Fun with My Favorite Small People

Last post I mentioned that we were kid sitting with our two favorite small people, while their parents celebrated their tenth anniversary. (One is seven, the other almost six.) There wasn't a lot of sitting!

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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A Day in Detroit

It was a gloomy day but we had no gloom in our hearts or our step as we headed to Detroit for a day of fun, music and a visit with the Baby Grand! Our primary destination was to be the Detroit Symphony but Rick, Kate and I left early to prowl around the revitalizing city of Detroit.

Since our plans for a picnic or extensive outside walking were somewhat curtailed by the weather, we decided we'd visit the area of Indian Village. This is a neighborhood of architecturally significant homes built during the arts and crafts period of the early 20th century.

The area held special significance for Rick. His great grandmother, Catherine Armstrong Acklin, was from this area and her sister, Aunt Josie Hibbard, also lived there after her marriage. We didn't know the address but wanted to check it out and see what it might have been like.

We had a bit of an idea. Photos from Rick's cousin Mary's album gave an idea of what the inside of one of these homes might have looked like during the period.

Back in the day, the Armstrong's neighbors included automobile legends Edsel Ford and Henry Leland, who founded Lincoln and Cadillac.

The homes were large, some behind gates, others with carriage houses.

Most of the homes were in the style of the Arts and Crafts movement, Tudor or what I would call traditional American.

Please, if there are any architecture mavens here, please add your two cents to the comments!

There was one fairly looking modern home I liked, though you couldn't see much of it from the street.

 But most were open to the street with lovely lawns looking lush in the soft rain.

We'd missed the garden tour (The Hibbard home had been on the garden tour -- if only we'd known!) but it was clear that everyone had their yards neatly done for their guests, hedges clipped. It was clear that when the garden tour took place a week or two before, that the trees had been in full flower and one can only imagine how lovely it was.

A group of intrepid cyclists were out for the day as well. You couldn't pick a nicer neighborhood to cycle through.

Yet one block over, it was clear that this was Detroit, less revitalized, less preserved. The homes were more rundown, vacant lots overgrown.

          

From Indian Village we headed to Belle Isle. Belle Isle is an Island in the Detroit River between Detroit and Canada that is 982  acres. It's the home of the yacht club, Coast Guard, a Great Lakes museum, a golf course, aquarium, nature zoo (with displays of lizards, turtles, snakes and more!), loads of picnic areas and much more.

We stopped at the nature zoo.  As you might expect, I was captivated by the birds!

And the displays. See that little egg in the back row? My gallstone was that size! (Considering that the gallbladder is about the size of a lemon or a deck of cards, it's no wonder I was in the ER!)

After heading back to park by Orchestra Hall, we took the new Queue streetcar to the heart of downtown Detroit where we enjoyed a terrific lunch at a restaurant called the Broderick Grille.

 
It was a happy accident to discover it but the salads were delicious and huge and Rick was loving his chicken pesto sandwich and parmesan fries.

A good waiter like Bobby, who kept our glasses filled made us happy diners!



We walked back to Orchestra Hall, afraid we might miss the Queue. (It's new and the schedule needs a little work!) As we did we passed by my favorite Fox Theatre...

...and Comerica Park, home to the Detroit Tigers.

I noted some great architectural details along the way -- Kate pointed out these fabulous church doors.

Concert time! A couple photos from the lobby of Orchestra Hall. I loved this art installation...

...this interesting piece...

...and the view of the lobby from the upper lobby. (OK, truth be told, I had to hang my camera out over the ledge because looking down from here kicked my vertigo into such high gear I was tingling all over!

The concert included a magnificent rendition of Beethoven's 9th Symphony (Ode to Joy) and a pretty weird adaptation of Bob Dylan songs sung by a soprano to music by John Corgliano. You could barely hear her over the orchestra and the music was -- well, let's just say they should have stuck to Dylan's tunes. Fortunately, the 9th made up for it! Time for dinner!

And dinner was at Kevin and Molly's where we got to see our Baby Grand!

I probably don't have to tell you how happy this little guy makes us.

What's really lovely is seeing his parents interact with him. The next day was Molly's first day back at work and she was excited and I think both were a little anxious about the little guy's first experience in day care. (He did well!)

And then it was off to home.  And by then, I think we were all ready for bed.

A wonderful day.

Happy to share this week with Monday Social and Share Your Cup when links become available!