ARTPRIZE 2010

Today we went to Grand Rapids, where over 1,700 hundred artists

 have their artwork displayed all over the downtown area.

It was warm and sunny - the perfect day to stroll along the river walks.

We went to the Public Museum, the Art Museum

 and the Gerald R. Ford museum - were we visited President Ford's final resting place.

So many pieces of art, we only saw a small fraction of them.  Many were so big and heavy we could only
imagine the challenge of getting them set up in their venues.
It was all very cool and here are just a few of the pieces.
(More are posted on FB)

This lovely lady is made out of toothpicks ~

                                This guy was made of nails that had been welded together.        



And this penny is made of ...pennies of course!!

Now this one somehow spoke to me.......

jars and jars and more jars of stuff...

lots of little toys, I guess just things that somehow inspired the artist.

So why did it "speak to me" ?????

Yes, I also save things in jars -

like my grandma's tatting, shells, rocks, sand, dirt......

YES, I also am an artiste :]

Mini Pumpkins

Today we "harvested our crop" of mini pumpkins ~

For the second year in a row, we have an abundance of the little guys without planting a seed

One pumpkin patch is in the side yard...

This is our mulch pile...

covered with vines

the reason we end up with pumpkins in the most surprising places.

And so.. here is our crop!!

Doubt I would have ended up with this many if I had tried :)

Also today, I made the first apple pies of the season!

One regular size, 2 mini pies and an experimental tart -

DELICIOUS if I do say so myself ;-)

A Ride in the Country

A beautiful almost Autumn day - perfect for a little ride in  the country...

We saw some beautiful farm land -

We even saw a wind farm....

LOVE this time of year!

Truce!!??!!

This morning while driving down the road - Bob spotted the swan standing in the field.  He backed the truck up, got out, crossed the creek and got between the swan and the pond where it has been living for the past 7 months.
I drove home, grabbed my camera and waited by the window. 

Soon I saw them coming....Bob steering Nice Swan to our pond.



I went outside to see what Nasty Swan would do.....I could tell the second he saw them coming! 

He was all pumped up - in his fighting mode...

But today he was much calmer -- he started swimming toward the other swan, 

not charging toward him like the 2 previous times Nice Swan has tried to come home.

And took a little bit of a round about route...

While Nasty Swan did do a little hissing at this point...it was nothing so aggressive that Nice Swan had to run.

Soon it looked as though they were again buddies, at least until those hormones start raging again!!

 We are so glad to have our swan home --- and we are hoping this truce lasts :)



STUFF...Something We Have Way Too Much Of!

So this past week has been about finding stuff, sorting stuff, and trying to find a place for....STUFF.
We had boxes in the garage that had been there for over 5 years!  There were things I knew I had and wanted to find...and then there were things I had forgotten about...

My wedding flowers.  I knew they were out there, pleasantly surprised that they looked like new!

This is a little frying pan that I had painted and added a sunflower decal, it is the smallest of a set of three.  The other two were here when we bought the house - this one was given to me by my mom. 

When she was a little girl her grandma used this little pan to fry her an egg for breakfast!

My Barbie doll!!!!   This was also one of the items that I knew was here....somewhere.

I must say this little chic looks pretty good for her age!!

With her was her little sister Skipper and friend Midge -

Unfortunately they have very few outfits ...

and only 4 shoes...not even one pair

how bazaar!!

 I found a box of plates....

these I had forgotten about - they had been packed away 16 years ago

 and then moved from one place to another

the pink and blue edged plates were always hanging on mom's kitchen wall

when I was a little girl...

the flowered plates belonged to my grandma... my mom's mom

they are cracked and chipped and discolored,

but to me they are BEAUTIFUL!

and another surprise....

This little blanket was made by mom for little Ronnie Dean

when he was just a little guy

(about 38 years ago)

the print is of all the different fairy tales..

I really was surprised to see it after all these years!

So it has been somewhat like Christmas for me lately....

...finding all these treasures.

Playing Catch Up

Today is the last day of August - it doesn't seem possible! 

Summer goes by way too fast. 
Here are a few August pics that didn't get posted.

To start - a few of Tazzie.. (of course)

Sittin' on the bear...

Her favorite person seems to be Bob

how can that be???

None of our kitties have liked Bob better than me!!!

I'm sure it is just a phase.....

Here she is doing what she does best...

irritating her sister.

And Nap time -

the best time!!

 

I did take a couple of pictures lately that were NOT of Tazzie...

 

Here is my sunflower pot, that we bought in GA...

 filled with Sunflowers...

Toe-Toes enjoying some nice cold watermelon juice..she loves it!

Bob & Jeff trying to catch the swan...

It didn't work, he is still living on the nasty little pond in the field.

Aug. 20

A visit from John (Bob's son) Colleen and

our beautiful granddaughter Molly

Aug. 27

With our neighbors Mary & Joe

Sunday - we finally got around to cleaning out the garage..

well, we got a good start...

a great thing to do on a 90 degree day!!

Then it was time to for Bob to try to move the bubblers-

my job was to stand in the hot sun and pull him around the pond

by this yellow rope...

didn't go quite as planned - I think we have to try it again....

I'm waiting for a cooler day!!!

Today...Aug. 30 --still HOT

Bob called and said he had to go to Ludington

I said ~

 Can I go too????

He came home and picked me up...

We stopped at House of Flavors

for ICE CREAM to go

then went to the water.....

I LOVED IT!!!

The perfect way to say goodbye to August!

FINALLY....

Today we FINALLY took the boat out!!

We bought the boat in GA, then moved away from the water.

A few years ago we took it up to Torch Lake (BEAUTIFUL!)

but since then it has set in the barn.  

 We put the boat in on Lake Mitchell...

Then went under the road...

through the Clam Canal...

to Lake Cadillac.

A great day!!

We are hoping to get at least one more trip ( to a different lake) in before the end of summer.

Graduation

Jay, Shelly, Brooklyn, Levi and Landon

Today we went to Marion, Indiana -

where we watched as my son received his Master's Degree!

                        It was a great day and I am a very proud mom.

This day caused me to reminisce about both of my son's high school years...
a bit challenging.....
and now......

ALLLLLL these years later,

they both have chosen to continue their education.

It makes me SMILE
and wonder
why I worried.....
Love you guys!