Heat - P52 Week 34

I have this one burner on my stove that is very temperamental.

Sometimes when I turn the gas on, the burner will light, but this is getting to be a rarer and rarer occurrence. So generally it needs some help, which involves me turning on the gas getting the flame going on my barbeque lighter...

and then poof, it is ready to cook. Someday I will have a stove where all the burners work when you turn them on with the knob instead of with the blow torch :)

My Writing Space

When I made my birthday list of 44 Things, #3 on that list was Make a Writing Area for myself on our Four Season Porch.

Due to the warm weather yesterday, I decided to make work of this. It is no wonder that I was feeling unproductive, when you see my writing area before the re-do yesterday.

I like to have my resource material close by, but I also had no place to keep it other than on my small writing table.

Enter into the picture the metal bookcase from the Family Room...

Much better...

Now the only thing to fix is the location of Scout's dog bed. I gave him his own cozy nook...

But he would prefer to be much closer to me, and he is almost always out here when I am working on my computer.

So I will have to fix that for my boy :)

Ice - P52 Week 33

I know we are suppose to take pictures from the current week, but this one from February was too good to pass up. That and I didn't have any other good ideas. It has just been one of those weeks...

Now that is some ice. Lake Superior in February 2012.

Summer Favorites - P52 Week 32

I will admit it, I am some what of a wine snob. I LOVE Michigan wines, particularly wines from the Traverse City/Leelanau Peninsula region. The reason for this is because I LOVE Riesling Wines and this region is climate ideal for growing great Riesling grapes.

So for my Summer Favorites post for Project 52 this week, I thought would share some photos of some of my favorite summer wines. They are not all Rieslings, my husband and I try to compromise since we have different tastes, and we do like to try new wines.

Homework - We discovered Homework three summers ago, and we both fell in love with it. A wonderful Rose'.

Chateau Fontaine - my new favorite winery. The service there is always outstanding. This year when we were there it was super busy, the owner himself came over, made sure we got glasses, and made sure we got our own personal wine tasting. There is not a wine that I don't like there, and yes we usually buy a case.

Cherrio Cherry, the one in the middle IS empty. You can't go to the heart of cherry country and not buy a cherry wine, this one sounded so good that we drank it before I got the pictures taken.

Rustic White - the perfect Summer Front Porch Sipping Wine. 

I can't wait to go back again next summer...

The Dog Days of Summer - P52 Week 31

Can we go for another walk yet Mom? You know I need my exercise otherwise I get bored and then I eat things I shouldn't...

But you know I love you with all my heart. 

Love, Scout

What I Read in July

Admissions by Jennifer Sowle - Loved - Set in Traverse City, MI at the sight of the State Hospital. I love Traverse City and am fascinated  by the former State Hospital. This is a fictional story about the lives of some residents living at the hospital in the 1960's. Lovely short chapters made it a quick read.

Three Junes by Julia Glass - Liked - To be fair to this book I was in an on-line blogging class at the same time that I was reading this so it did not command all my attention. I did enjoy the story, set in Scotland and America, and I did like the characters. That being said, it could have been about 50 pages shorter. The one thing that bugged me is the author would switch between time periods every other paragraph, that made it a little hard to follow at times.

Medieval Murders by Aaron Stander - Loved - I love this series. I own all but one of them, which I need to change. Most of this series is set in Northern Michigan, in the heart of the area that I love. The main character Ray Elkins, you can't help but really like. These are great murder-mystery novels. He always keeps you guessing until the very end about who did it. Lovely short chapters,  easy, quick reading.

Sunshine - P52 Week 30

The joys of playing in the summer sunshine.

The Shoes That Began A Love Affair

These are the sandals that started it all; a love affair with Chacos.

I purchased these darlings in May of 2007 in anticipation of a trip to Europe in July of that year.

I really didn't know a lot about Chacos at the time, except they were suppose to be great for a lot of walking and had excellent arch support. That is exactly what I needed with my high arches.

They didn't let me down as we traipsed about London, Paris and the French country side. 

After that trip I was really bitten by the Chaco bug, and every year I purchase one or two new pairs.

My daughter found the joy of Chacos about three years ago, and has her own healthy collection going. She always says any guy that wants to date her will have to wear Chacos. She plans to get married in a  pair when that special day arrives.

Sadly, my first loves are starting to have seen better days, so now they are mainly relegated to around the house wear. But they will always have a special place in my heart.

*Day 18 of Ali Edwards 31 Things class