Back Home Again!

Sunday afternoon I joined my hubby in Chelsea, MI to stay with our three grandchildren while Jeremy and Samantha went to Florida on a combination business/pleasure trip.  Jerry went on Friday, but because of my work schedule I couldn't go until Sunday.

They recently sold their house in the country and moved into a rental house in the city built in 1870.  It's quite a contrast from their other house, but they like being in the city.

Chelsea is a quaint, charming city.  It was platted in 1850 as a village and became a city in 2004.  It is home to Chelsea Milling Company - better known as Jiffy Mixes.  Sam and I toured the factory in 2013 when they first moved to Chelsea.  I took this photo yesterday when Jerry and I were walking around the downtown area.

Historical 8-story landmark Clock Tower on Main Street, across from the Jiffy factory.

There are two antique stores in Chelsea, and we visited both of them.  The first one had nothing that called my name, but the second one had a small green vase I'm collecting [for a total of 6] to use on a St. Patrick's Day tablescape at each place setting.  It was only $6, so was a good find.  I see them on E-bay but shipping is too high.  I'm content to find them one at a time on antique store/mall outings.

 

The kids are all in different schools - Izzy's in high school, Landon's in middle school, and Ellie's in elementary school.  Izzy is on the varsity tennis team and I couldn't resist taking this picture of her when she came home after her tennis match on Monday.  I know I'm prejudiced, but I think she's so pretty, and she's sweet too!

I decided to surprise them with homemade Toll House chocolate chip cookies when they came home from school Monday.  I can't remember the last time I made chocolate chip cookies.

Yesterday Izzy went to a friend's house after school, so after dinner we took Landon and Ellie to Twisters for soft ice cream.

Then it was over to Timber Town for fun, exercise and releasing some energy before picking up Izzy.

Jeremy and Samantha returned home around 5:30 this afternoon, and after a brief visit we made our way back home.

Saturday with the Grands

My hubby and I went to Chelsea on Saturday to stay with "the Grands" while our son and daughter-in-law went to a wedding in the evening.

Their mailing address is Chelsea, but their house is in the country.  It's beautiful in the summertime when the trees are fully "dressed" in their greenery. Below is the road their house is on.  Isn't it picturesque?

Their neighbors [within walking distance but a large space between them] went on vacation and Izzy is tending to their two cats while they're away.  As part of her compensation she and her family can use their pool whenever they want.  So swimming was on the agenda Saturday.

[Izzy]

[Papa and Izzy]

Grandson, Landon, is missing from the photo because he was at his cousin's house.  I'm not a water or sun person, so I stayed in the shade and read magazines and took pictures.

Several months ago one of my blog followers from Biloxi, Mississippi sent me a bunch of Southern Lady magazines, so I took several with me to read.  To my delight, in one of the magazines was a recipe for Scripture Cake, taken from the cookbook, Sunday Dinner in the South.  

Tomorrow is Bible study at my house and even though one of the ladies is bringing a fruit salad, I thought scripture cake would be great to serve with it.  All the ingredients can be found in designated scriptures.  The cake recipe was created to strengthen Bible knowledge, for example:  "1/2 cup Genesis 43:11"

Butter - Judges 5:25

Sugar - Jeremiah 6:20

Eggs - Isaiah 10:14

Flour - Leviticus 24:5

Baking Powder - Amos 4:5

Cinnamon - Exodus 30:23

Spices - 2 Chronicles 9:9

Salt - 2 Kings 2:20

Figs - Jeremiah 24:5

Raisins - 2 Samuel 16:1

Nuts - Genesis 43:11

I was at the produce market early this morning to purchase figs.  I've only eaten a fig once in my life, but I liked it and I enjoy Fig Newton cookies, so hopefully I'll like the cake.  I've heard purple figs are sweeter than green ones, so I was happy the market had them.  The fruit contains a wealth of beneficial nutrients including vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, calcium, iron, phosphorus, manganese, sodium, and potassium.  

The recipe makes one large 10-inch cake.  I just took it out of the oven, and it's cooling. 

It doesn't call for any frosting, so I bought a jar of Fig Preserves and melted it down to make a glaze to pour over the top.  Will report back tomorrow on whether we like it.  Have you ever made or eaten a piece of scripture cake?  

I'll serve it was a black tea called "Sparrow" blended locally by Mary Jones.  It contains star anise, cloves, ginger, vanilla bean, and calendula and sunflower petals, so it should go nicely with the cake. Mary sells her teas at Detroit Eastern Market and "Sparrow" is her number one seller.  I didn't initially pick the tea for its spiritual implication, but it occurred to me afterwards that sparrows are mentioned in the Bible several times.  Matthew 10:29-31 is a favorite.  Jesus is speaking to his 12 disciples and says:  "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."  What a great promise!

Back to last Saturday...  It was also granddaughter Tiffany's 27th birthday.  She spent the day celebrating in Holland, MI and enjoying Lake Michigan with her hubby, John, sweet little Evie, and her mom [my daughter, Lori].

