awesome day!

i had the best day.

it started out okay...i ran some errands, and then picked up my niece, katie.

we ate lunch at creation cafe. our service was less than stellar, but the food was delicious.

then, we set out on a senior portrait photo shoot adventure (katie is a senior in high school).

we walked most of the downtown canal, passing a gondolier, paddleboats, pedal cars, a segway tour, the entire indiana aids walk, and "barktoberfest", a celebration of dogs in their halloween costumes, including a golden retriever in a purple tutu.

we explored the grounds of the indianapolis museum of art and the 100 acres art and nature park. for that segment of the shoot, katie was such a trooper in her high heeled boots.

then, after a brief starbucks pit stop, we finished the photo tour at garfield park. we stopped into the conservatory to see a bat exhibit, although we couldn't find any bats. we liked it though, as we photographed the fish in the ponds were approaching us as if we were going to feed them:



i took katie home, went to adrian orchards, and bought my first apple cider of the year.

i went to church, and heard just the sermon i needed about worry and anxiety. "worry is part of the brokenness of humanity", pastor yates said. yes.

dinner was mexican gumbo from qdoba. i love to cook although i didn't at all today, because i wanted to get home to edit photos:










i am loving this photo editing process, although i'm going to stop for the night to paint for a while, during a brand new snl.

life is good.

photos from florida...

Just some photos tonight. Words later. It was a lovely trip...

what i did on my summer vacation, part four

What I did on my summer vacation: My favorite thing!

I make it a point to watch every possible sunset. I love that no two are quite alike. Over Lake Michigan, the sunset is the entire sky.

And I love how the sunset is always changing. As soon as you look away, it takes a new shape, and colors brighten and dim.

I even love that sunsets never quite look the same as a photograph. You can't capture the hugeness, and the colors never seem to be quite as brilliant.

I took some sunset photos into an elementary class a few years ago. One boy was completely amazed at what he had seen (he had likely never seen a lake, actually) and he asked, "Is that on Earth?"

I said, "Yes, it's in Michigan."

And he said, "Yeah, but is that on Earth?"

Every sunset is a blessing.

what i did on my summer vacation, part three

what i did on my summer vacation: enjoyed the sunshine!

...on the beach in mackinaw city - note the sandy fingers.


...and on the bay in grand marais on the upper peninsula...after a picnic!


...and at a rest stop near st. ignace - this is all hidden down a path and through some trees.


...and at a golf course, where i played my first real golf!


...watching the seagulls fly.


...and watching the swans dunk their graceful necks into the water. these two swans were almost always looking for food, and one of their beaks was almost always submerged!


...a duck even stopped by to visit us one afternoon.

It was so cold at times, but every day was beautiful.

what i did on my summer vacation, part two

what i did on my summer vacation: i went to the woolery!










A mile from the main street in tiny Levering, Michigan, you will find The Flower Lady's Farm and Woolery. This is a marvelous place to walk among beautiful blooming flowers and have a staring contest with a llama.


I also love to come here for the wool. The store is filled with huge skeins and tiny rolls of wool in just about every color imaginable, from fluorescent and rough, to super-soft and metallic. most of it is available for purchase by the ounce, including everything in the photo below:





















The only felted project from this trip was this flower hair tie. I've never added any felted items to the Mirthmarket, but it's definitely in my plans!

















(And clearly, the llama won. How do they know how to make those silly faces?)

what i did on my summer vacation, part one

for a few weeks each summer, i spend time in northern michigan. it's been a family tradition spanning five generations, and it's part of most of my favorite memories. to make up for the drought in blog posts for this month, this is the first of several recaps of this year's vacation up at the lake.

What I did on my summer vacation: I painted!

This should be a surprise to no one...I will slowly be updating the Mirthmarket with this assortment of rings. (Except for two, because I let my awesome niece Gretchen choose a few to take home):













I am experimenting with the stone background on some of these listings. The lighting was too good not to try it.

Another project was something I'd been thinking about for a few years. One of the most vibrant, fun, and tasty restaurants I know of is the Roast and Toast in Petoskey (I adore Petoskey, Michigan. I really do). The Roast and Toast has really awesome food - especially the Lake Street Salad and the Triple Berry Bar. Also, they have about any special coffee or soda concoction you can imagine. And, they have a magnet wall, which often features a collection of little poetry word magnets. I really like those...but they aren't very colorful. So, as a gift to this lovely establishment, I painted a little set of wooden word magnets, and left them on the board before dining on a delicious Garden Turkey sandwich. Awesome niece Gretchen is posing in front of the wall in the photo below.













Magnet close-ups:
























Before I finish for tonight, it must be noted that no trip to Petoskey is complete without American Spoon sorbetto. This year I amended my usual Blood Orange/Lemon treat with some Red Raspberry.


















So good I cannot describe it.

morningdoodle

So many ideas...so many projects in progress...one of which is a new blog, which debuts today. I know, I know...I'm inconsistent at best as a blog writer. That's why this one is different. It's more of an experiment than a blog. And it's crazy fun for me already.

Here is morningdoodle. Bookmark it. Who knows, one day it may feature you!

rainy day fun

if you haven't seen this before, click on the area above (above where it says, "get widget").

a full screen of this fun is behind this link. (probably great fun for toddlers, too!)