Saturday, July 31

Cloudy

Smileycons!
It is a quiet cloudy day at Thunder Bay Resort. Really have not accomplished much today and in fact I am thinking about a nap. We have a birthday party to go to later in the day so that should perk us up some.

 Butch has a hard time pulling himself out of bed to mow greens on the weekends. It is starting to be too dark at 6:00 for him to start mowing. A mixed blessing.
One of the things I need to start on is paring down my cupboards and lining up stuff for the first garage sale in Magnolia Park. Like 6 wine glasses. I had to slow down to a crawl on drinking wine so I really have no need for 6 wineglasses. BUT I hate to throw them away...and I hate to have them take up precious space in our wee home. What a dilemma!
Butch put in a Netflix movie. House of D so I took time out to watch it. It was a recommendation form Jason. After it started we realized we had seen it before but it was good enough to watch again. Made me cry this time too.
Just checked email and have a Youtube from son Gary with Elise in it. Way to go, Gary. Let's have more of these
.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQcQLOVzgUw

And we have these too!



A Quicky

Been reading this site this morning and getting a kick out of it.

http://rvshrink.blogspot.com/

Thursday, July 29

Why I like Gmail-(Cucumber/Onion Dressing)

Smileycons! I lost many of my recipes when my computer failed on me last winter. I wanted a recipe that friend Mickey gave me and I knew I had asked her for it by email so I go to Gmail online and do a search for 'cucumber' and after just a wee bit of looking found the recipe. Note the date on the recipe. It doesn't matter how long ago the recipe was sent you can do a search and retrieve it.
Now about this recipe- If I remember correctly Mickey used Miracle Whip. I usually use mayo for sandwiches but I liked this recipe so well as is that I will buy Miracle Whip for this recipe alone.
Enjoy!
Recipe:   Cucumber/Onion Dressing        8/25/2008
Category: Side
Author:   Mickey's aunt

1 C. Miracle Whip
1/2 C. Sugar or Splenda
4 T Apple Cider vinegar
salt to taste
Cucumbers and onions, sliced

Slice Cucumbers and onions. Layer in a dish  and lightly salt each layer.  Combine 
dressing ingredients and pour over cucumber/onion layers. Refrigerate for 
several hours before serving.

Wednesday, July 28

Rogers City MI

Butch and I went north to Rogers City MI, a nice little town located on the shores of Lake Huron. It isn't far up there (30 miles) and Butch was told of a bike shop there that carried Raleighs and he wanted to test drive one on the city's bike trail...or talk about repair on his...or trade-in etc. We arrived to find the bike shop is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays so that part did not work out. We had our bikes with us so we rode the bike trail anyway. After finding it. It is not well marked. I am used to the trails in Iowa that can't be missed as they are marked in a myriad of ways, both on the trail and off. We knew by word of mouth that the 40 mile Lighthouse is located at the end of the bike trail. The 40 Mile lighthouse is so named because it is located 40 miles from Alpena and 40 miles in the other direction from Mackinac City. Butch tried to convince me it was 40 miles to the lighthouse but I knew better.



Not on the trail

 Along side the trail



I wanted to see and take pictures at the lighthouse so that was my goal but we had no idea of the mileage and it was hot and we didn't have much water so after biking 5.5 miles...didn't know that till later...we turned around and returned to Rogers City for a bike ride totaling 11 miles. It was  a very nice ride and one I would like to do again at a cooler time of day. The trail is 7 miles in length so if we had only known we were not all that far from the lighthouse. We returned to the car and drove out to the Lighthouse. The admission is free to this lighthouse and I understand it is the last one that is free. All the others charge admission.
It is a pretty little place and one of only a few that actually looks like a house and not a silo.:-)
Being of sound mind I did not go all the way to the top. Butch tried but it was crowded with people so he passed this time.

As we approached the Lighthouse.

The light itself is barely visible in this shot.

View out the second story bathroom window. (added in 1940) 


A painting on the wall.




We had a phone like this in a farmhouse we rented in our early married life. Churdan Iowa. Yes it was unusual even then (1963)

An apple tree on the shores of Lake Huron. The apples were not in good shape but the view was great.



A shipwreck remains not far from the lighthouse

A little hard to make out.

This gull was playing 'King of the Hill' and saying "mine, mine mine!"

After the tour we headed on back to Hillman and I found I was too pooped to go to the Grill for Silverfox. Maybe next time...










Tuesday, July 27

Silverfox -performs Tuesday at 4:30 to 6 PM

Been busy this morning getting all the blogs attended to and thought I would place this one here to give you an example of what I have been up to this morning. I plan to go to The Grill this afternoon to catch his performance. I am still planning to get pictures of him with his wolves at some point. They are here at the resort on occasion and I need to find out when.
                                                                      
