Woohoo! And the winners are......

#11 -- Mimi wins the fabric pack (sent you an email for your home addy)
and
#22 -- Joycers wins the hand-dyed wool yarn -- contact me so I can get your yarn out to you!

For everyone who left a comment, thanks so much.  Please continue to read.  I promise to have more 'up' days than 'down'.  

I do have to say, though, that today's felting adventures did not go according to plans.  The red and black tote I finished on Monday felted to itself -- bummer.  Visualize here -- tugging, pulling, sweating, trying to free the sides, following by a big 'ugh'.   Even the pocket morphed into something unrecognizable.  The ruffled felted clutch has become a stylish knitting needle bag.  It was supposed to felt down to 6" high and is instead 4.5" high.  Double bummer.  But it will make an excellent needle bag.  Right????

The 6 felted hats turned out marvelously and the two felted clutches look sweet, ready for a night out on the town.

Back to the drawing board -- I need to make several felted bags now to get my inventory up to snuff.

Hurry!

My latest giveaway ends TODAY so make sure you leave a comment on that post to have a chance at winning either a bundle of 8 fat quarters or a skein of hand dyed wool yarn!!!  I'll be picking the winners at 9 PM EST, once I get home from knit group at Panera's.

It's Not Personal, It's Business

Our vice president has offered to meet with each of us on my team to tell us individually when our last day with the company will be.  She's set aside 5 minutes to do this for each of us.  I don't have any interest in sitting down with her.  I would just dissolve into a blithering idiot and in the end, she would just be telling me my last day will either be 12/15/10 or 12/30/10 and it really doesn't make much difference, does it?  I can't seem to find my big girl pants right now and it's so hard to get through each day in the office.  If I don't have to discuss it, then I manage to get to the end of the day without a red nose and dried out contact lenses.

This whole thing reminds me of the line from the movie, 'You've Got Mail', only it's not a pretend children's book store but my job with a company that I've worked for for the last 26 years of my life.  Hard to start over, but it looks like that's where I'm heading.

I'm so grateful for my knitting.  It's the one thing that keeps my mind preoccupied and relaxes me when the stress gets to be too much.  I finished another bag today so that will give me four new bags to felt tomorrow plus the six felted hats that need one more cycle to be felted to my liking.  Thank God for sticks and string.

Clean Windows

Today I decided it was time to put that bottle of Windex Outdoor Window Cleaner I bought months ago to use.  Maggie (my dog) goes ballistic with the spraying noise so I made sure she was securely oblivious in Kevin's room.  I washed all of the windows except for the three on the neighbor's side of the house.  I'll wait until they're not home so they won't freak out from the spray.

There are two problems that come with cleaning the windows.

1. The inside of the windows suddenly look very dirty, something you didn't notice when the outside was dirty.
2. It will rain.

Both are true today.  But at least they looked nice for a while.

I'm working fast and furious on any project that needs to be felted.  I'm going to visit my Mom on Tuesday and will use her washer to do the deed.  Right now I have 6 hats and three clutches to toss in the washer.  I'm hoping to get at least one more bag done before then.  Any thing else is gravy!

Vacation Planner

I found another great site courtesy of Worldstart.com that can help you plan your next vacation.  It's loaded with fabulous things to see and do in many of the world's biggest cities.  Click on each venue and get details about it.  Try it -- even if you only want to daydream about a trip, this site will help!

ETA -- fixed the link for Fun Tourist Attractions site

Time for a Giveaway

My blog hit 25,000 visitors earlier this week and it's time to celebrate!!  I'm giving away two prizes that should please most fiber lovers.

Quilters/Sewers -- a bundle of 8 fat quarters from the P&B Textiles line, Annabelle.  Yes, I've had them in my stash for a bit but I'm realizing that they've not been getting any attention and they'll be much happier in another home.

