An Enjoyable Labor Day Weekend

Our holiday weekend kicked off on Friday night with Lori's birthday dinner.  It was the third postponement due to complications from Jerry's surgery, but third time is charm and it finally happened.

Saturday was a work day for me, but Sunday was a beautiful end of summer day, so I decided to take Jerry to the Sunflower Festival at Blake's Orchard in nearby Armada, MI.  It seemed most of southeastern Michigan went to the festival too!  It was VERY busy, but a good opportunity to soak up some sunshine and get a little exercise, and Jerry was glad to get out of the house for something other than a Dr. appointment. 

I've gone to Blake's Lavender Festival several times, but this was the first time I've gone to their Sunflower Festival.

I had no idea Blake's encompasses so much acreage, and the sunflower fields are at the far end of their property.  They shuttled guests back to the fields by a train and large tractor driven wagons.  I loved the stationary wagon of animated singers below.

As we meandered our way back to the boarding area we passed many vendor tents.

The line for the train and wagons was long, but it moved quickly and the weather was so pleasant nobody seemed to mind.

We boarded by the corn field, and rode past apple and pear orchards, pumpkin patches, and u-pick tomato plants before arriving at the sunflower field.  On the way back we passed the lavender field. We opted to get a mason jar to fill with as many sunflowers as it could hold for $20.

Finally we arrived at the sunflower field.  For all the sunflowers that were cut by festival attendees, there were still plenty remaining.  To get smaller sunflowers we had to walk into the rows a ways because attendees had cut those on the outer perimeter.  Once we got among the sunflowers we discovered we weren't the only ones who enjoyed the flowers - the bees liked them even more than we did!  Almost every flower had at least one bee on it, and my excitement quickly turned to fear because Jerry is allergic to bees and he didn't have an EpiPen with him.  I prayed God would protect him from being stung after everything else he's been through recently, and thankfully we got out of the field without any bee stings.

As you can see in the photo below, the sunflowers were almost as tall as me!

The line was long waiting for a wagon or train ride back to the front of the property, but we weren't in line in the photo below.  We were happily seated on the wagon. 

Our original plan was to drive from the Sunflower Festival over to the Peach Festival in Romeo, MI, but we decided two events in one day was too ambitious for Jerry recovering from surgery, so we drove home and saved the Peach Festival for today.

I'm enjoying the cheerful sunflowers we brought home with us.  They're my favorite flower.

When I checked my Facebook page this morning a 'memory' came up from Sept. 6, 2018 where I posted, "Off to The Whitney Restaurant for my second day on the job."  Three years have passed so quickly and now I begin year #4.

We left home around 11:00 this morning to go to the 90th Annual Peach Festival in Romeo.  It's another picture perfect day.  First stop was Frontier Town on the way to Romeo.  We quickly browsed the vendor tents then went to the farmer's market area to purchase some peaches.

A dozen of these beauties came home with us.

Before we left Frontier Town we stopped by 'Bake My Day' to purchase two peach hand pies.  They were delicious!

Then we were off to downtown Romeo.  The parade was yesterday, but there was still a lot of people walking around town enjoying the beautiful weather.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of a newly painted mural on the side of one of the buildings.

Jerry didn't feel up to anymore walking, but before heading home we decided to drive by our new church building which was close by.  This Wednesday night we are hoping to have enough people to completely encircle the exterior of the building for a dedication prayer before our first service this coming Sunday, Sept. 12th.  It's finally happening - our permanent place of worship.  To God be the glory!

Hope you've had a enjoyable holiday weekend!

September Greetings

Today's the 2nd of September.  How can that be!!  As another blogger aptly phrased it, "We're on the downhill slope of summer," and Labor Day will mark its 'unofficial' end.    But there's still 20 more days of summer remaining, and I'm clinging to every single one of them.  It's a beautiful 72 degrees, sunny day here in Warren as I type this post, and I'm loving it.

Yesterday was granddaughter Brooke's first day of school at Olivet Nazarene University. Today's mail brought a letter from the University detailing Grandparents Day on October 7th. It's something to consider and an opportunity to spend some time with Brooke in her university setting.

Our sweet daughter, Lori, came yesterday afternoon to cut the grass while her dad recuperates. He's turned the corner and is on the road to recovery.  Thank you for your thoughtful comments.

Tonight is Lori's belated birthday dinner.  I'm serving Crispy Parmesan Chicken [minus the tomato based sauce] with Fettuccine Alfredo from Joanna Gaines Magnolia Table cookbook. I've made it before and it's yummy.  The grated Parmesan Cheese is mixed with the Panko bread crumbs. 

Yesterday was a baking day.  I made three loaves of Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread [one loaf for a helpful neighbor, one for Lori, and one for us], and Lori's favorite Chocolate Mound Cake for dessert tonight.  Are Duncan Hines cake mixes getting smaller?  I know this cake is smaller than it used to be.

The last of the three Gone With the Wind books I ordered arrived in the mail.  I took it with me yesterday while I waited for my hubby at the Dr.'s office.  It's a great resource.  Did you know Gone With the Wind is second only to the Bible in book sales?  That's amazing!  And to think Margaret Mitchell didn't believe she was a talented writer and that her manuscript 'stunk'.   She was amazed that people would pay $3 for her book during the Great Depression [about $45 today], but they did!  Her book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and has been translated into 27 languages.  Moral of the story... have confidence in yourself and never underestimate what you can do!  And most importantly, give God the glory because He's the source of all good and perfect gifts.

My kitchen is calling so I will sign off for today. 

