Blue Skies, even blue water

Tuesday was a perfect day. We drove to Mission Point, walked to the very tip, had a picnic on a long, lonely beach, where I gathered rocks and petoskey stones. Stayed on the beach for hours, fed the seagulls, was so happy I felt like running and leaping!!

Today we're off to shop, more beaching, and another trip to watch nature and hike.

If you've never been to Traverse City, my suggestion to you is to plan a trip. It's one of the most beautiful places in Michigan.

It was hard to leave this beach. My sister

and I were the only people on the

entire beach.

The only other life we saw

were three shy seagulls

who refused to get too close.

Don't forget to leave a comment on my polymer clay bird giveaway. Thanks!

Rest and Relaxation

I'm writing this post from up in Traverse City, where I'll be for a few more days with my sister.

We are staying in a beautiful new hotel called Cambria Suites. We've only been here two days and all ready we have gone to the casino, hiked,seen a coyote and an eagle, eaten in three different restaurants, shopped, eaten fudge and ice cream, played on the beach (going swimming tomorrow), found petosky stones, watched a couple sunsets, taken hundreds of pictures, had a picnic in the wilderness and worked out in the gym.

The cherry festival is a week away and visitors have started to roll into town, making the main drag a little crowded. But, my sister and I love the woods so much, that we left this morning at 10 am to go exploring and didn't get back into town till after 7 pm. It was perfect planning on her part to get out of town before the big festivities begin. I don't enjoy big crowds any more; wandering around the woods or beach combing is more interesting to me now.

Tomorrow we are going to mission point light house and are going to do some wine tasting. I'm hoping the weather will warm up a tad, so that I can go swimming. It was 62 degrees today and very windy.

I've wandered around a few stores and have gotten motivated by some of the artwork I've seen. This is a good reason to get away, I get rejuvenated! This area of Michigan is full of art galleries and my sister and I are planning to visit a few within the next few days.

When I get back to home and work, I'll be posting pictures of my trip, working on some new projects and picking the winner of my giveaway! Stay tuned.

Sunsets, fishing and an ambulance.

I arrived home from my trip yesterday and am anxious to get back to work in my house and on my art.

Here's a quick synopsis of my time away.





Took a lot of pictures of old houses...

Kids fished a lot

We painted wooden fish...

Saw a lot of sunsets..



Worked on projects with grandkids..




Did I mention fishing?





More sunsets...





Paper crafts..





Fun with family..



Drank a little wine..(actually brought two of these bottles home..so it wasn't that much!!)






Went to the beach at Lake Michigan...but didn't swim.





Sleeping Bear Dunes..




Traverse City Cherries.

.


The cottage


I had a really nice week with my family. Never made it to Ludington because of the weather. Didn't get to swim either, which was disappointing to me, since that is my favorite thing to do on vacation, but the summer isn't over with yet!

Most of the week went smoothly except for Tuesday evening when my granddaughter Kara, had an allergic reaction to something, (we think nuts) and started to itch and swell. Her little eyes looked like slits and she had hives all over her body. My sister called 911 to ask where the nearest hospital was and they informed us that it would take at least a 1/2 hour for us to get there, so they sent an ambulance. The operator told us to watch her breathing.

Since we were back along the lake, and the directions were confusing, I drove to the main entrance and waited for the ambulance. My granddaughter had gone from itching and crying wildly to being very quite. As we sat on the dark road (it was 1:30 a.m.) my mind started to go over the CPR training I receive once a year. Is it 3o compressions to two breaths or 15 to one? They keep changing the cycles and I didn't remember. Luckily, the ambulance got there in about 15 minutes.

Even though she was breathing well and the worst was over, the paramedics and my daughter decided to take her to the hospital. My daughter rode in the ambulance and I followed. My nephew was with me and he proved to be a big help. Kara seemed fine by the time the Dr. looked at her and she announced, "I"m ready."

My daughter asked her what she was ready for and she sighed, "to go home."

After receiving medication and instructions, we headed back to the cabin. It was 4:45 a.m.

All is well that ends well. However, it made me realize that the next vacation I take will be a little closer to a big city, just in case!

I've yearned for my clay all week, so I'll be back to blog about that later on!