Snowy/Windy Sunday

I'm sad to say that the weather did not cooperate on Sunday. We woke up to a bit more snow. As it was early morning, the roads were pretty icy once again so instead of going up north to the lakeshore, we decided to go to the part of the lakeshore closer to us. A good choice. It was really quite bitterly cold as the winds were blowing wildly. Husband got out of the car at our first stop and turned around as soon as we got down to the beach. It was SO windy.  The town we were in was under a Gale Warning, so that tells you how wild things were. It always amazes me that a lake can have such high waves!

I stayed out on the beach long enough to get some wave shots

From there, we travelled up the lakeshore to South Haven. The waves were hitting the lighthouse quite right but I managed to get one nice one

While I was wandering on the beach there I was really surprised to see two men come running down the beach and go into the lake water. Brrrr..... there was still some ice on the beach - that tells you how cold the water must have been!

I Must Be Losing My Mind

I was so sure that I posted on Saturday. I must have just imagined it, or thought about it and meant to do it as I obviously haven't posted since Friday! Yikes!

It wasn't a bad weekend. I did get out for a few walks. Saturday was definitely the nicer of the days, but we went out both days. Husband mostly sat in the car as he's still struggling a bit. He had a little walk, enough that he started coughing again. 

It was nice to get out though. The ice at South Haven was beautiful on Saturday. It was still quite chilly so there weren't many people about at all. Just the way I like it ha ha. 

The temperatures are rising this week so all that ice will start to melt!

I didn't get as much done on Saturday as I had hoped. My middle son came over to do some washing and ended up staying for quite a while! It was nice to have a chat, but all the things I was planning to get done ended up not getting done. Sigh. Hopefully some things will get done this week! It is the last week of February - yikes - so I need to add to the declutter totals!

Yup, Rainy Sunday.

It was dull and rainy when I woke this morning. As I write this at ten o'clock at night it is still raining. We went for a drive and there was a tiny break in the rain when we walked along the pier to the lighthouse. I was amazed to see the fishermen out. I suppose I shouldn't be all that surprised when there was one out last week in the windy snow! 

It's really been quite the uneventful day. I got a bit more sorting done when I got back. Not much, but any little progress is, well, progress. Tomorrow I'll get back to it. This week I want to get all the gifts I have wrapped, see what needs to be still got. I need to get some tidying up done, things are sitting around that need to be put away before I leave. We'll see how far I get. 

The really quick walk today was interesting. We went to South Haven. It was rainy when we got there. 

Through the car window

The weather broke for just a little bit that we were able to get out for a walk. The beach is already changing. Where the sand was once flat there is about a five foot 'cliff' as you walk along. Lake Michigan always surprises me. There are no tides, but during Autumn and Winter, the beach is let go wild and there are such changes. It's this time of year that I like to visit most. 

A few more phone photos

I loved the patterns in the sand! 

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. 

Weekend Over

 Well that went rather quickly! We managed to get out today for a bit. It was really windy again so we took another trip to the lakeshore (a bit further away) and I got to take more photos of the waves. Today was nicer than yesterday and there was some sunshine. It always makes me a little more cheerful. It was above freezing today but I still bundled up - with the wind and being by the lake it felt a lot colder than it was. 

When we were done on our adventure we popped over to Jane's. Earlier in the week I couldn't open the lock on the skip/dumpster. FIL tried too. Apparently because it was so cold it froze! Husband was able to open it easily today as it has been a little warmer. He said water came out of when he tipped it slightly to put the key in. I'm not sure how the water got it in. The lock has a little latch over the hole, but apparently it happened somehow. Husband threw all the bags of rubbish away and took care of a large box full of recycle stuff that I couldn't lift. So tomorrow when we go back to Jane's we start with no rubbish around. Someone is coming tomorrow to look at some more of the genealogy so hopefully some of it will be gone!

A wave photo from today. This lighthouse is South Haven. 

While we were there two...people (being polite) went right down to the end of the pier with two dogs! The You can see how big the waves were and they were rolling over the pier at points! As I was getting ready to take this photo another couple stepped out onto the pier just as a waver came crashing over the other side! They managed to escape the water and wisely decided not to go on the pier. 

