Did You Guess Bill?

I spent last night with Bill and Anne in Ann Arbor.

This morning, Bill and I took a short walk on a nature trail that wasn't yet built when I lived in Ann Arbor. It's near Barton Dam.

The trail wanders near the Huron River.

But what a surprise at the other end! I had no idea where we were going to end up. This now connects with Bandemer Park, and they have built a pedestrian tunnel under the railroad so you can safely get into Bandemer.

The inside has backlighted laser-cut artwork on the walls.

The reason this was such a fun surprise is that when I lived here, I could walk from my place to the Argo Dam on the river, and then up along it for a couple miles to get to Bandemer Park. But there was no way then to walk on to Barton Dam- at least not a trail. I just love connections like this!

Here's the picture you probably expected. Hiking buds.

Last night's clue? I know it wasn't much of a clue. It's part of a computer memory system. Bill has a board that is about 16x18 inches covered with wrapped wire like in that picture, and the whole thing provided 16K memory! That was a "few" years ago.

Tonight's clue is a little more helpful, but I don't think you'll guess where I am anyway.

Miles walked in 2026: 47.9

Barton Nature Trail, Ann Arbor, MI. 2.4 miles.

See Home Via Ann Arbor

Gun Lake Winterfest

The entire day was devoted to travel and the Gun Lake Winterfest vendor event. This is the Gun Lake in Allegan County between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo.

Here is the tent where there were vendors, exhibitors and the raffle items. Big. There were two propane heaters, and it truly was warmer than outside, but I was about frozen by the end of the day despite snow pants and many layers. Standing still that long in the cold is not great.

I know I showed you my camper doll setup at Christmas, but here's what I do at vendor events where there is enough room. It gets people's attention. Notice the blue blaze on the tree.

I was right next to the table for the Chief Noonday Chapter of the NCTA, which was how I found out about this event in the first place. One of the volunteers was Jo Oostveen. We've known each other a while, but never got a picture together. Jo has hiked all of the NCT in Michigan. That's close to 1200 miles, so a significant accomplishment.

The event was quite well attended. They had a lot of things for kids to do including a set of stalls in a trailer with sheeep, goats and a pony for kids to pet. The sheep is giving me the evil eye, but she was actually very friendly.

The event is a big fundraiser for the township to keep up the park (which is mostly across the road on the lake). This was a kind of fun thing. There was a "sheriff" and "deputies." For a dollar, you could get them to sign out an arrest warrant for someone else who was at that event. Then that person was taken to jail and they had to pay $5 to get out of jail. Then they got a button that said they didn't have to go to jail again.

Jane Norton (on the right) is a past president of the CND Chapter and a great voluteer and hiker. She got sent to jail.

There were a few vendors, but it wasn't really a big sales venue. I didn't think I'd sell much, but I did sell six books. And since it's on the way of my trip, there wasn't much expense.

As soon as I left, you can bet I turned the heat in the car on full blast until I warmed up!

And where am I tonight? Here's your clue. Smirk.

First day successful!

See Leaving the Puzzle Behind

Leaving the Puzzle Behind

I am packed except for the few things that go in the car in the morning. I am also beat.

Here's a sneak preview of the 2000-piece puzzle. I never for a minute planned to have it done before leaving, but I also didn't think I'd be as far along as I am. This is one corner.

This is two days ago. I still couldn't get all the pieces spread out on the two tables.

Here it is tonight. Pretty close to being able to have one layer of pieces. There's just one little pile in the middle of the same pattern. They are sorted, but not yet spread out.

This is not as hard as it looks, but it's a huge sorting project. I'm enjoying it.

I did all the stuff, the errands, got gas, blah, blah. I have to get up at 6 am. Not my favorite time of day as you know. But then I'll be on the road and life will be full of fun things to share!

See Wysocki Puzzle

Miscellaneous

I kept myself motivated and working on all the small and generally annoying tasks that needed to be done by allowing myself 10 pieces in the jigsaw puzzle after each item I got to cross off my list.

Then I took a walk. It was 50° out! The first picture is from today. Paper birch branches against the clear sky. Lovely, lovely, lovely!

And I have something to share from my walk on Sunday. Look who was so busy on a tree he let several of us take pictures. Usually the pileated woodpeckers are skittish. Not this one! This picture has a good silhouette, but the branches are in the way.

This is a clearer picture, but it's the back. Maybe not as interesting, although it's also not a view you see all the time.

These are possibly the best pictures I've taken of a pileated. I did get some good ones in Ohio once, but if I put them on the blog the search is not finding them. Those were unusual because the woodpecker was finding something to eat on the ground and was totally focused on getting it so it didn't notice Marie and me sneaking close. Maybe I'll find and share them some time.

The sky on Sunday was also gorgeous. I have to say that it's much easier to be cheerful when the sky is blue.

I am in good shape to finish the last things on my list tomorrow and pack the car. May put a few more pieces in the puzzle and take my book to bed.

Miles walked in 2026: 45.5

Road walk 4 miles.

See Snow Mushrooms and Other Events

Prayer Shawl(s)

Today went well. I got most of the big projects on my list under control. What I'm going to show you is the completed prayer shawl. I left it with three edging rows. Finished off all the loose ends. Put it in the dryer with a damp towel to pull off all the hairs (even with no dogs or cats here, things seem to be rather hairy.)

And I wanted to get the next one started before I leave. The first couple of rows are always the hardest- you have to really pay attention to get them right. So I got into the third row and the second color. This verifies the size will be about what I want.

Last year, I went on the train and took the one I just completed. It was sport weight yarn and took up very little space. It did use up some of my yarn stash, but it wasn't a genuine scrap-craft afghan.

Since I'm taking the car this time, there is room for a bigger handicraft box (I don't have a tub the right size, but a box is fine.) And this is worsted weight yarn, so the whole thing will go much faster. I actually bought a pattern. I was going to figure it out by looking at the picture, but the pattern was only $4, so really... why give myself the headache?

Here is the stash that is going with me. The directions say that each row takes about 30 yards of yarn. So I checked one leftover wad of yarn and it was just over 30 yards. I rolled that up and used that as my standard. Any little balls smaller than that one I don't need to take with me. Any yarns that have enough just alike (same color and dye lot) to potentially make a single project I don't need to take. What I have is 42 different colors, and most of them are enough to do more than one row.

It's packed and in my travel pile.

The other biggie I got done today was to write this month's column for the Ludington Daily News. I do have to find a couple of pictures to go with it, but that won't be too hard. I'll do that in the morning. And I worked out the logistics for one of my visits that was starting to get gnarly. I think the itinerary is all set now.

Then I have a lot of smaller jobs that I hope to get through tomorrow. And it's supposed to be nice, so hopefully I can take a walk. Friday will be for finishing any remaining tasks and packing the car. Whew!

Saturday, I'm on my way with the first stop to be selling books at the Gun Lake Winterfest in Wayland, MI. Lots of fun activities too. Stop in if you are nearby.

See Prayer Shawl Sunday