Sunday Adventure

 It was supposed to be sunny. Was it? Nope. Not a sliver of sunshine. In fact one of the places we ended up at it was actually snowing! We had a good time despite the weather. When you live in Michigan you just have to accept that it's going to be cold and snowy and (especially in our part of Michigan) sunshine in winter will be a minimum. 

These are phone photos as (story of my life) I haven't sorted through the ones on my camera yet.

White River Light Station

This is called pancake ice. It was floating along the channel that leads from a small lake out to Lake Michigan. 

The door to Little Sable Lighthouse (the second lighthouse we visited). This is one of my favourites. We were very lucky that there was absolutely no one else around and I got take photos galore. There were some wonderful patterns in freshly fallen snow.  The actual lighthouse wasn't open this day but we have climbed all the way to the top before the view is absolutely stunning!

My 30/365 Phone Photo - Things That Make Me Happy. The lighthouse in all its glory. 

Today I went for a walk with my friend - no sun again even though the forecast said there was lol. As MIL and FIL were out of town for an appointment, I didn't have to go to Jane's today, so I picked up a couple of items needed for my meal plan this week. I got sidetracked/distracted and ended up going to a nearby park. I'm glad I did! I saw four deer, lots of birds including a wonderful Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker! 

Of course, that meant I did not stay on track to do the house things I was supposed to do but I will do them tomorrow. I am going for a walk in the morning but then the weather is supposed to turn - rain, ice and finally snow. We are under a Winter Storm Watch so there might be a lot of it!

Saturday Adventure

 Phew - it's the weekend again. Can't believe it's the last weekend of the month. 

We took another drive to the lakeshore. I was interested to see how much had changed within a week. It has been quite cold and I wanted to see how much ice build-up there was. We got there quite early so I had the pier to myself. I was able to take quite a few photos with my camera and take my time so I hope they turned out well!

I took a video. It was really quite cold - I think about -11C/12F and the windchill was even lower. 

I like how peaceful it is in the mornings. We were lucky that there was sunshine today. When we first got there it was quite sunny but the clouds started to roll in a little bit. 

After we got home it was a quite relaxing day. I worked on some photos, had a nice relaxing bath and watched some Blacklist on Netflix. 

28/365 Phone Photos - Things That Make Me Smile

Yesterday I did some frozen bubbles in the morning (my favourite I shared on my  Instagram Account ) I'll try to remember to share on here. After that I took a walk by myself. It wasn't a long walk. It was lovely and relaxing. I walked along (there was sunshine again) and took photos as I wanted. I paused and took time to enjoy all the winter beauty around me. This was one of my photos from that walk - this particular section is called The Magnificent Pines. 

29/365 Phone Photo - Things That Make Me Smile. This one is from the lighthouse today. The pier was snow covered more than icy and I was able to walk right behind the lighthouse. This view really made me smile. 

It's not the greatest technical photo, but I like the view. 

Tomorrow we are off on another adventure to two different lighthouses, a little further away. We don't go very often. I am hoping for some icy landscapes to enjoy. 

 It was an okay day today. 

I walked with my friend early on. The weather wasn't too bad this morning (still below freezing) and the main roads were fairly clear. After my walk I had a couple of errands to run and some housework to get done. So nothing too much. I should have done more sorting but I didn't. 

This evening I sat and watched some television with husband and worked on some photos. I'm not sure what tomorrow will hold. I think we are taking a break tomorrow from Jane's as MIL as some things at her house to get done and I know that there are things at mine that need to be taken care of. It is supposed to be sunny in the morning but very cold. I'm not going for an early walk but instead will try freezing some bubbles. I managed to do it the other day but the light outside, and background for that matter, are not very good so I hoping that as the sun rises I might (not guaranteed) get some colour coming over the back garden and it will help with the lighting. 

The other day I had a couple of sort ofs

And more than a few pops!

My 27//365 Phone Photo Things That Make Me Smile are the two magazines I treated myself to with some Christmas money today. 

I have been doing really well on my low spend month. It really helps that the roads are bad and I don't want to drive lol. 

