Birthday Celebration

Ever since I met MSM, he has wanted to take me to Seven Sisters for dinner. And he thought this would be a great time to do just that. It is about one hour drive from home and it was a beautiful evening to sit in a upstairs windowed dining room enjoying fabulous food and a beautiful sunset over the sierra.

Let me share with you what I selected from the impressive menu. As the restaurant's header highlights, I enjoyed the "Taste of Art".

Sherried Wild Mushroom Soup

A Creamy Medley of Wild Mushrooms roasted with Dry Sherry

and topped with an Herb-Truffle Cream and a Potato Gaufrette

Traditional Caesar Caesar Salad

Hearts of Romaine Lettuce with Roasted Garlic Caesar dressing, hand shaved

Reggiano Parmesan, White Anchovy Filet, and Focaccia Croutons

 

Pecan Crusted Rack of Lamb

topped with Pear-Fig Chutney, served with Sweet Potato-Wild

Boar Bacon Hash and Mint Bourbon Demi-glace

Tiramisu

Lady finger cookies soaked in Kahlua, Brandy and Espresso with

Mocha-Kahlua Mascarpone Mousse topped with ground chocolate

My Birthday was a special day starting in the morning with a phone call from MSM singing Happy Birthday to me. He has a nice bass voice and he still sings in the church choir. My day also included a bouquet of flowers and some nice gifts.

The season is changing rapidly around here. The evenings are cooler and the days are getting shorter. It's nice! 

I hope you are having a Wonderful Day.



I'm Getting Close

~ ~ ~ to finishing my crocheted Stripy Blanket that I started about six months ago.  I am in love with it! The feel of the soft wool (Cascade 220)  is so snugly and will be lovely on my bed this winter. I have really enjoyed working on this project even in the summertime because we really have not had very many days of high temperatures that can make working on a large wool afghan very undesirable. 

The colors have worked out nicely with my bedroom color scheme which is basically white furniture that I have pained and walls that I painted  in a cranberry faux finish.

I am showing you a photo of my headboard that I covered with some quilted upholstery fabric that has a beautiful cranberry color and highlights of slight green when you change your visual angle just slightly.  Several years ago, I picked up the headboard at a Goodwill store.

I ordered some border print fabric that I plan to make into pillowcases for the bed. I looked and looked for fabric that would work with my what I wanted to see in the bedroom. Since my shopping consisted of surfing the Internet I was pleased to find this floral border print.

 I found it a little difficult shopping for a border print that was large enough to have a good visual impact along with the vibrant colors of the blanket.  I can't wait to sew the pillowcases. But, I must finish the blanket first. And, that means weaving in all of the ends too!   Can you see flowers all across the width of the bed like they are growing along a garden pathway?

This is a companion fabric that I will use on the back side of the pillowcases. The fabric line is, Botanika Collection by Paula Prass for Michael Miller. 

And, this is another companion fabric that I purchased. I am sure I will have some fun deciding how I will use it. This little picture I found of a little pillow is sure cute!

 It's been fun showing you what I am planning. I hope you enjoyed it.

Today is my Birthday - - - - 72 years - - - - I can't believe it! 

Have a Wonderful Day and remember to Hug Someone!

Waking Up To Chain Saws And Spanish Voices

And, the  sawdust was flying!

Right behind my house and outside the living room window a very large old oak tree was being cut down. As you may know, my little house is surrounded by many, many trees. And, through the years they have grown tremendously tall and created so much shade that the house is quite dark inside. Ordinarily, I would not like to see trees cut down, however this old tree has been diseased for quite some time and the neighbors (who visit their second home, only occasionally) decided to have it cut down.

Let me tell you, this is truly a huge blessing for me. I function best and feel healthier when I am in bright sunshiny areas. And, now when I walk into the living room each morning the room is bright and alive.  I LOVE IT ~ I LOVE IT. If any of you experience issues around SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) you will understand my delight in such a change of ambient light. Oh, I also have an added bonus and this is that my "white garden" is going to be a lot happier with the increased sunshine. Maybe, my Black Beauty Fig Tree that resides in the "white garden" might produce fruit next year!

Tree cutters are certainly in a class of their own, in my opinion. If they don't pay close attention to what they are doing, the consequences can be disastrous! This is quite a silhouette picture, isn't it?

Have yourself a Wonderful Weekend.

Meeting The Family

It was so nice to meet so many of the family on our visit to Michigan. The two most impressive, of course, were MSM and his sister. It is hard for for me to believe that his sister is 87 years young and he is 83! Don't they look good? They are both in excellent health and she is "sharp as a tack".  His sister insisted on preparing dinner at her house the first evening. That is when the "meeting the family" started.

Some of the relatives were in town for her son-in-law's birthday celebration and they stayed a few days after so I could meet them!  I met her middle child, a son and his wife that evening who were in town from Boston, Massachusetts. I also met her youngest grandson from her youngest daughter's family who came out to have dinner with us after he got off work. It was a really nice evening.

Later in the week when we went to the cottage on the lake, I met the oldest daughter and her husband who live in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their daughter and two grandsons were visiting from California. They waited until we arrived to meet us and then they left for their homes. They already had been there for a week.

