Monday, August 25, 2014

Working and Wedding

Wedding first.  We went to a wedding of a wonderful woman this past Saturday.  I have known her since she was a little girl, maybe even before she was born that is how long and I can't remember anyway.  
 When I heard she was getting married and then saw her this past winter I mentioned that I was making quilts now.  She remembered a stuffed rabbit that I made for her when she was a little girl.  I had forgotten the rabbit but she sure hadn't.  She put in a request for a quilt so I started this one for her.  It was a bit of a challenge, I was using a new ruler to make these hexagons.  You can't really see too well but the background is a light gray.  I did manage to get it finished without too much swearing.
 This is a close up of the block.  I had some difficulty liking this quilt so I hope she does like it.
My next project is for Sara and Leo.  It is about half done and I like it a LOT more.  I will share when it is finished.
 The wedding was in the afternoon with a reception following at the Yacht Club.  We didn't stay too late but it was a nice wedding and reception.  
 Sunday our friend Bill came over to help Bud with his summer project of painting the trim on the house and the garage doors.  Bill was my neighbor at my house when I lived south of town.  We have remained friends.  He is a retired teacher and was looking for some summer work so we hired him to help Bud with this project.
They are having lunch here in this picture.
 The spent the day cleaning the trim and getting rid of the spider webs.
They worked pretty hard.  Bud was a little sore at the end of the day.  Bill is back today power washing the deck.

So that is all for us this past week.  Maybe you had a more exciting week than me.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Thank You Charlotte

If it wasn't for Charlotte, I wouldn't have anything to write about this week as it has been a pretty quiet week here.  
 Sunday afternoon we had the pleasure of attending the Senior Recital.  It was a beautiful event.  She sang to everyone for an hour.  We a;; remember when she started down this path. Her voice coach told us something like when Charlotte first came she had a voice with a lot of 'breath' and not too strong but she loved the family and took on this wonderful girl.  She has developed into a talented singer.  I too remember going with her to a voice lesson and wondering if it was the right choice to make singing her chosen career. At family events we often kidded that she might look for a rich husband while in college.
WELL, she proved all of us wrong by working hard and following her dream.  This fall she is attending Lawrence College in Wisconsin and they are 'thrilled' to have her as a student.
She has every right to be proud of herself and her accomplishments.  We are thankful to be a part of her life an to have watched her talent develope.
 David, her boyfriend is attending Western Michigan this fall.  They sang one song together.
 Of course Sue and Walt are very proud of their lovely daughter.
It was a great way to spend the Sunday afternoon.
We wish you well, Charlotte and hope you remember us when you are famous.
NOW on another beautiful note (except for the wrinkled hand part) I received in the mail today the other ring I bought at the Ann Arbor Art Fair.  I wanted it made bigger so I had to wait for it to come.  You may know that I am very fond of the emerald cut in my gemstones.  This one caught my eye because it is so big.  I photographed it on my wrinkled hand so you could see that it stretches the whole length of my knuckle.  It is about an inch long.  The stone is smoky quartz which is a pretty common stone but not one that I have in my inventory.  I really love the way it looks despite my wrinkled hand.  If you wear large enough rings, maybe it distracts from my hands.  At least that is my opinion.

Today we are celebrating our 32nd anniversary.  We will have dinner out and just relax.  No presents for us, we have it all just the fact that we have so many wonderful years together.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

The birthday week in review

The day before my birthday we meet Brittany, John and Charlotte for breakfast.  Brittany and John were leaving that day to go back to Chicago so we had one more opportunity to spend time with them.  It was a great breakfast.  I always enjoy the time we have together.  We only have a few more weeks with Charlotte before she heads off to Lawrence University.  Sue and Walt were taking David to University of Virginia that weekend.  He starts medical school there soon. We will miss him here but it is a great adventure for him in a whole new environment.  We are looking forward to adding a stop to see him when we take our spring trip.  It was nice of him to pick a place along our route.  


 In the afternoon we went on a 'convertible car' tour of the western side of Michigan with two other couples.  It was a beautiful day with just the right temps. and no rain.  It was nice to ride through the back roads and visit places I haven't been.  This is an overlook of Lake Michigan.
 We sure live in a beautiful part of the state.  The shoreline along Lake Michigan is beautiful even on a hazy day.
 Monday, my actual birthday, I received MANY text messages and calls from family.  Thank you all for your birthday wishes.  I went out to run some errands and when I returned these beautiful flowers were waiting for me by the door.  Thank You Brittany and John.  A week later they are still beautiful.  I fell blessed.  We did't go out to dinner on my birthday since our trip the day before included a beautiful dinner in a great little place on the west side of Michigan.

