WOYWW - Did I leave my mojo in St. Cloud?

It's Wednesday again so it's time to join with Julia and the gang over at Stamping Ground for another What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.

Here's my desk - lots of coloured pencils and a few images. I think I want to sort my pencils - daughter has them all sorted in colours. Mine are as they came. How do you organise yours?

You can see a little colouring going on but not a lot else. I think I left my crafting mojo in St. Cloud!

Since I've come back I have got some sorting out done - several books posted off to Paperbackswap.com and magazines listed (and sold) on Ebay. I've got a way to go but I am getting there!

I did finish a scarf! It's like the one I knitted in St. Cloud, only this one is sewn too

Here's a photo of me wearing it! Hopefully next week there will be a little more to see on my desk.

More walking - beautiful Michigan!

I loved Ludington State Park. After our walk to the lighthouse we decided to take a look around at the other campgrounds - unfortunately only one was open but some of the spots looked great! I checked when I got home and most of them were booked already - for most of the summer! Yikes. I can believe it after we drove a little further into the park. There were plenty of walks along rivers and through woods and a lovely dam. The day was so beautiful people were out fishing.

Beautiful!

On our way back down to Kalamazoo we stopped at the other lighthouse in Ludington - Ludington North Pierhead Lighthouse. It's a little walk out to the lighthouse and there was still a bit of ice on the walkway.

See the people fishing? There was a bite to the air at this one.

So calm on one side, rough on the other.

Still a huge chunk of ice on one side of the lighthouse. Didn't walk around that side - look how big it is!

It looked like it was ready to fall!

A reminder that it is still winter - the seats are just about buried from the blowing sand! They will have to be dug out sometime before the season starts, but I doubt it will be soon. This is Michigan and one day we're wearing shorts and the next in the middle of a snow storm.

Warm days are nice while they last!

Beautiful Sunday Walk

It was a gorgeous day today. February in Michigan and it was warm enough to go without a coat! There were lots of people out in shorts - a little crazy imo - with really white legs lol. I think we are all fed up with winter. It was really great to see the sun shining and the sky really blue.

With the weather as great as it was we decided to take a trip up to Ludington State Park and take a walk to the lighthouse and maybe check out some camping spots.

It's a really lovely walk - 1.8 miles to the lighthouse so a round trip of 3.6 miles. It is a level walk, some sand as the dunes on either side had drifted a little with the winter winds.

A first peek of the lighthouse over the dunes.

And finally a view of the Big Sable Lighthouse in all its glory.

This has to be one of my favourite lighthouses.

Still a little stubborn snow/ice around.

And a few hints of where there was ice.

What a lovely walk! More tomorrow....

Funny Dog!

Daughter treated her dog Shasta to some new toys today - found a really good bargain at a pet shop  near her. She sent me some cute photos.

She played with each one of them and fell asleep with them around her.

Later, she just decided to sit on them!

Crow Wing State Park, Minnesota - FIVE ON FRIDAY

It's been a couple of weeks since I joined in with Five on Friday with Amy and the others at Love Made My Home. My daughter moved to Minnesota from Michigan at the beginning of January and I've been off visiting her for a couple of weeks. I had a lovely visit. Even though we had moved her it was nice to see her settled in and spend a little more time at her flat. It's really secure, quiet and comfortable so makes me feel a lot better that she is settled safely.

Anyway, while I was there we did venture out to visit a couple of State Parks. It was cold (sometimes as low as -18C/-1F not including wind chill) and still snowy/icy. We decided to bundle up and go explore a little. Each state has state parks that are are recreational parks - hiking, skiing, canoeing, beaches, camping etc - and if you pay a fee you can have access to them all year long. In Minnesota the fee is $25.

For this Five on Friday I'm going to share our visit to Crow Wing State Park.

Crow Wing was reportedly the scene of a major battle between the Dakota and Ojibwe in the year of 1768. It was also the home of several great Ojibwe leaders.

The Crow Wing River meets the Mississippi river where the park now is. Trading posts sprung up around the river and people settled here. Fur trading gave way to logging. At its peak the settlement boasted 700 strong. The rivers here were (when we visited) covered with ice and snow, barely recognisable.

For over a century this was the northernmost settlement of Europeans on the Mississippi River.