This photo was taken of MSM and his sister on the grounds of the Eleanor and Edsel Ford Estate that we visited one day. 

 

This photo of his sister bowling was taken last October when MSM went to visit his sister for a week.

After the first day at the cottage we went to dinner at Captain Morgan's in Grindstone City. Most of the restaurants that we went to served lots of different fish dinners. Perch fish was on most of the menus. I ate Walleye fish and Perch fish for the first time. It was very good.

 

This is the niece of MSM. She is the one with her family who manage the rental cottages on Lake Huron in Grosspoint Bay during the summer months. She is a lovely person and it was quite clear that the guests who rented the cottages were impressed with the family/managers. Most the patrons are return guests year after year.

The family works very hard to keep everything in tip-top order. They bought the property 33 years ago just prior to getting married. The renovations and improvement of the property are very impressive! They have three children and their son is a very big assistance in helping his father with the maintenance along with holding down a full time job..

It was so nice to meet  the family. We were not able to meet a nephew and a husband of a niece who were not able to come  because of employment obligations. I think it was quite special that I was able to meet almost everyone in the family.

I really enjoyed the family togetherness, especially since my life/family did not take that course.

Have a great day and HUG your family.

Have You Read It? Have You Seen It?

As I have said, I had a very relaxing vacation. In fact, I can not remember when I have felt soo relaxed. It was so wonderful having someone to take care of most everything. While we were at the summer cottage on Lake Huron, Michigan, I had a chance to start reading the "ever so popular" book, the HELP. After you get accustomed to the writing style of ebonics, it is a fast  read.

According to the Urban Dictionary - - - Ebonics is a "variation" of English entirely made up of slang and southern word shortenings. It is generally spoken in the "hood" (neighborhood) and has almost no defined syntactical structure. Also of note is the almost complete lack of conjugation of verbs ("I be", "she be", "thems be", etc) and the mixing of pronouns."

When I say relaxed, I think this next photo confirms my happiness in having only the book to think about.  When I am at home I usually am thinking about all the things I have to do to keep up with all the responsibilities of maintaining my own home on a limitd budget. As difficult as it is, I still do a lot of the physical work inside and outside. I worked so hard to buy my "little house" (eighteen years ago) and I would feel awful if it fell into disrepair and my property value would drop more than it has with the current economy! My house is my only financial security for my old-old age in the event I can not take care of myself.

I had no idea this post was going to take me to the stresses that I feel at the present time. Let me refocus or should I say "get an attitude adjustment".  I am very blessed to have a nice little home in a great location in a great little historic town.  - - - - - And, I am blessed to have a Special Man in my life who provides lots of love and a very busy social life!



My girlfriend and I went to the afternoon show together and it is always fun to discuss the movie after. If you can't read the book, at least go to the movie, the HELP. It is very insightful, tender and funny.

Enjoy your day - and give thanks.



Sunday Morning Flowers And More

When I opened the front door on Sunday morning I was greeted by MSM coming to walk with me to church and he had FLOWERS! I almost forgot about the loveliness of receiving flowers every month on our monthly, yes, monthly, anniversary. Yes, I am very spoiled, but only, in some ways.

After church, I arranged the BOUQUET and they are gorgeous - - - and so enjoyable for a flower lover, such as myself.

Afterwards, we went to Brunch and then a little later we went to the movies to see Bad Teacher which we found to be very funny and entertaining.

The last few weeks of this beautiful weather we have been enjoying eating outside in this very pleasant gazebo. I have had this in a box in the garage for a few years and I have never set it up. So, I surprised MSM  one evening when he was coming over to eat.  And, we had a "candle light supper".

Speaking of BOUQUETS - - - Do you ever watch the British sitcom, Keeping Up With Appearances? I still get a kick out of Hyacinth Bucket who insists on being called Mrs Bouquet! And, I think it is fun to say ~ "candle light supper"  because it always makes me laugh!

 

Enjoy your Day!

Enjoying Tourist Life At Greenfield Village

Why do the days go by so fast?  Finally, I am posting a little more about our vacation to Michigan.

"Entering Greenfield Village is like stepping into an 80-acre time machine. It takes you back to the sights, sounds and sensations of America’s past. There are 83 authentic, historic structures, from Noah Webster’s home, where he wrote the first American dictionary, to Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park laboratory, to the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law. The buildings and the things to see are only the beginning. There’s the fun stuff, too.

 In Greenfield Village, you can ride in a genuine Model T or “pull” glass with world-class artisans; you can watch 1867 baseball or ride a train with a 19th-century steam engine. It’s a place where you can choose your lunch from an 1850s menu or spend a quiet moment pondering the home and workshop where the Wright brothers invented the airplane. Greenfield Village is a celebration of people — people whose unbridled optimism came to define modern-day America."

And, we had a very good time!

These sheep will be producing Merino Wool.

And this is a knitting machine. Pretty interesting.

And this is a sock knitting machine. Can you tell ? ? ?

 

The store had beautiful handcrafted treasures!

Of course, we took a ride around the village on the steam engine train.

 

Take care of yourself and have a Fabulous Day.