Not A Happy Camper

Have you ever been frustrated to the point of wanting to kick something?  This weekend was our family Halloween gathering.  We had a good time and all even though the weather was rainy and cold for part of it.  What I'm so mad about is not being able to find my memory card with most of the better pics on it.  I took it out of my camera and that's the last I remember! I think I was just pretty tired last night and I'm sure it will surface when I least expect it or need it. I have a few pics on my phone so it's not totally a pic free post.  I really kind of over did it these past weeks getting ready for the gang to arrive.  I wasn't sure how many were actually coming until the last minute but my sister made it along with her 3 kiddos and their kiddos.  On Friday after they settled into the hotel the "kid" adults gathered together for dinner and fun while Midge and I watched the kids play in the pool.

Lots of splashing going on!  They played until the pool closed at 7.  Then we all headed over to my house for pizza and movies.  The movies didn't happen but they found things to do until the parents came back around 9 to get them.  It poured rain that night but was sunny and bright in the morning. The temps were on the chilly side but it's fall y'all!  The dads and the boys went to Ashland University to see the team play and win their homecoming game.  The girls went shopping and Midge and I finished preparations for the party in the afternoon.  Oh, I did get up early with my sis to get her to dialysis by 6:20am.  We were a bit tuckered out by the end of the night!  Well, the rain held off until the afternoon but unfortunately the party was at 4 and rain came and stayed all evening!  So outdoor fire pit and other things we had planned were nixed and we went to my plan B.  We decorated the garage and had food and games in there.

Food set up here. We had sloppy joes, shredded chicken, ghost sandwiches, chips, salad, mac 'n cheese, cheesy potatoes and lots of desserts.  We sang happy birthday to Midge's two girls.  Katie has a birthday on October 30th and Amy had hers on Friday.  Of course those pics and the shots of the creepy coffin cake are on the memory card I can't find!  But here's a classic of the birthday sisters:

Happy birthday you crazy kids! 

Some of the gang cozy in the garage. We closed the doors to keep it warm.  We played games with the littles and their parents.

Here was the candy catch game that proved most of us are cheaters and bad catchers! Ha! The other games are...you guessed it...on my lost card.  Hopefully it will be found and I can get them on the blog for my journal purposes anyway!  I'll finish this post with some photos I promised to show of the finished living room painting project.

You can see the darker green on the back wall.  Hello Annabelle! She likes watching Hoda and Jenna.

The other half that shows the bookcases with the new white paint and the green back ground.  I think I showed this side before...sorry! 

The day before everyone arrived Annabelle had a spa day and left with a dumb bow on her head that she took off not long after this pic!  She's not crazy about the bandanas they usually give her either. Speaking of dogs...my sister got a new puppy on her way back to Illinois.

He's a mini golden doodle about 8 weeks old and she changed his name from Brooks to Flynn. She has a Granddaughter named Brook so she thought it was a good idea to change the name.  He's adorable in his pics but she's stronger than I am when it comes to raising puppies!  Her other dog, Hope, isn't quite on board yet but I'm sure she'll come around when he gets a little bigger and can play with her.  So it was a busy but fun weekend and everyone seemed to have a good time.  Midge and I enjoyed a quiet Sunday while her Grandkids and their parents spent the day at Cedar Point.  My brother Phil and my sister in-law Cilla were suppose to be here on Sunday too but they had flight issues from Arizona where they were vacationing. They decided to just head home to Florida.  They would have arrived way to late on Saturday night/early Sunday morning and then we would have been just really tired on Sunday. We were sorry they couldn't make it but we have plans to meet for our annual Christmas family gathering in Chicago in December.   The Fall colors have finally arrived and this week the trees are spectacular! It's going to be a warm week after a hard frost we had yesterday so I guess this is Indian Summer!  

The trees around the Pines are lovely and this final week of my favorite  month is going to be very nice indeed!  Enjoy your week everyone!

I Need A Magic Broom!

 The past few weeks we've been getting projects done around the house in preparation for the family coming in next weekend for our annual Halloween/Autumn bash.  These projects are good to have done even if no one was coming,  Do you do that? Put off some things until guests are coming or is it just me? Anyway, I've cleaned out closets,  got all my decorating for the season done inside and currently working on the outside. I even washed the outside of the house! I do that every couple of years when the white siding needs it.  To top it off  I volunteered for the historical society to help decorate the Freer House for the annual pumpkin glow.  Throw in busy, crazy work days and I really could use a magic broom to sweep it all done! I work tomorrow and only one day next week so I'll be ready for my sister and her kiddos and even my brother Phil and my sister-in-law Cilla are coming from Florida.   I have a menu planned for all the days they'll be here and activities for the youngest kids.  I know it will all come together but my biggest prayer is for good weather.  Last year it was picture perfect but this year is looking a little soggy and chilly.  Oh well, I know we will have fun no matter what!  Here's a few pics of my past few days:

This is the dining room of this old historic house that we were assigned to decorate. We did a witches luncheon! It turned out really cute and this is only a small snippet of the room.  I'll have more at the event day.

Another little niche we did.