These are probably older issues (last months in the UK I think) but I am glad that I can at least get them here even if they are a little pricey! Reminds me of home and the photography one always has great articles and ideas. 

Quick Midweek Post

 Just checking in with a quick post. Awfully tired today. Seems like it's been a long day.

Daughter checked in - her FIL does have Covid, her MIL is being tested, daughter's friend A has also tested positive for Covid. A was over at daughter's house on Sunday. Daughter and Husband have tested negative, both are fully vaccinated and boosted. Daughter has ordered more tests so they can keep an eye on themselves. 

Husband hurt himself at work. Not badly, thank goodness. He took off the pads of two fingers. He is quite sore and bandaged up. 

Went to Jane's - cousins came over and took some more of the genealogy. 

I will check in on other blogs, reply to comments tomorrow. I'm off to bed. 

26/365 Phone Photo - Things That Make Me Smile

A little bit of a cheat as this is a collage. But I was so happy that all this genealogy has gone to a new home. I am sure Jane would approve. She would be glad that someone else is getting to enjoy all her hard work. 

Not Quite Productive Day

 I'm actually not sure where today went! I did go for a nice, long (very snowy) walk with my friend Joanie. I then did my grocery shopping - I actually made a list and remembered it! The shop I went to was out of quite a few items and the shelves were quite empty but I was able to get most of what I needed. While I was at the shop I picked up some free N95 masks that were being handed out. I've been wearing my disposable ones as I find them very comfortable. 

When I got home I watched the birds outside for just a little bit - it was pretty cold! I got a couple of photos of them in the snow. I then went and took a lovely long bath to warm me back up. Maybe that's where the time went! 

It was snowing most of the day but I think it's tapered off now. I hope so. We are supposed to be back at Jane's tomorrow so I hope the roads are clear. MIL doesn't live far from us but the road to hers is by open fields and if the wind is blowing the snow covers the road and makes me feel a little anxious!

Oh I was quite happy today as A Year with My Camera featured one of my photos on their Instagram page! Each weekend they have a challenge and this weekend it was mono. I posted one of my black and white lighthouse photos and it was that one they featured. 

Todays Phone Photo - Things That Make Me Smile 25/365

Photo as husband rakes the roof of snow. Thankful and smiling because he came home after work and took the time to rake off the roof and shoveled both the driveway and the pavement of snow. What a guy!

Snow Day!

 Well, it was a snow day for me lol. It started snowing again this morning and I just don't feel comfortable driving far in it. MIL and I decided not to go to Jane's. She wanted to do some things at her house and I, well, I didn't want to drive. I did manage to drive the little bit down to the nature preserve - only because I had arranged to meet my friend. Frankly the drive gave me anxiety! We had a quick walk and a talk. We were both pretty snowy when we were done!

Phone Photo 24/365 Things That Make Me Smile 

The small creek on my walk looked quite snowy today and made me smile. 

When I came home I did tomorrow's household work today. I also sorted out a couple of areas that needed sorting. Isn't it interesting that sometimes when you're sorting you forget things that you had. I 'found' a couple of books that I had forgotten I bought from the library bookshop. 

It looks like a lovely book. I'm so excited as I was looking for it on Amazon and could only find it used for $70! I think I paid $1 for it.

The second book was this lovely book. It caught my eye as it is about Norfolk, not far from Suffolk where I come from. 

This entry is from January 24th

So interesting! It sometimes does pay to have a sort out lol. 

In some other news - last week my daughter said that (finally - a bit late to the party) free covid tests are available to us. Only 4 per household, but daughter signed us up for some. They arrived today! Luckily my husband and son are able to get free ones for work if they have contact with others who have been diagnosed with Covid. 

It will be nice to have them in the house just in case. There seems to be other things going around right now too and it's always nice to know you're postive/negative so you don't pass along to others. At least that's how I feel. 

