January Ends

January ends with a burst of warmth. On Monday evening we walked up town for dinner. We figure when the cold wave hits we won't want to be out and about. This morning in was in the low- to mid-50s. We took Sugar for a nice long walk. Things are thawing out and there are puddles. The wind was blowing hard but it was still warm. No wind chill this morning. But it is foggy.

Ducks are becoming regular visitors on Washington.

Spotted these in a shop window. What's old is new. I had a coat and dresses like these in my youth. Note Sugar's reflection in the window.

Central Park.

Our driveway is a mess. Hopefully the cold snap holds off long enough so all the water drains. But we're suppose to get more rain today and tomorrow so I'm not very hopeful.

Lost

On Friday, Jack was heading to a doc appointment at the hospital. Sugar and I tagged along for the walk. Sugar and I peeled off at Duncan Woods. It was pretty this time of year. I like the open look without the leaves. I'll have to go back when the sun is shining to see how that looks.

Jack reported that I got lost in the woods. That would be real hard to do because Duncan Woods is very nice but not that big. What happened is when I came out the other end, as always seems to happen when I do this, I wasn't sure exactly what combination of turns to make to get home. It is a part of town I don't normally walk around. I always had a general idea of the way to go so not lost in the real sense, maybe more wandering about in an inefficient manner. But that was OK. Even though it was raining lightly, it was one of our last warm days. Sugar is always thrilled to sniff out new locations so she wasn't complaining.  Of course before the next time I'm heading to Duncan Woods, I could look at a map and figure out the straightest route home, but what would be the fun in that?

Jack and I discuss how nice it is to not know where everyplace is. Someone will reference a town here in MI and we are clueless. We know the Muskegon to Holland to Grand Rapids area pretty well, but get out of that triangle and it is still mostly a mystery to us. We truly can get lost in MI - an impossibility  back in IL. Having lived there our whole lives, any town mentioned we could place it geographically - south side, north side, western sprawl, mid-state, downstate, etc. With our road trips, we are learning MI. So more and more places are becoming familiar. However, I doubt we will ever have the complete grasp of MI that we had of IL. I like it that way. It is like traveling. You go to see new things. When we travel, I love truly getting lost in big cities. No plan, just start walking and see what happens. You might miss the "must see" museum, but instead you find wonderful little local gems and quirks of the city.

Go out and get lost - I highly recommend it.

January in Grand Haven

I've been very busy indexing a variety of books. The books are all interesting so a bonus. On New Year's Day we participated in the VFW Post's pot luck dinner. We had a great time chatting with our new Grand Haven friends.  There were an amazing variety of dishes and very tasty.

It has been warm and dry. Right now it is mid-40s and we'll be up in the 50s this weekend. While this is nice for going out and about, it isn't nice for the tourist businesses that require ice and snow. And it is really not good for the lake levels. Our neighbor predicted a January 19 freeze date for ice fishing but right now that doesn't look like it is going to happen, But it is supposed to get cold starting next week so maybe he'll be right.

As you can see by Central Park no snow at all.

One of the stores has a bag of "real plastic snow" in the window.

Can't go skiing on that!

While we were out walking last Sunday we found this guy taking a stroll down Washington.

 Meanwhile back at home the Christmas tree and decorations are packed away till next year. The chessmen are back lined up ready to do battle.

 My window herb garden wasn't producing as hoped. Mostly this was due to my neglect. So the herb garden has been dismantled and sent to the basement until I decide if I'll try it again. In its place are some souvenirs.

We took a trip to my favorite consignment store in Muskegon and I found a nice little Wedgwood ashtray that is pretty and nice for holding my jewelry overnight.

That's all that's new around here. Now back to work...

Christmas in Grand Haven 2012

Jack, Sugar and I had a wonderful Christmas. It was most relaxing and totally enjoyable. We started the day with tea of course. Then we opened our gifts and had some more tea. As you can see, not really a white Christmas. Green with scattered white. As I've said before, we haven't had a tree or exchanged gifts in years. The travel was our Christmas. So this year staying home we put up a tree and agreed to one gift of no more than $25. Sugar got dog bakery cookies.

Thanks to Adam I found a John Wayne ornament for Jack. He loves John Wayne movies. When not on the tree he plans on hanging it by his desk, possibly on the window frame. Jack got me prep bowls for the kitchen. I was very excited. Yes, buying kitchen bowls for me is a fine thing to do. All three gifts were bought at local small Grand Haven stores.

