A Little R and R

2012-01-01T10:12:00.000-05:00

Thanks Zeb! I love my squeaker raccoon and that duck jerky made me sleep until 8am!

2011-12-26T13:30:00.000-05:00

2011-12-22T11:15:00.000-05:00

December Occasionally - 22

Snowy gray morning attempting a Christmas photo for the grandmothers. We actually managed to get a couple before Sadie ran to the beach, before our fingers froze, and before the camera battery died. The tripod and self-timer worked perfectly.

2011-12-15T08:14:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 15

We took Sadie to the beach last night because the woods are mucky and slippery. We walked the length of the beach throwing sticks for her and hiding behind beach grass. She has been in the lake every month since June.

2011-12-12T15:44:00.000-05:00

December Almost Daily - 12

Yesterday I made banana bread, peanut butter cup cookies, and pizza crust. I made homemade brown sugar to make my peanut butter cup cookies. 1 tablespoon molasses plus 1 cup sugar.

2011-12-09T09:18:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 9

Our walk this morning was lit by the full moon over Sonny's house. Sadie has been taking shorter morning walks -- around the block instead of down to the field and around several blocks.

2011-12-08T09:54:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 7
Last night I went to dinner with friends at the student cuilinary restaurant - Chez Nous.

The menu was "Southern Inspired"

Appetizer -Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms
Fresh white mushroom caps stuffed and baked with sweet crab meat, green onions, Parmesan, cream cheese and our special blend of seasonings

Soup - White Gazpacho
A delicious blend of crisp cucumbers, spicy jalapeño chilies, garlic, and creamy yogurt topped with fresh heirloom tomato salsa

Salad - Southern Peach and Arugula Salad
Crisp arugula topped with juicy peach slices, feta cheese, radishes and a house made Dijon vinaigrette

Entrée - Bourbon-Marinated Salmon
Broiled salmon marinated in a blend of bourbon, brown sugar, spicy brown mustard, and chipotle Chile peppers

Accompanied by:
Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes
A sweet potato combined with butter, maple syrup and crème fraiche

Buttered Sweet Peas
A classic and delicious southern vegetable, tossed in creamy butter

Dessert - Bread Pudding with a Brandy Crème Anglaise Sauce
A delicate yet rich bread pudding topped with brandy infused Crème Anglaise and pralines.

2011-12-06T20:03:00.001-05:00

December Daily - 6

Night hike with Sadie in the snow and moonlight. Cold but wearing warm down jackets.

2011-12-05T20:54:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 5
Dinner at home: Tater Tot Casserole

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 bag frozen mixed veggies
1/2 pound local beef
1/2 bag tater tots

Cook the beef, heat up the veggies, combine with soup, top with tots and cook until tots are golden and casserole is bubbling. 400 degrees about 30 minutes.

Tomorrow night:
Grilled cheeseburgers, tots, and green beans.

2011-12-04T19:44:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 4

Sadie and her babushka.

Sadie and her kerchief.

2011-12-03T09:47:00.001-05:00

December Daily - 3

Thursday night we had our second student cuilinary class dinner. Here's the menu and notes.

Appetizer - we both liked this, it was actually brie in a puff pastry with the fig

Fig Compote
A sweet fig compote paired with warm brie presented on a crostini

Soup - we both liked the soup too, it was better than the last butternut squash soup

Butternut Squash Soup with Caramelized Apples
A rich puree of butternut squash topped with sweet, soft caramelized apples and a swirl of crème fraîche

Salad - Bill gave me his beets, this salad was served with mixed lettuce and really good - I tried the goat cheese and still think it tastes like bad farm. Bill ate the goat cheese no problem.

Roasted Beet Salad
Fresh roasted red and gold beets layered with tangy goat cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Garnished with lightly toasted walnuts

Entrée Options (please choose one) - both were really good. Bill thought the parsnips were potatoes. He liked the ribs and I really liked the ravioli.

Braised Short Ribs
Short ribs slow cooked in ale and finished in a rosemary-infused maple glaze. Paired with sweet potato cottage fries and roasted parsnips and carrots.

