Saturday

I got up my usual time and went for a walk. I had said - for the Asylum Lake group - that I'd print off some of the brochures and put them out. I took them to two entrances today and will do the third on Monday when I go. I printed them at home and though there wasn't a lot of colour on them, the colour ink cartridge has depleted A LOT. Yikes. It's not cheap. I'm hoping I can print off a few more to get out to the third entrance. 

I had a bit of a walk, dropped some packages at the post office, filled the car (now I'm broke) and then headed home again. I'd like to say that I was really productive, but I wasn't. I did get some things listed - a plus - a couple things sorted - another plus - and then did a whole bunch of...well, not a lot. I did do some stitching. I haven't picked up the stitching in a while, but I wanted to do something, and the craft room wasn't really calling to me. All-in-all, rather a lazy Saturday. Isn't that what they should be? 

I'm on the Beaver's tail. I really want to keep working on this. Darn, getting older. I like stitching in natural light, but only when it's good, otherwise I struggle with my eyesight now. When I was younger, sigh, I could stitch on really small holes. Not anymore! At least I can see enough to stitch a bit. I am looking at doing some embroidery, where I don't have to stitch in holes lol. 

Hope you're having a good weekend!

The Whole Week Has Passed!

Oh my gosh, the whole week has passed and I haven't posted once. I was pretty sure I posted on Wednesday. Oh well. Things are a bit blah, but life is...well, uneventful and I suppose that's good in a way. I have been doing quite well in the house stuff - sticking to lists and a menu plan. I've been combining trips out, so I don't use as much petrol. It's good in a way as it helps cut down on other spending as well. 

I've been out walking every day. It's been a little chilly in the mornings and I'm having to wear a zip up fleece jacket first thing, but it does warm up later in the day. I've even opened a window or two later in the day, though not as many and for not as long. The days are definitely drawing in and the weather changing with it. 

Husband took out our window air con unit the other day and today he put up protective plastic on the front porch. Perhaps it's a little too early to worry too much about winter, but he had extra time off and I think he just wanted to get it done. 

I am struggling with the decluttering. I need that fairy to come in and just get rid of everything for me. Lol. I know I have work to do, but I'm struggling how to get started again. I'm back on that whole - how much did I spend for that and how can I let that money go. I know that I shouldn't worry too much about that, strike it up to bad decisions and not repeat that going forward but I'm finding it really tough. 

Hope your week has been good! I've got to catch up on blogs again. Always behind. 

Photo for today - a beautiful sunrise 

More Rain...Water Problems...and Yes, a Sunday Walk

Water problems - ugh. Saturday morning my son texted to tell me there was notice on Facebook about a boil water advisory for the whole of our city. Apparently, e-coli was found in the water samples, and we were to boil water for drinking, food preparation, washing dishes. What a pain! It made most people a little mad that it was just posted on Facebook - even businesses found out that way - and not done as an alert of some kind. It was expected to last until Tuesday. We don't drink the city water as it is horrible (at times yellow and even brown) so we had that covered, but we did boil some pots of water so we could do the washing up. We used bottled water for teeth brushing and we washed hands and then sanitised as well. Thankfully it ended today as no more contaminants were found!

It was raining again Sunday when I woke up. I did look and further up north, it was supposed to be dull but dry, so off we went. I'm not sure how often we are going to be able to do these daytrips due to the cost of petrol/gas. It's gone up again. We are going to look closer to home, but I really wanted to visit this park as we hadn't gone all summer due to the cost of parking. It was lovely to be able to get out for a walk. We stopped at Grand Haven first and took a walk along the pier to the lighthouse. There were so many people out there fishing. Apparently, it is salmon fishing season. 

I don't like taking photos of people in public but took a couple quick snaps. There were a lot more people further along. 

Now that the summer season is over, they are already starting to put up the snow fences for winter. 

From there we drove on to Muskegon and took a walk there too. Part of that lighthouse is closed off for some much-needed work on the lighthouse. We saw a lovely little mink scampering along the rocks - photos to come!

