Country roads and wildflower fields....................

Sunday drives, went on those when I was a child. Well once Dad got a car that is. He loved his car, it had to have been around the mid 1950s when he got the first car. It was not long after that when the Suez crisis erupted(1956) and England was out of gasolene. The buses were overcrowded and so he had to get a bike. Didn't bother me, we always walked to school anyway. In 1956 I was 10 and so was at an age that going out with the family was still fun. In England we had buses so cars were more a luxury than a necessity. In fact bus rides were a form of entertainment for me well into the early teens.
So today is Sunday and that's what we did, went for a drive. Gerry took the first picture of me taking pictures of Sunflowers




So I had hoped the Sunflowers were out on the road to Lake Leelanau, not quite, but they still looked pretty. I love old barns, I think I have said that before. We were headed for Leland. I had wanted to walk on the beach and look for Blue Stones. It is disappointing to say they have made the beach private.There is a very very small public beach, the rest is now private. It always has been but, there is the rule that we can walk on the shoreline no matter who the property owners are. I guess people just do not respect privacy anymore and so this has happened. As I could not see any sign of stones along the beach, I decided against it and we continued on with the idea of looking for the graveyard near Northport.


The problem was we didnt bring the maps/directions. We did stop at the Onominee Rd beach though, people there so headed the other way down the beach from them. It's very pretty.


Saw this guy on the beach.

Wildflowers on scenic roads.



So we went back and forth along the country roads after deciding we were not going to look for the graveyard and it was rather relaxing.

We changed direction and headed towards Port Oneida, more familiar ground. Stopped to see what was happening on my fav lake. They have put up signs. Cool. I saw a blue heron fly by just above the reeds, too quick to focus my camera though.




The house and barn that are close by are being taken over by the water. It will some day sink like the House of Usher. For now though it's still pretty and accessible.
I was hoping to see turtles sunning themselves from the bridge but this was the only one, a tiny tiny one.




I checked out the old school house because they had put up a sign.



From there we headed towards home. Gerry had his mind on Burrito's by then, and the Hayloft was our destination. Once the mind was set on food all was lost. We did not pack a lunch so by now at 3pm he was "starving" his words not mine. I would have been content to go on another few hours, that's OK. Another day.



Before we stopped to eat we pulled over at a "scenic view" I wanted pictures of the clouds but they were in a different direction. When we got home we saw it had rained. We had not seen any all day.

Next trip we will be organized and have the route planned. Then maybe we will find the Indian graveyard.
Back when we were at the lake I saw a pretty little bird and managed to get this shot.


Not sure what he is, I must look this one up..........It is a Tennessee Warbler who is a migrant bird. I had seen him earlier in the rushes but not close enough to ID. He came and sat in a tree right next to me. I was happy because I had seen a few birds I would have loved to photograph who were less cooperative........
After the Burrito and a Margarita it was home for us until the next time.

Making a mess and enjoying it..............................

I said I would do a post on our remodel job. We went and got paint and were ready to finish the project. It began with taking out the old door that once opened into the laundry room. Back in the day when we always had a lot of family coming and going it was sort of crowded. So we decided to change the back door to the old dining room and make that the new entrance.


That is Gerry working on the "hole" left by taking the door out.

He then had to fill in the hole and rebuild the wall and fit in a small window. I would have liked a bigger window, I like the light but, this is what I was given

When the window was in he had to then put new base trim. Then came the painting. I chose a vanilla shade. I wanted to go light. I had yellow in the kitchen and 1/2 bath but wanted to change out from red and yellow. I love red and yellow and have that in the living and sitting room. So to make a change from that to a paler colour needed a subtle change. I decided to change the border that had been up for many years. I wanted a new theme, wildflowers and wildlife to carry throughout the downstairs.


A while back I had sent for a couple of plates from England, they had English wildflowers. So having found a nice border with butterfly, Kingfisher and wildflowers I went for that with the vanilla colour on the walls. Gone are the dark green doors and now they are white.

I would love to change the counter tops and back splash but I just don't have the money.

I thought maybe the roosters I had collected would not fit in but they did.

I had taken down all the vintage kitchen things from the walls and cupboards. They will all go in my sale.
When I look at the cupboards now I can't see that there is a lot less but there is, I stuck with the Aqua glass jars. I took the red and yellow out and replaced with aqua. I like it.

I need a picture for this wall yet...........will have to paint one.



The 1/2 bath after the renovation I really like.

I will put a picture in there on the facing wall, it just needs framing. The one above the mirror I did many years ago and it now has a home.


I wanted a new sink and toilet but when it was finished I actually liked it. I found some border with butterfly and got towels in green and vanilla colours. A cabinet behind the toilet finished the look and I was quite happy with that. Lots more to do. I got my pictures up finally.


I went through every cupboard and drawer and cleaned out things I have not used in years. I kept all the glass but had several sets of plates and especially Christmas plates. I don't need them, just because I like them is not a reason to keep them. Especially now that we don't have the big get togethers we used to. So, I cleaned it all out. Next is the entrance. That is a colour I didn't like once it was on the wall and so that comes next. Later in the Fall the Dining room will be done. Paint is the cheapest redecorating change. So, it will refresh everything. Will show as we go..................

Saturday July 7th...................

Last day of Cherry Festival, the last parade. Unfortunately people won't just go home. I am so disgusted with the amount of people out on the roads. It's starting to be hardly worth going out "to get away from it all". Laura and I used to go out and hardly see another soul. After this area got national recognition it went down hill from there. I hate to say that. I know local business's get profits from visitors but all this attention is spoiling what they come to see. I had hoped for a walk on the beach but we didn't even try.
We started off at Esch Rd but I just took pictures at he creek and left. Otter Creek.



Fish everywhere but could hear the kids on the beach from there.
Not just Monarchs on the Milk Weeds


The air smelled divine




We saw this guy eating the Milk Weeds


The fields are being harvested for hay and that too smelled lovely. I could bottle that smell Mmmmmmmmm.

So moving on from there we went into Empire intending to get sandwiches at Deerings, but they were closed for remodeling. Sheesh.........what a time to do that, middle of summer???? we weren't really that hungry so no point in getting a meal. So on to Glen Arbor for coffee. Gerry remembered his white chocolate treat haha, so we went for that. I got iced coffee and yum made with coffee ice cream and cream



He says his should not be called "Princess Mocha" hehe...........
We took the dirt roads haha, he didn't want to, said he may wreck the muffler. I said we already did that, no big deal. Sheesh, what a wuss. I said this car knows these roads inside out.




I showed him two of the farms Laura and I explored. It does not seem the same with no kids with us running through the fields.We didn't notice going up the drive that there was a row of Vultures sitting on the roof. Dang, they flew off so I only got one still sitting and not a good shot either.



They are flying around but difficult to get shots of them in the air. There were about six of them. As we were going along the road a gang of what we thought were raccoons crossed the road but we didn't get there in time to get their mug shots.
Did check up on the Beaver Dam though

We didn't bother stopping at the beaches, no point cars at each location. Today was warm by the afternoon, too hot to walk, at least for me. So we headed home to water the garden.