then the smaller pots down the steps.  This part was Bud's idea and I think they look great.

 The red pots look terrific.

 My helper out by the road.  This is the third year that I have managed to talk him into coming up and helping with this project.  A great tradition.  We paid him back with a nice steak dinner and a movie.  The guys got to see Iron Man 3, exciting and full of action.  It was an action packed day of planting and movie watching.
I am thankful that Leo was able to help with this project one more year and even thankful for Bud's new interest.

NOW a cuter face of love.  I made some baskets for Sara and the babies a few weeks ago.  I finally managed to get them out to her last week.  I LOVE this picture of the babies sitting in those baskets.  I think she plans to use them to store their toys but for now I like the way they are using them  These babies are so precious.  Once again I am blessed.  

Finally, Jessica and Doug are in TN helping with the new garage that is being built for Matt and Diana.  I would have a couple of more picture to share except my new iphone is difficult for me to figure out and I haven't been able to figure out how to send them to my email and then put them on the blog yet. I need Bud to give me a lesson.
SO, another ace of love.  Family helping family.

Love comes in many sizes, shapes and faces.  I hope you have some love in your life today.