They are still working on the walkway at the state park. That was a disappointment. It was supposed to be finished in August, but they are now saying November. It's been closed for almost a year now!

I was really glad we went though. It was raining still when we got back home. It took us longer to get back as there was something happening on the motorway. There was quite a back-up, and we were near an exit, so we got off and took another way back. When I looked it up on Facebook somebody said there was a standoff on the road - a man had got out of his car and started running and they had shut everything down! Not sure how long it was closed, but I'm glad we went another way!

It's now the start of another week and I've began as I mean to go on - writing lists!

How was your weekend? 

More Rain...and some crafts

Friday was a dry day and I managed a nice walk. 

It was lovely to see the sunrise and blue skies. 

I'm glad I got out and had a longer walk as it rained most of the day today and then it was just dull and gloomy. I didn't leave the house. It's good in a way, as no money was spent either! I wasn't that productive either. I thought about doing some sorting, but once again, I'm stuck where to start. I ended up sorting more photos on the computer. Got through a lot of the England ones, so I'm mostly back on track again. 

I did manage to get up in the craft room for a little bit. I'm a little stuck there. I think part of it is trying to get back into the groove again. 

I did use one of my old Marjolein Bastin diaries to make another mini album thingy 

I love her drawings and tend to want to just hang onto the planners, but then what am I going to do with them? This way they can be used for another purpose. 

I also had a pen kit I put together. They are beaded pens. I haven't done a lot with them, they weren't much, but I put them together. I like them. I must admit that I'm tempted by a nice-looking pen lol. 

I am hoping we can get out tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather might be dry - it's not looking great - but sometimes you just have to make the most of it, but how high the petrol/gas prices are I'm not sure just driving is worth it - though I might go crazy if I stay inside again!

I know that with the seasons changing, there will be more days like this, and I have to get in the mindset that I might not be able to get out every day. 

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. How's your weather? Are things changing? 

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

It's been raining most of the week here. It's driving me more than a little crazy. When I walked Tuesday, I got drenched, Wednesday, pretty wet so this morning when I woke up and it was due to rain, I didn't even bother to go for a walk. Good thing I didn't as I would have ended up as drenched as I did on Tuesday! It absolutely pelted it down again! 

As I haven't procrastinated by taking lots of photos on my walks, I've actually got some things done around the house. I'm caught up with the housework again (I think) and have got (sort of) back into the swing of cooking and meal planning. The everyday mundane things of life. Sigh. 

It looks as though there might be a break in the weather tomorrow before a very wet weekend in the forecast, so tomorrow I'm letting myself have a bit of a wander and a nice walk before coming home and tackling the to-do list. I do have some washing to do, but I did a load on Tuesday (after I got muddy and drenched) so there isn't as much as usual. I'm back messaging with my sister tomorrow too so we'll have a good catch up in the afternoon. 

The photo for today - beach huts at Walton-on-the-Naze. They are at the opposite end of beach than the photos I shared yesterday. By the time we got up to this end the tide was up.

I love these. They are so bright and colourful!

Slow Start

It feels as though I spent the day more puttering around than getting a lot done. It's made me realise that I do need to get back into writing lists, so I've made one for tomorrow and hopefully it will help me keep on track! 

I started out the day with a walk. It was beautiful for about fifteen minutes, then it absolutely chucked it down and I ended up drenched right through to my undies ha ha!

I was planning on going right from the walk to the places I had to go, but ended up having to go back home, dry off and change. 

The rest of the day was on and off downpours and showers. It ended up quite warm though too, so quite muggy. I had turned my online sales back on so had a few things to get ready and package up. I had started doing an inventory and it really helps so I need to make time to get it finished. It isn't something I like doing, but I do like being able to see where to find things. It cuts down on the 'where the heck did I put that' questions!

I'm back into the meal planning too, so picked up enough to finish out the week. I still cringe at the prices. Things were cheaper when I was in England, especially the vegetables! Sigh. I am trying to buy things on sale, or things that can yield more portions. The freezer is pretty full so I'm going to be pulling things out to help create meals and keep the budget lower. If I do see good deals though I do pick them up. 

