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!

August goes out in a storm

While we were spending a beautiful Thursday evening enjoying the sunset on Great Sand Bay, a huge Summer storm was moving through the Lansing area.  With wind gusts near 85 MPH and tornados passing through the area just South of us, I had no idea what I was coming home to at the end of my vacation.

I held my breath as I turned on to my street, and breathed a sigh of relief when I found there was no tree on my roof and that my house was undamaged. 

While there were a few branches down, the worst was from the Maple tree in my side yard which is in the public right of way, and therefore cleanup was the responsibility of the city.

While that branch knocked some of the rails off my split rail fence, nothing was damaged beyond repair.  I got very lucky!

The worst part about the storm is that I returned home to a house with no power.  While most of the houses in my neighborhood had had power restored I was one of 16 houses still without power.  

With no idea of when power would return, I emptied most of the contents my freezer in my basement and immediately drove to Nicol's house to load her chest freezer with meat, fruits, and veggies.  I was glad that I was able to salvage much of what I had.  And then I returned home to my house with no power.

We went the entire day Monday without power.  In order to be able to work, I spent a large part of my day sitting at a local Panera to use their power and wifi.

After work, I took the girls out for some fun.  We visited Pet Supplies Plus in Okemos, took a walk nearby, and then drove to East Lansing so the girls could enjoy the dog park.   

Tuesday morning I awoke to no power still, but I was hopeful it would return by the end of the day.  I worked using my phone as a hot spot throughout the day and was thrilled when my power returned around 4pm.

We were expecting rain that evening, so I spent the night cleaning out the freezer and refrigerator.  I was excited to find a composting service locally and I was able to pick up a couple of buckets to fill with everything I removed from the fridge and freezer.   By the end of the night, I had dropped off the buckets and came home with an empty bucket ready to be filled.  It was a very productive night.

Wednesday was a beautiful day and with the power back on, I was able to have a productive day of work.  

Wednesday night I had a great time at the shelter walking Winnebago, a 94 pound Mastiff.  He was such a sweet boy!

With my fridge empty, I was excited to make a trip to the Farmer's Market on Thursday.   I was able to pick up some great produce, some duck eggs, and a beautiful loaf of bread.  And of course we had to stop for a couple of chocolate chip cookies too.  Mina was pretty happy to visit the market too

After our visit to the Farmer's Market, we headed out to our favorite farm to pick up some blueberries, peaches, and corn on the cob.

On the way home I stopped by a park near the farm to take the girls for a walk, and to my surprise, we found an awesome new dog park there, so we went inside.   We ended up spending nearly 90 minutes at the dog park while Mina played with all of the other crazy young hunting dogs there, including a beautiful 9 month old Viszla.  

We also took a mile walk along the trails at the park before heading back to the car to make the drive home.  What a fun night.the girls had had.

Friday i was a pretty quiet and productive day at work.   Mina had her first annual vet check up and loved seeing all of her friends at Patterson Veterinary Hospital.  

It had been a long and exhausting week, and I was thankful for the long Labor Day weekend ahead of us to rest and recover.  August flew by, but as we move into September, we are still making the most of the Summer that remains and look forward to sharing the fun with you. 

A quick update on my little Fiona.  She had her first visit to a Great Lake with a short lake get away at Lake Huron.  I think she's going to love Lake adventures with Grandma when she gets a little older.

She is also learning some new words.  She is like a sponge soaking up knowledge.   It is so fun to watch.