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Saturday, August 20, 2016

The Dog Days of Summer...Bring on the Garage Sales & Summer Open Houses

Can you believe there are only a couple weeks left of summer? Labor Day is just around the corner! That means all of the garage sales, and summer flea markets will be coming to an end.  I don't know about you, but that always makes me sad. I LOVE the hunt. I love to go to just see what I can see, and to people watch. I'm perfectly happy to come home empty handed. I guess I like to be on the go too, so I'm going to get out there and go while I can!

I went to a couple of sales yesterday with Mr and got a couple of things, but the best part of the day was a quick drive through a cemetery that we didn't even know existed before we turned in to turn around.

We had been following signs for a HUGE SALE, that was huge alright, except it was all baby stuff. So I drove past it looking for a place to turn around. The first place I found was the cemetery.

I am always fascinated by old cemeteries. I know some people think that's creepy, but not me. I like to read the headstones and try to imagine who that person was, what they did how their life was, and maybe even how they died.

It was a great little side adventure to our day. It's really hot and humid here so the rest of yesterday was spent following in the pool. The water was 84 degrees, so it didn't cool us off much.

This morning, bright and early, I met Auntie and another friend and we took off for Williamston for their summer open house. We got there as they opened. There were a lot of dealers set up under the tents. We were sad to see that some of our favs weren't there though.

It was fun to walk through the tents and the mall, even if I came home empty handed. Here are some pics of the last couple of days...

Look at this garage sale!!!


Fun stuff in every corner!!

A couple more pieces of amethyst plates for my collection.

I really only wanted the littles, but the price for the whole set was worth it!



Here are some pics from the Williamston Summer Open House...

Wouldn't this be cool hanging on a wall!?!?









What?!?!? a PURPLE ladder?!?! I LOVE it!!!!


















Old hat forms!



It was a fun couple of days! Hope you're enjoying the hunt!!! :)

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Lots of adventures

This summer has been a whirlwind of adventures! So many fun things to see and do, and so many great people to spend time with.

Last weekend, my youngest and I went north to stay at my parents for a long weekend. My Aunt and Uncle from Texas came into town and spent the weekend with us. They are a hoot! We laughed and laughed and it all ended too soon.

One of the fun things we did was on Saturday. We visited the Les Cheneaux Culinary Institute for dinner. It was a real treat to have a meal there. It is located in Hessel, Michigan, kind of in the middle of nowhere, across the street from a marina. Since it is such a popular place, my Dad made reservations for us.

I love the look of the building, inside and out. The tables chairs and decor were simple yet classy. The menu is small, and different every day. We started with the whitefish spread and homemade crackers that tasted like wheat thins. It was wonderful! For the entree, I (along with my Mom and Aunt) ordered the whitefish, my son ordered duck and my Dad and Uncle ordered the steak. The service was top notch and the food was as well. I could highly recommend it to anyone traveling in the U.P..

On Sunday, my parents were hosting their church picnic, so my Aunt, Uncle and youngest and I left for the Soo Locks, to give them space and not be in the way of their guests. We had lunch at Clyde's Drive in and watched a ship go through the locks. It was just the right amount of time to be gone, because as we were pulling in most of the picnickers were leaving.

On the way home on Monday, we had a great at Scalawags, and Monday night we got to see our oldest, his new fiance and her new ring! We had a quick dinner and a bonfire with s'mores. What a whirlwind weekend!!

The week back at work flew by and before I knew it, it was time for the Blue Water Yard Sale Trail (Friday). It was a really fun, although steamy hot day. Shopping on driveways all long the blue water of Michigan's thumb. I've been doing this sale for a number or years now, and this year I was surprised at how few sales there were. We still found lots of treasures, and had a ton of fun, with LOTS of laughs.

On the way home, we ran into a huge downpour, but it didn't last. It started again just as I was pulling into my garage. My relaxing at home was short-lived because it was dinner time, and my guys wanted pizza from a new brewery in town called Block Brewing. Someone that works with Mr brought a piece in for his lunch and told Mr about it. Since my youngest had to work, it was up to me to brave the down-pour to get it.

Oh-My-Gosh!!! This was the BEST pizza I've ever had! It is called the smokehouse meat pizza.It has pulled pork, brisket, bacon, pepperoni and bbq sauce...YUM!!!! My car almost washed away on the drive home, because the streets were flooding, but oh, did we need the rain!!