Daughter called today. Her FIL is awaiting a Covid test result. He hasn't been feeling well. He does have pre-existing conditions, but he's had all his vaccinations so hopefully it will all work out well. Daughter also was feeling quite sad as - on top of that worry - she received word that a colleague has passed away from Covid. He was only in his late thirties/early forties with a young family. When they did work in the building her desk was next to his. He was very good to her when she first arrived. It just goes to show that you never know. Sigh. 

I hope all had a good day with more sunshine than mine!

Weekend

 Thanks for all the lovely comments regarding my photos. I was really pleased with the light over the stream.

This weekend had some good and some bad. I know I shouldn't dwell on it, but Saturday marked six months since Mum died. It also has been about a year since Mum got taken to hospital with Covid. It's been such a rollercoaster of a year. On Saturday, the six month anniversary, I tried to think good thoughts, of the good times we shared and the holidays we enjoyed together. I want to try to think of the good and not dwell on the bad, but sometimes it's hard. 

Yesterday we went to the lakeshore when it was really wild and windy. I can almost imagine Mum laughing at me and thinking I was crazy for going out in that weather. She would have hated it. I think she probably would have sat in the car as husband did lol. 

It snowed Saturday night and we got about 4-5inches of snow. It was still snowing when we got up and I wasn't sure we were going to go anywhere! The forecast had predicted sun but I wasn't imagining any with the start we had! Husband said we'd go out anyway. He's a good driver in the snow, confident and used to it as he grew up with it. He made me laugh with the story he told of when he was stationed in England and it snowed. He drove to the base in the snow only to find it had closed. He didn't think anything of driving in it, but he did wonder why the roads were so empty!

We meandered through the countryside and up to the lakeshore - a little further away. Guess what? The sun came out! It was cold, but a beautiful day. I'm so glad we went out! By the time we drove home the salt trucks had been out and the main roads were mainly just wet. 

22/365 Phone Photos - Things That Make Me Smile

Yesterday after we got back from our windy day out it was lovely to have a cuppa soup, some lovely chocolate chip cookies and watch a favourite film all bundled up in my blanket. Worth smiling about!

23/365 Phone Photos - Things That Make Me Smile

Seeing the ice build up on the pier! Wow, it's grown just since last weekend!

I took lots of photos with my camera too. 

Here's a black and white from Saturday with the wild waves. A lot of people have been posting on social media so I thought I'd try something different. It certainly shows how dramatic it was!

I have some catching up on blogs to do but I think I shall do it in the morning when I wake up. It's getting late and I am so ready for bed. I hope everyone had a good weekend. 

Friday

I did manage to get my sunrise on Thursday morning. It did snow overnight, but only a little and husband texted me to say that the roads were okay so I managed to get up in time and get over to the lake on the other side of town (the only good sunrise place in town) to take photos. It was quite cold. There was what I call a somewhat sunrise. There were lovely skies - for about five minutes and then everything clouded over. I did manage to get some photos! 

So day 20/365 Phone Photo Things That Make Me Smile is a sunrise photo. 

It was my walking friend's first day back walking yesterday. I arranged to meet her a little later as I was going to see the sunrise. She mentioned how I didn't get to see my sunrise and was surprised when I told her that I had! By the time we met it was completely cloudy and lightly snowing!

Today was sunny but bitterly cold. My walking friend and I were out early. We walked at our usual place today. It was quiet - probably because it was so cold! There were a few people out on the lake ice fishing but other than that we saw no-one. 

Later MIL and I went to Jane's house for a little while. We sorted out a box of photos and also started to choose what we would like to keep or sell from a couple of Jane's collectables cabinets. It wasn't a long day but productive. 

21/365 Phone Photo - Things That Make Me Smile

While out walking this morning the sun came through the trees at just the right time and hit the small stream. It amazes me how things change throughout the year. In the summer the light here is terrible and too bright or too dark (depending on the time of day). In winter, the light hits just right. This morning it looked almost magical. 

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Halfway Through the Week

 Well, it's Wednesday and we were back at Jane's again. I couldn't seem to get moving this morning, so didn't get to my walk early and then I got distracted. I hadn't seen a lot around the park so I decided to head back to the car. Walking along the path I saw a bunch of robins, then some nuthatches, woodpeckers (three varieties!) and finches (two varieties!).  It always seems to happen when I have to be somewhere! I took a few photos and headed off to pick up MIL.

