47 Years

Not too many people can say they have been friends for 47 years...especially when you are only 52 years old.  Anne Marie and I met in kindergarten and have been friends ever since, in spite of going to different elementary schools.  During those years, we only saw each other in the summers at the local community swimming pool but it was enough to keep our friendship alive until we reunited in junior high.

As our lives moved on and changed, we remained friends and often made plans for trips that didn't always happen as careers and families took over.  But this year, 2 years late for our 50th birthdays, we did it!  It was almost last minute but worked out perfectly for the week following Labor Day.  I needed to go to Bay Harbor in Petosky for a short meeting and they had a great room rate.  Anne Marie, wanna go and make it a mini vacation?

We had a fabulous suite/condo comfortably decorated.

Full kitchen.  And that's a murphy bed on the left in what looks like a big cabinet.

Pretty bedroom with a semi-enclosed balcony.

Our first full day we drove to Charlevoix and did a whole lot of window shopping (this was after a very brisk walk around Bay Harbor of a few miles).  By 2:30 (according to the clock!), we were getting thirsty so we grabbed some drinks and headed to sit along the water at the docks here.

It was a pretty magnificent view of huge boats and beautiful homes. The weather was beyond perfect - 72 and sunny.

We strolled along the river that leads out to Lake Michigan and were in time to see the draw bridge open to let in some sail boats to the harbor.

This is looking north along the shoreline of Lake Michigan.  I love Michigan.

The lighthouse at the end of the walkway.

I still have to get some of the pictures that Anne Marie took of the resort itself (Madison and I stayed here a few years ago) but on this same evening, we poured a couple glasses of a good wine and went out to find a spot along the water to watch the sun set.  We saw some adirondack chairs by a bonfire pit and headed that way mentioning how cool it would be if someone would light the fire.  And VOILA!  It was already lit and burning when we got to it!

Seriously relaxing occurred as we warmed out toes by the fire, watching the waves lap in and the sun setting.  Just after the sun went down, a hotel guy showed up with a big basket of S'mores supplies!  Life is good at Bay Harbor!

Thursday morning the weather wasn't so picture perfect but we still started our day with a brisk walk around Bay Harbor and ventured out onto the docks in their marina, also loaded with fancy boats that cost more than our houses!  And then we spotted this nice little cottage.  Oh yes, I like this one!

Anne Marie had to spend part of this day on her own while I put in a few hours for the job that I was here to do.

After I wrapped up work, the sky started clearing and we headed into the town of Petosky for some shopping and dinner at a restaurant that had been recommended to us by some locals we met by the fire the night before.  I'm glad we took their recommendation...the food was fabulous and the view was stunning. But then, I can't say there are any views in this area that aren't awesome!

After dinner we stopped in the bar for glasses of wine and then back out to the bonfire for S'mores for dessert!  We engaged in some lively conversation with others that were there and wrapped up our evening tired and ready to head home in the morning.

Fabulous Photo

Madison and Mata Hari standing just inside the barn arena at the absolute perfect moment of the sunset.  Snapped by Dad with an iPhone...

Back in the Saddle Again (not literally!)

After falling off the blogging habit for way longer than ever intended, I'm going to make a concerted effort to jump back in after almost losing my entire hard drive of photos. I figure if I at least get them published on my blog, I more or less have my photo diary forever.

Our WAY over-due project was painting the outside of the house.  This was a huge project that we did have quoted out to professionals but everyone gave us ridiculously high numbers.  It wasn't like we COULDN'T do this ourselves, it was just going to be time consuming and required decent weather.

We started the last week of August when I took the week off work.  We started with scraping and caulking and covering up the windows on the south side of the house.  Having all the windows covered up creeped everyone out!  We decided to go a bit lighter - more of a beige color than a brown.

We also decided on black trim rather than the dark green that had been used previously.

This was my view one day as I tackled painting the dormers.  It was a long way down to that concrete!

As redneck as it looks, setting up the ladder in the back of my truck worked really well.  I KNEW it couldn't slide out.  And it was a shorter climb down.  I was literally laying down on the room to get up under that overhang/gutter.

