DAY 2- Light houses

What a fun day today! We visited a couple of lighthouses,the red one was in New Haven, the second one was in Silver Lake, we walked all the 130 steps to the top, and I walked out on the catwalk and took some pictures down at the little ant people on the beach.Bill wouldn't go out on the ledge with me..he's not fond of being up that high...

 We liked this area so well, that we went into town and got a couple of subway sandwiches came back to the lighthouse and sat on the beach until the sun went down. So relaxing. There sure are a lot of dunes around this area, they have dune buggy rides, Sleeping Bear Dunes State Park and there is a shopping mall called Dune Town. . Anyway, another great day. I hope you all have had a good one too.

Michigan vacation - Day 1-Windmill Island Gardens

Hello, friends, we are in Holland, Michigan on our vacation. We did lots of driving to get here,but we spent the day at the Wind Mill Gardens Island, where they have an actual working windmill, that we got to tour, it is 160 feet tall, Then we got to step out on the railed in area and see how the windmill works. They are usually actually making flour, but there was not enough wind today. We got to see some little "Dutch" girls do some wooden shoe dancing. They even had wooden shoes in the gift shop. Anyway, had a nice day, and here's just a couple of pictures. Going to see some lighthouses on Lake Michigan tomorrow...have a good night all.

A beautiful ornate organ that worked like a player piano, very cool.

The workings of the organ

Lots of beautiful gardens

A working windmill still used to grind flour.

Some of the windmill guides

Showing us how they used to grind flour with a grinding wheel.

They were performing authentic dutch wooden show dances.

In case you wanted your own wooden shoes

An indoor carousel

Monthly lunch with the girls of '67, plus 1

Had an awesome time with my ladies of '67 lunch today. Always a great time. Also we had a special guest, William Milam, so great to see you, Bill. Thanks for entertaining us with your silliness....  A good time was had by all, see you all next month.

Hippies

Some hippies showed up at my house tonight... smile emoticon Yes, seriously, my friend Patricia Beard Crippen and her sister, mom and aunt were all going to the Effingham Performance Center to some kind of 1960's review, with Paul Revere and the raiders, the Animals, the Cowsills, and many others. So Pat and her family decided to dress like hippies. I painted a little on their faces for them. She just texted me and said that they were the only ones that dressed up, but they were chosen to go to the meet and greet after the concert, and that Mark from the Cowsills took their picture..how cool. So glad they are having a fun night. If I had been paying attention, I would have gone too.

First day of school for the grand boys

Garret and Luca's first day of school, in a new school, a new town, and a new state..good luck little guys.

St. Peter 40th Prairie Days celebration

So after the farmer's market, then watching the monarch, we went to St. Peter for the 40th year of Prairie Days. We watched the tractor pull, I always like a good tractor pull. Then had lunch, after that was the parade. I love the small town festivals, I really do. The parade had it all, antique fire trucks, floats, marching bands, beauty queens and lots of kids scrambling for candy.. . Then we settled down to listen to some good old blue grass music by Firebox. It started raining, it rained and rained. Nobody cared, nothing stopped except the bouncy houses. The kids were still swinging on the swings, jumping in mud puddles, the bean bag toss went on, bingo, the food booth, the pony rides and the music kept playing. In Illinois you don't let a little rain stop you. It kept raining. Then my mother in law and I went to the cake walk...we left cake-less. So Bill thought he could win one, we still came home cakeless. It's okay, we aren't eating the stuff anymore anyway..lol...we came home...it's still raining. It was still a fun day, because, I was smart and took my umbrella...

. Then Bill wanted to go to the fish fry in Xenia because the same blue grass band was playing there tonight. I decided to stay home because it is STILL raining. He went anyway. So, that's my day...now I'm tired and think I'll find a movie to watch.

After we returned from the farmer's market, our last monarch was about to emerge, so I got a cup of coffee, grabbed my camera, and waited...in a short time saw the whole metamorphosis process, and got photo's this time. I never get tired of seeing this miracle happen. Of course, we had plans, so I didnt' get the final photo of the fanning of the wings, or to see her fly off. There are lots more photos, but these tell the story really well, I think.

the chrysalis turned clear, so the butterfly is ready to emerge

It's starting.

up to this point, literally took seconds.

In about 5 to 10 minutes the monarch will pump us her wings with fluids to inflate them to normal size.

Wings fully inflated,  in about an hour or less the wings will be dry enough for the butterfly to fly away.

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Early morning farmer's market

We got up super early and got to the Effingham Farmer's Market by 8:00 a.m., got all kinds of fresh vegetables, fruit, garlic, sourdough bread, violas, and some Nutella twists for my dear mom, who really loves her Nutella.. 

Oops! Forgot to put the peppers in the basket...

Blackberry jam

Been so busy around here the last few days, today I made blackberry jam for my friend, Barbara Wachholz, she loves lots of seeds, so I made it special for her. . Then I made a couple of jars of jelly, because I had extra juice. The berries are done for the season, what we didnt' sell, I juiced and it is the freezer, not sure what I am doing with it yet, also froze some in ice cube trays for smoothies. Anyway, sometimes I wonder how I ever had time to work back in the day...lol...I hope you are all having a g

ood one.

Monarch Prologue.

I'm breaking my promise, but finally saw the entire metamorphosis this morning, no time for pictures until it was already out of the chrysalis, happened so fast, I just happened to be looking at it, as it had turned clear..anyway, a couple of pix and now I'm happy, saw beginning to end. Also, there was another one that emerged in another part of the yard, hope we have lots and lots more next year. The end...

Newly emerged butterfly pumping up her wings.

In just a few minutes they were completely inflated to normal size.

Metamorphosos part 2

Ok, this is the last of the monarch butterfly chronicles, I promise! We were leaving for the farmer's market this morning, and the chrysalis had turned completely clear, so I took a quick pic with my phone because I knew I was going to miss the actual emergence of the butterfly, which I did, but we must have arrived home soon after, as her wings were still wet, we watched for an hour or so until her wings were dry and she flew away..so I got to observe the full life cycle of a monarch and I feel so blessed. Bill spotted a few more of the chrysalis' hanging from the rafters of my craft shed, so maybe I will catch the entire thing next time...it's been a good morning, everyone have a great day

Metamorphosis part 1

Looks like one of the monarchs will become a butterfly tomorrow, the chrysalis is getting clear and you can see the wings.
— feeling excited.