Wild Mushroom Ravioli
House made ravioli, stuffed with a blend of wild mushrooms accompanied with a white wine and olive oil Alfredo. Sautéed chicken is optional. Garnished with portabella “bacon” and served with roasted parsnips and carrots.

Dessert - I thought this was going to be different, Bill took one bite and gagged. He thought it tasted like powdered scrambled eggs. I took a couple bites and decided it wasn't my favorite thing to eat. We're okay never eating it again.

Crème Caramel with Mulled Cider
A French egg custard baked and topped with caramel. Served with an apple cider infused with a traditional blend of mulling spices

2011-12-02T07:35:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 2

Making sure Sadie's kennel is big enough for her.

2011-12-01T07:45:00.000-05:00

December Daily 1

Fall wreath workshop. Rosemary, bay leaves, and eucalyptus.

2011-11-07T11:14:00.000-05:00

Culinary Student Dinner Number 1 of 3!

This Thursday we're going to Chez Nous, NMU's student-run restaurant. Here's the menu:

Brussels Sprouts Spread served on a Cheddar Bruschetta
Butternut Squash Soup served in a Pumpkin
Fall Salad - mixed greens tossed with pear slices, candied pecans, and maple balsamic dressing
Entree options: Eggplant Lasagna or Roasted Garlic Pork Loin
Pumpkin Toffee Cheesecake
Spiced Cider

2011-10-16T17:03:00.001-04:00

October 16, 2011 We turned on the heat. Inside temperature before turning it on...57. Colder outside temperatures and rain predicted this week. No snow, yet.

October 19, 2010
October 1, 2009 (56 inside)
?
September 12, 2007

2011-09-12T09:50:00.000-04:00

I was in a work clothes rut--sick of my Monday through Friday choices. So I have changed it up--Themed clothes week. Sometimes others in my office join in for a day or two. This week is Stripes Week. I have 4 days of outfits ready to go --just need to be creative for the 5th day -- might even need to make something!

Themed clothes weeks:
1) Cardigan Week August 8-August 12
2) Scarf Week August 15-August 19
3) Dress Week August 22-August 27 (six summer dresses!)
4) Green and Gold Week August 29-Sept 2 (first week of school)
5) Skirt Week September 5-September 9 (only four needed)
6) Stripes Week September 12-September 16
7) Collared Shirt Week September 19-September 23

Any ideas for upcoming weeks?

2011-08-30T15:43:00.001-04:00

2011-08-24T11:10:00.001-04:00

House maintenance.

We had the brackets near the roof painted which left us with an extra gallon of white exterior paint so Bill decided while on his three week vacation to do some painting. We (mostly he) scraped, caulked, and painted the 5 basement windows and storm windows, the back porch windows, garage windows, and the other north-facing first floor windows. Sadie watched.

2011-08-23T11:04:00.002-04:00

Garden Harvest

2011-08-22T11:03:00.001-04:00

Earlier this summer we went down to Lower Harbor to get a tour of the Mackinaw. We Bill misread the military time and we showed up too late for the tour. Wearing our CG shirts we instead posed for some photos beside the cutter.

2011-08-21T10:58:00.001-04:00

Breaking the law. We were pirates in the CG waters.

2011-08-20T17:21:00.001-04:00

Sadie has a new kennel and she looks tiny in it even though she's about 45 pounds. We found the perfect spot for it too--it's in the front entry-way. We don't use this spot for much other than hanging our computer bags and sometimes getting the mail. The kennel has a door on the side that lines up pefectly with the white door (which is always open).

2011-08-20T10:45:00.001-04:00

Sadie!

She's turning into a REAL DOG.

Check out her interesting paws. The pads are joined.

Making sure she doesn't miss a meal.

Bike ride in the Burley. Some people think it's crazy, but it is a very effecient way to get to the beach.

2011-08-03T17:21:00.000-04:00

Where did July go?

August will include:
-the canoe
-taking Sadie to the beach nightly
-ice cream sandwiches
-Progressive Drink Party!
-burgers on the grill
-more overnight pickles, one batch is almost gone
-pasta salad
-corn
-more rummage sales
-Rabbit Bay
-students returning to town
-cruiser rides
-more weeding of the garden
-lots of work at work
-the end of our three-day-weekends
-the start of sleeping in and getting to work at 8 instead of 7
-being done with work at 5 instead of 6!
-sitting on the porch

2011-07-13T08:09:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow!

