Starting to Roll (into Christmas)

Okay, okay - it is three AM, but that is the time I work best! It is just who I am and have always been! Man, I love looking at blogs! There is just a ton of wonderfully interesting stuff out there! Wonderful crafts I want to try, great recipes I would love to try (or at least give to Clay to try!) and beautiful pictures, etc., etc. Anyway - and now I am listening to a very interesting interview with Charlie Rose and he is interviewing Bill Gates, so I might as well add a new blog! What the heck, it is vacation, and I don't have work tomorrow! Let's see what good pictures I can find!

You know - I need to tell a little grateful to God story here - See the picture of my family below?
Well, that wasn't always the way things were. For MANY years it seemed to me that God didn't want me to have a family. My father was killed in a car accident when I was in first grade, and my mom died when I was in college. Then several years later, when I was married, we were wanting to start a family. Ha, ha.... little did I know - I got pregnant the first month we tried, had a miscarriage, and thought, oh that was easy, I am sure I will be pregnant again soon. Ha, ha. Seven LONG years later - and after many, many pills, shots, surgery, etc., and much, much prayer and pleading with God, He blessed us with Ben and Emily. And you know if someone had told me, you will have a child in seven years that would have been so great, but you never know if that seven years is going to be seventeen years, or never. So anyway - before I get too too lengthy here, I am VERY GRATEFUL to God for my wonderful family, and I so look forward to being all together in a few days! My life is very blessed! (and if anyone needs Christian information/encouragement on infertillity, let me know!) Gee after all that I will have to include more kiddo pictures!



The angel below here was given to me by my mother-in-law many years ago. Isn't it just the most beautiful and sweet thing? It plays music too when you wind her up. This is one of my favorite decorations - I love it.

And here is a cardinal on our bird feeder, look at that red!
And here is Mo Mo (Mozart) our cat that we said we would babysit two years ago, and somehow ended up staying with us! We LOVE this cat - he just lives for us to pet him, and he is the softest thing ever! He looks like he is half asleep here, which I think he was until I had to get him to look at the camera for me!


And then here is one of my current/new decorations. I found this lovely bird cage at my neighbor's garage sale. I will have to show you the whole thing later, it has all hearts around it and my neighbor used it for envelopes at her wedding. She was glad I was taking it and giving it a good home. So, I first started putting in only gold and silver balls, then thought what the heck, maybe it needs some color, so I added some red ones too. Hmmmmm, don't know though yet!
Well, we are getting up early tomorrow to do some final shopping. Mostly for my daughter who is going on a bike trip in Australia in two weeks. We don't have any bike shops in town so have to go an hour north, east, or south to get to a bigger city. We are also supposed to be getting a new snow storm, so we will see which direction gets the least snow!

So good night everyone!

Hugs - Diane

This is the picture outside of our living room window. It has been snowing quite a bit lately, and is also quite cold! I LOVE it!

Found my missing Scans!

Well, I found the two I was looking for! So here you go. In this first one I am the little blondie and was three, going on four, because the pajama top my dad is holding up my mom made for the new grandchild soon to be born! (my brother was 22 years old when I came along!) My brother and his wife weren't in the picture, and I think that is their pajamas in the foreground, but see how the tiny one has "baby" written on the pocket? Isn't that cute? My mom made all those pajamas - pretty talented lady. And don't you love the vintage tree in the background?

And in this picture I was a little older - and I think Santa was Mr. Duenk, who lived across the street. I think I was trying to figure it out here - I could tell the beard was fake! And again, a corduroy dress my mom had made. I remember this Santa visit, wasn't it nice he came to see me in my neighbor's kitchen?

Oops, my 20 year old daughter is calling me to come and tuck her in - can't pass that invitation up! In two weeks she goes to Australia for a Bike Tour!

Still Decorating!

Help - I am still decorating (and trying to put stuff away!), but I did find some old family Christmas pictures, that I thought I would share with everyone. Well, that didn't work so well! I did get one, nope two pictures to work, but all the other ones I scanned have disappeared - can't find them anywhere, and besides that I couldn't get the pictures to upload - everything would freeze!

The top picture was sent out as a Christmas card, with me in my little green felt skirt that was made by my mom, and I have it still. It was used as a Christmas tree skirt for many years!

Then this picture below, I couldn't resist showing it here too. Don't I look like I have something naughty planned? I love that little glint in my eye!


And if anyone has any ideas about how to find the other pictures I had scanned, please let me know! I am hoping my computer-wise son, who is coming home in a day or two, will help me out here!

See ya soon!

Diane

Tagged - Sixth Set, Sixth Picture

My son tagged me for a picture from my Flickr account. I had to show the sixth picture in my sixth set. Well, here it is, and I guess it is fitting since that is my handsome son on the right! That is my niece, Ilona, on the left, and great nephew Simon in the middle. What a bunch of cuties if I do say so myself! This was taken at my father-in-laws funeral, and of course it was a sad time, but also happy - he was 96 years young, and very ready to be with his Maker!