Sugar enjoying a cookie.

Another cup of tea before Jack and Sugar took a walk and I did some indexing. I'm indexing a book with 1000+ pages so I figured I'd put a little time in on it.

Our neighbor left us a sweet treat.

Then it was time for our noon matinee movie. The munchies were better than popcorn.

The American President is one of our most favorite movies. Always a nice feel good movie. However, I did find it a tad depressing that this movie made in 1995 was about trying to get two bills through Congress - Crime Bill and Global Warming Bill. Except for the fact that we now use the more accurate term Climate Change, nothing has changed. These issues have still not been addressed.

After the movie, it was time to make Christmas dinner. I tried out a new recipe for Lentil and Mushroom Shepard's Pie. It turned out quite nice. Jack said, "It's a keeper." This translated means I should make it again. I wasted no time in putting my new prep bowls to work and they were great. They are heavy so they don't slide around or tip.

Jack helped with the mashing and Sugar helped with the droppings.

Ready to go.

I wasn't happy with how the biscuits turned out. I overworked them a bit. They tasted fine - just didn't get a good height. Jack said they were just fine and finished them for breakfast this morning with peanut butter. We'll finish the Shepard's Pie tonight or tomorrow.

After dinner we loafed around for awhile and then it was time for movie number two.

Love Actually is just a wonderful feel good movie. We laughed and cried. I always say a movie that makes you laugh and cry is perfect.

We finished the day off with National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. All and all a great day.

Around Grand Haven in December

Jack and Sugar hanging out.

Big new house being built on the empty lot on Fulton.

Dewey Hill Nativity Scene with music! You really need to see it. I'm sure the right camera could capture it but my camera isn't it.

Central Park.

We haven't had a tree in years. Once Adam was grown we used Jack's Christmas break to take vacations so we were not home at Christmas. So, no decorations. Jack said he wanted a tree now that we are settled and not traveling over Christmas - please never an airport at Christmas again!  He said it was important to him, so we have a tree. It has been fun. We're decorating with souvenirs from our travels.

From outside.

Inside.

Merry Christmas!

Chicago Trip

Before I tell you about our short trip to Chicago, I have some Jack in the kitchen photos. I was working hard so Jack stepped up and made a wonderful squash and kale soup. And I do mean wonderful.

The recipe called for two garlic cloves. He used six. I have taught him well.

We left for Chicago early on Tuesday morning. Well we left the house early. Due to switching problems the train was delayed by an hour. We had the first measurable snow for the year Tuesday morning. The amount varied depending upon where you were. I don't know how much ended up falling on Grand Haven because it was all gone when we got home.  The views from the train were great. It is a great way to travel. No worries just enjoy the scenery.

Blueberry bushes. Hopefully we don't have the crazy weather like last year that destroyed the crops.

They made up a little time along the way and we got into Chicago around 11:30. First we hit the Christkindlmarket. We didn't buy anything on Tuesday but did go back on Wednesday and bought a tree topper - blown glass from Germany. You'll see that when we get the tree decorated.

Then we checked out the windows at Macy's on State Street.

After that we walked over to the Goat for lunch. Then we hopped in a taxi to take us to the Hotel Lincoln. I cannot say enough good stuff about this hotel. It is across for the Lincoln Park Farm in the Zoo. We had amazing views from our room.

We wandered a bit ending up at an Irish pub where Adam and Steph caught up with us. This is Henry. He doesn't like most dogs eat the peanut shell and all. He shells them. No kidding. He cracks the shell and just eats the nuts. Too funny.

We went out to dinner and ended the evening in the roof top restaurant/bar of the hotel. The views are amazing. I can't wait to go back when the weather is warmer and sit outside.

On Wednesday morning we started out by wandering around Lincoln Park.

Wool on the hoof.

Lagoon. Just ducks. No boats this time of year.

More wool.

Lawn ornaments.

 I'm thinking there was food in that bucket.

Jack making a flat penny with Lincoln Park Zoo on it.

Puppies!

Jack on bench. Some day I'll put together all my Jack on Bench series.

The Conservatory.

After the Conservatory, we wandered around the neighborhood. We think next time we'll spend two nights at the hotel as there is a lot of interest around it. After checking out we made our way to the Loop where we walked around a bit more and had a late lunch of a great quesadilla then headed over to Union Station to catch the train home. On-time all the way. This was a great trip. We've spent a lot of time in Chicago but this was the best.