I'm still working through the photos. I have to say that one of my favourite beach walks is at Walton-on-the-Naze. I find the beach beyond the cafe fascinating at low tide. There are several concrete pillboxes that used to sit on the cliffs and have since fallen onto the beach. They were built in the 1940s to help defend the Essex coastline. When the tide is high, you can't see them at all, but when the tide is out you can walk right up to them. 

We've been there before, but we deliberately waited until the children were back in school as it usually gets quite busy. There have been sharks teeth found along the coastline and I think the children like to look for them. It was such a beautiful day and it was really quiet!

Weekend

Another absence! We ended up taking a long weekend trip to visit daughter and Baby A. We had sort of discussed it and then it turned out husband had to go to Menomonie, Wisconsin to measure something for work and it's only another 2 hour 15-minute drive to daughter's house so off we went! We had a lovely visit and Baby A is growing up in leaps and bounds. She has a really good vocabulary for a 2-year-old (3 in January). It was really nice to spend time with her. 

I have to get back on track now! 

I still have lots to share about the England visit. I'm still trying to back into the groove of things, missing sister, but hey-ho, we're looking forward to next year! I have photos to sort through and (still) some things to put away. I tried not to buy too much while I was away, but I did bring back some food items and a couple of things I found at the charity shops. It was nice to have the break. It always seems like a good time to think about things and what can be changed or things I'd like to spend time on. Hopefully the thoughts and ideas I had while away will carry through!

I've got catching up to do with blogs. From the comments, I'm not the only one have blogging problems!

Phone photo from Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. We stopped in on the way to daughter's as she was still working (she works from home) and we didn't want to disturb her. I was really surprised to see how low the water levels there were! Places that were usually ponds were now just fields!

Back tomorrow!

Thanks for the visits and comments. 

Plane Drama and Lovely Visit

I'm finding Blogger is being weird. I'm not seeing new posts - sigh. Hopefully, it's just complaining that I've been away too long lol. 

Thanks for all the well wishes for the trip. I am so glad I ended up changing my flight on the way there as the plane that left from Kalamazoo was late and I would have missed my connection. As it was, I made it well on time. My poor walking friend - who was supposed to be leaving 31st August for a trip to Ireland, ended up missing her flights and, because she was with a group, they couldn't be rescheduled for another week! Yikes. 

My flight on the way back from London was on time, but (thanks Chicago - last time flying that airport for a while lol) when I got to Chicago the flight back to Kalamazoo was delayed and delayed and delayed and finally, I had to spend the night in the airport. Not how I wanted to end things. Sigh. Next year, I'm planning on saving a bit more and going the other way (through Detroit) instead.

While over in England, I had a lovely time. I stayed with my middle sister C. We had a great time walking and going places. I met up with my other sister D and my brother M and a variety of nieces, nephews and great nephews. It was lovely. I was really lucky with the weather too as temps had cooled down and we only had a little rain. The worst day was when we were having a family get-together (of course!) and the children couldn't play outside as much as they would have liked. 

I got to visit Mum's bench, the most memorable time on her birthday. A lovely Robin came to sit on the seat beside us just as we were taking photos. It was a lovely moment. 

I still have lots of catching up to do. I've given myself the rest of the week and then next week I am going to get back into the house-y things and getting back on track with some decluttering and goals. 

I'll post more photos over the next couple posts. 

Back

Just a quick post to say I'm back. I'll be catching up in the next few days. 

Couple sunrises from the window of the room I stayed in at my sister's house. She sees some glorious sunrises!

Friday - Getting Ready - Last Minute Panic

 Wish me luck! I think I could use it. 

Back Story - when I booked my flight back in February, I booked a midday flight from Kalamazoo to Chicago, and I'd have a few hours layover in Chicago before my flight to Heathrow. At some point, they decided to cut out that midday flight and just have an early morning 6am something flight and one at 4.30 in the afternoon. It only gives me an hour and a half between flights. Not the greatest. I'm one of those people that would rather be there early, sit and read and relax. Trying to run between flights (when one is at one end of the airport and the next at the other) isn't my idea of fun. The last few days that 4.30 flight has been late, not just a little bit but at least two hours late each day. 

