This Little Piggie.......

A Pigtail, A Pig's Tail?
This cute little piggie pirate was on the back of the T-Shirt of the guy in front of me at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in North Carolina.  The pirate himself was not all that cute but he had a great braid.

This version of Blogger is going to take some getting used to...

Fall Fun

Last Saturday we travelled to Lowell to the Fallasburg Fall Festival.  It was a blustery, rainy day so I didn't bother with the camera. Despite the weather, we had a great time.  There was a play structure with a 10 foot climbing wall, three slides, a fire pole, a bridge and lots of nooks and crannies, just right for an almost 4 (!!!) year old. We also drew a scary face on a softball sized pumpkin and Cubby had a Jack-O-Lantern painted on his cheek. He's getting to be an old pro at this face painting thing. He managed to get through the day and all the way home before he"accidentally" splashed water on it. 

Look what came home with me! I couldn't resist this happy face. He's going to find a place in my garden if I ever find my garden. Oh, well. There's always next year. For the older crowd, there was an arts and crafts show, music and lots of yummy treats including warm baked apple dumplings with whipped cream ...mmmmm!

 
I won't say it's been awhile since I've mowed but.... look what's growing in my backyard.

Now who planted these?

We go on 'CATION?

This week was Spring Break at LCC.  It would have been fun to travel to some exotic, warm, tropical climate but alas that was not to be.  We did make an overnight excursion to Shipshewana, IN, where we spent the night at Splash Universe. Cubby had an absolute ball! The blue area in the front of the picture is the entrance to the toddler pool - 8" deep. Not for Cubby! He wanted to go down the yellow, blue and orange slides. Even the blue slide being a closed tunnel didn't phase him. Claire would go with him to the top, make sure the slide was clear and send him down. I'd be at the bottom and pull him out. Then we would wait for mom to come down. After awhile, he wanted mom and gamma gamma to change places. Yes, another one of those things you only do for your grandkids. Gamma gamma went down the slides too.

The next morning we spent another couple of hours at the pool and then on to Yoder's and Lolly's. I found some new Ricky Tim's fabric that I hadn't seen before and a $5.00 bag of really nice batik scraps. I kept telling myself to exercise restraint because Chicago was only a month away.

Friday was also my dad's birthday so we stopped in Kzoo for presents and Happy Birthday Quality Dairy doughnuts. Now it's back job hunting and homework but it was a good mini vacation

And They're Off!

At 9:20 this morning the intrepid travelers took off from E Lansing. It was zero degrees here; let's hope the weather is kind to them the rest of the way. Packing, except for delicate things like Irene's guitar and laptop were packed on Friday. After the talk of taking the crockpot and sewing machine, etc., I really expected the van to look like Murphy's closet. I expected it would be hard to close the doors but it really wasn't that bad. Congratulations ladies on your restraint.

 

It was a bit of a challenge getting both bikes on the bike rack but I'm sure they'll be old pros in no time. You may notice that Herman the road possum is taking his own companion, Marijo the Sock Monkey. Pretty progressive of Jan to allow him to bring a 'friend' of the opposite gender.

 
Off they go.... We'll have to start watching for posts from the road. I'm proud of you Jan for following your dream. And what a wonderful friend you are Irene for helping Jan's dream become a reality.

Sophomore Year

I remember sophomore year in East Quad (the hippie dorm) at U of M.  I was lucky enough in the dorm lottery drawing to score a single room on the second floor.  A tiny white cell with (for you MSU fans) a green accent wall. You could also climb out the window to a small balcony which was actually the roof of the bay window of the lounge below.

As I said in my earlier post, we took my nephew to begin his 2nd year at CSUMB. The land has been leased from a 77 year old military post. It is rather eerie driving around looking at old, no longer used, abandoned buildings imagining what life was like when it was teeming with soldiers. There are also many new buildings which the college has built since 1995.

A couple of enterprising management companies are leasing the old base housing to students. Here is my nephew and his new roommates in front of the 3 bedroom house they are leasing. My sister and I both agreed that it was much nicer than our first student rentals.