Strawberry picking in the morning then making jam. Perfect timing for a day off work.

2011-07-11T17:38:00.000-04:00

Don't pay attention to the telephone pole, huge snowbanks, or the absolutely clear sidewalks, or the blue sky. I was searching today for a picture of the house that would show the bracket things that are along the roof. See them? We're getting them painted today and tomorrow and the look AMAZING! We stuck with white in a paint by Sherwin Williams that is said to be guaranteed a lifetime. What?! Seriously?!

One of our friends who is in construction has a long ladder and some spare time so he's scraping and painting. Not only scraping and painting though, he even covered the flowers below the brackets with a tarp so the garden beds are not filling with paint chips!

You can also pay attention to the tips of the two Colorado Blue Spruce trees in the front yard --Bill thinks they have grown 18 inches this summer. I think we'll pull out the measuring tape tonight to see just how much new-growth there is on the two trees.

2011-07-08T21:41:00.000-04:00

Happy 60th!

2011-07-06T11:59:00.001-04:00

We jumped in the lake last night! It was a Knox family plunge--Charlie and Mia (cousins), Roberta (aunt), Bill (uncle), Bill, and me. We all dove all the way under. The reaction? Very cold, but not as bad as we thought it would be. Earlier in the week it was ankle aching cold.

2011-06-14T10:24:00.002-04:00

Morning Schedule

This morning I made a list of what to do when…starting at 5:30(OUCH!)

-out of kennel, outside

-feed her breakfast while making coffee

-give her a puzzle toy while eating breakfast

-take her for a walk

-kennel her, get ready 6:15 at the latest!

-one last time outside, then kennel

-go to work 6:45

2011-06-10T14:17:00.000-04:00

I worked on a little puppy proofing of the house today. So many friends have stopped by with treats and toys for Sadie. She's a lucky dog! She loves the kennel!

2011-06-09T21:38:00.000-04:00

Sadie (say-dee)

She's asleep in her kennel right now--went into the open kennel willingly and conked right out. We're also dogsitting Nally, a 90-pound yellow lab, for the weekend. Both dogs played and played and are now snoozing.

2011-06-07T11:26:00.000-04:00

June Challenge: No Econo Foods shopping.

Shopping instead at some of the other places:

Marquette Co-op:
Coffee
Creamer
Veggies
Salad
Beans
Bread
Yogurt

Valle's Village Market (Jack's):
Milk
Frozen Pizza
Tortillas
Fruit
English Muffins
Salsa
Ice Cream
other stuff on sale

2011-06-06T16:35:00.000-04:00

Cleaning out the back room...

500 keys, 35 twist ties, a borrowed book, pens, candles, Ped Egg, replacement Christmas lights, flash drives, heart rate monitor, stuff.

More stuff out on the patio --including the cooler that was left at our house (MOM), badminton set, shoes, extension cords, recycling, books, and rummage sale finds.

In one of the cabinets -- Cuisinart, canning supplies, extra pans, door hardware, tea kettle, thermos, computer supplies.

Everything to the patio. Then it looked like rain so I had to fast-forward sort and get stuff put away before...

Getting closer...

Drawers are lined and grill stuff is with grill stuff. Bike stuff is with bike stuff. Bike picture is hung. Recycling is out. Everything isn't quite sorted, put away, or removed. Maybe tonight or next Friday.

2011-06-05T07:23:00.000-04:00

Snack Platter - Almost USDA Plate style

Goldfish crackers, almonds, cucumbers, red pepper, yellow pepper, hummus, cantaloupe, cottage cheese, pita.

2011-06-02T14:47:00.001-04:00

Dear Emily,

Please repaint the fireplace white.

2011-05-31T15:28:00.000-04:00

Mellow Mushroom Pizza from the trip to Mobile.

2011-05-25T10:34:00.001-04:00

Jana's "To Eat" list on the fridge:

After cleaning out the cupboards and refrigerator I made a list of food Jana could eat up in the next few weeks. Progress is being made --and I'm getting regular updates of things that are gone. Keep it up Jana!