And for knitting enthusiasts here is a 280 yard skein of hand dyed 100% Wool yumminess, Wee Woolies by Jolen:

To be entered into the drawing for one of these prizes, leave me a comment telling me these two things:

1. Your favorite thing about Summer
2. Which prize you would like to win

The contest will end at 9 PM EST on Tuesday, August 31st and I will use the random.org website to pick the winners.

I've been wondering if my comment button is broken -- no one has been leaving comments lately.  I know you're out there so send me some feedback please!

ETA -- 8/31/2010 9:00 PM -- Done, done, diddley done!!!

Dale Chihuly Exhibit

If you live anywhere within a few hours drive of Grand Rapids, MI you need to do yourself a favor and visit the Frederik Meijer Gardens.  The grounds are magnificent and perfectly enhanced with the many blown glass pieces by  American artist Dale Chihuly.  It's a positively lovely way to spend a day.

There are so many wonderful plants growing throughout the various gardens:

I loved the orchids!

The Chihuly pieces are carefully arranged throughout the gardens and with the beautiful blue sky to light them up, simply stunning:

That's me next to the giant swizzle stick, just to prove I was there.  The other pieces in the bottom collage are permanent fixtures inside the main building of the Fred Meijer Garden.  The rest of the magnificent pieces will be available for you to see only until October 31, 2010 -- so hurry over!

If you're hungry after wandering all over the gardens you can head up the road about 1 mile to the Twisted Rooster for a scrumptious meal.  A woman overheard Sue and me discussing where to eat when we were resting at the gardens and recommended this restaurant to us.  It was deeee-lish!  It specializes in Made In Michigan cuisine, with several Michigan micro-brew beers available.  Since we were on our way home Sue and I didn't try the beers -- wait until next time!

The Beach

Sue and I were just too darned close to Lake Michigan to miss going to the beach on Sunday.  We left our motel in Holland and made the short drive over to the beach at Ottawa State Park.  Great decision!  What a gem.

They even had a way for someone in a wheelchair to enjoy the beach!

It was a beautiful day so we decided to go sit on the beach for a while and knit a bit, and take in the scenery around us.  I could have spent hours there.  Of course it would have been much better if we had planned a bit better and brought chairs, and a blanket, and a cooler.  Next time!

Though brief, the stop at the beach was just what we needed to get our day off to a great start.  From there we headed toward Grand Rapids and stopped at the ginormous condominium development known as the River House.  We went there to see the 13 photographs that my brother in law Mike had sold to the developers for use in their lobby.  Here are a few of them:

They are each 40" x 60" and looked beautiful there.  Beside each photograph is a plaque describing the details of the shot.  Very impressive.

Once we finally got out of the parking structure (read:  went round and round and round and...) we made the short journey to the Fred Meijer Gardens to see the Dale Chihuly exhibit.  More about that tomorrow.....

Michigan Fiber Festival

Last Saturday my friend Sue and I headed out to Allegan to attend the Michigan Fiber Festival.  It started out cloudy and drizzly but by the time we arrived it was warming up and getting a bit muggy.  Before too long my hair looked like this guy's:

The fairgrounds had several barns used for the fiber artists that were filled to capacity and we managed to make our way through all of them.  It was really crowded when we got there at 11 AM and far less so when we left at 4:30 PM.  Yep, we spent 5 1/2 hours there.  We had lunch with my friends Eddie and Tracy who had arranged to meet their friend Kim, from Chicago.  I saw several of my vendor friends there: Kris, Deb, Suzanne, Liz, Rita, Rose, and Terri.  There were vendors from all over the country, which is why it's so much fun to attend this show -- you get to see a whole lot of new and beautiful things.  

Here are some shots from the show:

That's Kelley and Dawn from the Black Sheep Knitting Guild in the upper right-hand corner.  The man in the bottom photo?  Just a nut with a wacky felted cone hat.  Sue had to try drop spindle spinning on her brand new Trindle.  Don't you love the 'for sale' signs by the hand dryer in the women's rest room??!!