Here's a closeup of the crew. 

Has everyone seen Julie & Julia? Did it inspire you to cook anything? Cyndee made 4 or 5 different muffins and quick breads to take to her sister's, Irene made Sheperd's Pie, I was going to make plain old spaghetti but was inspired to make a Ham Rotini Bake instead.  How about you?

Timmy and Matt go to Chicago

Here are Matthew (shotgun) and Timmy (driver), my sister's Collies, ready to drive to Chicago.

When we were kids and used to go to the bank or other errand with my dad, he would leave us in the car (back in the days when you could leave kids unattended in the car). We would climb through the bucket seats - our Dad drove a mustang - and sit in the front seats and pretend to drive to Chicago.

Last week I was in California and we moved my nephew the 350 miles back to CSUMB (Cal State Univ Monterey Bay). The "boys" apparently thought it would be fun to go along. Sorry guys, not enough room. Notice their dapper, cool summer haircuts.

Auntie Lisa also taught them a new trick. While getting ice out of the frig for my beverage, a few cubes landed on the floor. I just threw them into the dog water dish like I do at home. Matt and Timmy thought dunking for cubes was great fun and now expect it every time they hear the ice dispenser. Sorry sis. 

A Year Already!

A year ago this week I was in Florence, Italy. Hard to believe the time has gone so fast! Even though it was January, the weather there was nothing like we're having here this year. The temperature was 50-60 degrees, sweaters and jackets and lots of walking.  Plenty warm enough!

I think I remember hearing our new president comment on how young America really is. Babies compared to Italy and the ancient civilizations that existed there. Florence is a Renaissance town. You can just picture Shakespearian characters walking down the narrow streets. Fantastic wine, unbelievable art, incredible architecture. Impossible to see and grasp it all in one visit. 

This boar has a very happy face.  He gets lots of love.  See his shiny snout?  The story goes that if you rub his snout, someday you'll come back to Florence.  I hope so!

Happy Wheatland!

Last weekend, I attended the 35th Annual Wheatland Music Festival with my friend Irene. I had a WONDERFUL time! Everyone camps. Some have RV's and camp in large fields but we found the perfect spot in the pines for our little tent. Irene's son Ben came from Ann Arbor and her son Nate and his friend Veronica came all the way from upstate New York.  The guys also had a group of friends with them, one had even come from Seattle!  They created their own little "compound" of tents in a different area away from the moms but we ran into them several times during the weekend. Ben even danced with his mom until 2am on Saturday night - Sunday morning?

There are three stages, the Main stage shown here, the Centennial Stage and the dance stage.

Some of the acts that were on the Centennial Stage were lesser known but just as good as the main acts.  We even got to see our own Jen Sygit and Jeremy Kittel. The dance stage was always hopping from early morning yoga, afternoon dance classes (I took 3 dance classes), and evening dances that went well after midnight. In addition, there are activities for children and teens and two other workshop tents where you could learn how to play different instruments.

I took a beginning Bodhran class and since I didn't have a bodhran, we learned on a pizza  box with a dowel for a tipper.

One of my favorite parts of Wheatland besides the relaxed family atmosphere was the impromptu jammin that went on. Many people bring their instruments and just get together and start playing. Here's a group playing in the picnic area.  Both nights there was a Stringband playing in the clearing near our tent - great to fall asleep to. The Fabulous Heftones from Lansing kept popping up here and there. Even little kids would get out their fiddles (I even saw a little girl on a camp stool with a cello) and leave their cases open hoping you'd show your appreciation. I was only gone two-and-a-half days but I feel like I had a real vacation.

Griffith Observatory

Griffith J. Griffith was born in Wales in 1850, came to the U.S. as a teenager and eventually made his fortune in Mexican silver mines and subsequently, California real estate. He had visited public parks in Europe and decided that in order to become a great city, his hometown, Los Angeles would need a great public park. In 1896, he donated 3,015 acres to the City of Los Angeles.  