Beginning of the Week

 Sunday was wet and very windy. We took a drive over to the lakeshore just to get away for a little bit. I managed to get out at South Haven and and take a few photos but the sand was blowing and stung when it hit my skin. Earlier this year to help try to contain the rising waters they put in barriers that basically consist of barrels filled with sand. Sand has also built up behind them and when the wind blows it just whips up that sand. Once I made it to the other side of the barrels it was better. From there we went down to St Joe to check out the waves but we barely made it out of the car! The rain had started to come down and we were soaked when barely got out of the car. We ended up not walking at all. 

I've started on some photo projects for Christmas. Hopefully I'll get them done in time. I'm trying to do a calendar for daughter and her boyfriend of photos I've taken of the dogs this year. Although I don't see them too often (especially this year) I take a lot of dog photos when I do see them. They enjoyed the one I made for them last week so hopefully they'll like this one too. 

I've been playing around with Photoshop again so I took one of my photos that I took at South Haven and played around with different textures as the sky was quite flat. I kind of like way it turned out. I've printed a few of the ones I've done out and they look quite good. 

Maybe an Early Spring?

We've had a little bit warmer weather the past few days and the birds have been out and about. I was really excited to hear my first red-winged blackbird of the season. To me they usher in the first days of Spring. As soon as the days get longer and the sun seems to come more often they appear. Their song is quite distinctive and I heard them before I saw them. I also saw my first chipmunk! If they are coming out of hibernation it certainly must mean something!

I have been out walking every day this week. On Monday there was still quite a bit of ice at the local nature park. I took a drive to the lakeshore as the sun was shining in that direction and had a wonderful walk along the beach. It was lovely and sunny there and pleasant to walk in. There was still quite a bit of ice at the beach. I liked that there weren't too many people around as it was a work day.

As I've been out a lot things haven't been progressing too much on the Homefront. I am keeping up with my everyday things, but nothing extra seems to be getting done. I have started working on a card for my sister. I've finished one, but want to make another as I have an idea in mind. I might be asking for help deciding when I've finished the second. It's what I'm going to work on tomorrow as it needs to be posted to get to my sister on time.

Tomorrow is also Mum phone call day. We're trying to decide on a holiday and dates before I book my plane tickets. At first she didn't want to go away for a week and now she's decided that she wants to. We were thinking about a trip to Ireland but she's going to check and see if there are places on the holiday before I decide on dates.

Hope everyone is having a good week. Are you seeing signs of spring where you are?

Beautiful Sunset

We did make it to the lake for a Sunset on Friday. I persuaded hubby with sausage rolls and a salad so he'd drive me there. It was so beautiful and so worth the drive. There were a few people around and one commented what a beautiful sunset it was and unusual. There were some low clouds, but the sun was full and bright. It was truly magical. We hung around long after everyone else had left. There was still quite a bit of ice around, but I think this is the last of it. We are due for a warm up (finally!) this week.

The final one is one I took standing really close to the lighthouse. It was pretty dark and I couldn't move much due to the overwhelming ice! It was a little bit of a challenge to get back in the dark. You can see in the photo how slick the ice looked.

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Sunset over Lake Michigan

Ever since we went to visit  middle son one evening and watched the sunset over St. Joseph Lighthouse I've been wanting to go watch a sunset over the lighthouse at South Haven. I don't get to go often especially when the sun sets later at night in the summer as it is a little drive to the lakeshore which makes for a really late night. However, weather hasn't been co-operating. It's either been too snowy or just cloudy.

Earlier in the week when I looked at the forecast it said Friday would be sunny so we thought that would make a good choice. Also it's the beginning of the weekend so hubby doesn't have to worry about work. Friday rolled around and so did the clouds. Late afternoon it was looking pretty dismal. The forecast was still saying partly sunny so we headed towards the lakeshore.

So glad we did! The sun was beating down when we arrived. It's a shame the temperature didn't match lol. We did get to hang around in the cold and watch such a glorious sunset. We weren't the only ones braving the cold.

