Tag Archives: get out

taste of summer

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Happy spring, err, summer? Wasn’t last weekend amazing (and strange)? We snuck down to Chicago to celebrate my sister-in-law’s birthday (surprise!) and were greeted with a taste of summer. Yes, it even got hot enough that we started to complain… almost 90, humid and sunny! It felt great to be outside all day in t-shirts, gulping lemonade and grilling burgers. The telltale sign that it really was still spring? Forsythia.

Me thinks it’s going to be a wonderful summer. As long as I have enough popsicles in the freezer…

moss

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Yup, we’re still wearing winter hats here in da frozen north country, but mostly only in the mornings. Only a few big snow piles in the northern shadowy reaches remain. The squirrels have been eating the crocus as soon as they begin to get real showy. Arrghh. What’s it like in your neighborhood, lovelies?

We spent almost all of yesterday’s play time outside, which included a long meandering walk through the neighborhood going wherever the little birdie wanted to go. Do you ever do this with your kids? Just let go and let them lead YOU on a walk? We end up discovering fun places like drainage ditches, “bowls,” as Wren calls them, with patches of sprightly green moss. One of yesterday’s new words! Moss.

We even grilled out AND ate dinner outside at the picnic table. I think the little birdie even had a little pink in her complexion this morning. So it only hit 50 yesterday, but we’ve got some major spring fever around here, can you tell? No flip flops yet, but I’m not wearing any socks today. Just in case.

Waking up to the smell of skunk was even a bit thrilling. Spring really has sprung!

the beach!

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Since it’s Spring Break here in northern Michigan, we decided to go to the beach. And it wasn’t crowded at all! I guess everyone decided to go to another beach a little further south? Although it was a bit chilly, the sun felt so good on our cheeks. And we actually enjoyed what’s left of this wacky winter without bemoaning being home when seemingly everyone else is someplace warmer and sunnier and more exotic.

Speaking (err, writing) of exotic. I’m not sure what the scientific name for this wild natural phenomenon is, but check it out. It’s just plain weird, no? And beautiful too. Oh how we love you, Lake Michigan. You and all your strange and wonderful ice formations.

It was a treat to find some open sand to walk on too – not even frozen! Before we know it, we’ll have sand in our sheets again. And probably complaining about the heat… Ha!

Do you find that when you spend time with a child, you use your imagination more? It’s fun to pretend that it’s summer sometimes, no? Chris and the little birdie decided to lie down in the sun for a little while… Such squirrely people, I love those two.

Happy Spring Break, lovelies, wherever you may be!

just wait a few minutes

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Oh, March, you never fail to break my heart. The old adage about Michigan weather is so painfully true: if you don’t like the weather, just wait a few minutes. It will change. Oof. One day we’re joyfully jumping through puddles and the next? Building a snowman and throwing snowballs. What might today bring?

So yeah, I admit that even this winter-lover is a bit grumpy about it and so are just about all the adults I know. But the kiddos? No big deal. Seize the day! “Play, Mamma, play!”

get out

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Lovely just how much it helps to lift one’s spirits to just get out. Simple joys of listening to the muffled silence that a fresh blanket of snow brings, seeing your breath as you work your way up the hills, feeling the snow creep into the space between pants and socks that the boots neglect to reach, sharing a bowl of soup that warms the belly. And the soul.

dog days already?

