No pics

No new pics to post. Camera batteries are dead and it seems the recharger is too. Must find the other one. We have been super busy. Ken was here last Sunday to Wed. Dave and Val from Wed. to Friday, Steff and Tyson from Friday to Sunday afternoon. This is like a summer's worth of company for us. Plus we had a big garage sale Friday and Saturday. Paul sold a lot of big stuff, the pontoon dock, a rototiller, lawn mower, etc. And last but not least, summer weather finally rolled in on Friday. Sunny and in the 80s and very humid.

We had a lot of fun but I like it spread out a little more.

My Garden

My Garden is having a great year. It is so cool this spring that the blooms last for weeks instead of days.

Julia and Charlie

Pics of Grandma Marjie and Grandpa Paul having fun with Charlie and Julia. We had a great visit and they were very good. I wasn't half as tired as I was last year! How do Grandparents raise their grand kids?

Julia and Charlie Visit the Lake

Andrea, Julia 2.6 yrs, and Charlie just 4, came for a visit on Thursday. We are having as much fun as the weather allows - no water games - it is cool every day. Lots of kick ball and blowing bubbles and making tents in the living room. I am not as tired as the last visit so they are growing up.

Memorial Day Potluck 2009

We had a sunny Memorial Day weekend, temps in the low 70s and 60s. Potluck picnic on Pete and Brenda's deck. Lots of great food, as usual. And the usual hockey playoff game going on too.

Hooded Mergansers Are Out of the Box

Early Monday morning seven tiny downy Hooded Mergansers jumped out of the nesting box into the lake with Mommy duck. They spooked when Paul walked down to get a picture, you can see them hurrying to catch Mommy as she lead them across the lake.

This is the first time we have seen the babies from the nesting box. We have had Wood Ducks in the past.

Our lake is full of pike and big turtles, good luck little duckies.

Cookbook News

We have been pretty cool here in Michigan and I have been enjoying baking and cooking, so much easier to do in the house than in the motor home. Yesterday I wanted to make muffins for breakfast. Couldn't find a recipe I liked, had several cookbooks spread out in the kitchen and chose one from my old Better Homes and Garden's Cookbook. In fact, it might have been Aunt Katie's book. Anyhow, when comparing recipes I noticed that for a dozen muffins in the old book I needed 2 tablespoons of sugar while the newer books called for a half cup of sugar for a dozen.

They were good, not overly sweet but when you add butter and jelly, who can complain? Later I saw an article in a woman's magazine that you cut calories if you use cookbooks from before the 1970s. Newer cookbooks have up to 63% more calories. Older cookbooks use real full fat butter, meat and eggs, but smaller amounts and have smaller servings. They used the Joy of Cooking to do this comparison. My version is 1974 and had the lesser amount of sugar.

Ha! the conspiracy to make America fat continues.