Summer's final hurrah

We spent the last week making the most of the warm weather and beautiful end to our Summer.  I can hardly believe Summer has come to an end and the gorgeous weather we've been having makes it even harder to grasp the reality that colder days are coming our way very soon.  But for now, I'm happy that I can still wear shorts and sandals!

Last Sunday after a quiet morning at home, we made an afternoon visit to Nicol, Tyler, and Fiona.  Mina tends to get overly excited when we visit them normally, but she was pretty calm this time.  Both girls were very good and I was so happy to get a picture of them with Fiona...and it wasn't even planned!  

We had a nice walk with Nicol and Picasso while we were there, i spent time reading to Fiona, and we had a great visit, and then we saw a beautiful sunset on our drive home.  It was a wonderful way to spend our Sunday.

Monday was a little chilly in the morning and as soon as I put a blanket on my lap, Mina climbed up for a little nap.  I guess we're entering the time of year she loves to be a lap dog.  I do love how snuggly she can be.

After work on Monday, we drove to Mason for a geocaching event at Hayes Park.  I saw a huge Bald Eagle eating roadkill on my drive there.  I sure wish I could have gotten a picture.

We found a couple caches while we were at the event, visited with our fellow geocachers, and then took a nice walk around the park before leaving. 

After the event, I spent a little more time geocaching around the Mason area with the girls.  Before I knew it, it was nearly sunset, so we ended our evening with a nice walk around downtown Mason.  The sun shining on the courthouse at sunset was so beautiful. 

Tuesday was beautiful day for the final Farmer's Market on the Capitol grounds for the year.  I took an early lunch at work so that the girls and I could visit before it got too busy.  

We had a great walk around the grounds, picked up a couple of items, and then headed to the food trucks to get some lunch.   I enjoyed my lunch sitting on the grass and when I was done, we walked back to the car to head home and back to work.  The girls had had a great time and spent the rest of the afternoon napping while I worked. 

Tuesday is also the day that Fiona turned 17 months old.  I love this picture of her that I got from Nicol. 

Wednesday after work, I headed out with the girls for a quick stop at another geocaching event in Patriarche Park, and we stumbled into a fundraiser for the Capital Area Humane Society.  For a small donation, the girls got a treat and I got a Polaroid picture of us together.  I would have donated without the picture, but the volunteers insisted.

After our quick stop at the event, I drove out to Mason for the Wednesday night Dog Walking Club.  We had an excellent walk with four dogs.  Afterwards, I took the girls for a  sunset walk around Mason.  It had been another busy but fun evening.

Thursday I had an afternoon work event in Grand Rapids.  I did some work that morning, and then before I had to leave, I took the girls for a quick walk around the neighborhood. 

While I had hoped to be home in time to make our normal Thursday Farmer's Market visit, I didn't make it home until after 7pm.  I knew after a long day home alone the girls would need a walk.  Since it was nearly dark by the time we were ready to go, I took them for a visit to Soldan's and a short walk and then we came home for a little fun in the backyard and a late dinner in their Kong Wobblers.   Mina had a short burst of energy after her dinner, but they settled in for a quiet night pretty quickly.  I was grateful for that. 

I thought they might be a little crazier than normal on Friday while I worked, but they surprised me and were pretty quiet most of the day.  I even caught them sharing the dog bed and snuggling. 

Since they were so good all day, I took them for a visit to the Dewitt dog park after work.  I hadn't planned on a long visit, but they were having so much fun, we stayed for almost 2 hours.   Mina made friends with all of the dogs there and chased the ball endlessly, while Peaches explored on her own  until the number of dogs dwindled and some smaller dogs showed up.   I wish I would have gotten some video of her and how happy she was playing with a two year old beagle.  It was pretty adorable. 

I started my Saturday morning with a geocaching event helping clean up a local Park and Ride.  It was a quick clean-up so I decided to head to the shelter to get a dog out for a walk.

I walked Topanga who thoroughly enjoyed her time out of the shelter.  She is such a sweet dog.

After my volunteer time at the shelter, I got out with the girls for a visit to the Mason and Holt Farmer's Markets.  They are pretty popular at both places and are always so well-behaved.   

The afternoon was spent doing some geocaching and enjoying the gorgeous weather and pretty farmland views.  These views are quintessential early Fall.  

Before heading home we made a quick visit to the dog park so that the girls could get in a good run.  We had the whole place to ourselves and spent about 30 minutes there before heading home. 

Once we got home, I had a whole list of to-dos to work on, starting with a trip into the garden to pick some veggies.  I was pretty pleased with the roma tomato harvest.  All of these tomatoes came from two plants.  I still have lots of tomatoes to pick and will be making another trip to the garden tomorrow. 

I roasted several tomatoes which I'll freeze for future use and diced several which have been frozen for use this winter.  

I also got a few tomatillos which have also been roasted and the last of the green beans for this year.  I may have had more if a little brown spotty dog hadn't been sneaking into the garden and eating them off the vine.  Silly girl!

