Metal Flower

This is a picture taken back in the warmer days of summer. The flower is a garden ornament from one of the flower gardens in my front yard. I just love the bold colors.

That's My World - Winter

Iced cold beer anyone? During a family visit to Grand Rapids this past weekend, we put our beverages outside to keep cool. We ended up leaving them out all night and this is what they looked like the next morning. We had a very wet and rainy weekend here, and then came the wind and snow on Sunday. Not very pleasant for the three hour ride home.

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Sky Watch Friday - Fletcher's Floodwaters

This photo was taken on Election Day this past November. I had driven to my polling place, but I got there about 20 minutes too early, and since I am not one who likes to wait, I took a quick drive down a local road that has really good views of Fletcher's Pond. Here's what I captured before going to cast my vote. Luckily, I live in a rural area, so I didn't have to wait in line when I went back to vote...

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, here is a photo of a house that is a few miles down the road from our home.

Sky Watch Friday - Autumn

The sun reflects on the trees from behind, as the dark clouds roll in on a typical northern Michigan autumn day.

That's My World Tuesday - Rogers City

Today I have chosen to share Rogers City with you. I live about an hour away from here, but visit quite often, especially in the summer time when it is warm and my kids want to go to the beach. They have a lovely recreational area here, with beaches, a playground for children, and bike trails, along the shores of Lake Huron. Rogers City is located near the tip of the index finger if you are looking at a state map or atlas of Michigan. See, us Michiganders tend to use the palm of our right hand to use as a guide when showing people where we live. That is one of the benefits of living in a state where the lower part is shaped like a mitten. It can be quite handy.

This first photo is a picture of the Calcite Mine. It is the world's largest open pit limestone quarry and is also one of the largest shipping ports on the Great Lakes. Large freighters, up to a 1000 feet long, can often be seen docked here waiting to be loaded with limestone.

Here is another shot of the Calcite mine, with Lake Huron in the background. This is where you can see the freighters mentioned above.

This is the Yacht Harbor of Rogers City. The hand holding the torch is supposed to be a replica of the Statue of Liberty torch, and was created by Tom Moran of Moran Iron Works. You can find more of Tom's work by looking under Moran Iron Works in my blog roll. He has lots of statues in the northern Michigan area.

And last, but not least, I came across this abandoned boat near the Yacht Harbor.

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Snow & Lots Of It

My mom and I went to Gaylord yesterday to get some Christmas shopping done. Gaylord is in the snow belt, so they get a little bit more than we do here. I noticed some of the homes had lots of snow on top, so I took a few photos. Hopefully they got out there and shoveled some of this stuff off this weekend, as we are due for some rain and more snow tonight.

Just in case you are wondering what the snow belt is, it is the area where the lake effect snow from Lake Michigan falls after it comes over land.

Icicles

I caught a glimpse of these icicles yesterday, on my way to the city to do some Christmas shopping, and I just had to turn around and get a picture.

Sky Watch Friday

These pictures were taken during the same trip as my last post. This is the view where water meets sky on Lake Superior near the eastern entrance of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The top view is looking east toward the Grand Sable Dunes and the town of Grand Marais, and the view on the bottom is looking west toward the Au Sable Point lighthouse. If you look very closely near the farthest point, you will see a white spot which is the lighthouse.

Grand Marais, Michigan

Every summer, and sometimes in the fall, someone in my family and I make a trip to Michigan's upper peninsula. This is a favorite place of ours to visit, and it has been somewhat of a family tradition to make this annual trip. My grandparents introduced me to this beautiful place when I went with them on a camping trip to Bay Mills campground at age nine.

Grand Marais, which is near the eastern entrance of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, is one of the places we most often go when we make our trip up to the U.P. On our most recent visit, during the first week of November, I went with my grandma, my aunt, and my mom. We stayed at the Voyageurs Motel, where, as you can see, there was a magnificent view of the Grand Marais harbor and Lake Superior. We only went for an overnight stay, so we didn't get to stick around long to enjoy this wonderful view, but it was a nice visit, and luckily, we had a few surprisingly warm, mid 70 degree, days of weather. It was great and I can't wait until the snow melts so we can get back up there.

Shown in the pics above are:
1) The sign of the place we stayed.
2) My grandma and my aunt relaxing and enjoying the beautiful view.
3) The view from the backside of the motel that overlooks the harbor, town, and Lake Superior. If you look closely, near the center, you can see the lighthouse and the breakwall.