I decided to take a look and see if there was an alternative.

There's an airport about 45 mins away (the one I fly out of when I go to daughter's) that has several flights a day to Chicago with the same airline I'm flying with. I thought it would be easy to change. Nope. Apparently, it's not allowed. I 'chatted' to someone online that said they could only help me after I missed my flight lol. If I decided to drive to Chicago and not take the first flight, they would mark me as not having flown and I wouldn't be able to do any of the trip! I protested and she finally said she would see if she could change me. I had upgraded the flight so she told me that would go back on airline credit, and they would have to charge me $400! 

In the meantime, I had looked at how much it would be if I just rebooked the whole thing - same flights except that first bit. The price was about what I had originally paid (with my upgrade). I told her not to bother; I'd just cancel and rebook. I did it and am now on an earlier origin flight (a couple hours extra). 

Bit upset with the airline, as I could do what they couldn't seem to do (after being with them online for about an hour) with no additional cost and the original fare being refunded to my card. Told husband, next year I'm just going with the other airline and paying a bit more. Sigh. I don't like Chicago Airport. Apparently, it tops the list of most stressful airports in the US. 

At this point, I've decided what will be, will be. I've done what I can to accommodate any delay. I'm packed and trying to relax a bit before leaving for the airport. Hopefully, all will go well! 

I am looking forward to seeing my sister and visiting Mum's bench and taking some flowers. It will be a lovely, relaxing time. We'll do some walking, lots of eating, and plenty of reading. 

I did manage a little walk yesterday so that was good and relaxing.

All ready to go!

On the Countdown

I leave on Friday for England to visit my sister and family. I'm really nervous this time. The flight I booked originally got changed (the bit from here to Chicago) and now I'm panicking that I don't have enough time between flights. Eeeek! I hate it when I book one time and the airlines change/cancel that flight. Apparently, they cut out flights from Kalamazoo to Chicago and there's only one early in the morning and then the one I'm on. Sigh. To make matters worse, I decided to Google how many times the flight is delayed and the last two days it has been hours late!!!! Definitely panicking. 

Deep Breath. 

What will be will be. That's what I keep telling myself. There are later flights that go to England and I will make it there - in the end. Right? That's all that matters. I'm not nervous about the flying. Once I'm on that plane to England, I'll be ok. 

I'm trying to get things tidied at home. I know husband and older son will be here, but still, I like knowing things are tidy when I leave. Is that just a me thing?

The weather has been strange. It's been cloudy, foggy and even a little drizzly in the morning. It's been hot and humid most days. I have been going out for a walk - just for the exercise - but I'm struggling making myself do it. I know I'll be doing plenty of walking when I get there!

I haven't started packing, but I have started sorting out piles of clothes, the maybes and the definites. I can narrow things down from there. I'll do the actual packing tomorrow night I think and try not to second guess myself lol. 

A few phone photos from my walk

Sunlight through the trees

I love how the bees rest on the milkweed flowers at nighttime. I see them early morning, just perching very still on the plants out by the lake. They do make me smile!

Weekend

It would have been a rather boring day yesterday. Being so grumpy, I really couldn't be bothered to get up and go for a walk. I turned off the alarm and slept in for a bit. It worked out in my favour, as daughter rang about half past eight and said Baby A wanted to chat! Spent over an hour chatting with her. She wanted to chat later in the evening too and so we spent another hour and a half playing together. She brought all her dolls to the camera and we played with them. She's so adorable and has changed even in the few weeks I haven't seen her. 

Chatting with her really cheered me up yesterday and made a rather boring day a little more fun and filled with sunshine. 

