Wednesday ....July 30th!

  Whoa!  Where is the summer going?  I can't believe how fast the days are rolling by....

        Dom and I managed to pick 16 quarts of strawberries and 6 quarts of raspberries on Monday night, so you all probably know what we did on Tuesday!  We made many jars of jam......and I also threw together a couple of pies!  

        I visited my sister's friend, Jean Hendrickson, later that afternoon.  I took Kirsti and Spencer/Stella with me, since I knew that she hadn't met Kirsti yet.....it proved to be a wonderful visit!  We only stayed about 45 minutes, but Jean (Gigi to the kids) throroughly enjoyed the antics of Stella.  

On the way home, Stella was telling Kirsti and me that she wanted to keep visiting and driving.....so how about driving now to Auntie KAFRINA's house to play with Morgan and Natalie!  She's so funny.....she can't say her consonant blends....especially the TR.... (You can imagine how we chuckle when she hollers out....."Look!  Here comes a fire Fruck!")

        Then last night, Dom and I went out for a quick burger and beer at the Crossroads Bar.  You shoud see how nice the place looks, under the new ownership.  They are really fixing the place up!

Well,  it IS Wednesday and it's time to enjoy the day!  Dom and I are planting a few new plants and shrubs in the yard.  Then it's off to the beach.......we might even take the boat out for a quick spin on the lake.

       Tomorrow we will head downstate to see a Neil Diamond concert.  Then we will pick up Kim and head back to the U.P.  Kim will be home for a couple of weeks.....on break!  We will be out and about with her.  More adventures are forthcoming.......

Mama Mia anyone?

Good Morning.....

     If you haven't seen the movie, "Mama Mia," it a MUST-SEE for everyone!  We went to see it the other night, and Dom and I really enjoyed the whole movie.  The storyline is great and the actors did a superb job of acting and singing.  You will be surprised at the talent. 

     It's Monday morning and the start of a new week!  It was a great weekend at Art on the Rocks.  I was able to sit with Cathy Brunet and visit with the people who passed by Cathy's booth.  Her watercolor paintings are outstanding!  There were so many good artists out there that people were going crazy looking and buying the art work. I found several things that I will put aside for birthdays and Christmas presents, but SSsssshhhh......it's a secret! LOL

    Well, it's another "beach day" and I have to get a few things done around the house before we head out of the house.  I might even roller blade with my girlfriends.

     Have a great week everyone........

   

Saturday in Marquette

     Whew!  What a day!  I spent the first part of the day, keeping Cathy company at her booth at "Art on the Rocks" at Presque Isle.  She does an amazing job of painting beautiful pictures....I left at 1:30  so that Kirsti could take a shift.  You would not believe all the people who came out to look at all the different artists displaying their work.  The weather cooperated and provided a perfect backdrop for the art fair.  I saw so many people that I knew from years back.....it was fun!  Then I quickly checked out the Outback Art Fair at Picnic Rocks.  I found some wooden toys for Morgan that will be put aside for Christmas.....and some beautiful hot chocolate mugs for the Longhini siblings.  I hope they will like them.  I choose this particular artist because of the "holding style" of the mugs.....and the amount of liquid each mug will hold!  Ha!

        Then Dom and I went to the "Italian Fest" in Ishpeming.  I saw my old classmate from CHS.  Her name is LaVonne.  She and her husband, John, live in the Minneapolis area and she gave me a hard time for NOT looking her up when I'm in the Twin Cities.  So we did promise to call and get together when we visit Trina and Jon.  Both of them are teachers and are in full swing of their careers.  In fact,  LaVonne is going back to college for another degree and John is getting his PhD in December.  But......we had Italian pasta and listened to our favorite band from Chicago....Diamante!   They played for about 3 hours....and the crowd was dancing and singing along with all of the songs.  It was a great community party!  

        So needless to say....we're pooped and heading for the hot tub!  Good night!

Wednesday ....July 23rd!

Hey there everyone,

   I'm so sorry that I haven't written lately, but I have been busy here at the house.  As most of you know, I spent last weekend in the Twin Cities at Trina's house.......it was so much fun to be with all FOUR of the grandkids!  Many fond memories......

