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Thursday, September 28, 2017

Friday Funny and a winner!


This is what I found when I went to get a few eggs out of the refrigerator the other day.  It made me laugh out loud!  Bob said there was some "fowl play" going on.   :)    


In other news, last week I had a review of the latest Matthew West CD.  I numbered off the people who were eligible to win and put them in the random number generator.  The winner is...

#6!   And that is Gerri Kamps.  She's entered to win things from my blog several times, and finally her number was chosen.  Congratulation Gerri!  Enjoy the CD.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Cooking Thursday

It's apple season!  I love fresh apples, but they are good so many other ways too - crisps, pies, caramel apples!  Today I have an easy recipe for baked apples slices that can be used several ways.
Baked Apple Slices

3 large, tart apples, peeled and sliced (I used 5 and there was plenty of sauce to cover them)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup apple juice
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup cold water
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Place apples in a greased, 1 quart baking dish.
Stir together sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and juice. Pour over apples and stir together.
Dot with butter.
Bake 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until apples are tender.
Mix water and cornstarch. Remove juice from apples and place into small saucepan. Let juice come to a simmer. Pour just a little of the cornstarch/water mix into juice, stirring continually. You probably will not need all of this - just put in a little at a time until juice has thickened. Pour back onto apples and stir.
Enjoy plain as a side dish, over waffles or add ice cream to enjoy them as dessert!
Makes 4 servings.

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Monday, September 25, 2017

Introducing Beebo!

A few weeks ago I won a book from my friend Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose.  It's a kids book about a little bear named Beebo who learns about being responsible and getting things done.   It was written by Madison Meadows and the book was even signed by her!  The illustrations are very cute and it has a good lesson.


Here's the book with a cute card and bookmark from Stephanie.  It arrived before we went on vacation, but I didn't get to share it with the girls till this past weekend.


Here they are with the book.  They both liked it and said we have to read it again!
Thanks Stephanie!

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Pumpkin Time

The girls spent the night with us Friday night.  We decided to stop at the large greenhouse in our area to let them get a pumpkin.  They love to go there because there is a play area outside.


It was a very warm evening - record setting for September.  The girls had so much fun playing, in spite of the heat!
























They were thrilled when they saw the greenhouse cats, and even happier that this one wasn't scared of them.



They liked seeing all the coins in the fountain.



We always have to stop and sit on the big bears lap.



They each picked out a little pumpkin.




When we got home we had a pumpkin donut for a special treat.  What a fun night!

Thursday, September 21, 2017

All in! CD review and giveaway


I was offered the chance to review this CD and offer a copy to one reader of my blog.
Matthew West is a contemporary Christian singer who is just releasing this new CD. 
Matthew wrote his new album All In with the goal of encouraging himself and others to get up off the sidelines of their faith and really live it out – to go all in in your time with God, all in with your family, all in with your community, and all in battling your fears that may hold you back from becoming who God made you to be.
I've been listening to my copy while driving and have been really enjoying it.  There are 15 songs and I like them all.  I've always enjoyed his voice, and his songs have a good message.
A fun thing about the album is that there is a hidden track between song #14 and #15.  It's just a short little snippet with him singing and goofing off with his daughters and is very sweet.
If you would like to listen to one of the songs, here's a good one titled Broken Things, about how God uses us, broken as we are.
This album will be available in Christian book stores, Amazon and here!
If you would like to be entered to win a copy, just leave a comment. (Sorry, this is limited to the continental US only).  I'll draw a winner and post it next week. The copy will be mailed to you.

“Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255:  “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”):  Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway.  Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.  I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller /FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days on the same blog, you are not eligible to win.  Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again.  Winner is subject to eligibility verification.


Wednesday, September 20, 2017

One last day...

When we got up the next morning in Manistique we were greeted with a very fogy morning!

This was taken in the front of our hotel.  We took our time leaving as this didn't look like good driving weather!






Bob noticed these cool spiderwebs, beautifully decorated with the morning dew, so I spent a little time outside with the camera.



It started to brighten up and we hit the road.