They have recreated the old boardwalk that would have gone through the centre of town.

There are some great little signs along the way telling you of things around what was the town.

This is the Clement Beaulieu house. It is thought to be Minnesota's oldest standing house north of the twin cities (Minneapolis/St Paul). It was built in 1849 - so new compared to some of the buildings in England. It is situated on the hillside and would have overlooked the town below on the Mississippi River. He is considered to be one of the founders of the town.

Beaulieu was the descendant of prestigious French and Ojibwe lines which I find quite interesting. I might have to look up more about him and his family!

The demise of the town came in the 1870s when the Northern Pacific railroad decided to build the railroad crossing a little to the north at Brainerd. The remaining local Ojibwe were 'relocated' to the White Earth Reservation (Clement Beaulieu and his family included) and the town became a part of history.

I hope you've enjoyed the little tour - as you can see it was very snowy (none of the paths were cleared) and cold so we didn't walk far. I am looking forward to visiting in the summer and seeing the river at full flow!

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday

Wednesday rolling around again. Joining up with Julia and the group at Stamping Ground for another trip around the world sneaking a look at the desks of other crafty people. I am back in Michigan again after a lovely two weeks visiting my daughter in Minnesota.

My desk isn't that creative, just a few things waiting to be put away and some leftover chocolates I couldn't help dipping in to. I am still settling in and sorting out. I did finish my scarf in Minnesota but had to leave it as no room in my bags - really, I had to push down to get one closed!

I have been knitting on this one since I've been back. I really like these. They are so warm!

I also finished another cross stitch while I was in Minnesota. This one is a Lizzie Kate design. I am so glad I am finally getting some of these done! Now I have to work on getting them framed and displayed. I read quite a bit while I was away but that was on my Kindle. The goal is to read some of the books on my many bookcases....if only there were a few more hours in the day!

Back Home

Sigh. Back home again. Sad to leave daughter but glad she and Shasta are settling into their new apartment and lives. Daughter's apartment building seems really secure, quiet, clean and safe and that certainly makes me feel a little better.

I have lots of photos to share but have to sort through them. I did manage to take a couple from the plane yesterday. It was a really clear day and we could see below the whole flight! It was a little bumpy - the poor lady next to me did not like it so much. I saw her in the bathrooms when we landed and she said she almost threw up. She did eat a bag of crisps/chips, pretzels and cookies. Yikes. So glad she managed to hold it in - that would not have been pleasant!

A lovely clear view of Minneapolis/St Paul.

Some fluffy clouds ahead the closer we got to Michigan!

Lake Michigan shoreline.

River (I think it might be the Mississippi) as we flew over it. It was lovely to be able to see so clearly. Usually I take an aisle seat but it was a short flight so I booked a window seat. So glad I did!

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday

Still in Minnesota but joining in with Julia and the gang over at The Stamping Ground for another What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday. No desk again this week. I do have a finish I've been working on.

I am determined to finish some of the many projects I have kitted up over the years and this is the second I have finished this year. I've almost finished the scarf I was working on top but no photo of that this week.

Daughter and I went to The Mall of America on Sunday. It is huge! See last post of interested. While we were in Minneapolis we went to the Blick Art shop. Wonderful! I think we were both drooling.

We will be going back another time. Thanks for those who visited last week. I got as many people as I could. Not as easy on my Kindle. I'll try to do better this week! Happy WOYWW everybody!

Mall of America

Daughter lives about an hour and twenty minutes from Minneapolis so we decided that we had to check out The Mall of America.

WOW! It is huge! We had a good walk around, spent only a limited amount but had a great time. Definitely something to see. Advice - remember where you park. We took photos thank goodness otherwise we never would have found the car again.

I can imagine it would be a really expensive place to take kids. Nickelodeon World is in the middle complete with rides. There's also a Lego shop. We had a great time looking around.

My favourite were the chocolate shops lol

WOYWW

I'm joining in with Julia and the gang over at Stamping Ground for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday. Just a short one today. I'm in Minnesota visiting my daughter. The sun is actually shining! It's been a while since I've seen the sun. It's really nice crafting in daylight!

Knitting and cross stitch. Both started when I got here. I'll have to see how much I can get done.