This morning husband and I did go out for a walk. It was quite nice first thing, cooler (16c/61c) when I got up about 6am and the humidity wasn't quite as bad (around 60% I think). We didn't go far, but we did have a nice (but buggy walk). I got bit several times (sigh) but nothing that swelled up too much, though there is one on the back of my neck that feels a bit of a large bump. 

This afternoon we went to the cemetery and put some flowers on MIL's spot. It would have been her 85th birthday on the 17th and as I won't be here, we decided to go today. Huband, sons and FIL will go next weekend too. It still doesn't seem real that she's gone. Sigh. 

I did get into the craft room on Saturday. I've been watching a YouTube channel by Septeria's Room and had a quick go at one of her projects. I used the base that she made (with a 6x6 piece of paper) and then made a little (mini) notebook and some random tags. Not sure how I'll use it but it was fun to make. 

I wasn't up there for long as middle son stopped by for a bit, so I went downstairs and chatted with him.

The craft room is still a mess but at least I'm spending time up there!

This evening I chatted with Baby A again. So much fun! 

I'm enjoying a bit of quiet before bed, watching repeats of Shetland and catching up with blogs. It will be a busy week this week. I leave on Friday. 

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Time Flying By

I've been struggling with the heat this week. It's making me more than a little bit grumpy. I've been having some hot flushes too and that certainly isn't helping. It's been so muggy and humid that even just moving makes me sweat and I'm not usually a sweaty person. If I knew how to insert a big, grumpy face here, there would be one. I have been walking each day though not a lot, to be honest, more of a wander about and just taking time to enjoy nature. 

The week has been filled with a bit more sorting, a bit of crafty stuff, a bit of housey stuff and a bit of photography stuff. Really uneventful just like the title of my blog lol. 

 

Maybe I'm having a case of the summer blues. Is there such a thing? 

Sunday Adventure

It's a bit late - almost mid-week - but life got in the way of posting. We did go out for a bit on Sunday. It was an okay day and a little beach walk. I can't wait until September, when there aren't as many people about at the lakeshore and the parking is free again lol. A lot of the beaches only charge parking per day and I refuse to pay $15 for an hour walk along the beach. We ended up at a state park as we pay about that for a whole year entry to loads of parks in Michigan. Unfortunately, there was construction going on at the state park and the walkway we usually walk along is still closed. It's been closed for over a year now. 

We did manage a lovely walk along the beach. 

There was a tiny bit of the walkway open lol. I was really surprised that there weren't more people at the beach. It was huge and the water really nice and there were very few people around. 

On the way home we stopped at a farm stand and picked up some corn on the cob, a cucumber and some tomatoes. All really reasonably priced and grown at this farm. The corn was delicious. 

Before we ate it, I took a piece and used it to take some photos with my miniature figures. 

Now to get back into the groove of the week....

Saturday - Homey Day

Saturday was quite dull and dreary. The forecast had said it was going to rain all day, so I turned off my alarm, not planning a morning walk. Of course, I didn't wake up a lot later than normal and when I did, there was no rain in sight, though it was awfully dark outside. 

There were showers on and off, a lot less than forecast though. I didn't go for a walk. I didn't feel like it and the light wasn't really the sort I wanted to take photos in. I'm still sorting through some I've taken so I have a lot to keep me busy. 

I decided - after going to the Post Office to drop off a couple of packages - to have a day inside and do some 'me' things. It turned out to be a nice day filled with a bit of crafting (and not stressing about the mess in the craft room!) a bit of reading, a bit of cross stitching (yes, I actually did some!) and even a little Lego set put together. 

I hang onto things far too long. I love this planner/diary and buy one each year. The drawings are so beautiful I have trouble just throwing them away so I'm trying to use a few. 

I used some of the papers for this little waterfall journal that will go inside a larger 'junk' journal. 

Also made this little mini notebook. I've only just learned the 3-hole pamphlet stitch to put these together. 

The Lego I put together. You turn the key at the front and the princess twirls. It was fun but fiddly!

Book I'm reading. I got this on an England trip. I've read a couple of the other books on my Kindle, so it's time to read this one and then let it go!

How was your weekend?