I have lots more work to do in the garden and more veggie prep and freezing to work on today.   It's exciting to see the freezer filling up with garden goodness for the Winter. 

Well, I'm off to get to work on all things I need to get done.  Hopefully the girls will be happy with a quiet day at home so I can get through my list. Wish me luck!

Farmer's Markets, Festivals, and Geocaching Fun

This week was full of work meetings and geocaching events with some other fun thrown in too.

Tuesday afternoon I had a four hour Teams meeting that lasted until 6pm.  To keep the girls happy during that four hours, we got out for a nice walk and a short visit to the Soldan's Dog Park located at Hawk Island Park on my lunch.

It is a large wooded park with lots of room for the girls to run and it was a great opportunity for me to work with Mina on her off-leash listening skills.  She did a great job.

At the center of the park is a small lake, which unfortunately has had some issues with algae bloom, so a large portion of the park is closed currently to keep the dogs safe.

That didn't stop us from having a fun time and it was especially nice that the girls could explore without dragging me around with them.  

There was a geocaching event scheduled for Tuesday evening at the Dairy Queen near me that I had hoped to make, but with my work meeting, I wasn't able to get there before it ended.  The girls were so good all afternoon though that I decided they still deserved a trip for ice cream.  I think Peaches really enjoyed her special treat!

Wednesday was day two of Teams meetings for work, so I made sure I got the girls out for a morning walk before the meeting started and then got them out for a quick 10 minute walk during our late morning break.

After a busy work day, I needed to head to Mason for our Wednesday night shelter dog walk.   Since the girls had been so good all day, I decided to take them along for the drive.

Afterward, I took them out for a walk around Mason before picking up some Mexican food for dinner.  I think that they were pretty happy to be out with me.

Thursday after work we stopped by the Farmer's Market to pick up a few items quickly before heading across town for another geocaching event.

On our way home from the event, we stopped at Quentin Park to pick up a geocache located there and then I let the girls spend some time off leash on one of the baseball fields at the park.   

Mina chased the ball enough to actually get tired and Peaches sniffed every inch of the fence line and then enjoyed a few rolls in the grass.

After I tired them out a bit, we took a lovely walk around the park and neighborhood. 

It was a beautiful way to end our evening. 

Friday finally arrived and we had a busy weekend of fun planned.  There was another quick geocaching event that I stopped by before dropping the girls back off at home so that I could head off to Laingsburg to watch my nephew Mason play football. 

It was a beautiful evening for a High School football game and Chesaning won the game!

Saturday morning I made a trip quick to the garden.  Lots and lots of tomatoes are still ripening on the plants, but I also got a nice haul.  I was most pleased that there were still a few green beans and that I may even get a few more in a couple days.  The garden season hasn't been quite as successful as in the past, but I'm still pretty pleased with outcome so far.

We had a great Saturday morning dog walk with the shelter dogs.  I walked Topanga and she was a lot of fun to walk.

After the dog walk, I did some geocaching around the Mason area with the girls, visited the Mason Farmer's Market, and then walked around Down Home Days on the Courthouse Square before meeting up with a few other geocachers at another geocaching event.

When we left Mason, I made the drive out to St. John's so we could visit their Fall Feastival, a fun event with lots of vendors and food trucks.  I grabbed lunch from one of the food trucks and picked up a couple things from some of the other vendors before loading the girls back into the car and heading home.

It had been a busy and fun day taking advantage of some fun events around town.

 

We ended our day with a little time out in the yard and a final Saturday of Summer photo  shoot.

The girls weren't very patient, but I love the pictures we got.

Today after a quiet morning at home, we'll be heading out to visit Nicol, Tyler, and Fiona.  It will be the perfect end to our weekend.

We have entered the final week of Summer and the weather later this week actually looks like Summer will have one final showing.  I'm looking forward to taking advantage of the warm weather while we still can.  Before we know it, we'll be bundling up for our adventures, but for now I'm happy to be able to continue to wear my shorts and sandals!

Hope you all make the most of this final week of Summer 2023!

September's Summer Days

We are quickly approaching the end of Summer, with less than two weeks until the first day of Fall.  That means we've reached the shorter days and cooler nights of September.   These September days of Summer can give us a beautiful 80 degree day followed immediately by a cool and rain 60 degree day that really feels more like Fall.  

That is exactly what has happened to us overnight last night.  With the change in temperature and the rainy day, I was happy to cook up a big pot of potatoes and green beans, a staple in my family growing up, and my favorite way to use the fresh garden green beans and potatoes.  I even added a little fresh corn to add a little sweetness.  Boy was it tasty!

While Labor Day weekend usually signals the end of Summer fun for a lot of people, I am never ready for Summer to end and try my best to make the most of these end of Summer days.

After coming home from vacation to storm clean-up, I decided that we wouldn't make any big plans for the Labor Day weekend, but instead would stay home to run errands and take care of things around home.  Of course that didn't mean we wouldn't get out some fun adventures close to home.