[Three Generations]

 Gotta love those 'shades'!  ;-)

Spending Sunday in Chelsea, MI

Yesterday we left home around 8:30 a.m. bound for Chelsea, MI [68 miles west of our home] to see our three youngest grandchildren in their Christmas musical at church [Chelsea Free Methodist].  

Isabella before the program began wearing her lavalier microphone. 

The musical was called Red-Letter Christmas

Landon was one of the Christmas Story Tellers, so his group appeared on the stage first.

Then Izzy in a skit.

Followed by the pre-Kindergartners and Kindergartners. 

~ Everyone ~

Christmas cookies and hot chocolate were served afterwards [and coffee and tea for the adults].  It was hard to round-up everyone for a picture, so I settled for one of Jeremy and Landon.

We went out to dinner afterwards, and then back to Jeremy and Samantha's house.  We watched the 1983 movie, A Christmas Story - Ralphie Parker and his family's Christmas experiences.

Jeremy didn't realize the house where the movie was filmed still exists in Cleveland, Ohio, with a museum right across the street.  I can see a trip to Cleveland in his future!  Notice the leg lamp in the front window!  ;-)

[Internet Photos]

There's even a Department 56 Parker House available on Amazon for $37.93 for Christmas Story movie lovers!

Back in the day when our kids still lived home and we were a family of five, my mother knitted five Christmas stockings in graduated sizes that we hung above our fireplace.  Even after our two oldest children married and gave us four grandchildren, we still used them [as seen in the background in the photo below].

[Jerry, Brandon, Brianna, Me, Marissa, and Tiffany]

After the family room renovation, and just Jerry and me living in the house, I packed them away, never to be used again at this fireplace.  

Below is what the same fireplace looks like in 2017 with just two stocking hanging from the mantel.

When decorating this Christmas, the stockings my mom made came to my mind.  There are five in Jeremy's family now, so perhaps they'd like to hang the stockings from their fireplace to keep my mom's memory alive.  Samantha said she would like them, so I took them to her yesterday.  If my mom could look down from Heaven and see the stockings hanging from Jeremy's fireplace, I know she'd be happy.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of Jeremy by the train set surrounding his Christmas tree yesterday.  Jerry and his brother got the train set as a together-gift for Christmas in 1955. Jerry was 9-years old, and his brother was 8.  They made an agreement that the first one to have a son would get the train set, so my hubby got it when Steve was born.  It surrounded our Christmas trees for many years.  Jerry told our two sons that the train would be passed on to the first one to have a son, which was Jeremy when Landon was born.  So the train continues to circle a Christmas tree, and is still running very well.

It was a wonderful family day!

A Day in Chelsea, MI

Yesterday my hubby and I drove to Chelsea, MI to spend the day with our youngest son and his family.  Jeremy lives on wooded property, so he and his dad spent the day cutting down four trees.  

In late afternoon we drove to town for dinner at Smokehouse 52 BBQ - an eating establishment that just opened in February of this year.

Downtown Chelsea's Main Street is lined with old buildings, making it very quaint.  The town was first settled in 1820, and was literally put on the map when Michigan Central Railroad built a station there in 1850.  Chelsea is also home to Jiffy Milling Company [Jiffy baking mixes] which I blogged about here.

Cow that hangs in front of Smokehouse 52 BBQ

Front of the Restaurant

The interior has a loft feel with exposed duct-work, brick on one wall, and a high tin ceiling. That's Jeremy and Landon facing forward in the photo below.

A log wall leading to the other half of the restaurant.

I ordered hot tea to go with my meal, which was made with a Lipton tea bag.  Now wouldn't this have been a perfect place for Two Leaves Tea Company's "Bud" tea?  My guys would have ordered it!  They settled for a tall glass of iced tea instead.

I ordered smoked brisket, mac and cheese, and coleslaw.  My meal also came with a square of Jiffy cornbread.  Humble apologies that I forgot to take a photo when my plate first arrived, so you have to see it messed up with BBQ sauce.  The food was delicious!

A few doors down from Smokehouse 52 was a Cafe with a gourmet coffee and tea bar.  My daughter-in-law wanted me to see their offerings of organic teas, so we walked over after dinner.  The cafe is called Back to the Roots.

Since I had already drank two cups of tea at the BBQ restaurant, I ordered a Chai herbal "to go."  I watched the barista as he placed the Chai in a tea sac to steep.

Below is a photo of their behind-the-counter tea selections.  There were at least thirty teas to choose from.  They sell tea smoothies and lattes too.  The barista said they have a lot of patrons who come in for tea, and he felt the number would only increase since Starbucks purchased Teavana.  

We headed back to Jeremy's for an evening bonfire.  Below are Jeremy and Landon getting the fire going.

The big logs were from one of the trees that had been cut down earlier in the day.

When it got dark, hubby and I headed for home.  It was a fun day with family!