My week has been fairly quiet with my usual reading a quilting activities.  I am making this beautiful and VERY colorful quilt for Sara and Leo.  It is all batik fabrics and the blocks are only 6 inches square so that means I am making a lot of blocks to complete this queen size quilt.  I am loving the look so far and am about half way through making the blocks.  I will include a picture when I have more done.
 Bud continues to try and take Fridays off this summer.  He went in for about an hour this week but has been avoiding the office on Saturdays and Sundays totally.  I am impressed.  We used this Friday to take some friends out on the boat.  This is the 5th time the boat has been away from the dock this year.  That is pretty good for us.  Bill was my neighbor when I lived out by Spider Lake so we have known each other for a long time.  He and Joan spend the winters in Florida and are very busy when they are here in Michigan so it was nice to spend some time with them.  Bill also had the boat slip next to us many years ago so he is a avid boater, although a power boater.  This was the first time they had been out on the bay this summer so they were glad to be out too.
 The weather was perfect.  A nice wind, the temps in the 70's and the sun was shining.  We were all happy. We had great sandwiches and a few grapes but most of all just a good time.
Wow, two pictures of me in one post.  That is a little unusual.

Saturday we decided it was time to check out the movie selection.  We decided to go up to Sutton's Bay and see the movie 'A Journey of 100 Steps"  We invited some friends to go with us, had dinner on the way and thoroughly enjoyed the movie.  I STRONGLY recommend this movie to everyone that loves to watch a good movie. We walked out smiling and loving the whole evening.

So there you have it, the summary of our week.  We are now heading over to the Yacht Club for dinner.  Today was Coast Guard Day at the club.  They invited the Coast Guard to come over and enjoy the beach and water and have dinner.  It is always a nice event.

I love you and hope you all had a great week.  Thanks again for all the love you sent my way for this birthday.  64 seems pretty old to me but I guess I can't do anything about getting older.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

One year older

I was able to have a little early birthday celebration last week.  It was important that this precious little one was able to attend with her parents so we celebrated early.  MY,MY isn't she cute.  


Such a wonderful little baby.  She was the center of attention for most of the dinner.  She is getting so big and loves sitting up and watching everyone.
This photo is a little off with the color,  Bud took it with his iPhone and didn't have the flash on but anyway, Leo just had to 'photo bomb' this picture.  I love it.

Eva bought me a beautiful red jacket.  I wear jackets so much in this N. Michigan weather so it will be a beautiful addition to my closet.
Of course, Mom and Dad.  They are such good parents and are very happy in the role.
And Gram loves every minute of her time with this new grand daughter.
She even let Uncle Bud hold her.  She passes around the table very well and doesn't seem to mind all the attention.
I just checked the blog entry and realized that the picture that I uploaded (below) didn't have me in the shot.  I guess I took this one while we were waiting for the waiter to help us out.  I kind of liked it because it was a closer look at the people but since it was MY birthday, I thought I should edit this entry and add a picture of myself because I was there.

Our traditional photo on the bench outside Applebee's in Big Rapids.  It is a nice tradition, meeting for birthdays and having dinner.  I LOVE it.
Even though I am a year older, I am always thankful for every year with family and friends.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Home made Ice Cream

Last Sunday I decided to make Ice Cream to take to the cottage.  It was the least I could do since they were fixing us dinner.  We had a great family dinner with terrific ribs that Walt cooked on the grill.  I was a little lazy with my camera and didn't take any dinner pictures but trust me it was a fantastic meal.   
After a little rest and recovery from that great meal, I brought out the ice cream.  Brittany and John are up visiting for the week and it was nice to relax with them and enjoy a beautiful evening with family.  The weather was a little chilly and cloudy but a wonderful rainbow decorated the sky. 
We all enjoyed the ice cream, especially Jack who came back to finish it off.  David was not home this weekend so Jack was 'taking one for the team' by finishing off David's share.  The ice cream was delicious as usual.  

One of the summer pass times at the cottage is to do puzzles.  This was the second one they were doing that day.  They are real speedy with puzzles.

It was a wonderful evening and we loved the chance to spend the time in such a beautiful place with a great family.