All these light up and almost all of our decor has lights and even some sounds that will surprise!

This stairway will not be used for the public but all these pumpkins will be lit up and it looks very cool at night.  There's lots of rooms that are themed....like the skeleton room, the witch room, the pumpkin room and also candy for kids to go trick or treating. Pumpkins outside will be carved and lit up too.  Throw in some food trucks and outdoor decor and it should be a fun family night.  Now for some pics of my outdoor decor:

I thought this area would make a good photo op for my family.  I have another spot that's not done yet but you know I'll be taking pics of it for the blog.   Poor Jack spent most of the afternoon trying to clean the van out with all the straw from the bales and the cornstalks too.  Halloween is messy!

I found this wooden guy at the dollar store.  Good buy for a wooden sign. I got the last one.  Jack would say, "Oh, lucky you!".  Throw in the sound of sarcasm with that remark! Ha! Anyway, it may end up as a prize with some of our games.   Not much else to report except the cool, lovely chilly Fall weather.  We had a picture perfect day today and I feel like I accomplished a ton.  Now on to work tomorrow.  We're using a new electronic medical record and it's much different from the previous one and it's slowing us down when doing surgical cases and cases at the endoscopy lab.  So fingers crossed for a good day and an early done time.  Lord knows I still have a full list of things to get done before next weekend!  Now, where's that magic broom???

Best Month Of The Year!

 If you've followed my blog for more than 5 minutes you know I LOVE October!  We've started out pretty warm for this first week of  my month but that's OK.   Summer really did go by fast so having a final week of heat isn't too bad.  Especially since at night it cools down to the 50's and we open all the windows then close them up in the morning.  The house stays very comfortable and so does the electric bill without the AC on!  We have some Halloween and harvest gatherings planned for this month and I'm going to try to not let working get in the way.  They, the hospital, asked if I would like to work full-time for 2 weeks coming up soon.  Are they kidding? Heck no! I'll do a few days here and there but I'm not interested in ruining my favorite month!  So here's a few pics, of course, of my decor so far.  The outside will get done in the coming days

One part of the living room with the bookshelves repainted the green and white.

The kitchen fireplace with some of my Lori Mitchell trick or treaters on the mantel.

The buffet in the dining room.  In a few weeks it will also have some spooky goodies on it!

In the kitchen corner by the back door I have a new skeleton with some cool shades!

Yes, it's the most wonderful time of year as my sign says in the dining room.

I found this sign in a shop in Frankenmuth, Mi.  It's metal and I have it on the door of the fridge.  So that's all for now.  Annabelle and I went for a walk this evening in the quiet of the cemetery.  The air was cool after this hot day and trees are finally starting to turn.

It gets dark much earlier now and this photo shows the trees after the sun has set.  So it's not as vibrant as in the daylight.  I'm starting to collect pumpkins and mums for some outside decor I'm planning.  I started on Saturday at the farmer's market and hopefully will finish my outdoor projects soon.  More pics to come of all that.  Night all and enjoy this spirited time of year!

And The Beat Goes On

 Our Plan B vacation came to an end on Sunday.  Well, the driving came to an end as we made it home safe and sound and decided to finish our last days off doing just a few things around the house.  I got my Halloween decor all up and Jack helped do a few things I needed help with...like putting up a new curtain rod, cleaning out the last of the garden veggies and using those long arms where I can't reach!  He'll head back to the office tomorrow and I'm going to be hanging around while our new tub and shower combo gets installed.  Our chimney's were suppose to be fixed on Saturday but the fixer dude moved us to Monday.  I will probably head back to a few days of work if the hospital needs me next week.  So I'm glad to have had a wonderful travel time and home time to get caught up.  Family will be visiting in a few weeks so I will continue to spruce things up and get ready for a Halloween gathering in October!  Here's a few pics...OK, maybe more than a few of our September happenings:

Donning my mosquito garb I picked all the apples from our tree and they got made into some really delish apple sauce and a couple of pies as well as freezing gallon bags for later.  Last year we had none on that little tree so I was very happy to have a good apple year here at the Pines!  

We went to a few of Rae's soccer games.  #43!  She's never played soccer in her whole 15yr life and decided to try it as a Freshman.  She didn't play a ton at first but as the season has gone on she's improved and even scored a goal last week! 

My son Phil and Rae.  She has highlights in her hair that give off a little "devil" vibe.

You can see them here in her not happy, folded arms like Dad look! Ha!  I'll finish up here with some vacation in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan pics.  

The front porch of the Grand Hotel. The largest covered porch in the world. 

The inside isn't too shabby either! Very elegant and I guess every room is done in a different decor.  Dinner there requires men to wear a suit and tie and women to wear dresses.  No Walmart attire allowed!

The flowers lining the Grand Hotel porch were stunning.

If we go back some day I would love to stay at this cute B&B!  The Grand would be lovely to stay at also but the $1000.00 a night is a bit pricey!

The horse drawn carriages were charming and even the work vehicles were charming! 