2011-05-23T09:32:00.000-04:00

Roadside Garden Inspiration

Last July we drove down to Ann Arbor and on the way back made a pitstop somewhere along the interstate where I snagged a few photos of the planting area. If this can grow there it should be able to grow in our yard. daylilies, sedum, Russian Sage or catmint, tall grasses, daisies, and some annuals mixed in for color. We planted over 15 perennials and three bushes this weekend on the north side of our yard. I hope it looks like this next year.

2011-05-21T05:21:00.001-04:00

2011-05-20T05:12:00.002-04:00

Grand Island - Munising, MI

Bass Lake - Gwinn, MI

Lake Michigan and Indian Lake - Manistique, MI

2011-05-19T11:12:00.000-04:00

Airport Extravaganza

2011-05-14T20:21:00.000-04:00

Busy! Jana and I have been busy! Packed a bunch last night, sorted through and donated kitchen stuff. Packed up more today. Still more and more stuff to pack--they've been hoarding and I've been the TV host from Hoarders.

We're working on cleaning out the fridge and cupboard too. Last night we made bean and cheese quesadillas. Tonight we finished the salad and a frozen pizza. Tomorrow we will eat 10 jars of homemade green beans. 5 each.

2011-05-09T08:38:00.000-04:00

What we've been eating instead of frozen pizza:

Taco Salad
Homemade nachos
Black beans and rice
Cheese quesadillas
Ravioli
Boca burgers
Pasta
Fish
Baked potatoes

We need some more meatless ideas.

2011-05-06T16:10:00.004-04:00

Rummage Sale Report Day 1 - Stuff for other people's kids.

One rummage sale and two St. Vinnie trips yielded:

A well-designed toy called Bilibo designed in Switzerland.

Discovery Toys bug/math/sequence game.

An Eric Carle two-sided puzzle.

And a butterfly garden net house thing that has already been gifted and played with today.

2011-04-28T06:46:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Emily -- This will be in your mailbox one of these days...from http://www.1canoe2.com/.

2011-04-26T14:27:00.002-04:00

A new feature in the Mining Journal!

2011-04-25T19:16:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago I did some ~~psycho~~ Spring Cleaning. Bill was out for a bike ride and I cleared almost everything out of the living room, swept and vacuumed every corner. He came back from the bike ride at one of the biggest disaster times of all so we tried a new re-arrangement that didn't work, then I put some of the stuff back. Where does all of the dirt come from?!

2011-04-23T12:02:00.000-04:00

Hyacinth -- some of the best smelling flowers. I picked a jar full of these before last weekend's snow and they've been smelling up the living room for a week.

Yard blooming:

Crocuses - March

Hyacinth - April

Daffodils - soon

Forsythia - soon

Tulips - after the Daffodils

2011-04-22T09:21:00.000-04:00

Lunch Menu

2011-04-03T09:25:00.000-04:00

Live long and prosper. MiningJournal.net

2011-04-03T08:51:00.000-04:00

Bill's Birthday AND April Fool's

Later in the afternoon one of my co-worker's sons called and left a voicemail thanking Bill and informing him that a certificate would be mailed to him recognizing his efforts keeping the sidewalk clear.

This makes a lot of sense that the post office would recognize us. We work like crazy to keep the sidewalks clear. Shoveling in the morning, quickly clearing a path at lunch to the mailbox, and again in the evening.

The fake post office guy even said the RAIN, SLEET, SNOW blurb. "...one of the top three sidewalks for the 2010-2011 winter." Because of your efforts we can "be all we can be". This didn't throw him off at all!

The funny/sad part was Bill called and told me that he had something to make my day better--to listen to his voicemail. When I got home from work he kept saying how the post office voicemail was the best part of his birthday. He thought he knew which post office worker had called and left the message--recognizing the voice. I kept it going..."Which other sidewalks do you think were recognized?" I pointed out probably the library and hospital...but we were probably number one in the residentials. I asked him if he thought we'd get a book of stamps or something along with the certificate...his mom said hopefully it would be a roll of stamps! I couldn't let him down on his birthday by telling him it was an April Fool, so it continued to Saturday! We heard the mailman delivering the mail during lunch and I asked if he thought the certificate would be in the mail that day. Then we saw the mailman walking down the street and we quickly went inside --to avoid weird interaction after being recognized.

