It's been two years since I wrote. What happened?

Honestly, time flies.  On the other hand, time can also agonizingly drag along.  Only because one breathes automatically does one get through the rough spots.  Nothing in my life has been of life and death importance, but everything has changed and nothing has changed. I'm alone but I'm not alone.

In a nutshell ~ my circumstances have changed significantly.  I am still safe and sound,
but my husband's dementia has caused him to need much more care; our lovely home of 17 years (which we designed and built) on the shore of an inland lake has been sold; we recently found a compact little nest of a house within the city limits!  Dear friends and relatives have passed away; two beloved pets died.  Two years made an enormous difference in our lives.

In order to move from a 4,000 sq. ft. home with large work studio to a '50's bungalow of 1,400 sq. ft.
took some doing.  Serious down-sizing and several yard sales kicked off the process.  Selling a house is not an easy operation these days nor is buying one.  In both situations I ran into "entitled" folk for whom I needed the help of a skilled attorney to point out that a contract is legally binding.  One cannot arbitrarily move closing dates for personal convenience.  Am I the only one who still believes in the system?  Yet, people are good.  Life is good.

It seemed fitting that tonight ~ New Year's Eve ~ is a time for me to pull myself together and move
on.  I've been doing all the usual and proper things: still eBaying, Etsying, Estate Sale-ing and Pie
Baking!!  In fact I have increased the number of art/craft fairs I participate in and now sell pies as well as hand-sewn and hand-painted items.  This keeps me sane... shall we define sane? Better not.

Happy New Year to all.  I hope your past two years have been peaceful and your have coped well
with life.  Onward to continued happy dealing with whatever life throws at us.

I'll share here some photos of my apple and pecan pie-baking results in preparation for fall art/craft fairs.

Valentine

Here is my Valentine to you ~ a lovely pristine vintage hankie.

It even has it's original store sticker and it's folds from the hankie box.

Very sweet, don't you think?

Lake Michigan is 66% frozen over according to the latest reports.  We live 10 miles from this bay (Grand Traverse Bay)  which is about 30 miles long.... yes, frozen all the way to the north, south, east and west.  We haven't (as a population) been able to enjoy the full array of winter sports these past few mild winters, so this is the year for ice-fishing, skating, ice-boating, and more.  This ice keeps the water from evaporating as well, so this is a good thing for many reasons.

A Corgi In Love

This little corgi named Sadie has been in love with this little girl named Emily since they first met!  It's very interesting to watch the two of them together.  I'll share a few pictures so you can see the attachment.

Good Bye 2013 - Hello 2014

Whoa!   Where did that last six weeks go???  Time to stop and smell the roses, er..... um.... snowflakes!  The craft fair the end of November was a success.  The turkey was delicious.  An excursion to Kingston, Ontario was exciting.  The Christmas tree is still up and hanging in there for one more week.

In the meantime, we have partied and over-eaten, visited friends and did I say partied?  Cooked?
Lots of snow here.  I've been enjoying sledding down our driveway.  Ice-skating has been difficult due to too much snow, but a January thaw should fix that.

Have a happy, safe celebration tonight and welcome to 2014.

Halloween Costume

I couldn't let the season go by without posting my granddaughter, Emily, wearing her Nut Brown Hare costume.  I had such fun making it for her and with her counsel.  We had several fittings in the last days before Halloween.  Such fun.  She bounced and hopped so much the ears stayed floppy, but she liked them that way so no matter.

I wonder what she will want to be for Halloween next year?

Sailing School Anyone?

A recent mild autumn day I walked along the bike path which borders this lake.  The Sailing Center was open and all the supplies, boats, rudders, centerboards, etc. were being made ship shape for the winter.  This is a wonderful facility.  Children at an early age can have a full battery of sailing instruction here.  What could be better in our land of many lakes?  Thought you'd enjoy a few snap shots.

Autumn Beauty

It is autumn again and who can believe how fast September flew by?  Colors are becoming more colorful day by day.  Notice the blue heron perched on the boat to the left of the dock.  He fishes from that spot most mornings in the early sunshine.

The last bouquet of glads of the season came from my favorite roadside veggie stand.

Dutch apple pie and many other varieties of apple desserts are on the menu.  There is a bumper crop of apples this year.  Might be good to can some applesauce as well.