We headed back to the mainland on the ferry and bid a fond farewell to beautiful Mackinaw Island. Fun day! The rest of the trip was a delight and we saw:

Lighthouses

Sunny beaches

Tall bridges

Rocky shores

Lots of seagulls!

Nice sleeping accommodations on the lake shore.

More quaint towns like Frankenmuth and yes I did buy some Christmas ornaments at Bronner's!

And more horse drawn carriages in Frankenmuth.  That's another nice stop that you should go to for some fun!  

We said bye to Michigan and the colorful trees and hello to our Ohio.  It was nice to take in some places we've never been to and just enjoy our time together.  We didn't get the East Coast adventure we first were going to do but I'm glad we had this trip.  East Coast, we're heading your way next year in June! Watch out!  

Plan B

 This month is almost over and I've only posted once?  It's been a busy few weeks as we are finishing up projects and getting ready for family to come in October.  I finished painting the living room and I've gotten rid of at least 100 books!  I've donated many to the library and the church books have been taken to the church for others to enjoy.  It feels good to pare down and clean out.  I'll post living room pics when I get it all finalized.   But today Jack and I are on an adventure that was suppose to take us to Salem, Mass and Maine.  We decided to put it off until next year in June.  The storms that the East Coast has been having had us going to a plan B.  It's good to have a  plan B in most things and especially when traveling.  So where are we?  In the Upper Peninsula in Michigan.  We've been to different parts of Michigan when our kids were living there and for other things but never this far up. First we made a stop for lunch at a little diner called "Tony's".  The portions are a bit large:

Jack's BLT had a full pound of bacon on it. My Rueben probably had a full pound of corned beef on it. No we didn't eat the whole thing! Ha! We barely made it through half.  But it was a fun stop!  We stopped for the night in Gaylord, Michigan and then this morning we headed off to Mackinaw City and then to St. Ignes.  It was so foggy this morning that the drive across the huge bridge was a bit scary.  You could barely see the car in front of you and you couldn't see the water below at all.  That was probably a good thing since I have a little phobia about heights! But all went well and  We secured a hotel room in  St. Ignes before catching a ferry to Mackinaw Island.

A very foggy trip across the lake to the Island.

The ferry ride was fun even though the island was hidden for a bit!

Slowly Mackinaw Island came into view.  Once on the island the sun was shining and the temps were in the 60's and then the low 70's...perfect!

There are no cars allowed on the island.  Travel is either by horse, bike, or feet!  I guess even the undertaker goes by those rules! 

/The trees are starting to turn and we saw lots of lovely color.  My real reason for wanting to go to the island was to see the Grand Hotel.  So beautiful, so much history and one of my favorite chick flicks...Somewhere In Time...was filmed here.  I'm going to end the post for now and finish after our trip is over.  I have some lovely pics of this place that might encourage you to add this trip to your bucket list.  Bye for now!

 

It lived up to it's name of  GRAND!

30 Days Hath September

 Do you remember the 30 days poem? I used to say it when little so I could remember how many days in each month.  Now the days are flying by and the 30 days hath  September reminds me that it won't be long before November's 30 days will be upon us!   I do love this month as it ushers in Fall officially.  I seem to find projects galore this time of year.  Maybe it's the cooler temps that are trying to make it to us here in Ohio.  We've been blessed not to suffer the heat like many areas.  This past week was the hottest but that's not usual for this time of year.  Next week is looking more to my likes!  As I mentioned in my previous post I decided to paint the living room.  No biggie...or so I thought.  Turns out as I've grown a bit older, the painting isn't as quick and easy as in the past.   No worries though as it's almost done and soon I can get things back in order.  We joke that it's because we decided to get a bigger TV.  The old TV cabinet was given to a friend but then we had to buy another console to hold the big TV.  Jack had to assemble that. While doing that I decided to repaint.  Doing that had me rethinking debulking the book shelves...painting those too.  Well, my advice to everyone is never buy a big TV!   In the mean time, Jack has had his own projects.

When we had the sidewalk put in the porch steps had to go.  So Jack put in the new steps and will now get the railing on.  After each finished thing I always envision a big check mark...CHECK..another one done!   The garden is doing it's own project...growing, growing, grown!  I've been canning a bit and giving lots away. Along with working this summer and keeping up with the lawn and garden I've grown a bit overwhelmed.  I was hoping that next week the hospital wouldn't need me but I stupidly agreed to work 2 days.  That doesn't sound like a lot but it does dig into my time.  Oh well, I'll stop complaining and give you a little mystery I found.   I was taking Annabelle for a walk in our favorite place to stroll..the city cemetery.   I happened to look down as see this little headstone that I never noticed before:

It's hard to see in this pic but it says "ZOE".  That's it.  No date, nothing.  Is it the resting place of a child?  I don't think they bury pets here.  It's also pretty close to this tree.  The stone doesn't look new and tree is pretty old.  Anyway, it gives one cause to pause.  Any thoughts?  So as the 30 days hath September goes on I hope to complete my projects, go on a little trip in 2 weeks to the East coast, and just take some time to enjoy my favorite time of year.  I've been buying a few little items for our Halloween party in October and I couldn't resist this charming gentleman..

I'm in love!

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