    On Monday morning, I spent an hour in the dentist's chair, getting my permanent upper bridge!  Then the next hour, I was at the dermatologist's office, getting my cyst taken off my right arm....(it was sent away for biopsy...just to be on the safe side!)....then I came home and made some frozen strawberry slushies in the bucket.......whipped together two pans of lasagna.......and tidied up the house.  I was then ready for the "nail therapy" with Danielle for an hour!  HA!  Because then........

      On Monday night, I threw a party for Diana's 62nd birthday!  Sandy, Ragene, Lyn, and Daphne helped out with side dishes and a cake.  Lyn even made her first lemon meringue pie....it was fantastic!  Kirsti stopped by with Stella and Spencer.  Even Hank and Rick showed up!  The highlight was when Diana opened up her present from Lyn......a pair of roller blades (compete with elbow pads, knee pads, and wrist guards)!  Needless to say, the next day was devoted to securing "the PERFECT" helmet for Diana to wear!

        Tuesday was a "catching my wind" day......devoted to shopping and getting some laundry done.  Then Tuesday night, I had GNO (Girls Night Out) with my girlfriends......we all brought salads and BYO over to Debbie's house......great girlfriend therapy!  (I highly recommend it to all of you!)  We built a fire in the backyard fire pit and just chatted over a couple glasses of wine.  Jane's European river cruise was fabulous.....it was so much fun, listening to her.  Needless to say, I didn't get home until 11:30!!!!

      Wednesday was set aside for Dominic.  We spent the day on the SeaDoo boat....in the Houghton Canal!  You wouldn't believe how beautiful some of those houses are that some people have built on both the Hancock and Houghton sides of the canal. I took pictures, so I will share some of them with you.....as soon as I can figure out how to figure out the camera hook-up, etc.    I'll get it.......don't worry!  Thus, it is now 9:30 and I'm starting to run low on my own battery power..........I think I'll take a hot tub and then go to bed.

      Tomorrow we are going over to Lake Gogebic to do some visiting, etc.  I'll blog tomorrow night....until then.....love to all of  you!

Saturday in the Twin Cities

Hello there.....

  Kirsti, Stella, Spencer, and I are in the Twin Cities.......visiting and playing with Trina and Jon's cuties.......Morgan and Natalie.  We are having a good time.  

Tuesday

It's Tuesday and I'm home catching up on some house chores.  I ran a few errands this morning, and now I'm doing laundry and tidying up the house.  I leave for the Twin Cities with Kirsti and her two children in the morning.  We will spend some time with Trina and her family for a few days before coming back to Marquette.  On Saturday, Trina is taking me to see Neil Diamond perform......I can't wait!  I am so excited to see and hear him sing.  He could sing to me 24/7 and I'd be one smiling lady!

    Dom is off to the camp with Annie, our dog.  He is planning to do some fishing and fixing up some of the deer blinds.  He will be home on Thursday.  

Hopefully, Trina will give me a few pointers on the laptop, so that I can get better at this blogging......I hope all who reads these entries are enjoying them.  Give me some feedback in the comment section.

Sipping Coffee on Saturday Morning :-)

Good Morning, everyone......

      It's been a great morning, so far.  I am on my second cup of coffee and just reading my email and updating my blog site.  Yesterday was a fun day with my friend, Barb Schneider.  While Dom was fishing on the Escanaba River with Charlie Schneider, Barb and I were stirring a pot of jam in the morning, cruising the bike trial in Marquette in the afternoon (after having lunch at L'Attitudes)........ (We rode the bikes all the way to Presque Isle), making a pan of manicotti for supper, and enjoying a traditional Longhini supper with family and friends at 7:00 !  Whew!  Kirsti came over for supper with Stella and Spencer, so that Chuck and Barb could visit with everyone.  It was a jam-packed day.......pardon the pun! 

Today is the 75th anniversary for the Bay Cliff Health Camp, so the Schneiders went up to Big Bay for that celebration.  I don't know if we are going up there for the day or not......we'll see how the day goes.