All in all Sue and I didn't buy too much.  I left with several hanks of beautifully dyed roving and some dyed locks, and a cute T-shirt.  While driving out of the fairgrounds we passed the critters and realized we hadn't visited with them!  They were so eager to see us:

And my personal favorite:

From the fairgrounds we headed northwest to Holland to spend the night.  We went to a fabulous Irish restaurant called Curragh on the recommendation of my co-worker Martha.  Excellent choice!  The food was wonderful and it felt so good to sit down for a while after wandering all over the fiber festival.

We started with a glass of beer and this: 

Toasted Seafood Bruschetta

Toasted onion poppy seed Ciabatta blanketed with shrimp and crab marscarpone spread. Topped with tomato bruschetta and Balsamic reduction. 

Three words:  To Die For.

I had the: 

Corned Beef & Cabbage

We cook fresh brisket everyday. Corned beef served over savoy cabbage with mashed potatoes. Topped with horseradish sauce.

And Sue had:

Cottage Pie
Chicken, peas, carrots and onions in herb sauce. Topped with mashed potatoes and baked golden brown. Served with seasonal vegetables and soda bread.

We were full and well satisfied and will definitely be back the next time we're in Holland.  We walked along the downtown area for a bit, taking in the scenery of beautiful flower pots, statues, and exquisite architectural details on the store fronts.  The items inside the stores looked intriguing but we were too late to step inside.  Next time... 

Edit, edit, edit

Tonight I spent well over an hour editing the 100+ pictures I took last weekend.  I tried something new by placing them in albums for each location.  I know what you're thinking -- big deal!  But up until now it hadn't occurred to me to do so.  Should make posting them to my blog a whole lot easier.

I cast on the second Blueberry Beret using the Universal Yarn's Tapestry Wool.  This time I'll knit it an extra inch longer so it's more beret-like and doesn't just look like a big hat, unlike version #1.  Pictures coming soon for that.

For now I'm off to bed.  Went to bed way too late last night so I need to do some catching up.

Back Home

My weekend trip to the West Coast of Michigan was more than I could have hoped for.  It was so relaxing, yet full of activity.  It just doesn't get much better than this.  I loved Holland.  Wonder if anyone is hiring there??

I'll sort my pictures and post them in the coming days.  

Send some positive thoughts my son's way -- some low-life stole his Blackberry -- let's hope she has a conscience and returns it for the reward he's offering.

On the road again

I'm heading for the West Coast tomorrow morning.  The west coast of Michigan, that is.  My friend Sue and I are making our way to Allegan for the Michigan Fiber Festival.  We're expecting to inhale a whole lot of fiber fumes while we're there, and maybe some odoriferous fiber producing animals, too.

From there we'll head further west to Holland.  No, not in the Netherlands, which is actually to the east.  Holland, Michigan is known for it's Dutch culture and has a fabulous Tulip Festival in the Spring.  I've never been to that area of the state so I'm really looking forward to our visit.  We'll be right on Lake Michigan so I'm hoping to get a good photo of the sun setting while I'm there.

We are planning to visit the Dale Chihuly exhibit at the Fred Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids on Sunday.  If we can find our way, we'll also try to see my brother in law Mike's photo exhibit at the River House Condominiums, where there are 13 40"x60" photos from all over the world.

It's hard to believe that our summer is coming to a close soon.  I still have 23 vacation days left -- wow!  I only have a few days scheduled in October so I better find a way to burn a few days before the end of the year.

I won't be posting until Sunday evening at the earliest, but I'm planning on another giveaway to mark my 25,000th visitor, which should be coming up soon.  Keep checking back to see what fabulous prize I come up with this time.