Now I am supposed to tag six other Flickr people, but other than my kids I don't know of anyone else using Flickr. So if you who may be reading this, has a Flickr account, would you please join in with the game? It really is kind of fun to see what picture fits the bill. Have fun!

Oh Dear, Oh Dear!

I am still here guys!!! I am just having a terrible time decorating! I am just not gifted in the area of putting stuff together, making decisions, knowing how to do this decorating stuff. We do have the tree up and decorated now (I do love those red ornaments!) and have begun moving things around in my other decorating spots - but am really struggling with what looks good! I have this lovely new (garage sale) white bird cage that I filled up with silver and gold balls I bought last year (plastic and cheap - don't tell anyone!) and they look pretty good. Then I find some red balls, and think, oh maybe it needs some color too - so there I go - not sure which way to go! and then I think, well maybe I should put a tree and something else in there - hmmmmmm - decisions, decisions! And I know it doesn't make any difference, and I know it is no big deal, and yada yada yada - I still struggle with it. So tomorrow I will take some pictures of my decorating dilemas, and ask for help/opinions!

In the mean time here is a box of vintage ornaments I got at a church rummage for four dollars - aren't they beautiful?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Hope you were all able to get together with family and friends and enjoy the day!

We went to have Thanksgiving at my sister's house - and had a lovely time! Only one downside, oldest son wasn't able to come home and join us. This is the first holiday we haven't all been together. He was well taken care of though - he was invited to friends, had a great time, and had three or four other invitations also. He was even sent a package of his favorite Pumpkin Cookies from his friend's mom back home here in St. Joe.

Lovely dishes aren't they? My hubby made those! On his pottery wheel! Very talented guy if I do say so myself!

And here is my dear sister, the host. (mmmm just look at those sweet potatoes!)

Oh, and can't forget an actual craft I did. See the banner I made? I couldn't pick which one was better (neither one is too in focus), did that after seeing all the lovely banners done on other blogs. Come to think of it, mine are pretty plain looking! Oh well, it is a beginning!

Thinking about Christmas?

I don't know if this is going to work or not, but I was out with my Birthday Lady Friends tonight - and heard about this video. It is GREAT! Altho I should add I haven't been able to LISTEN to the video, some kind of glitch with my laptop, where is my son when I need him???? But I sure liked the video part! I always struggle with the giving and getting part of Christmas, and trying to teach my kids to really grasp what Christmas is all about - altho they really do understand very well already! And you don't hear much either these days about only giving something hand-made, but oh well, can't change the world I guess, but I can at least pass this on: So hope it works, check it out and let me know what you think, would you please?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU

All the best,

Diane

Fall Fun

The picture below, with the leaves is a good one to click on to get the full effect!

Aha - we did this last month, but I am so behind in blogging, I just have to start somewhere I guess! The more behind you get in blogging the more daunting the job seems, so you (I) just keep putting it off and pretty soon the snowball is HUGE! Maybe I will try and blog a little bit at a time.

Anyway - last month, on a beautiful 70-ish fall Saturday hubby and I did something we have wanted to do for years and years! Instead of finishing up the raking, and other yard work, we went camping! To make things as easy as possible, and since it was 6 PM when we finally decided to do this (maybe it was 5) we rented the little "cabin" at the local state park, Warren Dunes, along Lake Michigan. The trees were right in their height of colors, and we knew the campground wouldn't be crowded (always a nice thing!) and the temperature was unbelievable! So we grabbed some hotdogs, some marshmallows, graham crackers some wine and our sleeping bags and off we went. It was lots of fun - it was nice to be able to be somewhere where you CAN'T do any jobs around the house! We don't do this too often, and besides it is such fun to do things spontaneously! A friend came to sit around the campfire with us for awhile, and then we stayed up till very, very late enjoying the campfire with just the two of us! There is something magical about campfires, and they become quite mesmerizing. Of course I took lots of pictures, and will try to hold it to a minimum here, and somehow the vivid colors that you see before you don't always show up on the photo. I will have to check and see if when you click on them to enlarge them it helps or not. And I think I have a million pictures of campfires by now, but of course I took quite a few this time too. (surprise, surprise!)
Can't you just hear the fire crackling in the picture above?

Oh dear - everything froze on the computer when I tried to put the pictures in, and I am afraid it lost the last half of my post!!! Doggone it - and it was said perfectly too! I wonder if there is anyway to get that back????!!!!! Anyone know? And I will have to add the pictures tomorrow night - see you then!

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Trying again---- so last night when I tried to add pictures to my late night post my computer froze, and I tried doing several things to get it unfrozen,, but finally had to resort for a "force quit" and I was hoping it would still be in the automatically saved draft form, but only a small portion did....oh well..... I think I was talking about campfires..... I was also telling about how there was a family near us, with several boys, and they kept coming closer and closer to us and our campfire - I think they were wanting to chat! But hearing them also reminded me of when we would go camping with the kids when they were little. It was always lots of fun. And then there were the campfires we have at home too......lots of good memories......we didn't have a family room, so we would encourage our kids to have their friends over for a campfire where there was plenty of room. We would supply the marshmallows 7 graham crackers, brownie sundaes, root beer floats or popcorn. This way we could keep going out there to check on everyone - pretty sneaky, huh? But we all loved it and a couple of weeks ago when Emily was home from college, she had a couple of long time friends that were also home from college for the weekend, come over to have a campfire - it was like old times! And I love it when they would let
me join them!!!

