Back in time

We had a fun night with friends this weekend.

We started with supper at their house.  Their property connects to a nature center, and the dining room is ceiling to floor windows so we enjoyed sitting there feeling like we were surrounded by the great outdoors.

While we were eating, these guys came into the back yard to have a little snack of their own.

After supper, we had a the chance to do something unusual.  An Antique car club in the area was sponsoring a drive in movie, featuring a silent movie for the antique cars.

Our friend has a beautiful 1929 Model A which we got to ride in to the movie. We've never had the chance to ride in an antique car and we really enjoyed it.

This is his car.  Isn't it a beauty?

Do you know how the trunks on cars came to be called trunks?  Early cars had actual trunks that could be added.  Because they were so prone to rust, it's rare to find an antique car with one like this now.

Here's some of the other cars that were there.  Do you see the blue one in the upper right corner?  It was built in 1960, which is the same year I was born.  I think that makes me an antique too!

The sky was beautiful as we waited for sunset.

Then came the movie.  It was an old Buster Keaton movie, complete with the old piano music.

We almost felt like we stepped back in time.  Good times!

I'm a country girl

I grew up on a farm and have always loved the country! I'm glad I live close enough to visit the city and shop there, but the country is where I want to live! 

This little sign is in front of my neighbors chickens.  I thought it was pretty funny to see in front of a chicken coop, but I liked the saying:

"A day in the country is worth a month in the city"

This is one of the reasons I like country life.  

Seeing cows as you drive makes a person smile!

These 2 are pretty cute!

I think country folk are friendly, the air is cleaner (most of the time...except for the occasional farm smell), it's so much quieter and there are lots of barns to see!

What about you - are you a country or a city person?

Cooking Thursday

Wordless Wednesday

 

September Sky

I was out for a walk on Saturday and as usual, I had my camera along with me.  I was glad I did because the cloud formations were just beautiful.

Skies like this put me in my place and remind me how small I am.  They remind me how blessed I am to have a God who can create this beauty and yet He cares for me!

 

Here's a few pictures I took in a short time.

 

Don't these ones look like mountains in the distance?

"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars which you have set in place,

What is man that you are mindful of him,

Human beings that you care for them?"

Psalm 8:3-4

 

More time with Alaina

We had Alaina overnight again this weekend. We try to take her a couple times a month. That way she stays used to us and of course, we have fun with her! We're lucky that Laura and Aaron are willing to share. :) 

Some things are always the same.  Bob can be found on the floor playing with Alaina.  What a good Grandpa!

Another thing that doesn't change is Alaina chasing Oliver.  She just loves him.  He tolerates her.  :)

She sustained her first injury last week when she fell and got a little cut on her forehead.  It's healing nicely though.  Here she is hanging onto my legs - "Pick me up, Grandma!"

She looks like she's pouting here, but actually she was sitting on the table in front of me, having a little treat.

We've had this little Winnie the Pooh plane that I got from a friends garage sale.  She always loves to play with it, but this weekend she figured out how to get on it.  She was pretty proud of herself.

How do you like that wild, fly-away hair?

Pure Michigan

Those of us who live in or near Michigan are familiar with the Pure Michigan ads. They are on tv and the radio. The voice over is done by Tim Allen and they do a great job at portraying all the beauty that Michigan has to offer.
A few weeks ago a new video came out. 2 guys took 7 days and visited 50 cities in Michigan. They made a sing-a-long and it's also been put out by the Pure Michigan people. Check out this fun video!

Cooking Thursday

I've got something to share for Cooking Thursday that's not anything new, just a twist on a good old hamburger! This is something we had in a restaurant and Bob wanted to try it at home. It turned out just as good at home!
For more recipes, visit Sandra at Diary of a SAHM.




Inside out Burgers

Prepare your burger as usual. While it's cooking or grilling, take the bun and butter the inside. Brown it on a griddle.
Then when you put it together, flip the bun, putting the outside in and top with whatever you like.
I've grilled the buns before, but for some reason when they are put together this way it changes the taste. Yum!
Warning - it makes them more messy!

Wordless Wednesday

 

Muck farm!