Oh man! I had to tell him sometime! I worked on the certificate below while he was in the basement working on bikes. Saturday night I told him that I had some bad news--and asked him if he knew what it was. He thought maybe the e-mail from the university president Friday afternoon was an April Fool. Nope, but on the right track.

I told him. He was a little disappointed--saying we SHOULD be recognized. He said that it was probably better than the April Fool birthday cake a couple years ago.

2011-04-01T09:06:00.001-04:00

Bill's Birthday

These are a few of his favorite things...

Pabst Blue Ribbon and jal-a-pen-os
Rocky Road Ice Cream and Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Econo Tortilla Chips and salsa
These are a few of his favorite things.

When his bike breaks
When his knee hurts
When he has to work.
He simply remembers his favorite things and begins to surf (the internet).

2011-03-24T17:02:00.000-04:00

2011-03-23T08:43:00.001-04:00

Local high school holds sing-a-long performance: "It's a fundrasier to support more than 60 students and chaperones traveling to southern Germany in April."

2011-03-22T20:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we saw a Red-headed Woodpecker and a Robin while walking home. Most of the snow along College Street is gone, but the raised bed gardens are still burried under 2+ feet of crusty gray snow. Four or five months until big flowers like this will be blooming. Planning starts now for the gardens.

2011-03-19T02:38:00.000-04:00

2:30am - Had a dream the new baby arrived safe and sound. Trying to fall back to sleep. Good luck Jana and Jared!

2011-03-17T14:51:00.002-04:00

2011-03-16T15:24:00.000-04:00

There are a couple things happening around here.

Crocuses are blooming along the south side of the house and we're doing calculations and getting estimates for the replacement of our 5 basement windows.

2011-03-07T10:43:00.005-05:00

We ate our first Girl Scout Cookies this weekend. It was one sleeve of the peanut butter sandwich cookies --Do-si-dos. I found the unopened sleeve of cookies while walking home from the builders show at the dome. I ate a few and didn't tell Bill that I found them in the snow until after he ate a few. We laughed. He probably would have left them in the snow.

What would you do?

Leave them. (X)
Bring them home and throw them away. (X)
Bring them home and eat them all yourself.
Bring them home share only with family. (X, X, X)
Bring them home, put them on a plate and share with others.

Would you tell people that you found them? Before or after they ate the cookies?

Would it depend on the flavor of cookie?
If Samoas maybe. - Jana

2011-03-05T16:20:00.001-05:00

Pizza crust prep with old Pyrex (blue) and new Pyrex (measuring cup).

2011-03-03T15:07:00.000-05:00

We really like our car. We also really like not paying $3.60 for every twenty or so miles that we would be driving. Walking to work and back and to the grocery store, library, and just around is nice. I'm glad we've been walking for a while now and aren't freaked out about the rising fuel prices.

Would this be too dorky for running errands?

Bill would be sure to wear the white socks and I'd be sure to wear the pink helmet. We'd throw our big groceries in the bike cart.

2011-03-02T10:16:00.000-05:00

It will be warm again. The sun will come out. The grass will grow. It will be light until 11pm. We will be hot. Dinners will be eaten outside. Lunches too. We will wear sunglasses, ride bikes, and drink lemonade.

2011-02-23T13:27:00.000-05:00

Neighborly flags. I was wondering how long the Green Bay Packer flag would fly after the Superbowl. Generally, the Christmas decorations come down on the 25th, Valentines the night of the 14th, and St. Patrick's on the 17th. The Packer flag stayed up a few days beyond the Superbowl win.

2011-02-16T09:50:00.000-05:00

August had the best flowers last year. I need to plant some earlier bloomers and some that keep the bunnies away so I don't have to use the green cage. Zinnias, dahlias, nasturtiums, and rudebekias are in the photo from last summer's garden.

2011-02-10T16:01:00.000-05:00

Donckers in Marquette, Obama's choice for lunch is the same as my choice for lunch...

