Life Around Here

Seems like it's time to share a little bit of life around here! And it all has been pretty good. A perfect autumn day will do that to you!

We've had a few! It was a perfect day when Rick and I headed to Detroit to do a "tour" of some of his ancestors' haunts with Kevin.

It was great fun to see the neighborhood of Indian Village where Rick's second great-grandfather had built his home. Next door to it, he built an exact replica for one of his daughters.

If one was to flip the house above on its side, so the doors were facing to the left, it would be a mirror image of Rick's great grandfather's house next door. You can get a bit of an idea here but the foliage is too thick to totally see it. We were fortunate enough to go inside the green home and it has much of the original woodwork and is quite lovely.

Any visit to Detroit also involves a little time with the grandlittles and in this case, it was very little as they were traveling and didn't arrive home till late. Rick and Kevin were off on a visit to Rick's mom in Dallas before they were up, but this smiling face was a delight to encounter first thing in the morning!

This one was all about Mickey Mouse. You don't interrupt Mickey Mouse!

Even the required teeth brushing was done under Mickey's gaze!

On the way home (after a terrific but expensive trip to IKEA) I stopped in Ann Arbor and had a delightful lunch with Mae of MaeFood at a restaurant called the Slurping Turtle. Her pix of the restaurant, which she enjoyed earlier in the week with her family are here.https://maefood.blogspot.com/2019/10/lunch-at-slurping-turtle.html

There have been visits to the Ditch, too. Ellie is still here -- and hungry. If you want to develop patience in stressful times, just settle in to watch an egret (or heron) fish. It's better than meditation.

And she's so darned beautiful!

The Ditch is beginning to get pretty too. Not full-fall yet, but it's on its way. There is some weird auto focusing going on here but I love the mysterious, almost impressionist, quality it gives this photo.

If you follow Vivian Swift's blog, you may know about the Stromness Rock, a rock Vivian brought back from Orkney and is sending around the country for photo shoots by her various blog followers. The Stromness Rock came to Michigan so I took it around to a few places including the cider mill...

...the Michigan State Children's Garden...

...and to the state capitol where I met these lovely people who get out with their signs every Friday and have for several years now. Good for them!

I also took it to a restaurant that was having a wine tasting. The rock photo didn't come out so well. I think I took it after too much tasting!

While I was at the gardens, I took a peek into the MSU Horticultural Gardens.

I wasn't disappointed. There are still blooms in Michigan!

I've baked a little bit -- these Happy Cakes lasted rather awhile. This is what happens when you shop for a present for someone else and end up buying yourself a cupcake pan.

And a bit of decorating was done, too -- I'm still not full-fall either but hope to share a bit more soon.

I had my last lake visit a couple of weeks ago. The weather was awful so Rick and I started practicing for our next trip to England by doing a puzzle of the tube map!

It does feel good to settle at home, though, after several months of going back and forth or staying at the cottage. Home means reliable internet and cable (though I'm beyond mad at Comcast, which took TCM off the expanded basic tier and put it on the SPORTS tier. Really? Sports? That makes NO sense at all.) Home means I can focus on getting ready for the November art sale, connect with local friends, see some good theatre, bake with a full kitchen (versus up north where I don't bother with a mixer, microwave or all the pantry of home.) It's getting into a bit of a routine, one that can be easily changed if one likes.

As for Lizzie, it means no rides in "The Box." And she likes that! So all is well.

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