The other side of the house was a bit easier if only because its the north side and was in the shade.  Next project will be to get a patio put in off that sliding glass door.

This front side wasn't quite as hard since you had a lower roof to reach the peak - though putting a ladder on the roof to reach that center point was a bit nerve-wracking.

 Finished! With our cool house numbers made from horse shoes by our neighbor.

This back door still needs to be painted.  I'm still debating on the color...either black or red.  Actually, the deck railing still needs painting as well but you can't tell so much in this picture!

I'm really happy with how it all turned out.  The roof color looks good and I like how the black trim around the windows makes them really pop.  You never think about how many window you have until you have to close them all when it's raining or when you have to trim them all out with paint!  Holy smokes!

Madison's Senior Prom 2015

Being homeschooled does change up things like formal graduations and school dances.  Madison has been fortunate to go to some of her friend's dances at public schools and was thrilled when a local boy invited her to go to his senior prom - the same prom where some of her friends would be!

I gave her a pretty tight budget for prom and she came through with flying colors by buying her dress on eBay and having me do her hair for her.

And she did her own makeup and nails.

Daddy couldn't have been prouder!

I was proud too but a bit of a nervous wreck having to be responsible for the hair-do!

Madison's best friend Kari came to our house to meet up with her date, George.  They looked good!

Mitch came too and was very nervous putting on that corsage - imagine when it's a ring on some lucky girl's finger!

I was happy to see him looking at her face and not her chest!

Luckily his momma was there to help with the corsage since Madison couldn't get it on quite right.

Two really sweet couples in front of my favorite sweet lilacs!

Madison and Kari - the belles of the ball!

Kari and George.

And lots of Madison and Mitch!

On the dock at Iaquinta's marina.

With Sammy Iaquinta and his girlfriend.

The group they went with.

Just the girls!

The day was pretty hot with clouds that rolled in and out making it hard to get good pictures when the sun poked out super bright.  Especially for Madison since she has a hard time with sun in her eyes.

My little Latvian Princess is getting all grown up...

Boys will be boys!

Uh...I thought they went to prom???

Apparently Mitchell got a bit hot with all the dancing Madison was making him do and lost his shirt in the process!

After they all went to a big party hosted by one of the families and had a great time with more dancing and socializing.  A good end to a great night for memories!

Snow Riding

When we brought Mata Hari home late fall of 2013, it was already getting too cold to ride outside, beside the fact that we were worried about her not respecting the very low fence around the outdoor arena being that she was VERY green.  So Madison only rode her in the indoor arena until the weather got better in the spring.  This winter they were ready to try a bit of an outdoor adventure so after the "big snow" started to melt a little, out we went!

Madison couldn't get over riding on the fresh snow and looking down it was just so WHITE - like riding in a cloud.

In this shot you can see how Mata Hari is shaved on her neck and chest so that she doesn't get so sweaty during training sessions.  This does make it a bit chilly so she normally has heavy blankets on with a neck cover.  But not for riding. Plus it was relatively warm at 40 degrees out.

They even did a little trotting and had a blast!  The snow had drifted so some spots were much deeper than others.  Mata Hari had to really pay attention and lift her feet up!

The Big Snow - February 2015

It was supposedly the third biggest snow storm for the area on record.  I remember one of the others - 1974.  I remember riding around the neighborhood with my dad on his snowmobile helping dig people out of their driveways where their cars were stuck and asking if they needed anything from the store that we could run get for them.  I was about 11 years old.

This storm lasted a full 24 hours.  It started early on Sunday morning.  By Sunday night - it was getting deep.

By the time it stopped and the sky turned blue, it was almost 18 inches deep.  That little nub sticking out of the snow is the top of our well pump. The cap is about 20 inches from the ground.

But it was a glorious morning after the snow with a brilliant sunny sky.

Alas, while Scott was plowing out his customers, I needed to dig out my truck where it was all but buried from the snow that had blown off the roof of the garage.

This gigantic pile of snow was in the back of the parking lot at work.  It looks kind of funny because the big front end loaders had started scooping it up to move it out of the parking lot because the mountain was taking up so many parking spots.  It was easily 20 ft high.