So we are supposed to be getting a lot of snow tonight, but so far it is only a dusting. But before winter sets in, I wanted to reminisce about this great fall weekend. Thank you God for wonderfully unique seasons, and the beauty each one has!

A Few Good Finds

Wanted to show you, very quickly, a couple of things I bought at last week's Bluff Antique Show. Once a month they have a wonderful open air antique show on the bluff, overlooking Lake Michigan. It is a walk in the park, and always has lovely breezes, and look what neat things I found for a couple bucks! I have this plate holder that holds large plates, and so far, all I keep finding are pretty little ones. But these were a good start tho! Isn't the one with the bluebirds beautiful? And the Dutch one is neat too -it says it is an autumn scene, I wonder if there are the other seasons out there too somewhere? Some day, if I ever get caught up, I will show you lots of other finds I have collected over the months, thrifting/antiquing is so much fun!!!

This glass dish was only $1.00 (I haggled!) and my friend who was with me, and knows her antiques, says it is crystal, but I don't know - I thought it was pressed glass, but the edges are a little sharp, and I couldn't see a mold line, oh well, whatever, it is very pretty!

Ahhh, Fall or Pumpkins & Grapes

I love Fall - I love living in a place that has four distinct seasons - I love each one, and each season has its own part that I love! I love the cooler temperatures, the crunch of the leaves when you walk, the earthy oranges and browns and golds. I went out last weekend, and took pictures of grapes and pumpkins that are both right down our street here in Michigan. The pumpkin farm is always so much fun, we took the kids there every year, and took a yearly photo (or two or three or four!) of them picking out their pumpkins, and posing with the scary pumpkin creatures. Dad and I still have to go every year, and it always brings back fond memories. And once again, I just couldn't decide which pictures to include, and which to leave out, so believe it or not, I did leave a lot out - but the price was right to include lots too, so hope you enjoy them. And don't forget to click on them if you want a closer view.


Rows and rows of pumpkins!









Then there are also the grapes that are near to being picked. It was hard getting a good shot of these, because they seemed to all be hanging out in the shade! So I am putting a lot of grape pictures on here, but maybe tomorrow or the next day I can decide on which ones to delete..... oh well...

But what is great about living in Michigan - is at this time of year when you go driving down the country roads of grape fields it just smells HEAVENLY! It smells like grape juice, with every breath you take! Welch's buys a lot of these grapes I hear, but boy does it ever smell good there for a couple of weeks.






Look at all those grapes!


Well, hope you enjoyed your little drive down the country road here in Michigan!

Hugs - Diane

Garden Walk

Well it is going to be "feast or famine" here. I know it has been a long time, but boy do I have pictures to share today. A couple of weeks ago we had a Garden Walk tour in town. We usually try and go to those every year, we really enjoy them. And seeing as we have been spending a fair amount of time doing funeral things, I thought it would be a nice break. So.... lots of neat flower pictures - and this is only a small portion of what I took! It was kind of a late Garden Walk this year, so was wondering what kind of flowers would be blooming, but sure enough, there were plenty!

Most of the gardens were at homes that were huge, beautiful homes, many of them by Lake Michigan. They were lovely to see. I took some pictures of them too, but thought pictures of flowers might be more enjoyable to look at.

The first garden we stopped at was at Tosi's, an Italian Restaurant in town. We were able to see their Herb Garden out back, that I am sure they must use in the cooking. And then we were able to walk through the garden area in front where you can sit when you are at the restaurant. I highly recommend the restaurant!





We also ran into some friends from South Haven that we made several years ago at the same Garden Walk. We got to talking, and realized we had a lot in common. We had them over to our house afterwards for iced tea those several years ago, and in return they later left a gift to us of some grasses that they were dividing, and sharing. Anyway, it was nice to see them again and catch up. One of these years we have to get up to their house to see their gardens.


This is some kind of bugs on a Milkweed Pod - isn't that interesting? This particular garden was more of a walk in the woods. They had a neat firepit in the woods, and a lovely path going all around their property.






This particular garden was my favorite, because it showed how you can do lovely things with just a "regular" type home and yard. I wish I had taken more pictures of the gazebo though, but hope you can get the feel of what they did.


Anemone

And then look at this house - notice the pretty pink and white border everywhere. Some places it was begonias, and other places it was petunias. And the pond was great too - and the birds were really striking too.




This was a water garden that had lovely water lilies.




Also included on the tour is a local grade school classes garden that they tend. We had a lovely tour of all the flowers and fruit they are growing, and have one area where they are growing flowers according to the alphabet. A different flower for each letter of the alphabet. You could tell the kids were very proud of what they were showing us, and knew a lot about the different plants.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the little garden tour here in Michigan. And don't forget to click on the pictures for a much closer view!