Snow

We've been getting a lot of snow these past couple of weeks, much more than we usually get this time of year. I took this picture of one of our solar lamps last week.

That's My World Tuesday - World's Largest Cherry Pie

I've gotten a little behind on my blog recently thanks to a round with the flu. First my daughter had it, then she passed it on to my son, and then my husband. I thought for sure I would be lucky and not get it after taking extra measures not to get it, but I didn't get so lucky after all. It was horrible and I was down and out for a week. Anyhow, my blog has suffered as a result, but I am feeling better now, so time to get back in the game.

Shown above is the memorial for the "World's Largest Cherry Pie". Actually the pie has long since gone, but it this is what it looked like. And if you are feeling like maybe having a go at it and trying to make one, well, I've included the ingredients for you.

This pie memorial is located in Charlevoix, and from 1979 until 1987, the pie that was made in it held the record for the "World's Largest Cherry Pie'. In 1987, in an effort to break the record, another pie was made further south in Traverse City, the Cherry Capital of the World.

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That's My World Tuesday

Out and about running errands the other day, I drove by the Perma-Log company in the small town of Mio. If you are not familiar with Perma-Log, it is a form of stucco log siding and it is claimed that it will last a lifetime. Around here where I live, you see a lot of cabins that have Perma-Log siding. In fact when my husband and I were in search of a house in this area three years ago, we looked at a couple of homes that had Perma-Log siding on them.

When we drove by the other day, I noticed a couple of other interesting things that they've done with the material that is used to make Perma-Log. There was a smaller scale Stonehenge, a couple of Easter Island heads, and what appears to be a house straight out of the Flintstones cartoon. I couldn't get a shot of the Stonehenge set up, thanks to fence blockage, but here are shots of a small cabin model, one of the smaller heads, and the Flintstones house.

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Sky Watch Friday

Wow, is it Friday already? Where did the week go? Oh, that's right, I've been helping my husband repaint the entire downstairs of our house all week, that's why it's flown by. In the meantime, my housework has suffered big time. I guess that means I'll be restoring order around here today and hoping I'll get caught up before the weekend rolls in this afternoon.

Here's a shot I took during a camping trip to the upper peninsula in July. The sun is going down over Lake Superior, while a bug heads in for the night. ;-)

Have a great weekend everyone!

That's My World - Alpena

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Alpena is a port city located on Thunder Bay, which is part of Lake Huron. Shown above is the Thunder Bay River. You can see that some teenage boys are enjoying a swim. Of course, I took these photos back in July, when it was still warm enough to swim there. The building you see in the background is used to manufacture wood paneling. Whenever you drive by here, you can smell the wood in the air.

This is where the Thunder Bay River empties into Lake Huron.

Not quite sure what this building is, but I thought the mural was neat. The building backs up to the Thunder Bay River.

This is the Alpena National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office and is part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Midwest Region. Some of the things they do here include research and restoration of fish and wildlife habitat of the Great Lakes.

Mystery Bug

In my entire life, I have never seen this bug. That was until an unseasonably warm night about two weeks ago. My mom and I were leaving my aunts house and as we were walking down her steps, my mom noticed this huge bug laying there. I'd guess it was almost 2 inches long. Have you ever seen one of these before? If so, what on Earth is it??

That's My World - Miss Liberty

My husband does sub-contract work for a company called Moran Iron Works. The owner, Tom, builds a new statue every year. These statues are kept a surprise all year, and then get unveiled during the Independence Day parade. His latest unveiling was this Miss Liberty. Tom builds these, but he is not a painter, so guess who gets to do the paint work? Yep, that would be my husband. This statue now sits in front of a Subway in Onaway, Michigan.

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Sky Watch Friday

We have had spectacular springlike weather here, so on Tuesday I took a quick overnight trip to Lake Superior to spend some time with family and break in my new camera. On my way home last night, I arrived to cross the Mackinac Bridge at just the right time. I just wish it would have been a full moon.

That's My World - Old Presque Isle Light

Here in Michigan there are lots and lots of lighthouses. I've only been to a few of them, but someday I hope to visit them all. This one here, the Old Presque Isle Light, is supposedly haunted. I've been out here twice and have never been a witness to any strange goings on, but you can read about the history of the hauntings here if you are interested.

Sky Watch Friday

My daughter pointed this out during a walk last week. She says it looks like an angel fish..