Christmas ex-post

The days leading up to Christmas were pretty miserable round these parts.  I kept a brave face but boy was I hurting.  I haven't had a cold like that in years ... dayquil and nitequil and advil and a whole bottle of Visine in a few days, well, it was brutal.  I slept.  A ton.

The miserableness started to break on Christmas eve and I felt well enough to venture out.  By Christmas day, I was able to ditch the Visine and pick up the camera.  It was a Christmas miracle.

The good.

Christmas eve dinner Rosemary-garlic Chicken

From Christmas Eve Dinner

From Christmas Eve Dinner

From Christmas Eve Dinner

From Christmas Eve Dinner

music

From Christmas Eve Dinner

and some of the best wine that I have ever had, from our friend Amy and her amazing shop. 

From Christmas Eve Dinner

Christmas day filet Mignon in a Cabernet reduction. 

From 2011-12-25

From 2011-12-25

with shallots

From 2011-12-25

From 2011-12-25

and more of the best wine, ever, really ever.

From 2011-12-25

The less than good?  Well, we watched a move, Trainspotting.  I love the soundtrack (especially Brian Eno's Deep Blue Day) but the movie is profoundly depressing.  Mostly the heroin and needles.  Lesson learned on that one.

So it's off to enjoy the rest of the week! I have it off and have a ton of things to do, to see, to enjoy. Hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are. Gearing up for a wonderful New Year's eve.

Cheers!

The rest of the story

Sometimes, it's just a step outside into the backyard to see divine beauty. 

From 2011-11-06

From 2011-11-06

From 2011-11-06

From 2011-11-06

I took these pictures during the wind.  This is my favorite. 

From 2011-11-06

Paws

He had a blast.

From 2011-09-09

He has the cutest paw prints ever.  He is exhausted, full of Lake Huron beach sand, and anxious to return.   As are we.

Happy Monday.

A day in the life, East of the Equator

It's been a gorgeous two days East of the Equator.  The weather has been delightful, even the rain was beautiful.  It would be perfect, if I didn't have this raging allergy/cold/cough/hack/itchyeyes thing going on.  So drugs are on the agenda.  And it's just a small dent in perfection.

We had a gorgeous walk this AM.  The morning was cool but a little humid;  no bugs were out so we got a good mile jaunt in, complete with Mr. Handsome taking himself for a swim.



There was a gorgeous piece of beach wood.


And a magnificent freighter graced our day by heading north.


We headed up to the Harrisville Arts Fair.  The Arts part is tremendously misleading;  there are hundreds of vendors there.  We were tickled to see our favorite class vendor and we bought another spoon rest (this one for GRR).  Mickey and T's had a booth and his stuff was almost sold out.  He has GREAT spices.  We added to the collection - Greek spices- it isn't even on his website yet.  Will let you know what we do with those.

What I didn't buy was this.

From 2011-09-04

It was nice enough but $150?  Yikes.

Of course, there were plenty of wild signs, errant apostrophes, and some pretty funny misspellings.

From 2011-09-04

From 2011-09-04

He should probably slow down.

From 2011-09-04

We had some good beach time and are busy chillaxing.  Go Tigers and enjoy what's left of the weekend.

Summer

It's almost over.  That's inconceivable to me.   Halloween and Christmas decorations are already in stores.  While lamenting this fact, my girlfriend said, "shut up."  She was right.  Quiet all.  Despite the fact that football is on TV, it's STILL summer.

From 2011-08-12

From 2011-08-08

From 2011-07-09

From July 4th 2011

In the summer, the song sings itself.
― William Carlos Williams

Sign, sign, everywhere ...

You know the song.  We have a new sign at the cottage.  But first, a little background.  Earlier this summer, we were shopping in Tawas, and in a pretty neat store, saw painted blocks representing each letter of the alphabet.  I said to the spouse, hey that would look cool in the cottage.  We looked into the blocks and they were $50/each.  That was way too expensive for a block.  So we pondered further and decided the Michele Yonkers at Grand Rapids Lighting could easily make us a sign that would 1) look better and 2) be much less; and even if it wasn't less,  the money would stay local and not be exported to China.

So we called her.  And she did.  Of course, it's amazing.  She does amazing work.

We cleared off the mantle.

From New Sign

Paul did some measuring.

From New Sign

From New Sign

And drilling.

From New Sign

To get it just perfect.

From New Sign

Ta da!  It looks great.

From New Sign

From New Sign

I am hoping you know what those letters are ... and if you don't, check out the Navy signal flags.  We are back up there soon.  w00t!

The beach - so much more than sand

I couldn't have asked for nicer weather, more beautiful sunrises, or gorgeous crashing waves.  We have just had a glorious week, Mr. Handsome and I.  Tanning, resting, swimming, and of course, a few pictures here and there.

My neighbor Michael (the retired botanist) is a treasure trove of fabulous information.  Like the first day we moved in and he came over and showed Paul the poison ivy.  God love him;  we sure do.  He also showed us the weeds that attract the monarch butterflies.  I will never pull this weed.

From 2011-08-11

It brings these.  All over the beach!

From Butterfly

From Butterfly

The purple weeds draw the birds.  I am sure that they have a technical name, and that Michael would know it;  for now, let's just call them the purple weeds.

From 2011-08-11

From Butterfly

>

From Butterfly

From Butterfly

Even the beach grass looks lovely given the stunning backdrop.

From 2011-08-11

Here's to another beautiful day, wherever you are.

Cottage living

I am spending the week at the cottage.  On Lake Huron.  In Michigan.  There are so many reasons that I love to write about the lake;  mostly I love to write about it to share with friends who have never been here, or think that Lake Michigan is the only place to hang, or have no idea that you can't see across the lake to the other side.  They are really, really, REALLY big lakes.  :) Fresh water. Sugar Sand. Gorgeous freighters.
































When we were exploring Oscoda/AuSable/Greenbush for our cottage digs, one of the agents for a cottage we looked at an interesting view of the lake.  He and his wife didn't live on or near the lake because, as he put it, the lake was an angry lake.  Really? Angry?  Maybe about zebra mussels or polluters but that can't be all the time.  Oh well, his loss.

It does periodically whip up some impressive waves.

And it makes Mr. Handsome very, very happy.

Should you be looking for cool Michigan gear, because you know that four out of the five Great Lakes prefer Michigan AND Michigan isn't for sissies, you can shop here at Michigan Awesome.

Cheers from East of the Equator on the glorious shores of Lake Huron.