2011-02-10T14:29:00.000-05:00

During lunch today we walked down towards the YMCA and saw the Presidential Motorcade scoot past. Bluesky day, rainbow hat, President Obama visits Marquette.

2011-02-05T14:21:00.000-05:00

In the oven...

Homemade pretzels -- So easy!

Some of the steps:

The recipe I followed makes 8 pretzels -- I made 16 so they were half the size--still pretty big though!

I used the big frying pan to boil the pretzels -- 10 cups water, 2/3 cup baking soda, then egg wash and salt before going into the oven.

http://www.macheesmo.com/2009/07/homemade-pretzels/

2011-02-02T06:55:00.000-05:00

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107048/

2011-02-01T08:11:00.000-05:00

We made it through January! Here's the three layer yellow cake with butter cream frosting and toasted coconut.

2011-01-31T15:27:00.001-05:00

I won a beautiful sweatshirt!

http://www.michiganmainstreetcenter.com/SocialMedia/tabid/61/ID/166/Shop-MI-Downtown-for-the-Holidays.aspx

2011-01-30T16:38:00.001-05:00

Slash top, Sunflower seed, and Oats.
Recipe: http://rhoadeshouse.blogspot.com/2011/01/original-oatmeal-bread-recipe.html

2011-01-29T12:21:00.002-05:00

Noquemanon 2011 Classic Marathon

We parked at the Forestville Trailhead and walked down the railroad tracks and waited. And waited.

Then...

Here they come!

and there they go.

A group of 5...Bibs 10, 118. 5, 9, then 7.

2011 Skiers and bib numbers here:

http://www.noquemanon.com/images/registration/startlist/startlist.pdf

10 - Marshall Greene

118 - Michigan Tech Guy

5 - Adam Swank

9 - Andre Watt

7 - Shawn Miller

At the finish:
5     Swank, Adam Duluth, MN                     02:53:02.7
10    Greene, Marshall Madshus-toko, WI    02:53:05.7
9     Watt, Andre Rossignol,                          02:53:06.5
7     Miller, Shawn Duluth, MN                     02:53:15.0
118 Walczak, Karl Houghton, MI                02:53:30.5

2011-01-24T18:28:00.001-05:00

Sick Day

2011-01-21T16:58:00.000-05:00

0-degrees is what the radio guy said this morning in Downtown Marquette. My Rab down coat is very warm, so we walked. Bill wore his $5 Patagonia rummage sale coat. When we got to work people talked about the windchill. Aparently this morning was -23 windchill. Our legs were the only things that stung a little. So far so good. The hood on the Rab jacket is pretty puffy--but it is warm and no students ask me questions about financial aid when I walk out of the office wearing it.

2011-01-17T17:01:00.002-05:00

Bill's candle photoshoot.

2011-01-16T13:11:00.000-05:00

Sunday Soups

Last week I made the Linda Perkins Lentil Soup. This week I'm making Bob's Red Mill 13 Bean Soup with the ham hock from New Year's.

2011-01-15T08:51:00.000-05:00

We night-skied around Presque Isle on Thursday night. It was dark but with the contrast between the bright snow and dark trees we didn't need to use the headlamp. When we got to the north west side of the park the wind and freezing rain/snow really blasted us. The waves in the bay would have been perfect for surfers but none were out--no animals, no people all around the island.

2011-01-11T08:41:00.000-05:00

Heating Costs

We got our electronic SEMCO bill (gas bill) today for December--it was $109 and ten dollars less than last year during the same time period. Semco keeps really nice information on their website that can be easily exported to Excel...

I was plesantly surprised that our TOTAL heating charges for 2010 were $617.85. Pretty crazy if you think about it...average of about $52 per month and we live where it is winter 6 months of the year. --And our windows are old and our the insulation in our walls seems to be slim.

So...considering people generally do big insulation and window projects to save money with heating...would we save that much? Probably not, but we could really crank the heat up in our house.

2011-01-07T11:33:00.000-05:00

We're working on a refrigerator and cupboard clean-out. This is not the current state of the fridge, this was April 1, 2010...Bill's birthday.