                                                                       Silverfox

Silverfox  lifts his flutes as if to call upon the Great Spirit! His sensational extraordinary talents in music certainly are a great and awesome gift to us all. This thrilling musical experience presented by Silverfox is more than a feeling as his sacred sounds fill the very core of what we feel as we drift into his delightful performance. Silverfox is known for his talents as a flute master! Silverfox became a local legend profiled by his rare and unique mystical sounds. His family, fans and friends starting at a very young age love him as a local hero Silverfox reaching above his teenage years moves his performances beyond his home lands as an Abaachii (Apache). Throughout the past years as a meditative musical experience this featured performer is proudly introduced throughout the Nations in every venue as a celebrated musical achievement. The sight and sounds of Silverfox in full attire as a Human Spiritual Native American flute master, has stirred the hearts of so many around the Southern to Northern States he has created a following that will last eternally. Silverfox celebrated as the featured event, an experience that sends his listeners back into a time of greatness and spiritual altruism leans into the notes like no other can. He remains close to his fans in applause as he finds ways to interact with all who attend. One of the most extraordinary performers of our current times Silverfox inspires the crowds to feel the Sacred Winds, exciting every listener to become a part of the sound. Using a wide and varied assortment of custom hand crafted flutes enjoys teaching the young and old through his dynamic sounds the art of his culture. This must see performer venturing throughout the Nations fills the hearts and spirits of the young and old inspiring everyone! Silverfox will be moving his sounds into your area soon. Don’t miss out! Kicknbear, Drummer for Silverfox & the Red - X Band........ Silverfox is married and resides in Houston, Texas in the winter months and in Northern Michigan in the summer.



Monday, July 26

And so...

The guys(Butch, Tom, Ted, Howard) came in with a good score of 12 under par. I consider that quite a feat but the winners were 13 under. It was a charity event for Elk County Animal Shelter so it was for a good cause. They fed the guys well and there were other prizes. Butch won a door prize of a free breakfast at Jacques Restaurant. We can and will enjoy that.

I checked in on facebook and discovered that our youngest son caught a muskie at Brushy Creek. Minimum is 40 inches and his measured 31 so he had to release it. The picture is pretty impressive.

I also have another picture of him from a while back that I saw when looking for this one. It was taken by his wife Laura while they were on vacation in Las Vegas. Judging from the shininess of those posteriors many pictures are taken similar to this one.


On to other things- I found a recipe for Adobo seasoning, tried it and Butch was impressed. I used it on chicken that he grilled but it can be used for many things. Adobo seasoning can be found in the Mexican sections of your grocery stores. It is something I have used for a long time but always the store bought variety. If you are fond of fajitas it is often the seasoning they use on the chicken or beef used for them.
                              
 Adobo Seasoning

"Simple pantry spices combine to make a savory, flavorful adobo 
seasoning to sprinkle on chicken, fish, meat, cottage cheese, or anything you'd like to zing up. 
It's so easy to make it yourself.”

INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
     In a bowl, stir together the salt, paprika, black pepper, onion powder, oregano, cumin, garlic powder, and chili powder. Store in a sealed jar in a cool, dry place.

Currently reading- The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers- I am enjoying it. It is on the Kindle- Loving my Kindle!!

Well I have certainly given you a variety this morning.
Later...



Sunday, July 25

And then we...

After our return from Mackinac we had to busy ourselves with earning our keep so bright and early we started cleaning up around the suites, villas and chalets. That consists of blowing off the decks and entrances with a leaf blower, knocking down cobwebs, wiping off deck chairs and washing windows that are reachable. That was a big job to begin with but now that we have caught up it isn't too hard to maintain. Butch also added a air conditioner replacement install to his list of ToDo's.
I planned to make a slideshow of our Mackinac pictures but there are a 130 of them and that is way too many for a Smilebox slideshow. They take some time to load even with a fast connection so I am thinking I will put them on Webshots.
I am really excited about the new stats feature on Blogger. I have always been curious about the traffic this site and the others get but had no way of knowing. Now I do. Of all the ones I do, this one gets the most action. I am sure that when winter is here the Magnolia one will increase and this one decline a bit. I always plan to be fair to both. It should be very interesting to see the long range stats.
So Friday was spent working and getting caught up on things.

Butch always moans and groans about getting up so early on weekends to mow the greens. He loves to mow the greens but would rather do them later in the day. Of course that doesn't work because then there are golfers in the way. After the poor boy finished mowing greens at 9:00 AM we decided to go out for breakfast. We have not eaten out much here and that is a good thing as we get more than enough of that the rest of the year. After breakfast we stopped at a farmers market on the corner and purchased sweet corn, tomatoes, jalapeños, onions, cucumbers and a humongous head of cabbage. The cabbage had to weigh at least 12 pounds and cost me a whole $1.50.
Part of my job here is music promotion and I needed some better shots of the musicians playing last night so I reminded myself all day that I needed to do that and I wanted to get it done while the houselights were still up, in other words early. Well, Butch had a Netflix movie "The Imaginarium of Mr Parnassus" and he started it about 6:30PM and I forgot about getting the pictures! That was the time I should have been heading to The Barn. I did not forget because the movie was so great. His kind of movie not mine. So about 8:00 I remembered and trotted up for pictures. I am hoping they are an improvement on what I currently have.
Fellow workamper Linda Payne sang with the band. She is GOOD! She sang 'Unchained Melody' and gave me goosebumps.

Butch,Tom, Ted and Howard are Playing in a golf tournament this morning. Butch was going to pass on it because it is our anniversary but I assured him it would be fine. It isn't as though we never spend time together.
I have plans for making a salsa, beading or Swedish weaving, reading and whatever else suits my fancy so till next time...