Double Duty

I love finding a product that suits two purposes for one low price.  Today I went out for toilet paper (my roommate doesn't seem to notice when we're low) and I came home with said TP and this:

Looks absolutely refreshing, doesn't it??!!  I'm taking it to the office tomorrow where it will no doubt be emptied out before I know it.  Every day is so tough there.  People constantly worrying, fretting, theorizing about when our last day will come.  Today I was asked if I wanted to know the date we'll be excessed and I said I would.  Truthfully, I'll probably wallow in a bout of self pity for a while but then get it together, work on my resume and figure out how to carry on.  No choice.

For now, I'm doing my best Madame deFarge and knitting away while I can:

This will be another Button hat, similar to the one I showed you yesterday.  The hand spun yarn was done by the same spinner, and once again, is pretty rough.  I'm fairly certain the wool is from Romney sheep but it will soften up once washed with my trusty Head and Shoulders shampoo/conditioner.

I'm off to watch the end of Project Runway for the crazy hat episode.  Wacky.

Progress

I finished the hand spun pinkish Button Hat yesterday and may have found a good button for it:

I'm not sold on it yet so if something better comes along, I'll use it.  I haven't sewn it on yet.

I chose another button for this Cable Tocque that I finished a while ago:

And finally I finished knitting a ruffled clutch that needs to be felted still:

I can't wait to see how this one comes out.  I used Crystal Palace Fjord and Elsebeth Lavold Chunky Al, which is 50% Alpaca/50% Wool.  I have a feeling I'll be whipping up a few more clutches soon.

Now I'm off to find some more yarn to knit something from for tomorrow's bus ride.  I might just make another clutch tomorrow since it knit up so quickly.

Windows

Part of the 'problem' with summer is you tend to have your windows wide open when the conditions allow.  Every little upset, cussing, hollering, etc. is available for all nearby ears to hear.  Right now Kevin is repairing his laptop.  And the windows are open.  But they really shouldn't be.  I hope, after replacing his hard drive for the umpteenth time, this will be his last Dell.  No offense to Michael Dell, but I've had to endure far too much of this nonsense.

Not quite done and Done

After looking over my fulling efforts of last night:

it's very clear that more washing is required for these hapless chapeaus.  All but the light grey version are quite a bit wonky.

But tonight I selected and sewed buttons on 4 of the Button Hats:

So they are done, done, diddly done!  I'm back to knitting more hats once I get a couple of bags done.  My hands are seldom idle!

Not Enough

Today I finished another felted hat, washed three knit hats and blocked them, before heading over to the funeral home to pay my respects to my friend Eddie, whose father in law passed away on Tuesday.  Since the 1 year anniversary of my own Dad's death was just Wednesday, this was even more difficult than usual.  Just like weddings I attend, I cry miserably at funerals.  It's one of those 'adult' things you have to do but I don't think it will ever come easily for me.

I spent 2 1/2 hours at the laundromat tonight and it still wasn't enough time to felt the 6 hats I put in their washing machine.  One hat was pretty much felted but the other five were not.  So....at 11:00 PM I put the five remaining hats in my washing machine, which is not good for felting but I'm stuck with it.  I think one of the problems tonight was that I didn't take any regular laundry soap, just my bottle of Synthrapol.  Not going to make that mistake again.  While I was waiting at the laundromat I did get some work done on a Button Hat using some hand spun yarn I bought at Spinner's Flock sale, probably several years ago.   I figure if I struggle to remember which show it was, it had to be at least four years ago.  I have pretty good recall when it comes to yarn purchases.  I know, I should spend my brain cells on something a little more significant, but I use them to store things that are important to me.

Well, I'm off to try and pry my dried on contacts off of my eyes so I can get to bed at a reasonable time.  Oh, and check the washer to see if any progress was made on those hats.

Hope you have a great week!

Hats in Bloom

Yesterday I showed you two hats I had knit from 'Almost Handspun' from Stonehedge Fiber Mill and you saw the size they were unblocked.

Today I present the 'bloomed' hats, both having grown 2+".  Hat #1:

And Hat #2:

These hats grew over 2" in width per side -- so that means they're actually 4+" wider than yesterday!  They'll both fit medium to large heads without being snug.

