Going Home................

Well, I will be gone for a few days. My son Jason is taking me home.I hate to fly so wish me luck. I am looking forwards to it because I will see my aunt and cousin. Liz will pick us up at Gatwick airport and we will go to her house in Ferring, West Sussex. Jason has not been "home" since he was a little boy. So much to see and do in 9 days. Well Jane was queen for 9 days and she seemed to accomplish a lot. So ...........when we get there we will go to Ferring and rest up a little before going to Arundel Castle. I sure hope we get some sleep on the plane. Then its feet to the ground every day until we return. I will sleep for a week when we get back. I will also have a load of pictures I hope.

Need God...........................

A Walk by a quiet pond...........

It was hot again today, its been that way all summer. We decided we would try a short walk in the woods and see how it was. Gerry thought it was not so humid. I beg to differ but gave it a shot. I called Laura and so we met her and Reina at Silver Lake Park. Gerry watched the kids at the playground while Laura and me went for a walk. We decided to walk around the edge of the pond. It was nice and calm and we hoped to see some wildlife being as the kids were not around to scare it all away. Well there were no birds to get pictures of but it was not too unpleasant considering. The pond was covered in waterlillies and they still had a few flowers. There were still some flowers in bloom too but we really didn't see a lot. They complain about invasive species but I wonder...........isn't that really evolution at work. Still a few milk weeds in bloom although I think any butterfly's who intended to eat them are all done by now. The Autumn colours are beginning to appear. This Golden Rod is pretty and my Dad used to grow it in his garden in England. Here its a wild flower The Sumac is blooming and is also the Fall colour scheme. I was so pleased to see this one, I believe its called "Indian Paintbrush" I have not seen it very often. We went back into the woods having seen a few frogs along the way........this little guy was happy to pose for me. Isn't he pretty? We were so glad to get back into the shade of the woods There we came across a pretty little Garter snake. Isn't he cute? He didn't bat and eye or flicker his tongue. I bet he was relieved when we left him alone. From there we hit open meadow and boy was it hot by then. We didn't see any other wild life they were smarter than us and probably taking a nap in the woods. These are all my own pictures. I amlinkng up with Outdoor Wednesday to share my day.

Mushroom Houses.................

Developer Earl Young's great gift to Charlevoix, Michigan, was a group of fairy tale mushroom houses that he built around the Boulder Park neighborhood near the city's lakefront starting in 1918. We have been calling them Gnome Homes. The architect has done several other projects in the area and you can always tell by the shape of the roofs and chimneys. The architecture is recognized from its stone and design. Its unmistakable. There are look alikes but generally you can see that they are just stone houses, very nice but not the work of Earl Young. Even the garden walls are unique. You can check out more on the story here Mushroom Houses

Charlevoix the Beautiful..............

Yesterday we took a day out and went up to Charlevoix. I went really to take some pictures of the Gnome Homes. I will do a seperate post on those because we did so much more. Gerry and me with Tristen, Laura and Reina took a picnic lunch and headed north. We stopped along the way several times to give the kids a break. Besides the mission of taking pictures I wanted them to have a fun day out as well. There is an art gallery that I adore and it has a large garden so that was our first stop. They have built a studio at the back now and so we got to see where they make pottery. Laura and me went inside and I chatted with the owners. They have also taken in Norman Brumms work. That was another place I would always stop when we went up there. Norman has since died and so his work has increased in value, but it still remains some of my favourite things. He had such a gift. Anyway........this gallery is in an old school house and with our kids running around outside it sounded as though it still was an old school house. From there we went on to the Fisherman's Island state park. I am trying to show Laura some of the beaches we used to go to when they were kids. Now to take Reina and Tristen. We had our picnic there. Nothing much, I just took cheese and some good bread, some relish and mustard, grapes and apple sause. Good enough for a quick lunch. Tristen was anxious to play ball and he and Reina did that for awhile as we finished up lunch. We then drove on to the beach. We didn't expect them to go in the water........silly I know. Well the water was shallow and perfect so Reina got down to her swim suit and Tristen to his Angry Birds undies. He was happy. Look at Reina, her mouth is always open and she puts her whole body into her screams. Trouble is she is teaching Tristen. They both love the water so much. Will soon be time to teach swimming. I want to be sure he is safe around water. I can not swim and so it's imperative that he learn. Reina held his hand and encouraged him but we were right there watching and choosing the safe spots for them to go in. The Fishermans Island State park is a camp ground in the forest. The picnic beach is 1 mile and there used to be a small island just off shore. That is all public beach away from the camps. There are miles of hiking trails within the forest and was a place that Woodland Tribes used to come to. There are archaeological sites not marked within the forest where they would make their spear points and arrow heads. After we left and changed the kids we went and took my pictures and then on the way home we stopped at Friske Orchards. I wanted to buy a pie. They have a playground for kids and a petting zoo so they had a great time there. The store is awesome. It has a fresh vegetable section and you can see ladies peeling and canning vegetables and fruit for the bakery. The baking section has wonderful pies, scones and things like that. There are relishes and mustards and gifts as well as a place to eat. The kids were only interested in the park though so here are a few pictures. Tristen Reina The tractor was Tristens most favourite part. They wondered why it wouldn't go, so they figured it out and Tristen was off to solve the issue. He said " It's stook in duh mood" and brilliantly assessed the situation Push it we said.........and he gave it a gallent effort. We took home two tired out little kids. Its hard work walking on sand and hiking through dunes and forest........but what a day.

To the Park............

We took Tristen for a drive. It was a cooler day than it has been so we figured we would just have a look around and see what we could see, He was a little grumpy at first but soon got into the swing of things. I want to try to make every day of his life a special day. I know that's impossible but well he will certainly get out and about. First we just drove in the direction of Maple City. We decided we would go through back roads and see what we could see. We stopped at the park out there for a break. First of all we must check the swings for rain water and bird poop........he was right on that. Lets climb next Little boys must get out that energy. He was running from one thing to the next. Not quite as much fun as when Reina is along but he did OK. Down the slide and on to other things. Tristen loves to throw balls and things, he loves to play ball. If none are available then a rock will do. SO throwing a stone over the net was fun for him Well he is still "potty training" and so we have to remind him to let us know when he has to pee. SO...........Gerry showed him what little boys get to do when out walking in the woods. Or when its necessary to go outside. He loved this. first find a good spot Then get ready......Gerry of course is just talking not actually showing him. We left the park and drove around a bit on the way to Cedar. We saw these two ladies out catching bugs. We stopped in Cedar at Pleva's market for some Polish cherry pecan Brats......they are awesome I walked over to the ice cream shop and Good boys get a cone with wonderful rainbow sprinkles on it. Now does he look like he is enjoying that or what? He was one sticky little critter by the time we got home. But he had a great day out and so did we.................notce he is wearing different clothes. Well Gerry was showing him how to wash off his feet at the park, but Tristen is not good at following instructions and he turned on the old fashioned water pump and it got him right in the middle. We had taken an extra set of clothes with us, its always a good idea.