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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