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With the national heat wave even reaching northern Michigan and a punchy orange nasturtium blooming in the garden, it feels like the middle of summer already. So I decided to check in with my summer list and see how I was doing so far.
  • pick lots of strawberries and blueberries to enjoy and put up for a long winter
  • enjoy a huge, fresh sandwich from the Village Cheese Shanty in Leland
  • feel good after running the National Cherry Festival 15K – this is coming up more quickly than I thought so we’ll see how good I feel… This Saturday!
  • I know I said (err, wrote) at some point about how I WAS NOT going to make marshmallows from scratch (so utterly Martha), but with it being s’mores season and all, I’m inspired to make some marshmallows, roast them (a bit burnt is my style), then sandwich them with some really good chocolate between a couple graham cracker pieces. Wondering if I will notice a difference. What do you think? I haven’t done this yet, but Chris made me an amazing s’more last weekend with the most gigantic marshmallow on the planet. Have you seen those in the stores? Crazy.
  • spend lots of evenings on the porch with dear Chris. Ongoing. More to come!
  • wear a pretty sundress while playing bocce and sipping a fancy cocktail
  • swim, swim, swim, swim. A lot. I’ve been swimming, but certainly not A LOT. More to come.
  • eat lots of salads and grilled meat. Yes!
  • enjoy my annual corn dog and maybe even an elephant ear or funnel cake… oof. We took in our fair share of the National Cherry Festival last night and I enjoyed my annual corn dog, a few fries and four of us shared an elephant ear. Delish!
  • make progress on my Dairy Lodge Diet. I’ve been slacking lately and I need to get back at it!
  • take Wren to her first Northwest Michigan Fair. “Goin’ to the fair, goin’ to the fair, goin’ to the Northwest Michigan Fair!”
  • frequent our local farmer’s markets and art fairs
  • have a big garage sale and get rid of some stuff (err, junk). Saturday, July 24! The word is out.
  • visit Werner’s vineyard. He makes my favorite local wine: Left Foot Charley’s Pinot Blanc. Lovely!
  • pickle something from my garden. Chris spotted a cucumber the other day so maybe soon?
  • make some kind of jam. Strawberry?
  • be overwhelmed with harvesting all the veggies from my garden. This would be a good problem to have. We’ll see… so far, so good. With this heat the spinach is going to seed and the lettuce is going crazy. The tomato plants are almost as tall as I am, which isn’t saying much, but it’s a little scary.
  • enjoy the summer sunrises as much as the sunsets
  • stay up late to be awed by the Perseid meteor showers in August
  • picnic, picnic, picnic. Doesn’t everything taste better when you’re eating it outside?
  • erect our hammock and enjoy a few lazy moments
  • read a book. The whole book. Wow, what an idea! Got any suggestions?
  • run through the sprinkler
  • chase the ice cream truck
  • be barefoot most of the time. My feet are dirty…
  • make Wren’s play kitchen – similar to this one
  • create bouquets from our zinnias and bells of ireland
  • dance with the little birdie at the Cedar Polka Fest. She is going to LOVE it! MISS! 🙁
  • get on the water in someone else’s boat… anyone?
  • take Chris out to eat at Siren Hall for a date night. It was absolutely lovely. The food was amazing and the company even better!

  • take in a few films at the Traverse City Film Festival. Schedule comes out this Friday. Looking forward to it. I love the TCFF.
  • do a weekend camping trip and eat hot dogs, plain potato chips, a bottle of Faygo rock & rye and german potato salad from a can
  • sleep outside
  • enjoy a campfire and cheesy camp songs

How’s your summer so far, lovelies? Are you beating the heat? Is this expected to break soon? Please say it is because I don’t want to run ten miles in this on Saturday. Yuck. Here’s hoping for 70s again… Cheers!

Summer is here.

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Happy Summer Solstice to you, dear readers. It’s decidedly summer here: 75 and sunny and the bikinis are at the beach. We had a fun beach day yesterday to celebrate Father’s Day and I was very concerned about Wren’s precious skin so she was generously slathered with sunscreen, but I neglected to do the same for my own skin. Result? The season’s first (and hopefully, last) sunburn. Oops. Sigh.