Today we sorted twenty-two - yes 22 - plastic tubs/totes clothes! This is hopefully the last of the clothes. We have already sorted (and donated) approximately 20 black rubbish bags of clothes. Who knew one person could own so many? I don't think I even have a fraction of that amount of clothes. They date back several years and are in several sizes. I am hopeful that someone else will get plenty of use out of them. 

I was hoping tomorrow to go and photograph a sunrise but we have had some snow and if the roads aren't the greatest in the morning I shan't be going far. Sigh. I'm going to get up and then see. I'm supposed to walk with my walking friend too. I hate to cancel. Although I enjoy walking with her I like going by myself to for the very reason that if I am running late, don't feel like going or want to try somewhere else, I have no-one to please buy myself. She'll probably think I'm a chicken for not wanting to drive in the snow. 

Positive things for the day :-

* I got eight books sorted for the donation pile. Not as many as I hoped but after Jane's I was tired. I         really didn't feel like rummaging around in anything else so picked some easily at hand. 

* I managed to get some photos done on my project! I am doing a year long project and want to keep         on track. 

* I got up in the craft room and put together some 3d toppers from a set by Craft Consortium called In       the Forest

Phone Photo Things That Make Me Smile

19/365 Sometimes it's just the little things that make me smile. Chocolate. Chocolate always makes me smile!

Ups and downs today. I didn't get done quite as much as I hoped. 

I took a walk somewhere different today. It was very peaceful. It was cold but it was really quiet and nice to watch some of the winter birds in the ponds. I walked at a place called Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery. It is a place where they raise fish. In the winter several of the ponds are drained, but there are two and a bit that don't freeze at all. A variety of birds - mainly ducks and swans - come to reside for the winter. I caught sight of the resident blue heron moving around one side of one of the open ponds looking for some fish. 

While walking there I came upon this falling down building. I think it must have been a storage shed of some kind. 

It was also quite interesting to see this water butt frozen. How cold it must have got at one point!

 I stopped at the shops on the way home and picked up a couple of items needed to complete dinner for the week. I shan't need to go back until the weekend. I find the less trips I make the less money I spend. 

I did a little crafting, no sorting today (so a failure on that point!). I did open one of my Christmas gifts from husband. He got me a screen calibration thingy that makes sure that the colours your computer screen shows are how they will appear more accurately when printed or shown on other devices. It's the first step in printing some of my photos on larger medium. I watched a couple of Youtube videos and it looked really confusing, but once I just followed the instructions shown when you plugged in into the computer it wasn't as bad as I thought!

Tomorrow it is back to Jane's. When I get home I want to pull at least 5 books to put in my donation box. Hopefully there will be more! Thursday I shall start walking with my friend again. Before Christmas she missed the last step on her basement and hurt her foot. She was going to spend the holidays with her son in another state so wore the boot recommended and finally managed to get a doctor's appointment for today! She is allowed to walk again, but has to go to physical therapy. I told her that she needed to wear her ice things as the paths on all the parks are quite slippery. She is planning to bring a hiking stick with her too to help her keep balance. 

My Things That Make Me Smile 18/365 (phone photo)

Sunrise out of my back door. It was supposed to be all cloudy today but I happened to look out of the back door and caught sight of this lovely colour through the trees. Made me smile!

New Week and Sunday Adventure

 Monday again. 

I heard from my sister this morning - some good news for our family. Her daughter, my niece, gave birth to her baby last night. A baby boy, Odin. He was 8lb 9oz so a good weight. She ended up having a c-section, but both she and baby are doing well. My sister sent me some lovely photos. Neice will have her hands full as this is her third. 

I had a quick walk this morning. It was grey and dull and there wasn't much around the park today. I had a hair appointment early afternoon so we decided not to go to Jane's today. I must admit that it was nice to have a Monday off! I got done the chores I would have done tomorrow, I crafted a little bit, sorted out my craft room a bit more and got to sort out some photos! I need to make more time to sort through photos. I would like to have some cards printed from some of my photos, but when the photo site has a sale on them I never seem to have them ready. My plan tomorrow is to get some done so that when there is a sale again I can easily order them. I would like to have some prints done too.

