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!

Sunday Adventure

We did go out Sunday. Husband was feeling well enough to drive, but he didn't get out and walk anywhere. He's still coughing away. Poor guy. 

We stopped at the lighthouse near where son used to live. I took a peaceful walk out there, at least to the part where it wasn't icy. It was quite lovely, though chilly and blowy. For a time, I was the only one out there. There were lots of birds in the water where there wasn't ice and I took a few photos of the ducks. A couple of people took a really quick walk, but didn't stay long!

We then drove down the lakeshore a bit to a state park that we like. Warren Dunes. It's always a great place to visit in the winter. The ice is usually quite good along this stretch. 

The light bit that you can see is where the lake starts and is quite mushy. One idiot person decided it would be a good idea to try to walk across it to get to the ice. They soon worked out that it wasn't a great idea! The ice is obviously not stable. 

It was very windy, I think there was a gale warning, and waves were crashing up over the ice, flinging up new chunks of ice. I was quite mesmorized. 

I took a lot of photos with my camera (that I haven't sorted yet of course!). I was having a good time despite being cold. Then suddenly the weather turned! Snow started to come down and with the wind it was like a blizzard! Husband said he was worried I wouldn't be able to find my way back to the car! I know the park pretty well and had already started heading back as soon as I saw the snow coming in off the lake. 

It was strange as not far outside the park the snow stopped! 

I spent the afternoon trying to get warm. Sigh. 

It's back to Monday now and time to get into the groove of the week. I did drag myself out for a walk. I was tempted to just stay in, to be honest. The wind was still blowing, there had been a little more snow, and the temperature was pretty cold 10F/-12C and with the wind even colder. But I got out as it's supposed to be even colder tomorrow morning! I must admit that I am looking forward to Spring. A warmup cannot come too soon. As I'm writing this, I went to get a drink, looked out the window only to see snow coming down again. Sigh. 

I wasn't terribly productive today, but I did get a few things done that needed to be done. I had forgotten that it was the online camera club meeting today. I hate anything new and meeting people is uncomfortable for me but I've made it a goal to attend the meetings. Maybe one day I'll speak at one lol. It was quite interesting. Later, daughter and Baby A video chatted with me. Also, son called. Quite the social day for me lol. 

I'm not sure about a walk tomorrow. It's up in the air. Today was quite hard going. The ice at Asylum Lake is now covered, but the snow had drifted in places and was almost up to our knees in some places! I have made a list for tomorrow so that's a plus!

Hope everyone is having a good start to the week!

After Christmas

Well, another one over. It's been tough this year (again) getting into the Christmas mood. I was sad that daughter couldn't make it, but glad she stayed safely home. I would have worried no end as they were driving here. Luckily, husband was able to drive down and get son on Christmas Day. The roads were pretty lousy, but husband is used to driving on bad roads. Son does drive but his car isn't the greatest in snow (long distances) so it was safer for husband to go get him and take him home after. 

It was rather a quiet affair. I got some lovely photos and videos sent to me from Sister's Christmas. Her youngest grandson started walking on Christmas Day! It was lovely to see. 

We exchanged presents, went to MIL's to eat and then came back home. I chatted with daughter a couple of times. I got lots of goodies - enough chocolate to last until Easter ha ha and plenty of alcohol. Not sure what it says about me when I end up with about 6 bottles of things lol. I received some lovely nature books that I hope to share photos from in future posts as well as other goodies. I am feeling very thankful for all that I received. 

Day 359 (Sunday)

One of my gifts. Really makes me smile. 

Yesterday, Boxing Day, the weather had cleared a bit so we decided to take a trip to the lakeshore and check out the ice. Wow. That's all I can. We stopped at South Haven first. The winds had been pretty wild over the weekend and it showed!

These are some photos I took with my camera

From there we drove down to St Joesph lighthouse. Oh my. The roof on the lighthouse is usually red. It was covered in ice. 

Would have loved to stay out there longer taking photos but it was so cold!

Day 360 (Monday)

Of course, it has to be an ice photo. I had to take it with my phone. 

Eye-level icicles. Wow. Just Wow

Today it was back to normal. A walk and a little tidying up. This is always the in-between week. 

Day 361 

It was cold out today on my walk and oh-so-snowy! We stuck to the main paths. Most of the big lake was frozen, but this stream is sort of the run-off and water flows through it so it mostly stays unfrozen all winter. Good for the animals in the woods. It is really beautiful at this time of year, the sun glowing golden first thing in the morning. Made me smile. 

Last Day of November

Another month over. Feeling a little melancholy tonight. Thinking of Mum. There are so many times I think of things I want to share with her and then I realise she's not here and I can't tell her. How I miss her. Sigh. 

I had a mini adventure today. I drove myself to the windy lakeshore. Probably why I'm thinking of Mum. I'd always tell her when I went, and she'd laugh because I was so crazy to go. She'd like seeing the photos too. 

Here are a couple of photos I took with my camera. I say this every time, but it amazes me when Lake Michigan is this wild and crazy. 

I was gone for most of the day, so didn't get much at home done. Tomorrow, I shall catch up on housework and run a couple of errands. 

Good thing about tomorrow - I get to open my chocolate advent calendar. Chocolate is always good. It might just be the thing that makes me smile tomorrow lol. 

I didn't take a lot of phone photos today. It was too darn cold to take my double gloves off while I was out on the beach. It was freezing. I saw snowflakes lol. I think the windchill was somewhere around 14f/-10C. 

Day 334 

There's a log here. I sat on it to take photos lol. 

More tomorrow!

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!

Weekend - and Thanks!

Thank you so much for all the encouraging comments on the last post. I'm still feeling a little blah, but I'm trying to just get on with it. Perhaps this is just too much information but I think it's a collections of things that's making me feel this way - the weather, the grey days, after-Christmas slump and the beginnings of menopause. I feel like I'm on a roller coaster of emotions and the way my body feels. Sigh. Yup, that's probably enough.

It's the weekend and, despite the weather, husband and I took a little drive this morning. It was raining and windy, but the ice didn't start until later. As I look outside now it is icing a little. We shall have to see what it is like before we decide on going out tomorrow. Today we took a quick trip to the lakeshore. We didn't get out long as it was raining but it was nice to take a drive and chat.

Here's a shot out of the car windscreen with my phone.

And another of the lighthouse we did get out at. The waves were really wild at this one. Husband was a little behind me and when I walked out I could see the water was coming up quite high so I walked up a slight hill onto some higher sand. He saw me moving up just as a wave was coming and quickly followed. If he had walked along the pier he would have got very wet!

We really are quite careful when the waves are like this. I think people underestimate the power of the lake. There was a story from New Year's Day where a couple was walking along the walk at another lighthouse and were swept off by a wave. They weren't from the area (and I don't think there are any signs at that one) so probably didn't know how high the water is and how slippery the walkway can be. One of them managed to get to safety but they haven't found the other one yet. The lake is so high right now that places that used to be safe to walk no longer are.

When we got back I Skyped Mum which is always uplifting and talked to daughter. I leave to visit her next Saturday (fingers crossed for the weather) and am looking forward to that.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.