Things to eat...
Fish and cole slaw (cabbage) tonight - dinner
Lentil Soup with Rotel tomatoes - weekend dinner
Pizza - pesto, pasta sauze, mozz, feta, red onion - dinner
Boca burgers and pickles - dinner
Ham - lunches, dinner with rice and veg. - dinner
Pasta - dinner
Black beans as nachos - weekend lunch
Soup and sandwiches/bagels and cream cheese - weekday lunch
Pita and carrots and hummus - lunch or sampler platter
Bagels - breakfasts and lunches
Cinnamon rolls - weekend breakfast
Pancakes - weekend breakfast or dinner
Chex cereal - breakfast or snack
V8 - snack

2011-01-03T13:54:00.000-05:00

I want to be back on vacation, sitting on the couch, eating nachos!

2010-12-31T17:31:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 31

Looking back, looking ahead.

2010-12-30T11:13:00.001-05:00

December Daily - 30

He's got that look in his eyes...

the last bike ride of the decade?

2010-12-29T17:56:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 29

Sharing the trails.

Yesterday we skied down the Mount Marquette road (the snowmobile route). It was FAST and FUN!

2010-12-28T16:17:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 28

After another ski, sun, snow adventure we headed downtown for lunch at Donckers.

2010-12-27T17:06:00.002-05:00

December Daily - 27

SUNSHINE!

We left the house before 9:30 this morning to take advantage of the sunshine and blue sky. Yesterday I read about Echo Lake in the Mining Journal. Recent ownership transfer to the Nature Conservancy from The J.A. Woollman Foundation was noted. I remembered reading about Echo Lake on UPWaterfront.com so I mapped our route--parking just off of CR550 on Eagle's Nest Road. We skied on truck tracks and then on the cleared path where other skiers had been probably the day before. It took about an hour to ski back into the woods and up to the lake.

Lots of deer tracks, mouse tracks, and squirrel tracks.

The lake, the island, the granite cliffs. There were some ski tracks that went to the island. Also some animal tracks that went to the middle of the lake and a hole. We thought it would be a good idea to stick near the shore. We enjoyed the sunshine and no wind for quite a while.

Clementeens and hot tea.

A perfect adventure on a sunny UP day. Exercise, clementines, sunshine, and tea with the Snow Peak Giga Power stove --a gift from Bill's uncle Jim.

2010-12-26T18:33:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 26

Good News/Bad News

Good - house is very clean, we have good groceries, and lots of Christmas cookies

Bad - our first round of house guests aren't going to make it above the bridge...we'll have to maintain the cleanliness for a few more days.

2010-12-25T17:38:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 25

2010-12-24T20:53:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 24

There was snowglobe snow today. We got up and shoveled right away this morning before the wet snow got too heavy...also scraped the driveway down to the concrete. We trudged along Third Street sidewalks through sloppy mucky snow to get some guitar strings at Mac Donald's Music. We ran some afternoon errands and while we were out two books were dropped off in our mailbox: this and this. Yesterday we visited with Jonathan and his family who were visiting from out of town. Reading, baking, coffee, and cleaning on the agenda tomorrow.

2010-12-23T22:05:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 23

Stuff White People Like...Marquette version:

Getting up early on vacation days
Vacation Days
Sewing
Dr. Mario
Waiting for custom bicycles to arrive from Brown Santa
Getting ready for house guests
Homemade cookies
Vegetarian lunches
Co-op membership
Consignment clothes
Michigan Brews - discount price
Meeting up with mentors/Northern Idaho/Spokane residents
Little SLEEZERS
Kids in the Hall

...in that order.

2010-12-22T14:56:00.001-05:00

December Daily - 22

Last night -sewing in the dark on the shortest day of the year. Some sunny yellow fabric. The sewing machine shop lady is getting nicer to me.

2010-12-21T15:28:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 21

Treasures from Negaunee. A morning of on-line Christmas shopping, an afternoon of in-store shopping.

A two-sided framed treasure.

2010-12-20T11:17:00.001-05:00

December Daily - 20

What we would have missed if we were at work: City of Marquette curbside snow clearing on a blue sky day.