Our first spot of the day with Kitch-it-kipi or Big Spring.  I had heard of this and seen it listed as a place you had to visit in your lifetime, and after seeing it, I agree!
It's a Spring fed pool that is 40 feet deep.  The Springs put out 10,000 gallons of water per minute and the water is so clear you can see mineral encrusted tree trunks and fish swimming near the bottom.  You can also see that sand at the bottom bubbling where the spring water comes out.  The name means "mirror of heaven" and it came from the Native Americans who lived there.


This is a floating pavilion with the center cut out so you can see down into the pond.  There is a wheel that people take turns on that allows you to go from one side of the pond, to the other.


Here's Bob taking his turn at the wheel.


 Tree trunks near the edge of the pond.



 These are trout near the bottom.  The camera doesn't capture the depth well but they were down deep, probably close to 40 feet.  These were big fish, about a foot long.



Here's a picture looking across the pond.  It shows the color of the water and how you can look through it to the sides.  The pond is not shallow, even on the edges, it gets deep very quickly.
It was really beautiful and if you ever get a chance you have to go here!




Next up was Tahquamenon Falls, about 2 hours north.  It is the second largest Falls in the United States, after Niagara Falls.




It's known for the brown streaks in the water, which comes from tannins from cedar swamps which the river drains.  These are the upper falls.





We did the 96 steps down to get to the viewing platform!  (and of course back up when we were done)



It's an impressive sight and sound too!



We saw touches of Fall showing up in the area.



We then drove about 15 minutes to check out the lower falls, which are not nearly as big, but still a pretty sight.

Then it was time to head south.  After about 1 1/2 hours we came to The Bridge!

Here we are crossing over the famous Mackinac Bridge - it's 5 miles long.


 We stayed in Mackinaw City and came back to the beach in the evening.  The Mackinaw Lighthouse was closed for the day, but I always enjoy seeing it.




Here's the bridge!




And a little different view - the view from below.




I don't know why, but all kinds of kayaks were piled near the bridge.  They made a pretty splash of color.




The sun setting under the bridge.

And that's the end of a wonderful vacation.  We drove about 1200 miles, not counting the miles on the ferry.  We had perfect weather and saw a lot of God's beautiful creation.  We are thankful.

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

A day in the Upper Penninsula

It was time to leave Door County and head for Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  We left early in the morning and drove to Escanaba, again driving along the lakeshore and enjoying the scenery.
When we got there our first stop was another lighthouse!

This is the Sand Point Lighthouse and it was built in 1868.  It wasn't open on the day we visited, but we enjoyed walking around it and the beach.



This huge rudder was one of the displays,  It is from a ship that sank off the shore.



Next to the lighthouse was nice little park with a gazebo.

It was the perfect place to have lunch!



 We wandered a little in Escanaba - such a cute little town.  We thought this mural was pretty cool!



We had to stop and check out the local True Value and Bob passed on greetings from the Allendale True Value.
Then we were back on the road.


We saw more deer as we drove, this one didn't even move when we stopped.



Next stop was Fayette, MI.  It's the site of an industrial community that manufactured pig iron between 1867 and 1891.  When the business moved, there was no reason for people to live there and the whole place was abandoned. It's now maintained as a living museum, showing what life was like in the late 19th century.  It was really amazing to walk through!



The area is just beautiful, set in this bay with limestone bluffs.  Old pier pilings can still be seen in the water.


This is the building where the iron ore was melted.



This was the community store; now all that remains is the limestone exterior.



Many of the houses are gone, with just the foundation left.


This is the hotel, still beautiful I think!



This is the upper part of the hotel, a room that was used for work parties and entertainment.



This was in the corner of a room that was used for the kids schooling.


It's a strange thing to see what was once a bustling community, now deserted and deteriorating.  It's a reminder that all the things in our life are not important.


We then drove on to Manistique, where we would stay for the night.  After checking into our hotel and getting supper we went to the beach to walk the pier.

The pier wasn't easy to get to.  We had get across all these rocks...



Then we saw this sign, but we proceeded on!



I wasn't too excited to walk across this part and if it had windy, I wouldn't have done it.  It did get better though!



We made it to one more lighthouse, at the end of the pier.
And that was the end of another wonderful day!