I finished another felted hat today while visiting the Thrums and Chums rug hooking group that meets in Brighton.  Kate picked me up early today in her new Mini Cooper -- a very fun ride!  We stopped at a Comerica Bank branch in Brighton so I could do some banking for the GLHQ, on our way to the meeting.  

It was really nice to see a lot of the gals that we hooked with in the past.  We've been noticeably absent for a long time due to so many things interfering in our lives.  We both agreed that we need to make the effort each month to make the meetings and might even start up our group again that meets on our side of town.  Maybe, we'll see.  It depends on whether or not our lives slow down a bit and normalcy can return.

Bloom....

...where you are planted.  It's an old saying but still very true.  Each of us may be in a situation where we think things could be going better for us.  Maybe we think we're stuck in a rut.  Some times you can't see it but there is usually something you can do about your situation if you're willing to take a risk.  Another plaque on my wall says 'What would you attempt if you knew you couldn't fail?'  I need to believe in myself the way that others believe in me.  Far too often I sell myself short, focus on my failures, and forget to shout out the answers the way I am when I watch Jeopardy.

I'm hoping my two latest hats will bloom once they're dry from being blocked tonight:

and a close up of the 'knit through the back loop' stitch:

Kind of hard to notice, right?

I've washed both hats in the sink with some Head and Shoulders and they'll be drying overnight.  I'll take another picture of both hats, again with the measuring tape, to see if there's any noticeable difference.

Something else I hope to see 'bloom' soon is my front lawn:

We're expecting rain over the weekend and I sure hope we get enough to resuscitate my yard!

Passion

I'm back to my regularly scheduled life.  I finished knit hat #50 and am nearly done with #51.  I wanted to try and use up all of the 'Almost Handspun' skein that I bought at the Charlevoix Fiber Festival.  The way it's going, I expect to have quite a bit left.  That will make two hats plus ??? out of a 250 yard hank.  Perfect!!  Since the skein was only $10 that makes it a super value.    I can't wait to block them and see how the yarn blooms.

Tonight I went to a concert on the library lawn.  The singer was a guy who had battled leukemia several years ago.  I remember his story but I don't think I'd ever seen him perform until tonight.

His name is Stewart Francke and he reminded us to live each moment to it's fullest because tomorrow isn't promised to any of us.

Wouldn't it be nice if each of us had the opportunity to do what we're most passionate about?

Spiral Rib Hat and more

I'm pretty true to my word, just ask my friends.  If I say I'll do something I'll do it.  As promised yesterday, here is my progress shot of the Spiral Rib Hat:

'Almost Handspun' 3 ply worsted wool from Stonehedge Fiber Mill

And a close up of the stitch pattern:

It's ready for the decrease rows and then it will be done!  That will make knit hat #50 made so far this year.  Woohoo!

Tomorrow will be a sad day, all day, for me.  I'll be thinking about my last moments with my Dad before he died one year ago at 7:20 AM .  I'll be wearing waterproof mascara for sure.

I'm hoping this will be the last time it's a sad day and can go back to being a happy day next year.  You see, overshadowed by the death of my father, tomorrow is my niece Erica's birthday.  August 11th has always been a fun day and tomorrow Erica turns 29.  I was so glad that I got to see her when I was up in Charlevoix last month. 

Erica has just graduated from nursing school, and while I may never forgive her for switching from being my hairdresser, I'm very proud of her.  She has always been challenged in school by a learning disability so this is such a big achievement for her.

Erica has landed a job at one of the largest hospitals in NYC, Mt. Sinai Hospital, and made the move to the Big Apple this week!  So many changes for her -- send positive thoughts her way please!!

Now I've got to get to my treasurer's duties so I'm ready for the guild board meeting tomorrow.  Hoping for a good night's rest to get through tomorrow.

