Final harvest from garden

 Pumpkin/squash garden in late June

 Second wheelbarrow load of pumpkins and squash

A bouquet of zinnias and asters with a fall background

Yesterday was a beautiful day to have lunch at the picnic table and enjoy harvesting the results of hard work.  Sharon, I know you see mostly Butternut Squash in the wheelbarrow, there were a few small Buttercup Squash in the first load.  I plan to buy some Buttercup Squash at the Farmer's Market to make up for our poor crop.  Still no frost which is surprising.

West Coast Fun

spent the day at Montara State Beach ...... Paradise

Kyla's Bridal Shower

Here are some pictures from Kyla's Bridal Shower !

The Place Settings

The Food Table

The Teas and Desserts

A Happy Bride to Be

 Blue berries are ripe!

 A master berry picker!

The harvest of 3 hours work in the morning.  Raspberries, about 8 qts. blue berries, Sugar Snap Peas and some parsley, chives and spinach for a salad.

A few of the 8 long rows of beets for the deer (I'll get a few to cook and eat0!

 Mary in the corn.  Wow, it has grown since knee high on the 4th!

 Roadside day lilies

Very beautiful cultivated lily, roots from Helen Parker.

First harvest

The hard work starts paying off::  raspberries, Swiss Chard, New Zealand Spinach, parsley, chives, sage.  Blueberries will be ripe in a few days.  We have enjoyed Sugar Snap Peas before today.  Grandma/Mother

Grandpa/Dad's Vegetable Garden

 Using the new rototiller between the bean rows.

 Zucchini flowers mean zucchini will come soon!

 Corn will be knee high by the 4th of July.

 New strip across front yard for pumpkins, squash and melons

Pumpkins will be spreading out soon.

Gardening is a great hobby which has cut down our grocery budget year round.

There will soon be plenty to share.  Wish you all lived close enough to benefit.  Love, Grandma

Recent Celebrations

 Mike & Don   22 candles for Mike

 Mary, Karli, Betty & John Lemmer, Steve, Dave

 25 candles for Stephen    Karli, Stephen

 Don bought a 12' ladder for cherry picking.  His tree is loaded with plenty for the birds and all of us.  Don and Dave picking a bucket full for us.  Earlier Don picked several buckets full for them.

Blue ribbon cherry pie made by Barbara and her Mother.  Michigan is one of the nations top cherry producers.  This week is Cherry Festival time in Traverse City.

With Mckenna at 4-H Children's Garden

Mckenna and I had a wonderful time at the garden a picnic and stop at the MSU dairy!

 Garden entrance.

 Trains were running today!!

Brick in honor of our grandchildren & great-grandchildren

A dragon woven of sticks about 30' long was great to walk through!

 With a new friend reading in the garden.

View the whole garden from the tree house.

Blue Moon ice cream for dessert.

South Pacific and at Sharon & Brian's

 In Samoa deceased family members are buried in the yard!  Burial area with red on rail.

 Robert Louis Stephenson's home

 Young boy blew conch shell to announce dance performance

Samoan dancers can really wiggle their hips

 Magnificent blooms on a bush.  Don't know their name.

 Weekend celebration for Dad/Grandpa & David's birthdays.  We thought of Laura, whose birthday it was too and Liane in Paris.

Volleyball most weekends.  Dana and Andy.

Belated post on winter travels

We have been home about 6 weeks going full steam ahead on at home projects and activities.  The big project for Dad/Grandpa has been the garden and yard.  The green rows are showing up nicely in the garden and the war against weeds is in full swing.  There is a new garden across the front yard for squash, melons and pumpkins.  My projects are mostly paper work but someone has to do it.  Just when I think I'm finished there's more to do.  I've tried to get on Flickr to post all the photos so you can choose which ones you'd like to look at, but even with Cynthia's help I haven't succeeded.  I'll choose a few photos to add here.  Caribbean first, then at Sharon's and on to the South Pacific.

Arriving in Willemstad, Curacao.  Strong Dutch influence

Panama City skyline behind us

Molas for sale

Musicians welcome us back to ship

Northern Spring

For those of you who have been wondering, yes, springtime has reached even the far northern edge of our country.  So what if I am ignoring the frost of last night?  It was a light frost anyway.

The month of May started out sunny and warm, and I celebrated May Day by buying myself flowers for my desk at work.  As you can see below, a bit of color really spruces up the scene of my library, which includes only 2 books: North American Industry Classification System 2012 and North American Industry Classification System 2007.  So, if you are wondering what industry you are in, I can figure it out and tell you the current or historic code associated with it.

Shortly after May Day, my 30th birthday arrived with little fanfare.  Unsurprisingly, I felt pretty similar to how I had the day before.  I had hoped to have a draft completed of the first of the papers required for my thesis, but I was caught up by a full weekend of work at the annual bike swap held by the shop where I moonlight.  Happily, I turned in a draft for review yesterday, just over a week behind my self-imposed schedule, a belated gift to myself.  I received lots of birthday wishes and a few excellent gifts, including the opening of the first lilacs on the bush outside my apartment.

Last weekend I got a long overdue haircut.  After much daydreaming and growing out, I had enough to get the asymmetrical cut I have been wanting!  I have been amazed at how many people have thought that this is some trick of styling and that I didn't actually get a cut at all.  If only I were so talented!

Finally, yesterday I solved a great mystery!   A few weeks ago, I noticed that the grass had been dug up in a few patches in my yard.  I was puzzled and guessed that it must have been some animal.  I have been seeing a woodchuck around pretty regularly... Could he have done this??  Well, as I was putting up my Garden Tower my neighbor Olga came over to see what the heck it is.  I talked to her for a little while before she invited me over to tour her garden.  We went into her backyard and I saw her tomato plants and some new hedges for her patio landscaping.  Then, she escorted me back into MY backyard and showed me her other plots - the mystery digging spots!  Below you can see a little line of radishes.  The other mini-plots have carrots and zucchini.

Happy Easter

Dixie - Volume II

I'm still alive. The start of the hockey season was met with much apathy in the South. For the past week I have not been too busy at work but I am going to be starting some TOP SECRET projects soon I think. It was good to watch the Spartans beat Wisconsin. I'm going out for a night on the town tonight and probably watching the Carolina game. Maybe next post I will have some pictures.

I tried Chick Fil A for the first time the other day. In North Carolina people talk about this restaurant like it sells crack. After eating there, I can see why. It is extremely greasy, but delicious. This is pretty typical for all food down here. It has been in the mid-twenties this week which is starting to feel cold. I heard the North is pretty frozen.

-Michael

Down On Mason-Dixie

Today, I mark a very important chapter of the past two weeks. That being the one week anniversary of me moving to North Carolina. I have yet to take any pictures. I am living with 2 students who are both from the North Carolina area so they are being extremely helpful while I get to know the lay of Greensboro. I really like the city; Greensboro has just about everything to do.
I am really enjoying work. Though it is a lot of info to digest quickly. The days all fly by. I'm planning on doing periodic updates, though I cant promise that anything will be that interesting.
-Michael

Celebrations

To begin Don's celebration Cynthia and Jim hosted a pizza lunch at Relli's in DeWitt.  Then the MSU vs Minnesota basketball game on TV disappointed the fans with a Spartan loss.  Dinner at Mother and Dad's featured pork chops because I read that serving pork on New Year's  Eve would bring a prosperous new year.  Of course homemade ice cream and Spice Cake with Penuche icing completed the meal.

Happy Birthday, Don and Happy New Year to everyone!