2010-12-19T09:26:00.001-05:00

December Daily - 19
Marquette, MI Clementine Report 2010

Saturday 12/11/10 - 1 bag Cuties purchased at Econo Foods - Delicious, all 20 minus 4 were eaten by Haley. The others 2 were eaten by Bill, 2 were given to Haley's co-workers.
Friday 12/17/10 - A return trip to Econo to find the identical item yeided no Cuties Clementines.
Friday 12/17/10 - Rumor that Cuties were available at Super One Foods means a Marquette rush hour trip near the mall is in order. No Cuties there, but Ocean Spray Spanish Clementines that look a lot like Cuties are available. We buy one bag, and sample one just outside the checkout. Quite good. Haley goes to get the car while Bill goes back into the store and buys two more bags of Ocean Spray Spanish Clementines.
Saturday 12/18/10 - Haley recalls in her reading about the availability of Cuties that the place that starts with a W may have Cuties. After eating two Ocean Spray Spanish Clementines they head to the place that starts wtih W, arriving before it is light out. Cuties are spotted. They look bigger that the type purchased a week before at Econo. 2 bags of Cuties Clementines purchased at the place that starts with W.

Clementine Ranking
1 - Small California Cuties purchased at Econo
2 - Ocean Spray Spanish Clementines purchased at Super One Foods
3 - Medium California Cuties purchased at the place that starts with W

Intersting Facts
-Bill's first clementine was eaten on Friday, December 17th. The last day that the Econo Cuties were in our house.
-The most clementines eaten in a day so far was 5.
-No negative effects have occurred from the quantity of clementines eaten in the last week.
-The current number of bags of clementines in our house: 5.
-Average number of clementines per bag: 20.
-Haley can peel the clementine in one spiral.
-Highest price paid for the bag of clementines - Econo original bag.
-Bill says "You can eat like 10 of 'em and not feel like you've eaten like 10 oranges." "It's perfect."
-Haley says "These have replaced the huge Honey Crisp Apple consumption of previous years." Bill agrees.

-Number of times we've sung Oh My Darling - 7.
-We now pronounce clementeen like they do in the song.

2010-12-18T07:27:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 18

16 Days Off In A Row!

2010-12-17T14:48:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 17

The house across the street from ours has a SOLD sign on it. I wonder if the new neighbors will be there for Christmas.

2010-12-16T06:59:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 16

We're having two sets of house guests over the break. Here's a helpful link to a huge list of things to keep in mind and prepare for when having guests. Good thing we have a week off work before anyone arrives.

http://theinspiredroom.net/2010/12/15/preparing-for-guests/

2010-12-15T14:53:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 15

I need to do something with my beige office. Blah.

2010-12-14T14:20:00.000-05:00

December Daily - 14

We don't hate the plow drivers as much as we did previous years. The snowblower helps a lot (have I said this yet?) The photo is the huge plow guy squeezing between two parked cars. The one by the scoop has been parked illegally since Friday--the start of a steady snow storm. The driver was more careful for the white car than the dark van and managed to plow between them throughout the day.

2010-12-13T17:28:00.001-05:00

December Daily - 13

There wasn't a snow day today but Bill and I had planned to have the day off to take care of an oil change on the car so we were off. Got up, had coffee and breakfast, checked blogs, shoveled/snowblowed, did dishes, then went to the oil change. A few errands later we stopped for lunch at the New York Deli - Bill enjoyed a turkey, slaw, Russian dressing on dark rye. I had a not so great veggie burger that was bland and a weird orange color and mushy texture. Blah. We shared some tomato soup and root beer. Bill did some bike room clean-up and laundry and I did some sewing. More driveway and sidewalk clearing tonight.

2010-12-12T13:35:00.001-05:00

December Daily - 12

Fish sandwich for lunch. I think today would have been a snow day if it was a weekday. Bill says he might take up fishing to catch what we eat. Saturday morning we went to Thill's and picked up a walleye filet, two lake trout, and two small whitefish fillets. We talked to the fish guy for a little while and he said they don't go too far off shore to get to 150 feet which is where they fish. We had the walleye yesterday. Are these all caught in Lake Superior? How far off shore? Do you need to go in a bigger boat than our canoe? I think Thill's uses nets to catch their fish and they have special licenses for this.