Today's Things That Make Me Smile Photos is working on my pictures. 17/365

Yesterday we had a really good day out. It was cold, but the sun was shining. We went to a couple of lighthouses - Grand Haven and Muskegon. I got out at Grand Haven and took some photos and just as we were driving off we saw a ship start down the channel between the lighthouse and the range light. I had husband turn around so I could take some photos. It was a lot of fun! It was a really big ship. There was some light ice in the channel so the ship went through it. As people saw it coming they stopped and got out of cars to watch and take photos. I took lots with my camera and a couple with my phone. My phone ones are a lot clearer up close but this one turned out pretty well. The ship was the Wilfred Sykes. 

So 16/365 is one of those Phone Photos

After watching we went to the other side of the channel and got to see some fantastic ice. We had to walk on a little ice to the pier and then it was clear. A little way up the pier we saw this wonderful ice arch. 

From Grand Haven we went up to Muskegon and I took more ice photos - mostly with my camera there. It was so nice to get out and the sun felt lovely despite it being quite cold. 

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Saturday Adventure

 It was very cold this morning but sunny! It was so beautiful. We bundled up and went to the lakeshore. It was really peaceful at South Haven. There were a couple of other photographers about but that was it. 

This is my 15/365 Phone Photo - Things That Make Me Smile

It's the view through the walkway to the lighthouse. I was the only one out on the pier so I had a lot of fun taking photos. It was icy but with my Yaktrax on I was safely able to walk. It's a different view of the lighthouse and it made me smile. 

From there we went down to Tiscornia Park in St. Joseph. It wasn't as icy as it was last week but there was an ice shelf starting to form down on the beach. It's amazing to see. 

There were quite a few people at the park. It had been on the news earlier in the week as there were sand sculptures that people were seeing. They were no longer there though, washed away by the waves earlier in the week. Luckily, we were able to see them last week! They were amazing to see. There were created by ice, wind and freezing sand. 

After we got home I went up to the craft room and did a bit more sorting. There is a big box of things I am willing to get rid of, but I still need to declutter some more. I did do a bit of crafting too so it's not all sorting! 

Tomorrow we are off on another adventure. 

It's Friday

 Day didn't start off great. I didn't sleep too well. I wasn't feeling the best last night and yesterday was not as productive as I hoped. 

It's been almost a year since Mum got Covid and everything changed. It's been on my mind a bit lately. My sister messaged this morning and said that she got an offer on Mum's flat and she had accepted the offer. It's now a matter of the surveys and such and then the flat will be gone. It's quite sad. Mum had a lot of good years in there. My sister said the buyer was a guy who was a first time buyer and he is quite excited. We're hoping he enjoys the flat as much as Mum did. It is sad to let it go though. I know it's just a place and we carry the memories, but still. Sigh. I also feel bad that I can't be there to help my sister. She's been going over there a couple of times a week so I know this will be hard on her. 

I cried a little on my morning walk. It was a good thing it was quiet and not many people were around!

MIL and I went over to Jane's again today. MIL's cousin came over to take the last of the genealogy that she's interested in. She has taken at least a whole five shelved bookself full of folders/binders. I am so pleased that a lot of Jane's research is going to someone who appreciates it. She seemed so excited to be able to take it! She extended an offer to help us if we needed it. So once we're a bit further along and packing things up for the sale we might take it up on her!

When I came home I got the cupboard sorted that I meant to do yesterday. I chose to donate several items and my box is full so I am ready to start another! On a roll I went up to my (messy) craft room and managed to pull out a bunch of things I am willing to donate and another bunch I would like to sell. 

I did manage to also use up a craft kit I've had for a while - a card making kit. It makes two of each design. It was quite easy to do though I don't think I would have paid the full price for it! The original price was $15. It did come with everything needed except something to cut with and some adhesive. There were some good instructions with it too. 