I still have to sort through a lot of photos I took but here are a couple. I hope you enjoy. It was so very beautiful to watch, so serene and surprisingly calm. There was an awful lot of ice still around but stunning. 

Tuesday and a walk

Sad today to hear of the bombing in Manchester. Makes my heart ache.

It was a fairly quiet weekend at our house. We went over to MIL on Sunday to have cake and ice cream for my birthday. In the morning hubby and I went out for a walk. It wasn't very nice out, quite dreary but we did manage 4.25miles. We go camping this next weekend - first of the season - so hopefully the weather will not be so rainy.

It was a really pretty walk. Because of all the rain we've had lately the water was pretty high but we did get to walk along a boardwalk. It was quite slippery though!

Hubby spotted a snake in the water on the way back. We seem to be seeing this darn things everywhere lately!

On the way home we stopped by the lighthouse. The sun was actually coming out though it was quite chilly and windy!

It's been painted! The first time I've seen it up close since then. Sadly there used to be quite a bit of graffiti on it. Now it is all shiny and red.

I worked on some crafts today. It's cooler out this week so nicer to work upstairs in my craft room. I'll share some photos soon. 

Snow has given way to rain and wind this morning. It's a constant drizzle. Not a pleasant day to go for a walk. We were hoping to get in a small one this morning and a longer one tomorrow. Not nice weather at all.

We did take an hour drive to South Haven Lighthouse. We thought maybe a little walk along the beach. Not. The wind was bitterly cold and the drizzle was relentless and quite harsh combined with the wind.

At least someone was enjoying the weather! Brave soul. The water must have been freezing!

We couldn't walk along the walkway to the lighthouse as the waves were washing over it. I almost didn't wear my long undies, but was really, really glad I did! By the end of our short time on the beach my fingers were so cold I could barely press the button on my camera. Some of the photos ended up really misty looking as the drizzle was on my camera. 

They are forecasting sun for tomorrow and a little warmer so we'll be heading off first thing in the morning. Hopefully some brighter photos tomorrow!

Sunday walk

I doubt there will be many more of these. It was bloody chilly this morning. BUT it was bright and sunny so we decided to talk a walk anyway. Winter will be coming and we won't be able to get out and about so much in the snow.

Today we decided to head to Saugatuck Dunes State Park. I should have known when there is 'dune' in the title that there would be hills. On our way up there we stopped at a little roadside park we'd passed before.

The bridge looks pretty dodgy. It is no longer in use, but once-upon-a-time was a railway bridge.

Most of the leaves have fallen from the trees and are making a soft, yet slippery carpet on the ground.

Up and down until we reached the dip down to Lake Michigan. Only problem going down is that you have to come back up again!

Waves plentiful as the wind was certainly blowing.

Playing peek-a-boo through a hole in the tree.

A walk wouldn't be complete without some fungus!

On the way home we took a 'detour' and stopped at South Haven to take a look at the lighthouse.

A brave, brave soul wind surfing - or trying to!

It was extremely windy! We didn't walk all the way out to the lighthouse - waves coming up over the walkway. Beautiful though, really beautiful!

Not a bad weekend in all. Not much crafting going on but lots of going out and staying busy.

On Saturday morning hubby drove me to a scrapbook store he and his dad had passed on their way to a shop they were going to. It was a little way away but rather fun. It was a very big place. Scrapaloo was its name. Not sure how they came up with that one!

They had everything imaginable. I could have spent a lot of money there. I didn't. I was very good (only because I'd already spent enough this week!). It will be a great place to go when I do Mum's calendar. Everything is arranged by theme.

I did buy some Washington D.C themed headers as they looked very unique. I liked how wide and open everything was and there was plenty of space to wander and look.

That afternoon we took a drive down to South Haven to visit the lighthouse. It was very, very cold! There were people sitting out there along the pier fishing - brr.....

The sand was frozen into shape! Looked really weird. Sunday was a busy day too - we went to a Living History exhibition. I'll post pics tomorrow!