Today we are off to dinner with my son's soon-to-be new in-laws. I have a feeling that this year is going to be a whirlwind year, and it will be over before we know it!



Here are pics of all of  my adventures:

Do you see the bridge towers in the distance? My heart always sighs in contentment when I see those beauties!

A lot of people are very nervous about driving over the bridge. I have to admit, the first few times I drove over it were kind of scary-especially when I had to drive on the grating (left lane). Now, I love every minute of it!


The clouds were so big and puffy, they looked like you could reach up and touch them!



Beautiful sunset our first night





Every day we hear the hauntingly beautiful sound of the Loon's call.I wish I would have had my big camera with me, I could have gotten a much better shot!



On Friday, I took my mom for her eye appointment. She has macular degeneration and has to have a shot in her eye every 3-4 weeks. I don't know if I could do that. I suppose I should get it in my head that I could do it, since I have a pretty good chance of developing it.

We stopped at a perpetual garage sale on our way home. We've visited this sale for at least three years. It is very nicely displayed, and I noticed a few things that were there last year. The prices are like mall prices, so unless it is something from my wish list, I don't buy, but it's fun to look! They did have some new things as well, so it is always worth the time to stop and look-just in case!










My Dad had a special treat for us! Dinner reservations at the Les Cheneaux Culinary Institute-YUM!!!




Smoked fish spread

Panko crusted whitefish


On Sunday, we made a quick trip to the Soo Locks, but before we left, we all had to take a turn in the bounce house that my parents had set up for their church picnic...











Such a good boy! All 6'5" of him crouched down so Mom could get a pic.








We drive past this all the time in Mackinac City, on our way to Scalawags. I've never tried it. If I'm in Mac City and I'm hungry, I'm not willing to eat anywhere other than Scalawags!

Chicken strip basket from Scalawags! Best chicken strips EVER!!


This was a freighter on the Eastern side of the Mackinac Bridge as we drove over it toward home on Monday. 


When we got home Monday evening, my oldest and his new fiance came over for a quick dinner, bonfire and smores! Have you ever tried them with a Reese's cup instead of Hershey;s bar? YUMMMM!!!


 At one point the fire was so hot, one of my guys got a new tomato cage from the shed and stood it up next to the fire, bent one of the legs and put his marshmallow on it because it was too hot to get close enough to roast it.


Then Friday was the Blue Water Yard Sale Trail. Three of us die-hard treasure hunters met at 7am for a steamy, hot day of driving and shopping on driveways!


























We laughed so hard when we saw this little nudie! I just had to get a couple of pics. The seller thought he could strike a deal with us, and offered to go lower on the price. No thanks!


Third time in about 6 or 7 years that I've seen this game.

My grandma had this set



This is always a great stop. It is only about 4 miles from our turn around point.




LOOK at the tablecloth!!!! I didn't see a price tag, but I sure did drool!


I've always wanted an orchard ladder!!


You know I couldn't' walk away from purple feedsacks!


Most of the yard sale route was right along the water, such a beautiful sight! Too bad it didn't bring cooler temperatures being on the water!




These were probably the most bizarre things that I saw on the trail.





Here are  my treasures:

Fresh sweet corn. I got a baker's dozen and was so excited to see that it was the peaches and cream (white and yellow mixed) corn. It was probably the worst corn I've ever bought! It was super waxy and bitter.What would cause that?

I got iris bulbs for a quarter each! It was a fundraiser sale at a church. I wish I would have bought more!!


I bought this to use as a template to try to make license plate stars. At a later booth, a guy who was selling license plate stars showed me how he made them. I'm excited to give it a try!

Only one tablecloth came home with me. I looked at several, but only bought one.


More Michigan license plates! Almost ready to get busy creating some masterpieces!


Ok, so now it is opinion time...are they or are they not feed sacks? They were sold as feed sacks, but I don't see any place where the stitches were removed. They are "open", if they are feed sacks, but no threads or thread holes. What do you think? I can't find anything similar online to compare to.. Regardless, I LOVE the pattern and the colors, so I don't regret buying them (there are 2)!

Coming up this weekend... Summer Open House at Williamston Antiques and more family time with our Texas family and other cousins, aunt'\s and uncles. It's gonna be a great weekend!