Update

Update on Scarey
We just keep meeting the most wonderful people in Scottville and Ludington!!! I am convinced the only bad apple is the nutcase next door. We got our permit to finish the project. The guy who posted our Stop Work order is a nice guy! We even got to meet his coworkers and his boss, the Drain Commissioner, who answered a couple of questions for us and encouraged us to stop by anytime we want more information.

PhotoTime..... Crowded

PhotoTime Tuesday..... Crowded



Migrating Geese Stop to Rest
A bit claustrophobic in big crowded areas, this is my kind of crowd. Much as i do so enjoy the company of my fellow humans a large crowd still brings out those old childhood fears of what 'they' think of me. Despite this fear one of my old job duties was organizing and hosting hospitality rooms for the Equal Employment Opportunity department for a large chemical company. Funny thing... when i'm running the show i'm not a bit timid in a crowd. I don't know what this says about me but i hope it doesn't mean that i'm a closet narcissist... or something like that!

Anyway.... How about those Geese!!!?

ThemeThursday... Scarey

ThemeThursday... Scarey
The only thing scarier than a bully is one that is born to and trained by a bully... the only bad neighbor we've had in 48 years together! This is a guy who will break any rule he can if he thinks he can get away with it, but has nominated himself 'neighborhood police' trying to stop anybody and everybody who wants to improve the area.



Beware the Bully in Training!
This boy's father, a Detroit slumlord who moved to a small town to raise his children first showed his despicable behavior when, as campers at his campground, we told him we decided to buy the next door property... 62 foot lakefront with two little cottages on it. He kicked us out of the campground! We later learned he wanted it himself... at a bargain price. The seller was so glad to get our offer that he sold it to us for almost half the asking price! The guy next door has harassed us ever since. Now he's training the kid. We subsequently bought 180 foot lake frontage from the previous owner of the campground. He said if only he had known what kind of person John was, he wouldn't have sold him the campground!

Click the 'stop work' thumbnail for the rest of the story.

Saturday Snapshots

Saturday Snapshots is coming back! Call me a photo junkie if you will - i started PhotoTime Tuesday because the two photo theme blogs were not enough to satisfy me! I wanted more. Look for Saturday Snapshots on November 1. I will.

PhotoTime Tuesday... Nostalgia

PhotoTime Tuesday... Nostalgia

Had a hard time with this... I didn't even take this photo. All of our family photos were destroyed in a flood in 1986. We inherited a few, such as this, when Frank's mother passed away. I think they had a little Kodak Brownie or something of that sort. You saw me today... below; this is me in 1967 with my six daughters... all gussied up and ready to go to church. Their dad didn't have to 'gussy up'... he stayed home and cooked breakfast. My in-laws were over because it was Easter.

The girls and i went to church every Sunday... and I always chose a front row so they could see what was going on. Sometimes this was good; sometimes... not so good!

ThemeThursday again

Theme Thursday..... Picture Yourself

and... Photo Friday - Power For this one we'll title it... The Grandmother, her word is gospel, her rule is strong!

I got squished today....... and i'm here to tell about it. The shirt is my mammogram shirt! I earned it... and received it free from Rosie O'Donnel in 1998 when she offered free t-shirts to everybody who had a mammogram and sent a copy of the receipt to the designated address. October is breast awareness month... or something like that. Yeah i know... for some of you guys every month is! Anyway... i'm preaching so behave yourselves! Mammograms save lives... and have been known to save a few breasts too.

Now... when i got home from the Women's Health Center i started taking my own photo! I tried last night and in frustration submitted my shadow. (I take LOTS of shadow pictures actually!) Today i was determined to get a good shot of me and with a little help from the ol' fellow i live with... well lots of patient advice actually..... i finally got this one!

I 'ran' right over to Christine's 'Picture Yourself' place and submitted it to her. (That's why it's smaller than my usual photo. She likes them to be no bigger than 300 pixels at the largest part.) Then i read my email and found one from Reb at Theme Thursday. Can you believe? My shadow was rejected! Instead of being bummed i was glad and will resubmit this one in it's place! Those guys have lots of rules and one is that you can only submit one photo per week. Well, here goes... and remember! Ladies, get your mammogram! Guys, make sure your ladies get their mammograms! Love ya!

What motivated me to take my own photo? .....this young lady! You go girl!

Theme Thursday..... Picture Yourself

Theme Thursday..... Picture Yourself



Here I am on Top of the Big Sable Lighthouse
Was really torn between using this photo and the one i took of me on the beach, but I just thought this was the better because of my surroundings. The big old lighthouse has been here a long time and is no longer functional... having been replaced by something modern... and technologically up to date. Just want you to know... this is a long way from the bottom... 132 steps of a winding staircase to be exact!

Photo Friday... Body

Photo Friday..... Body



Body in a body of water
You didn't actually expect to see a real body at this site, did you?