Dilemmas

I finished another felted hat tonight.  This time it's a medium gray version using Cascade Pastaza which is a 50% llama/50% wool yarn, so now I'm lining up the next project.  A felted hat?  Knit hat?  Felted bag?  So many choices and the yarn options can make me nuts. Some people choose the pattern and find a yarn but I tend to be the opposite.  I find a yarn whose color or texture inspire me and then I pick a pattern.  I think I'm going to try the Ann Norling Twisted Rib hat pattern from this post again but this time I'll use a solid yarn to make the design stand out better.  I'll have a progress picture tomorrow.

One More Hat

Today I finished another hat to be fulled along with the two that I completed earlier this weekend.  That's a pretty productive weekend for me considering how much more yarn it takes to make this style of hat, approximately 470 yards each, since the yarn is held double.

And a close up and truer photo of the latest hat, the red one:

I've got a busy week ahead, not the least of which is the first anniversary of my Dad's death.  It is amazing to think an entire year has gone by.  I remember thinking before he was ill, that time would pass so slowly following his death and I would think about him every day.  Inexplicably, that has not been the case.  Days turned into weeks which became months and now it has been a full year. 

I last spoke to him in the 'home' on August 9th, where I walked into the lobby and saw him sitting on the couch, no eyeglasses on, his hair damp from a recent shower.  He stood up and gently crashed to the floor.  He was obviously disoriented and hadn't called me by name for a few weeks.  He was happy to see me even if he couldn't recall my name.  He fell again the following day, striking his head on a coffee table, leading to two subdural hematomas.  He died the following morning with me at his side.  I've thought about it a lot since that day and have come to realize it was meant to be. I had spent so, so many hours at his side throughout his many surgeries and hospitalizations, it was just the way things were meant to play out.

I blogged about that day here.  I honestly wouldn't change anything about that day.  With Dementia things only get worse, they never improve and it would have been agonizing to watch him continue down the path he was heading.  A gentle, peaceful passing is all we could ever hope for, for those we love as well as ourselves.

You know it's bad when....

.....I'd rather watch Pretty Woman for the thousandth time than watch the Tigers game.  They've had a lot of bad luck and injuries, and just can't seem to get it together.  I'll admit to flipping back and forth between the two channels.  I've seen that movie so many times I can recite the lines.  I never have cared for Jason Alexander after seeing him in that movie.  I know, it was just a part, but he was such a weasel.

I managed to finish the charcoal gray hat this morning and knit up another hat using two strands of Berroco's Ultra Alpaca in black.  It's one of my favorite yarns to use for felted hats.  I'll knit up another hat tomorrow and that will give me three to run through the washer.  I need to have at least 8 more hats knit up for felting before the end of the month.  I'm one hat short of 50 for the non-felted versions but I should be able to knock that one off this week.  It will be nice to do something in between the felted versions, especially if it's using needles smaller than the size 13s I've been using for the past couple of days.

Distractions

After a long day at work today, I headed for home on the bus.  I got off at my usual bus stop and started walking toward my house.  Sort of.  My first distraction was a 'super garage sale' sign in front of my neighbors' house.  Curious, I decided to stop by, just for a quick second.  My, oh, my.  There were wonderful things to be had.  All sorts of athletic things - flippers, golf clubs, skis, and more.  I found a weight bench I was sure Kevin would love and for me, a fabulous tripod for my camera -- just what I need to take great pictures for my website (some of you probably don't even realize I have one!).  I went home to get the T&C to haul my loot home and got everything into the house without hurting myself or damaging any walls.  I even tried a couple of sit ups on the bench.  Only a couple.

After dinner at Zumba's I settled in to listen to the Tigers game on the porch and knit for a bit.  I got quite a bit done on this hat:

Two strands of Plymouth Galway Highland Heather wool 

Over 11" done so far today!

which will be fulled soon, but my mind kept wandering back to something I spotted in the day's mail and I couldn't help but open up this:

What a piece of heaven!

Summer used to signal it was time for a different catalog to arrive in the mail.  When I was a child I couldn't wait for the Sears catalog to show up in our mailbox.