They turned out quite nicely I think. I've added them to my card box. 

My 365 photo a day project is coming along nicely though today was a bit of a struggle. 

13/365

Mini Mince Pies. Yes, I know Christmas is over. We had a lot of food over Christmas and I saved this box of mini mince pies. So yesterday I had some with cream. I ate them thinking of Mum as I know we would have had a good laugh when I shared with her that I still had some after Christmas!

14/365

I wasn't feeling too smiley today but while over at Jane's I was looking at her treasures and came across this wonderful little figure with his camera. It is a Hummel piece and had W. Germany printed on the back. It just made me smile. 

Hopefully we'll have some sun tomorrow and a car ride out!

Mid-Week

 I got up early and went for a quick walk before we headed off to Jane's. I didn't see a lot. There were a couple of bluebirds flying close to the bird houses. No beavers swimming about. The lake is still mostly frozen. It was really quiet out. I didn't see any other people until I got back to the car park!

Here are a couple of phone photos from my walk.

The space in the top photo is the water the beavers keep free and clear. Usually there are several spots, but they seem to have only kept this one bit ice-free. As you can see from the second photo I got there early - before the sun had even risen properly! 

Jane's house - sigh. We started on the basement. There are so many bags full of boxes for ornaments in her Christmas room and boxes for the houses, trees and landscape in her Christmas village. She has a lot of Christmas items! In the basement she had a smaller Christmas tree with lighthouses on and another packed away with ornaments representing the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Those ornaments are my photo-a-day Phone Photo Things That Make Me Smile. MIL and I had a good laugh trying to remember what the twelve days of Christmas were and trying to work out which ornament went with which day. These ornaments are really beautiful.

Two of the five gold rings are missing. MIL said this would make a good mystery story lol. 

Tomorrow I have a couple of errands to do. I have a game to return (it has to go back to Amazon but can be dropped off at a local shop). I accidentally bought two of the same one for Christmas and have only now got around to returning it. I also have a couple of things to pick up from the grocery store - items I couldn't get earlier in the week.

I have a couple of regular household jobs to do and then I shall try to work on the cupboard in the dining room. I know there are things inside that I've been putting off getting rid of as I still like them, but I haven't used them and I want the room so it's time for a clear out!

Start of a New Week

 Yesterday we were back at Jane's again. It's coming along but I don't think either of us has a lot of enthusiasm left. It just seems a lot. I think we will be glad when it is done.

Today I had a list of things that I wanted to get accomplished. I almost got distracted - well, to be honest I was distracted for a little while, but I got back on track and got quite a bit done. I started a box for donation - I put in some decorative pieces that I've held onto for too long.  It's time to let them go and make space for different things. This shelf was filled with dusty knick-knacks with odds and ends stuck up on it. I cleared it off, cleaned it and put up some things that were elsewhere.  I quite like it. There is so much more to do but you have to start somewhere, right? 

.

I sorted through some books too. I have so many. I was doing so good, sorting and donating books and then, well, life happened. Buying books - not necessarily new ones - is my go-to thing to buy when I'm feeling down and there was a lot of that last year. I have a lot of books to read! I was so tempted to buy a new one that came out today but I am obviously overwhelmed with books and on a tight budget (though I do have Christmas money - holding onto that just in case something comes up). 

Tomorrow is back to Jane's so not a lot at my house will get done. 

I have a catch-up to do on my photo-a-day. I have been taking them so that's the main thing!

10/365

On my walk today I saw that they had put up a new winter information board and it has one of my photos on it (the middle one). A Good thing to smile at!

11/365

Not exactly a success, but it made me smile to try! I managed to get the bubbles to freeze somewhat. Then it started to warm up. Sigh. 

On a side note this was what has me distracted. I was trying to work out the best way to get them to freeze and not get popped by the wind. I think it works best on my front porch. It's not supposed to be cold enough to try again until the weekend. I do have to work out the best way to get them lit up so the patterns show well. 