Gone With the Wind and More

A few weeks ago the Life Enrichment Director at Independence Village [Senior Living] in Plymouth, MI called about doing a Gone With the Wind presentation at a tea party on September 28th.  I agreed since The Whitney's Autumn & Apples tea will be over by then.

I did a Gone With the Wind presentation in 2013 and 2015, and toured the Gone With the Wind museum in Marietta, GA in 2018, but I haven't given the book or movie much thought since.  So in between working on the Autumn & Apples tea favors for work, I've been trying to get my thoughts in order for the presentation.

I ordered a piece of fabric from the movie's 70th Anniversary [2009] from Etsy, to make a table covering for my display table.  I'll sew it to some brown fabric since there wasn't enough material for the project.  

I also ordered some books from E-bay, Barnes & Noble and Amazon - The Complete Gone With the Wind Trivia Book, The Filming of Gone With the Wind and The Pictorial History of Gone With the Wind [still waiting on that one to arrive].  

I want to engage the residents, so I'm going to have a fun, easy quiz with a prize.  I ordered two adult coloring books to give along with some colored pencils.  Coloring is supposed to be very therapeutic and relaxing, right?

My hubby had surgery last Thursday, so I took along some magazines I already had and read them from cover to cover while I waited.  It was a very long day with some minor complications, so I was glad to have something to occupy my time.

I got a Hawthorne replica of Tara from E-bay, and have a figurine of Scarlett that I bought at an estate sale along with some commemorative plates, plus four 8 x 10 photos from E-bay, so I think I'm set with visuals.

I never thought I had enough Gone With the Wind memorabilia to fill a tote, but between my newest acquisitions plus items I previously had, I can easily fill a tote now.  I had forgotten what I had until I did a search on my blog to jog my memory.  It resulted in spending most of this afternoon locating everything.  It'll definitely be a time saver to have everything organized and together in one place.

Moving on...  The jewelry company that made the tea-themed ring that I blogged about previously, posted a sterling silver teacup pendant today on Facebook. It's much more reasonable than the ring [originally $59 on sale for $24], so I'm thinking about ordering it as a trial run.  I wouldn't be heart-broken if I lost $24, and if it arrives safely and the quality is as nice as the pictures, I might be brave enough to order the ring.  Their website says they have a 30-day return policy if you're not satisfied.  Will keep you posted.

Saturday [Aug. 28th] was our sweet daughter's 54th Birthday.  I saw her briefly at the hospital but didn't get to celebrate with her.  We were going to do that tomorrow over dinner, but with some unresolved issues from my hubby's surgery it's been postponed until Thursday.  I'm glad she got to celebrate with her husband, daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters.

Today was back-to-school for our three youngest grands and Samantha sent pictures.  Times sure do change.  When I was in school jeans full of holes were a sign of poverty, or they were worn out and ready for the rag bag.  Kids avoided wearing them because they didn't want to be embarrassed.  Today, they're a fashion statement and cost big bucks at retail stores!  Go figure!

Ellie off to school on her bike which is only a couple of blocks away.

Landon got his morning workout carrying two backpacks - one for school and the other for football after school.

Granddaughter Brooke posted Facebook pictures of her apartment at Olivet Nazarene University.  Not sure when her first day of school is as she begins her second year.

My prayers are with all the grands as they return to school.  I hope they have a great year and all shine for Jesus!

Family, Church and Jewelry

Grandson, Landon, came Monday morning for his over night stay and back-to-school shopping. Yesterday we took him to breakfast at Country Oven and then met his mother half-way for his ride back home.  He had his first school football practice yesterday afternoon.

Granddaughter, Brooke, turned 19 last Friday and celebrated with her mother, sister, and maternal grandma at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis.  She and Brianna enjoyed the rides, but the highlight was an evening concert with John Stamos [Full House sitcom star] and the Beach Boys [popular during my high school days in the 1960's].  Brooke loves Full House which first aired in 1987 and ran until 1995.  I think she has all 8 seasons [192 episodes] on DVDs.  

They returned on Sunday, but I chose today to take her to lunch before she returns to university in Illinois this Friday.  She picked Chili's as her restaurant of choice and ordered her 'go to' meal of 'Big Mouth Bites' [mini hamburgers].

While making my recent Shutterfly album, I came across a picture of Brooke and her Dad [below] at a tea party our church did at a nursing and rehab center in 2003 to commemorate those who perished in the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks.  The tea parties were an organized effort by an organization across the United States, and our tea party represented southeastern Michigan.  It was Brooke's first tea party.

It hardly seems possible she's 19 already!

We were very close to our church property, and since I hadn't been there in a while to see the progress we decided to drive by and check things out before taking Brooke home.  Our new target date for holding our first service is Sunday, September 12th, but this is the third target date, so we'll see if it actually happens.  All the major construction outside and inside [electrical, plumbing, etc.] is done, it's just finish work that needs to be completed.  Below are some pics that were taken today and a few others from recent days.

~ Outside lighting is done ~

~ They were working on landscaping today ~

Cross on the platform behind where the pulpit will be.

The kitchen excites me!  I can see preparations for lots of ladies' tea parties happening there.

First prayer meeting around the exterior cross last week.

A favorite picture taken by one of our parishioners recently as he drove by.

In closing, the tea or coffee-themed ring below came through on my Facebook feed today. It's by Jeulia Premium Artisan Jewelry and is sterling silver.

The description says it has 134 stones, referred to as Jeulia Stones [whatever those are].  It's originally priced at $199 but is presently on sale for $119 with free shipping.  Located in Hong Kong, I think I'd be leery of ordering it but I do think it's unique and cute.

I would be very comfortable buying this Kate Spade teacup pendant necklace.  It originally sells for $119 and is currently on sale for $59.