Theme Thursday..... Windows

Theme Thursday..... Windows



View from the lighthouse window
...on a clear day you can see................

PhotoTime..... Color

PhotoTime theme this week...... Color



Autumn Color Tour
...fortunately we were there during the peak! We had a little rain last weekend and afterwards the leaves began falling in earnest. Those remaining appeared a little less brilliant. I took tons of photos but as you might know, many were similar. You can find a dozen of my favorites in my Autumn Color collection.

Theme Thursday.... Gray

Theme Thursday..... Gray



...my favorite 'gray' subject is Daisy Mae
...the first cat we adopted in our attempt to find a new buddy for Bubba. We saved her from 'death row' at the animal pound a few years ago. Although she conned me into taking her home with us we soon learned that she had been running wild for some time and had apparently become feral. With time and attention Daisy Mae is finally becoming domesticated again. Here is one of her favorite spots... on a small table immediately behind my computer where she likes to keep me company.

For a close up and personal view of Daisy Mae... see my background. She seemed to be a perfect Halloween background... even if she is gray... not black!

PhotoTime Tuesday..... Circles

PhotoTime Tuesday... theme number 18 is... Circles



Formosa Ketch Tribute
She's been in the family since her 'birth'... we brought her home in 1979. Her name is Solace... she is a 37 foot Formosa ketch... she was a joy and a commitment for many years. This month she will go home to a new owner. We know he will lovingly care for her and make her a proud vessel on the Great Lakes once more.

I did not take either of these photos but I combined them in PhotoShop Elements 2. Frank photographed the porthole for a visual to potential buyers. The boat photo was taken by a total stranger while we were sailing her the first season. He knew one of our daughters... she found out about the photo and obtained it for us. Check my special Tribute to Solace collection for more photos.

Lulu's Lines

Sorry Lulu, i'm 'way late getting Lulu's Lines up. I had 'em done long ago and on my hard drive. Just needed to get a round tuit! Glad your heart cath came out okay!

TRIGGER 1::: What I would really like now is....... a bit more summertime. It seems to have flown by. While summer was 'happening' i always encouraged the guys to enjoy the summer. We could get our work done at the cottage when the weather cools off. Well it cooled off... a lot! Gonna be movin' the earth this weekend... literally... making our sandy driveway up north driveable again.

It was such a mess after a propane delivery a year or so ago that we have had troubles getting in and out - even with my little 4-wheel drive pickup truck! The delivery guy ignored our instruction to stay further up the drive and bring the hose in to fill our tank. A new grade and big gravel delivery and we'll be in good shape!


TRIGGER 2::: Do you ever wonder........................ why so many guys tend to ignore instructions? For instance, if the propane delivery guy had followed our instructions we would not have to redo the driveway at our cottage up north. Another example... ever since he heard of the high speed wireless cable that's available in our neck of the woods, Frank has lusted for it with a passion. It's cheaper than Charter Cable and faster! We can't get a signal from our home... something about trees getting in the way.

Anyway, he had a guy out to discover this for us. It was raining that day. We have cedar shake roofing... slippery even when dry. Frank told the guy not to go up in the rain. The guy said, 'I can handle it. I'm a professional!' Famous last words. He went up; he came down... fortunately not all the way because Frank had a 'roofer's something or other' at the edge for his own protection when he had to go up there for maintenance reasons.

Frank doesn't have that 'instruction problem' any more. I guess over forty years of constant nagging... constant 'I told you so's'.....and occasional wrong turns will fix it, eh?

Theme Thursday - Authority

Theme Thursday..... Authority



Beware driving in Wyoming... Michigan that is!
Such a big cop shop for such a small town! Big beautiful building... and yet the actual police cars are parked at yet another location! The big park in the foreground encompasses a beautiful war memorial. Click the badge to see a few more shots of this beautiful representation of 'authority' in the city of Wyoming, MI.

PhotoTime... Serendipity

PhotoTime Tuesday..... the theme is Serendipity



Porcupine settled in for the night
What are the chances that you might find a porcupine settling in for the night? Yes, that 'furry' ball in the tree is a porcupine! I had never even seen a porcupine before this. Frank and I were climbing the 'Skyline Trail' at Ludington State Park just before dusk, planning to catch a few superb sunsets. A couple headed in the opposite direction told us they saw a porcupine walking under the skywalk... and we sort of watched for him below us as we headed to our spot, expecting he was already past us...

...and looking through the trees to see where our sunset would be we saw him!!! He was in a tree! As we watched we clicked away... that wonderful little Fuji has a much faster recovery time than Frank's Nikon and especially faster than the poor old dearly departed Olympus. Got a couple of good shots... and a couple of almost good shots. Four of them are posted at my Fotopic Gallery. Just click on the thumbnail to get to the first of the series. I took the last photo as we walked back to our vehicle. Skywalk was not a very good place to photograph a sunset this time of year, but it sure was a stroke of good fortune when this granni saw my first porcupine!