Weekend - Lighthouse visits

 I actually had a good weekend. I didn't get a lot done. Although I did make a grocery list and remembered to take it with me! The shelves were sadly quite empty at the shop we went to. It was really busy out this weekend and we aren't sure why! It looked like pre-Christmas in some place. Either something is going on that we don't know about or everyone is out buying after the snow storms we've late this week. I have a couple of items that I couldn't get so shall have to go out later in the week on a day I'm not going to Jane's. We shall be back sorting Mon, Wed and Friday - as long as the weather cooperates. I don't like driving in the snow if I can help it. 

Speaking of snow. It was quite snowy on the roads on Saturday morning. I was so glad husband was driving or I would have stayed home! It was lovely and sunny though so we went to the lakeshore as I heard there was some ice on the lighthouse. It was very cold. I bundled up with layers, double socks, double gloves and hand warmers! 

We went to two lighthouses that aren't far from one another. The second one is pretty close to where our middle son lives and we had to drop off something to him so we decided to stop there too. 

These are phone photos from our morning out. 

The above two are from South Haven Lighthouse. We didn't go all the way out to the end as the waves were coming over the end of the pier and it was just a sheet of pure ice. We did have Yaktrax on our boots. They are grippers for shoes. 

The next one is from St Joseph Lighthouse (near where our son lives). This is my photo for Day 8 of my 365 Phone Photo Things That Make Me Smile challenge. 

I really enjoy going to see the ice on the lakes in winter. It makes for brightening up what is usually a really dull, long winter. It especially made me smile on Saturday as the sun was shining so brightly! At least for a time. Not long after I took this photo the clouds rolled in. We did not walk any further down the pier btw. 

Sunday was a windy day here in Michigan so that means another visit to the lakeshore, this time a little further up the lake. We stopped at Grand Haven Lighthouse and Holland Lighthouse. I hope to share my camera photos soon. I do have a bit of video I recorded at Grand Haven. It was so cold and the wind was just howling!  I stayed on the beach and didn't venture onto the pier at all as the waves were crashing over the barriers and the actual walkway was coated with thick ice.  A couple of people looked as though they might go up on it but once they caught sight of the waves thankfully they stayed away!

My Phone Photo Day 9 Things That Make Me Smile is my comfy pair of Penguin PJs. I put them on to warm me up when I got home. They are really thick and fluffy. I can't wear the top to bed as it is too hot. I got a size bigger than I needed (they were the only size close to mine) and I have to put a safety pin on the bottoms so they don't fall down. They make me smile because they are warm and comfy and also because they make me think of daughter as she has the same pair and we wore them together and laughed about it. 

I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Snow or No Snow?

 Well, yesterday's snow did not end up really bad.  A few inches. Middle son is closer to the lakeshore and he said he got quite a bit of snow, so much so that his work ended up sending them home to work for the rest of the night. Our snow was worse today! It snowed most of the day. The roads were pretty terrible. Husband had to leave work early as his work does not want them to have overtime but he had to work extra hours the other day. He came, took me to the park and I walked in the cold and snow while he went home and shovelled the snow out of the driveway, pavement outside the house and raked the snow off the roof! It was quite a workout for him.

Some of the phone photos taken on my walk. I had forgotten how much energy it takes to walk through deep snow! It was really hard to judge how deep it was and I had to be careful where I was putting my feet!

I have started to make some lists! I feel as though I am finally getting back on track. I shall work on them some more over the weekend. 

Finally the next two photos for my Photo-a-Day challenge. I am doing Phone Photos - Things That Make Me Smile.

6/365

It wasn't the photo I planned. I wasn't going to do another outdoor one. When I did this same challenge in 2020 I had a lot of outdoor photos. I was going to try for a variety. However as we were supposed to have a really bad snowstorm I was so happy when the sun actually came out yesterday afternoon. Who wouldn't smile at that? 

7/365

Smiling (and a little bit of crying with this book). I know, I know, it's a Christmas book and Christmas is over, but it's been in my to-read pile for a while. I really enjoyed it. It was what my Mum would have called a family story. It's one of those books that I would probably keep, pack in my case and take for her to read.