Griffith became interested in astronomy and in 1912, he offered the City of Los Angeles and additional $100,000 for an observatory to be built on top of Mount Hollywood.

Griffith realized that the observatory would not be completed in his lifetime and set up a trust to continue his vision. The depression era made the finest materials available at a reasonable cost.

The formal dedication of the Griffith Observatory took place on May 14, 1935.

from an article by Christopher Hansen, Melanie Wang and Anthony Cook.

Sailing Away

On Saturday, Alanna and I drove to Bay City to take a sail on the Tall Ship Appledore IV. It was an incredible day for sailing! Although hazy when we left, by the time we arrived there was nothing but blue skies. There were whitecaps on Saginaw Bay which meant the wind was 12-15 knots. Perfect for sailing!

We motored up the river but when we reached the bay it was  time to hoist the sails. Alanna, being an experienced sailor and current Commander of the Power Squadron volunteered to 'heave to'.

Once the sails were raised, we dashed across the bay and back. There were squeals every now and then when the spray would come over the ship but nobody was seriously soaked.  All part of sailing.

We returned to the dock much too soon.  The Appledore IV has public sails on the weekends and is available for private parties and wedding receptions, etc.  It's non-profit and the dollars earned from public sails are used to fund educational sails for school kids the other five days a week from April to mid June.

Now I'm reading Diana Gabaldon's 3rd volume in the Outlander series called Voyager. In it, the main characters are traveling by ship from Edinburgh to Jamaica in 1768. Maybe on a ship much like the Appledore IV? 

California Boys

No, it's not Lassie and Timmy but it is Timmy and Matthew.  These are my sister's boys. They are full Collie brothers and are about a year old. She started out with just Timmy (the darker one) but through circumstances, Matthew needed a home too. They play and wrestle just like good brothers should.

These good looking guys are my sister's other two boys. This was taken prom night in their yard. How do kids grow so fast? They have this lemon tree, a huge avocado tree, plums (picked 10 pounds just this week) and apples. They can also grow tomatoes year-round. (Don't we wish...)

Graduation Day.  640 graduates on the field and about 5,000 fans in the stands. After graduation, they bus them to Disneyland all night for a 'safe celebration'. Needless to say, my nephew slept the whole next day. 

First Visitors

Don't they look great? Phyllis, Tim and Dewey on the front porch of their new house in Burbank, CA. My sister and I went to visit - was it only last week?  They are still waiting to close and have furniture and washer and dryer on hold just waiting for the paperwork to be final.

The old owners got as far as remodeling the kitchen complete with enormous stainless steel appliances including Tim's Viking Range (we know who does the cooking in this family).

Phyllis and Tim have great plans for the house including moving some walls and installing a master bath. The garage will be Phyllis' new quilt studio with a sliding glass door and a skylight for plenty of light and artistic inspiration.

We had a wonderful visit. Phyllis told Tim it was exciting to be entertaining their first guests in their new home and I was happy to be a part of it.

A view from the front, lots of square feet for the fabric storage, um... studio. Don't look for this house the next time you're in Burbank. You may not recognize it. Tim plans to take off the flagstone and brick the lower half and stucco the top to fit in with the rest of the neighborhood. Phyllis and Tim (and Dewey) are like two kids off on a wild adventure and loving every minute of it.  If anyone has any favorite paint chips they'd like to send (fabric samples maybe?), they are having trouble deciding on colors.

California Hi Ho!

Off to California!  My nephew is graduating from High school in Burbank, CA and my mom and dad and I are flying out for the festivities.  My sister has planned an itinerary which includes a Dodger Game, fabric shopping, family picnic, bead shopping, oh yeah, graduation, more fabric shopping, fresh seafood, LA Garment district (fabric, embellishments, beads) and a concert at the Walt Disney Center by the U of M (sorry green fans) Men's Glee Club.  

This is the building designed by Frank Gehry.

I'm not sure where we are sitting but I'm excited just to be going there.

If we get the chance, I'll try to connect with Phyllis and Tim.  They are supposed to be moving in to their new house tomorrow.