Last week I drove past the muck farm I worked at when I was in high school. If you've never heard of muck, it's a type of dirt that you can find in some areas of west Michigan. It's very dark, is moist and is great for growing things like celery and onions. I grew up near the town of Hudsonville, which is also known as the "Salad Bowl City" because of the vegetables that are grown in the muck there.
Anyway, the farm I worked at grew celery and I spent many hours there. We worked after school starting in late March, planting tiny seedlings in the greenhouse. Later in the Spring we would take those same seedlings and sit on a celery planter in the field, planting them.
In the summer I worked in the building trimming and packing the celery into boxes and this work lasted until late Fall.
We always smelled like celery and even now that smell brings me back to those times!
The farm now grows celery and onions.

Here's one of the fields. You can see the harvested field in the front and the green onion tops in the back. The workers are in the field "topping" onions.

Here are some of the onions all crated up and ready for shipping.

Here's a bunch more filled crates, along with a view of the crates.

This is one of the celery planters I told you about earlier. When we would first start planting in the Spring it was quite cold and the cover helped protect us from the wind. Later this cover would come off and we would enjoy the sunshine.
It was hard work, but we also had fun. Thanks for letting me take you on a trip down memory lane.

Back from my break!

We had a great time last week.  Andy was home on leave and Bob and I were on vacation.

We started out last week with a little family party celebrating Bob's birthday and Fathers Day.  Yes - it was a little late, but we were waiting on Andy.

Here's Alaina - always the center of attention, even though it's not her party.  :)

We had Alaina overnight last weekend.  Here she is all ready for church.

It was a nice that Andy was able to spend a little time with Alaina, but she wasn't so sure about it.  She's been scared of people lately, especially men.  Since she hadn't seen Andy since she was 4 months old, she was pretty scared of him.  Hopefully, the next time he comes home she'll be past that phase.

Something that Bob and Andy used to do every year was to go on a little camping trip.  They haven't been able to do that since Andy joined the army because he never had leave during nice weather.  They were finally able to go last week.  They go into the National Forest and camp with no electricity or running water.  (Better them than me!)  This is their camp site.

 

You can see that they did ok cooking over a fire!

The Piano Guys

Check out the Five Piano Guys! You will be amazed at what these guys can do with one piano.

I'm going to be taking a blogging break next week. Andy is home on leave and Bob and I are both taking the week off. No big plans - just enjoying some time together. See you next week!

Carnival!

Something the residents at our nursing home look forward to every year is our Carnival. We have one every August, with different activities each year. One thing that stays the same is that family and friends are invited to join. Seeing their grand children and great grandchildren having fun is a big part of the joy of the day.
Here's a few things we did this year:

We had old cars to look at. They always like to see things they remember from the past.

This year we had old tractors too. This is a farming community and many of the men remember using these tractors.

Out in the parking lot, checking things out!

What's a carnival without clowns? We had two clowns that were really good with balloons. The ladies all got balloon flowers.

Of course, there were Carnival games too. The kids and some residents enjoyed these.
It was a fun day - and everyone was tired that night!

Wordless Wednesday

(love seeing the green again!)

Labor Day Reunion

Every year my Dad's family has a reunion on Labor Day. He has an amazing family. There were 5 boys and 5 girls; one girl passed away as a child and his oldest sister passed away a few years ago. There are 8 siblings left, my dad at 81 is the fourth oldest, with four younger siblings.
These siblings have remained close, living in close proximity and in the way they are there for each other. We have always felt blessed to be part of this family.

Here are the remaining siblings. My Dad is the second from the right, in the yellow shirt.
This group loves to goof off and tease. I had a terrible time getting this picture because I was getting funny faces, funny positions, people hiding from the camera and the infamous bunny ears. We have always said that their Mom was a saint to deal with all of them, but I've been told she had a great sense of humor. (I think she is the source of this craziness!)


Now I have to show you a few pictures of the park we always go to. It's beautiful!

This is the back of the building we always rent in case of rain. It fits lots of people, and we fill it up!

"Children's children are a crown to the aged and parents are the pride of their children."
Proverbs 17:6

Happy Labor Day