My Mom would give each of us girls a budget to spend for back to school clothes and we had to choose wisely to get the most for our money.  We'd carefully make our selections, turning down the corners of the pages with 'our' items, and add up the prices to be sure we came in under budget.

Here are some things my sisters Denise & Renee might have picked out:

What fun that used to be.  Now I get a big kick out of poring over the IKEA catalog, planning, dreaming, trying to keep to my grown-up budget these days.

What's your favorite catalog??

Daily News

People who know me know that I'm a news junkie.  I feel so out of touch if I haven't seen the local news or watched CNN or listened to WWJ radio.  But there are times when the news is nothing but depressing -- terrible work place shooting, horrific bus accidents, babies being shaken by irresponsible caregivers.

We've had other sad stories in the new lately but they've had positive outcomes.  As cruel as some people are, the good people still outnumber the bad.  There was a lemonade stand run by young girls who were robbed by 2 thugs.  Not only did the community rally to help the girls out but the low-life guys were caught as well.  Another story was about a blind man who was scoped out by two rotten guys who waited for him to come out of a bank before they beat and robbed him.  Neighbors have come together to replace the stolen money and help the man get back on his feet.  Lastly there was a plastic bag tied to a tree, containing beagle pups.  They were rescued and reunited with their mother and they, along with several other dogs discovered nearby, were placed in a temporary shelter, awaiting their forever homes.

Whenever the world looks really bleak we need to remember that there are more of 'us' than there are of 'them', and take whatever comfort we can in that fact.

Yummy for my Tummy

After a busy, busy, busy day at work today I went over to my friend Sue's house for dinner.  She and her husband Mike filled my belly full of wonderful food and wine -- super delicious.  I had a chance to see their backyard makeover -- it looks marvelous!  Such an oasis from a hectic world.

Sue is having a procedure on her kidney on Friday so keep your fingers crossed (and say a prayer if you're so inclined) that the procedure goes smoothly and she feels better really soon.  We have planned a trip to the Michigan Fiber Festival on the 21st, which is to replace the trip we couldn't take last year due to my Dad's death.  I'm beginning to wonder if we're the festival is jinxed.

One Down...

....one to go.  Today was an election primary.

I'm so glad it's over.  I've been bombarded with post card flyers, anonymous phone calls telling me who to vote for and even worse, who NOT to vote for.  I've been inundated with surveys and voicemail messages where the message begins halfway into their spiel.  Saturday I was talking to one candidate on the phone -- I know, the actual candidate called me!-- and I said I would vote for him for State Representative and then I started going on about the public transportation millage that would help the bus system I use.  Then all of a sudden the call went dead -- it was the damn AT&T problem I was having before it was repaired on Sunday.  Nuts, here I had a captive audience and he probably though I hung up on him.

Voting is a right that many people fought for, long before I was ever born.  It's a shame that so few eligible voters turn out for elections.  There was speculation that less than 25% of registered voters would actually take the time to have their voice count today.  That's sad.

And sometime around the beginning of October, the flyers, phone calls, and surveys will start back up again for the actual election in November.  I can hardly wait.  I wish all of the candidates could be civil, truthful, and kind but I've come to realize that just isn't possible.  Negativity turns off so many people -- maybe that's why so many people don't bother to vote??

Charlevoix Boat Trip

My sister Denise and her husband Mike have a wonderful boat named 'Reflections' which could mean a lot of things but I think it has a lot to do with Mike's photography hobby.  Check out his website to see some absolutely beautiful photographs, taken all over the world.

Here are some pictures I took while Denise, Mike, my niece Erica, Mom and I went for a boat ride on a beautiful Summer day:

Don't forget to click on each collage to magnify the pictures.  I love the picture of their Siberian Husky Miki with Denise in the upper left picture -- looks like Miki is telling Denise a funny joke!

Boats were out in great numbers that day -- as if they waited all Summer for such a perfect day.