I am a Gram (sort of)

Mark and I have been friends for over 35 years (since high school). He escorted me down the aisle when I married Michael eight years ago.

Mark has a son, Matthew, who I have known since he was born.

Mark and Matthew and I had a lot of fun when Matt was a teenager. Matt was born on the same date as my niece, so we had great birthday parties. He was so much fun to feed! That boy could eat!

I got to play Mom/Friend for the two years that Matt played Varsity Football in Heartland. I did not miss a game! Matt always made a point to stop and say hi to his dad and me before he went into the locker room or headed for the bus. Since I never had children of my own, it was so nice to have a part time son.

Matt married Sarah a few years ago. I will always remember the wonderful expression that Matt had when he saw Sarah for the first time as she walked down the aisle.

Matt and Sarah had a baby boy on Thursday evening. Grandpa Mark is smiling from ear to ear. I decided that since I have known Matt since his birth, and I got to play Mom/Friend during his teenage years, then I can be a Grandma, too! So...I am a Gram (sort of)!

I cannot wait to meet my grandson!

New Cookie!!!

He did it! Michael invented a new cookie and it passed everyone's taste tests today at the Elberta Farm Market!

Get ready to try a black cherry walnut cookie! Sweet black cherry concentrate, chunks of walnut and lots of dried cherries. Michael likes it better than the root beer cookie. I am still undecided on my favorite.

If you are close to Traverse City, come see us at Elberta, Elk Rapids, Northport, The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, Frankfort or Suttons Bay for our new cookie mix.

If you want to go on an adventure, come on up to the Northport Lighthouse Festival on Saturday. It will be at the State Park in Northport. There are lots of activities planned. You can eat a pancake breakfast, go pumpkin bowling, make apple cider, tour the light house, stroll through the arts, crafts and farm market, enjoy the scenery and buy a new black cherry walnut cookie. Sounds like fun to me!

Mabel at the Market

Michael is at the Elberta Farm Market today (and a beautiful day it is!).

When Michael was at Bonneville, I went to the Elberta Farm Market. I got to meet all of the wonderful people that Michael had told me about. I also got to meet Mabel the dog.

After I met Mabel and her human mom, Julie, I was busy setting up my table, when Julie asked who had given Mabel a chocolate doughnut. Since no one had given it to Mabel, Julie had to do some investigating. After searching for clues, Julie found the answer. Midge, our neighbor vendor, had bought a chocolate doughnut from a baker vendor and had put the doughnut in her market bag...at eye level and nose level with Mabel! Mabel could not resist, so she reached into the bag and helped herself to the doughnut! She was a very happy dog, with a great doughnut in her mouth, until Julie took it away. Mabel had not even eaten any chocolate yet. She had just nibbled on the non chocolate underside.

You had to be there! It was a fun start to the morning!

Michael just gave me a call from the market. Mabel is happily receiving a tummy rub as I write this! What a great life for Mabel!

Salt Free Diet

Our minivan is now on a salt free diet, Bonneville Salt Flats, that is!

Michael took the not so great running van into the repair shop yesterday. After checking the transmission, our friend rinsed about a pound of salt out of the engine. The transmission is now running properly and the van is a pound lighter.

We will find traces of the salt for the next six months. Brings back good memories of Bonneville and not so good memories of the five days stuck in Wyoming!

My Poor Mother

How could I forget to share this story?

While Michael was at Bonneville, my mother came to Traverse City to help me with the Castle Farms Craft Show and to give me a general straightening out. This has become a once a year project to get me cleaned up and sorted out and ready for Fall. Mom tries so hard to keep me organized. It is a losing battle, but she is able to succeed for one week of the year.

Anyway...when Mom found out that Michael was going to be five days later arriving home, she decided to stay until he made it home. That gave me five more days to get organized. She was on the home stretch until Saturday morning.

Michael and I were at the Farm Markets on Saturday morning, so Mom had a leisurely breakfast and was starting to pack her truck for the trip home before she finished the few things that she had left on her "straighten Loretta list." She was on a roll, until...she took a box to the truck. Halfway to the truck, she looked back to see that the door had closed, which meant that it was now locked. No problem, she thought. She would just go to the other door that had been unlocked most of the time during her stay. Not Saturday morning! She had not gone out that door yet, so it was still locked, along with the door that she had just walked out of.

This was at 10:30 AM. Michael and I were not going to be home until 2:00 PM. Mom knew that she was in for the long haul, so she sat in her truck until it got too hot. Next, she moved to the back yard and sat on a very uncomfortable bench. For the next three and a half hours, she watched the creek, watched the road, watched the squirrels, tried to take a nap on a very hard bench and waited for someone to come home. When I came home, I looked for her inside for twenty minutes, until I looked outside and found her sitting on the bench...in her robe! She had not dressed yet, so she had to do all of this waiting in her robe!

I am so thankful that it was not raining or cold or windy. It was a beautiful day, but not one that Mom had planned on spending three and a half hours outside enjoying.

All this reminds me of the time that I walked outside at our Creekside home in March. I went out to feed the birds. The door accidentally locked behind me and I sat outside for six hours in my pajamas, until Michael finally came to get me. Ever seen woman stacking wood in her jammies before? That was me. I decided to do something to keep warm while I waited for Michael.

Must be something in our genes...

Making Cookies!!!!

Michael's five days stuck in a little motel in Wyoming
gave him time to invent new cookie recipes.

He is busy baking tonight to test his new ideas.

He has some great ideas and great ingredients to invent the cookies!

I love it when he tests and I taste!

I will let you know my favorites!

turtles

I did not get a chance to post this last week, but I had to share our latest farm market adventure. I was at the Northport Farm Market last Friday, when my neighboring vendor's wife found a turtle. He was hanging out by the bank, but ready to head for the road. Since we did not want a squashed turtle in the middle of Northport, my neighbor rescued him and put him in a pan of water for a temporary home until the market was over.

He has a friend who has a wonderful pond full of pond critters.

Mr. Turtle got to move to a new home and start a new, safer life. What I liked most was that he got to go to a good Christian home!

Michael is home!

I am sorry that I did not update right away. The nightmare is over. The van was fixed on Wednesday afternoon and Michael made it home late Thursday night. The engine sounds funny, but at least we can get it fixed here, instead of the middle of Wyoming.

Michael is now very busy trying to get layers of oil off the trailer and the motorcycle, along with the salt from the Bonneville Salt Flats. The oil covered the trailer and motorcycle when the engine blew and salt is in every nook and cranny of the van and trailer.

It is nice to have him back!

Engine Pieces

The sad news is that the van engine is in hundreds of pieces on the repair shop floor. More sad news is that Michael walked the twenty five minutes to meet the shop owner to check on progress. The doors were locked, the owner was gone and the engine was still in pieces, when the owner had told him earlier that the van would be fixed today. We are worried and trying to figure out our next plan.

This has been a very difficult five days. Prayers would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Still broken, only two hours closer to home

The van was supposedly fixed and Michael was on his way home. Michael made it two hours closer to home, but the van died again. This time it was in Rawlings, Wyoming.

He is in a very small town, in a very old, but clean motel and no way to get around town. The motel is seven miles away from the nearest grocery store. At least the motel has a great dog who keeps him company!

He will be there until Tuesday, when the replacement parts arrive.

Prayers would be appreciated. Thank you.

Broken

Michael is stranded in Evanston, Wyoming, with a broken oil something on the van. Not good on a long weekend...Replacement parts may make it tomorrow morning. If not, parts will make it next week. Prayers would be nice. Thanks.