       Well....all for now. I'll post later..........

STRAWBERRIES and good memories.....

Today was a busy day, beginning with the a packed van heading to the strawberry fields in Trenary! It was the first day that Peter Maki allowed the community of berry pickers into the fields.....Yesssss..... and we were there.....all seven of us!  Kirsti, Stella, Cathy, Erin, Josie, Megan, and me!  Okay, so we had a later start than the local crew (7 a.m.), but we were there at 10:00. We left the strawberry field at 12:00, with 47 quarts of beautiful berries.  I was busy taking pictures with Erin's camera. So you know what I did this afternoon....cleaned the berries!

    This evening, I went to a play in Gwinn and saw Ragene's play performed in the GHS cafeteria.  Ragene wrote the play for the centennial celebration that has been going on  for the Gwinn community for about one week now.  The whole cafeteria was packed with the locals and relatives and friends from out of town.  Sandy Knoebel and Diana Nelson went with me, in Ragene and Bill's car.  We made an evening out of it and had a good time. Ragene received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from the director and actors on the stage at the end of the performance.  It was a memorable evening.

      We are getting some out of town company tomorrow....Barb and Chuck  Schneider from Reed City.....they will be with us for a couple of days.  They are in town to attend a reunion up at the Bay Cliff Health Camp.

       Before I end this blog....I want to be one of the first to wish Katrina and Jon a ""Happy Anniversary"  tomorrow.....4 years already!  XXOO

       I hope you all enjoy this blog site......I will try to keep it going.   Good Night....

4th of July

Happy Fourth of July!

   We started out the morning with a pancake breakfast, and then proceeded on to the parade in the downtown area.  It's been a beautiful day, with temperatures in the 70's......very comfortable and warm!  Trina and Jon came in yesterday with Natalie and Morgan.  The grandkids have been wonderful.  We are amazed how much older both of the kids seem!  Natalie is toddling all over the place and she sure is a cutie!  Morgan couldn't wait to get his hands on grandpa's antique orange crane and Uncle DJ's wooden crane and logging truck! I'll have to get the pictures up on the blog site in the next couple of days.  

    Well, I need to end here, as we are going back into the lower harbor area to watch the fireworks tonight.  Later.......

"Plan B" Wednesday

Hello.....and here's hoping for funny, warm weather for the Fourth of July.......

   Check out these neat pictures of a nearby fishing spot.  The woods are so picturesque this time of the year!

     Tonight............

     I am busy making up some freshly baked cookies and finishing up some laundry this evening.  Dom is still not feeling well.   He has intense pain in his groin area....in fact, we went to the doctor's office this afternoon, but nothing will be known about his condition until he undergoes the MRI tomorrow morning.  So it will be off to the hospital at 7:30 A.M.   I'll keep you all posted on his condition.

      It's been beautiful outside today.  I did plant my garden last night....... 12 different vegetables, all planted in alphabetical order!!!!!  HA......I figured this way I can remember what was planted in each row!  :-) I did give each row  a good layer of special miracle grow soil....watered the plot....then thundershowers last night......sunny and warm today......HEY!!!!  Something might even come up in a couple of weeks.......

      These creepy, crawly caterpillars are driving us nuts!.....They are hanging from the trees, eating all the leaves, and scaling up the house walls.....I must spend about an hour every morning and also, every night spraying the house down with the hose!   That is the only way to keep them from climbing.....then they drown!  What a way to go!

      We are looking forward to the upcoming weekend.........the Budweiser horse team is in town for the parades in the local area.  Those Clydesdale horses are just so majestic!  We will go and visit the temporary horse barn, set up in the Lakeview Arena for the next couple of days. 

     I'll get some pictures taken....and post them next time.      Hugs to friends and family......

Tuesday update

Hi there....

   I am experimenting with the size of the pictures that I post on my blog.

    I just talked with Mari, who has a 5-day old little boy named Mateus.  She sounded so good!  I'll try to post a picture of him soon.

    Meanwhile, here's a picture of Dom with his latest catch from the Escanaba River.  It looks like good eating, doesn't it?

   More later......