Because I’m a list-maker and my Spring Forward list kept me focused on enjoying Spring’s delights, I will do the same for summer. So here goes…

  • pick lots of strawberries and blueberries to enjoy and put up for a long winter
  • enjoy a huge, fresh sandwich from the Village Cheese Shanty in Leland
  • feel good after running the National Cherry Festival 15K – this is coming up more quickly than I thought so we’ll see how good I feel…
  • I know I said (err, wrote) at some point about how I WAS NOT going to make marshmallows from scratch (so utterly Martha), but with it being s’mores season and all, I’m inspired to make some marshmallows, roast them (a bit burnt is my style), then sandwich them with some really good chocolate between a couple graham cracker pieces. Wondering if I will notice a difference. What do you think?
  • spend lots of evenings on the porch with dear Chris
  • wear a pretty sundress while playing bocce and sipping a fancy cocktail
  • swim, swim, swim, swim. A lot.
  • eat lots of salads and grilled meat. Yes!
  • enjoy my annual corn dog and maybe even an elephant ear or funnel cake… oof.
  • make progress on my Dairy Lodge Diet. I’ve been slacking lately and I need to get back at it!
  • take Wren to her first Northwest Michigan Fair. “Goin’ to the fair, goin’ to the fair, goin’ to the Northwest Michigan Fair!”
  • frequent our local farmer’s markets and art fairs
  • have a big garage sale and get rid of some stuff (err, junk)
  • visit Werner’s vineyard. He makes my favorite local wine: Left Foot Charley’s Pinot Blanc. Lovely!
  • pickle something from my garden
  • make some kind of jam. Strawberry?
  • be overwhelmed with harvesting all the veggies from my garden. This would be a good problem to have. We’ll see… so far, so good.
  • enjoy the summer sunrises as much as the sunsets
  • stay up late to be awed by the Perseid meteor showers in August
  • picnic, picnic, picnic. Doesn’t everything taste better when you’re eating it outside?
  • erect our hammock and enjoy a few lazy moments
  • read a book. The whole book. Wow, what an idea! Got any suggestions?
  • run through the sprinkler
  • chase the ice cream truck
  • be barefoot most of the time
  • make Wren’s play kitchen – similar to this one
  • create bouquets from our zinnias and bells of ireland
  • dance with the little birdie at the Cedar Polka Fest. She is going to LOVE it!
  • get on the water in someone else’s boat… anyone?
  • take Chris out to eat at Siren Hall for a date night
  • take in a few films at the Traverse City Film Festival
  • do a weekend camping trip and eat hot dogs, plain potato chips, a bottle of Faygo rock & rye and german potato salad from a can
  • sleep outside
  • enjoy a campfire and cheesy camp songs

Oh my, I could go on, but I better stop. If I think of more, I’ll add them later… What do you look forward to this summer?

Happy longest day of the year, lovelies! Any fun pagan rituals planned for tonight? Enjoy!

Virtual morel mushrooming, anyone?

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Happy Monday, mushroom lovers!

How was your weekend? I happily crossed off a couple more items from my “Spring Forward” list yesterday, thanks to a sunny Mother’s Day hike at the Treat Farm. Cool but sunny meant a spring wildflower hike was in order. And maybe a meander into the woods for some morel-hunting if we were feeling ambitious. We were greeted with a forest full of trillium (some turning to their late Spring light purple hue already), jack-in-the-pulpits, columbine, forget-me-nots, purple and white viola, a few remaining dutchman’s breeches and other lovelies courtesy of Mother Nature.

Through the woods, across the meadow and out to the bluff…

On the way back, Chris wanted to cross the meadow and he spotted these. Have you ever seen such large, woody asparagus? Crazy!

Then we stumbled into the woods in search of morels, but instead we got some quiet moments and some leek-filled breaths. Somewhat dejected, off we hiked back to the car. Until… are you ready now for some virtual mushrooming, dear readers? Give it a shot!

Don’t pick them just yet. Wait until everyone has had a chance to “find” them…

OK, now you can pick! How’s that for a fun fun fun-guy adventure!?

Now what will you do with your bounty? I don’t like to *do* too much to them because the flavor is so delicate. My favorite partner for morels? You probably guessed it. Butter. Cleaned and lightly pan-fried in butter with a dash or two of salt and pepper. And some fresh asparagus… Sounds like we’ve figured out dinner tonight! Whew.