On Saturday morning, I stopped by the shelter to take a dog out for a walk to start my day.  It was cool enough in the morning that I brought the girls along so that as soon as I was done at the shelter, I could get them out for some fun.  

We visited the Mason Farmer's Market and had a nice walk around town.  I had some great finds and came home with lots of goodies.  

We made a couple other quick stops as we headed toward home and I couldn't believe how much color there was on the trees by the Kroger in Holt.

I spent a lot the afternoon working in the yard and garden.  I am so excited that I'm still getting green beans and I have lots of tomatoes ripening still, but sadly the zucchini is done for the season.  

It was a productive yet relaxing day and a great Saturday spent at home.  The garden looked so good when I was done. 

Sunday we were expecting temperatures in the 90s and I wanted to get the girls out before it got too hot.  

Since I had to drop off my composting and run a couple of other quick errands in the East Lansing area, I decided to take the girls along and stop to let them get in a good run and some fun at the dogs park there.  They spent about 30 minutes at the park before we took a nice short walk on the Northern Tier Trail.

We got home, and after lunch, the girls were happy to nap while I worked on prepping my garden and Farmer's Market bounty for freezing.

We met Vanessa, Katelyn, Sean, Arlo, and Brooks for ice cream at Twisters in Williamston late in the afternoon.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of Arlo with the girls.  They were pretty cute together.

Before heading home, we stopped for a visit at Tractor Supply and took a walk around the area.   I swear the trees are going to lose their leaves so much earlier than normal this year.

On Labor Day, I was able to do more work on prepping veggies for the Winter.  I love when I have lots of tomatoes and basil to roast.  

These beauties are going to be so tasty in the middle of this Winter.

After a busy day at home, I loaded the girls into the car and headed out to Charlotte for a little walk and some geocaching. 

It had been a great weekend and I accomplished so much, and even though it had been hot, we had gotten out for some fun.  I sure do love long weekends. 

After a long weekend, Tuesday seemed like an extra long day of work.  The girls and I really needed to get out for an evening adventure so we took a drive to Grand Ledge for a walk and some geocaching.  It was humid, but we had a really nice walk around town and at Island Park.

Wednesday's weather forecast showed storms moving into the area in the afternoon so on my lunch, I spent time in the garden and picked some more goodies.

I also got the girls out for a walk since I knew I'd be at the shelter that night and it would most likely be rainy by the time I got home.   I had a little mishap on our walk and stepped on a bone in the middle of the sidewalk causing me to twist my ankle.  Luckily I was able to finish our walk and still get out for a walk with the Dog Walking Club at the shelter. 

The rain held off just long enough for me to take the girls for another quick walk when I got home.  And then the storms moved in for the night.  Mina wasn't happy about the rain!

After work on Thursday I took the girls out for a visit to the South Lansing Farmer's Market where I got some awesome goodies!

Then we headed to Preuss Pets for a visit.  Peaches loves it there and was extra crazy that night.  She even tried to jump into the Koi pond!

Friday was a busy day at work plus Peaches had a check up over my lunch.  By the end of the day I was exhausted, but the girls were ready for some fun so I took them to the Dewitt dog park for a good run.  

Since we had had several days of extremely hot weather followed by a couple of rainy days, the girls had a lot of pent up energy and the dog park was the perfect way to get rid of some of it.  Mina and Peaches both had a great time playing, exploring, and making friends.  

Saturday morning started with a good dog walk at the shelter followed by a visit to the Mason Farmer's and a walk around Mason with the girls.  We picked up a few goodies before heading to the Holt Farmer's Market to pick up some dog treats for a raffle basket I was putting together for the ISR reunion. 

Saturday night I attended a wedding for my cousins  daughter and had a great time visiting with family. 

Sunday morning the girls and I headed out for a day of fun at the ISR reunion.  While it makes for a long day, we always have so much fun seeing everyone. 

There were some really fun activities for the girls, including this fun puppy Picasso activity.  Each of the girls created their own painting,

and then they worked together to create another masterpiece. 

I think they did a pretty good job.

Then they had the chance to bob for hot dogs.  This may have been Peaches' favorite activity of the day.   She kept dragging me back to the bucket long after we were done. 

We were also there as volunteers. I helped by selling 50/50 tickets and Peaches was working hard at soliciting donations in her cute donation vest.

And of course the girls had to get pictures taken with the cute props.

After a fun afternoon, we helped with clean-up at the end of the day, picked up an early dinner, and then hit the road to head home.

We couldn't drive all the way home without a stop to stretch our legs at the beach and headed to Warren Dunes State Park as soon as we crossed the border into Michigan.  

Peaches enjoyed watching the birds. Mina played several rounds of fetch and chased the waves.  

And I enjoyed what is most likely our final Great Lakes Sunset of the Summer.

We left the beach before the sun had fully set and with one final quick stop to top off the gas tank, we were back on the road home.  While our weekend was full and we were very busy, we had really enjoy it.   

Our forecast for the next week looks pretty nice so I'm looking forward to getting the girls out for some longer walks and more fun.  We still have 11 days of Summer and we're going to make the most of them!