Bits and Pieces

Today, Marie and I did our last jigsaw puzzle for a while. This one is called Morning Stop, and it was a lot of fun. Also 300 pieces, and it took 1 hr and 15 min. Tomorrow we head for the Adirondacks!

I'm going to fill in with a few odds and ends from the week here that I wanted to show you, but they didn't make the cut on their own day.

This is part of Ellen's fairy garden. She has a big round space in her yard filled with white gravel and fairy scenes.

The Rondout Harbor, where we saw the Trinidad, also has a maritime museum. We'll save that for another trip since it won't sail away. One of their displays is the steam tugboat, Mathilda. This was built in Quebec in 1898 and is one of the few surviving steam tugboats, although it is no longer in the water.

We got a big kick out of it for reasons other than historical. The name is spelled the same as our friend, Mathilda, with an h.

Two more shots of the Trinidad. I love the high stern with the windows in the captain's cabin. The captain always occupied the stern because in sailing vessels the wind comes from behind, so all the bad smells are carried forward.

The recreated ship sails under the current Spanish flag.

Finally, I can't resist sharing this shark sign.

I also edited today, and we did errands and visited Selma again. It's been a great week here. We don't have to say goodbye yet, but the focus will change.

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A Little Wet Hike

  Cathy and I haven't hiked for two weeks because she was away. It was raining a little bit this afternoon, but we went for a short hike anyway, just because. A big splotch of rain was headed across the big lake, so we stayed inland a bit and went out to West Shore Community College.

We walked most of the cross country race course, which is mostly just a mowed path, but here is one pretty space

Then we went a short way up Amber Road to the Lincoln River bridge

Then back to the car for a total of 3 miles. The exercise felt good even it if wasn't super scenic.

And, Cathy gave me a drawing made by one of her grandsons- I'll just remind you that my nickname is Sharkey, and leave it at that.

When I got home I realized I'd made it to tired. But there is a little other news: I wrote a chapter and attended another book promotion event.

West Shore Community College, Mason County, MI, mostly the cross country course- 3 miles

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Rain Day with Irene

  Today was predicted to be rain, and indeed it rained hard for quite a while in the afternoon. Marie and I got in a visit with long-time trail friend, Irene. We took a short walk on the former bed of the West Shore RR. Irene's dog, Abby, loves her walks. We saw another brown garter snake. A handsome one. On the way home we had to stop at Shark's Ice Cream. You know my nickname is Sharkey, right? It's in Bloomfield, NY. It was the best ice cream of this trip so far. Very creamy. They even have a shark trash can. We also stopped at a produce stand for some yummies for tomorrow. A trip to Wegman's grocery, laundry, and back home. Very full day. Tomorrow we hike again!

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Keepin' an Eye on Me

 
Early and fast blog post. I'm leaving right after bell choir to go to Ester's!

As I was reading today, I discovered there was a bandana shark watching me.



In other news: I've redone the cover file twice today, trying to get it exactly right for the printer. But I'll get there.

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Squirrel, Sharks, Sun

 
The current squirrel spends a lot of time running across the roof. S/he spends a small amount of time checking to see if I've changed my mind about feeding him or her (no). The deck is also a great place from which to survey the kingdom.



Omer brought me a little gift. These gummy sharks taste horrid, but hey, I love 'em because they are sharks. And blue.



And just because it's always a novelty here to see the sun in winter (and this year even more so than usual), I bring you Monday's sunset, followed by this morning's sunrise. They look like the exact same sky! Weird.





In other news: It's pretty much all other news. I took a walk out back, but most of the day was spent writing. I finished Dead Mule Swamp Mistletoe and started editing it! And I had a meeting this evening. Now I'm going to get back at that.

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A Day in the City

 
Today was a mixed bag of activities. We started by helping Marleen pack boxes because she is moving to a different house next week. We filled two cars with things she wanted to carry herself (instead of the movers) and took them to the new location. Then we went out to eat at a restaurant called City Hardware.



They had some interesting lunch items. Marleen had a fried green tomato BLT with applewood smoked bacon. Loretta had catfish and shrimp, and I had a Mediterranean flatbread sandwich with basil pesto. We were all QUITE happy with our selections.



On the way back to the car we passed this manikin in a window for an optometrist office (why?- I guess to show off some cool sunglasses). Anyway... I had to take a picture of the shirt.



What? You can't see what the design is? It's sharks! Sharks!



Then we went back to Marleen's and borrowed a ladder. We were going to do some more boxes, but somehow ended up going shopping... Oh- because Marleen wanted to buy a drill, and we needed to borrow it too. I also needed to get those zippers for the rain suit I started. So while I was in JoAnne's getting zippers, they went next door and both ended up buying shoes. I also ended up buying fabric for my next pair of pjs with sea turtles all over it. (I know I just made pajamas, but when I find fabric I like on sale-50% off and a 15% off coupon on the whole purchase, I just get it. The only place I can get fabric near home any more is Wal-Mart.) And I also bought a t-shirt that is very cool, and marked WAY down. (I also get cotton t-shirts when they are the right price and size with designs I like)



Then we went back to Loretta's and made use of the ladder to change a bunch of her light bulbs that had burned out. She saved some jobs for me to help her with while I was here that were hard to do alone. We have a couple more yet. The drill is charging, so there's hope for the next little job tomorrow.

After that, it was time to head back to church for game night with one of the small groups. We had sandwiches, played a trivia game and laughed a lot.



This was a much more "ordinary" day, but those are just as much fun when you are doing things with people you like.

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Best Photos of 2017

 

Last year, I took you through 2016 pictures month by month. That limited me to 12 favorites, but maybe eliminated something if there were two good ones in a month. This year, I'm just picking some good ones and arbitrarily putting them in categories.

Most unusual sunrise picture, so I'm calling it the best. September 26

Favorite landscape. Waves of pointy hills in springtime Ohio. April.



Favorite snow picture. Sumac trees against red pines. December 30



My favorite picture of a person. December 9

Favorite still life. At Shagway Arts Barn in the rain. October 22



My favorite sky picture.. The Stratocumulus undulatus clouds in November.



Favorite wildlife picture. Praying mantis with German yellowjacket remains. October 23



Favorite country road picture. From the Ohio hike. April



Favorite tree picture. The maple tree overhanging the driveway to the Shagway Arts Barn. September 5.



Favorite plant picture Horsetail. August 14.

Favorite abstract pattern picture. Ice on a wetland. March 12



Funniest picture. I thought it was going to be old/new fungus growth, and instead got a cute little shark coming around a reef. September 17



There you have 12 of my favorites. Comments always welcome!

In other news: I spent 2 hours messing with the snowblower. The plows had put a 2 foot wall across the bottom of the drive, and the bank around the mailbox is up to the top of the box and about 2 feet in front of it. Cleared. widened the bottom. Now the wind is blowing and the roads are drifting shut. School has already been called off for tomorrow. But we should be able to get out. Road trip for me- stay tuned. Also did some promotional stuff for books and finished (I hope) the extra material that will go with the Dubois Files books. Making split pea soup. Might write a little more, or not- kinda pooped.

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