Grand Marais - - Again

To celebrate Robert's birthday,

we went back to Grand Marais

in the U.P.

As we were out looking around town, we saw...

So off we went --

lots of cute ideas and gorgeous flowers

At our last stop, I noticed the lady had some very cool rocks in her garden.

So I asked her about them and she said she had collected all of them in the area.

She said the boardwalk was a good place for collecting ---

but a VERY good place was about 8 miles down the road.

Soooo

off we went - down a very bumpy back road

actually it was 10 miles

THEN we had to walk to the water.

We traipsed up hills and down hills

and finally got a glimpse of

that beautiful blue water up yonder ...

YEP - we found lots of very cool rocks.....

BUT so far back to the car..

we had to pick and choose

which ones we would lug

up those hills.... and down those hills.....

On the ride back to town,

Bob asked if I wanted to check out the other "rock spot"

ABSOLUTELY!!!

Ahhh this place was a mere

hop skip and a jump from the car! 

The rocks were smaller  -

but I sure had fun playing in the water

while hunting them. 

The day flew by -

soon it was time for another

delicious whitefish dinner

and another gorgeous light show in the sky...

Pentwater Garden Walk....

Today we went to Pentwater's Garden Walk...

and YES ... we walked and walked and walked...

Whew - I have not felt this whipped

in a LONG time!!

Anyway we walked all around Pentwater,

looking at gardens...

These pics were taken from the garden that was my favorite -

I think our gardens are every bit as nice as the ones we saw today -

It made me think back to the time we were on the Garden Walk in Lexington
I really doubt that any of the gardeners from today spent
half the time that Bob did trying to get everything looking just right.



Amish Country

A ride through an Amish community -

We always see the big round bales of hay in the fields around us...

these fields were a work of art.....

 

Horses....of course

The silo..... 

and the farmhouse.....

simple living at it's finest....



A Cool Down!!!

Today was a very cool and very rainy day!

It has been "Georgia in the summer" hot here

for way too many days...

Our lawn has turned brown & crunchy

and our pond is shrinking!!

So today (our 2nd day of rain) was MUCH appreciated

I LOVED it!!

(Even as I was putting on a sweatshirt and drinking a cup of HOT peppermint tea!!!)
(Gotta love Michigan weather)

Here are some pics of the girls...and guys

enjoying their "Popsicles"

on the those super HOT days.

Ludington, Michigan - A walk in the park

1st Annual Teachout Gathering

Yesterday we had a family gathering

at my nephew Rick's property

on Otter Lake.

I have 1 sister -

we each have 2 sons....

not a big family.

We used to get together

on Mother's Day

Christmas

Mom's Birthday

Without mom...

Sis and I just don't see our nephews

and their families.

So we made a date -

for an outing at the lake.

It was nice.

It could have only been nicer

if my nephew Randy

(who lives in Tennessee)

and his kids

(who are grown and live in Georgia)

could have been there too.

With my boys - Landon and Levi

on cousin Rick's boat

Rick picked up the "big kids" -

Brooklyn, Nick, Sydney, Morgan & Mina

from the sandbar...

and dropped them off at the beach.

Later....

I got a picture of 3 of mom's grandsons

Rick - Ron - Jason

and then I said

"I want a picture with my boys"

To say that I am not photogenic

is putting it MILDLY

Soooo

here my son Ron (on the right) had just whipped off my sunglasses

and was about to take that left hand up to hold open my eyelid...

....because I usually shut my eyes when I get my picture taken...

and if you look very closely at my son Jason's mouth

you can tell those lips are forming the word SHUT

as in shut your mouth....because....YEP

my mouth is usually open.

OPEN mouth --- SHUT eyes

that is my usual pose ;-)

We got this

(eyes open - mouth shut)

and this...

eyes (again) open - mouth in a "sort of" smile

oh well .....

That's all we got.....



Last Weekend

Last Friday..

we went " up north"

a little ways

to yet another Amish community

where Bob had a job to look at.

Almost home,

Bob suggested we go to the U.P.

for the weekend...

I said,

"SOUNDS GREAT"

We packed a bag, fed our critters

and headed north again.

We knew we wanted to stay in Curtis,

arrived there about 9:30 PM...

This little spot is pretty much the reason we like this motel so much!





The next day -

we visited Grand Marais --

I LOVED it and I hope to go back someday...

just to spend a day or two walking that beach.

Oh yeah, Bob was there too.....

:-]]]]]



Last Week

Last week something...

we are pretty sure a raccoon,

got in the chicken coop

and killed one of these girls.

She was sitting on "a bunch" of eggs.

He left the eggs and didn't harm

any of the other chickens.

The next day -

Bob did some more patching on the roof

and we went to visit our

Amish friend for a price on material .

Hope we can get a new roof on SOON.....

Also last week...

I put on some of my thrift shop threads

and headed out thrift store shopping!!

Only found a couple of things ---
But still FUN!!!

While in the "big city"
I visited Hobby Lobby....
looking for nothing in particular..
just looking.
I was surprised to see an  aisle of
pumpkins and Autumn signs.
I was AMAZED to see....

CHRISTMAS!!!!
This was not the only aisle...
WAIT, isn't it only JUNE????
I can't believe it!!

Oh well, that is all for today...
Guess I will close with...
Merry Christmas to all!!!