Opey Visits

We have a new visitor to our bird feeder. Michael calls him Opey (O-Possum, get it?). I call him creepy!

A few nights ago, I looked on the deck and let out a scream! Mr. Opossum was dining on some leftover bread, saw me (or heard my scream), and squeezed himself into one of our old feeders. He stayed there for hours. Was he comfy or scared or bored or sleeping? I do not know.

He only has half of his tail. I am not sure where the other half went.

Michael was amused. I was not. Who knows what else will show up for midnight snacks at the bird feeders?

Blizzards to Flowers and Birds

Last Saturday, I was in Jackson for a funeral. I drove home on Sunday in one of the worst blizzards I have even been in! I was in the center of the storm for two hours! First came the freezing rain, then zero visibility as six inches of snow fell on the roads that were not plowed yet. I drove 25 mph for two hours on icy, unplowed, unsafe roads. When I arrived home, my fingers had to be pried to straighten them up.

Little did I know that within a week, we would be outside raking and taking a wonderful evening stroll and watching the hyacinths peek out of the ground and listening to the birds!

Michigan weather!!! I cannot wait to see what is next!

Raccoons and Robins

We have had visitors every night to our bird feeders and it is not a bird! It is two big fat raccoons.

For some reason known only to them, they think that the suet and sunflower seeds are for their dinner, so they have eaten all of it every time they get a chance. They have to climb out onto the edge of the deck to reach the bird feeder, but it does not seem to stop them.

I finally fooled them and took the bird feeders and the suet inside every night. Of course, the nights that I forgot, they had a nice midnight snack.

A few days ago, Michael stopped at McGough's to pick up more suet. The salesperson asked Michael if it was for the birds. Michael replied with, "it is a box lunch for the raccoons."

Tonight as I was walking back to the office, I heard a very noisy bird. I looked way up into our maple tree and saw a robin, the first one I have seen at Creekside this year! Maybe spring is around the corner, but you would not know it from looking at the foot of snow still on the ground.

The crocus flowers just poked out from under the snow and I saw about an inch of a hyacinth in the flower bed this morning, so there is hope!

New Moo Cow Cookie

In honor of my wonderful dog Annie, we named a sugar cookie in her honor. Annie died four years ago and we still miss her so much!

Since Annie was a puppy, she loved cows. We started calling them Moo Cows. Every time we passed a dairy farm in the car, and said, "Moo Cows, Annie, Moo Cows," she would get so excited! She would visit with the cows when we took walks, and would bark really loud when we drove past the dairy farms. Annie loved Wisconsin! The dairy farms were so much fun for her!

We found a cute dairy cow cookie cutter, so decided to add a Moo Cow Sugar Cookie to the list of baking mixes.

Be sure to have a large glass of milk with your Moo Cow Sugar Cookies!

Thanks again Kate

Wow! After one tv interview, Creekside Grains was busy! We received several emails, phone calls and web orders. I finally got all of the orders shipped today. Thanks everyone, for supporting our funny little business!

Michael is on his way home from the Lansing Gift Show, so I expect several more wholesale orders will be arriving shortly.

At the show, Michael sampled the root beer cookie, the brand new maple cookie, several of the beer breads, the new Aebleskiver and a whole lot more. He was a busy boy, baking and serving! He gets one day to rest, then off to Minneapolis to do this again.

More later!

Thanks Kate!

We had such fun watching TV 7 and 4 News today.

The interview aired at the 5:00 PM news,
so if you saw the 6:00 PM interview, it was a shortened version.

Kate did a great job!

We had calls and emails asking about stores outside of Traverse City that carry our mixes.
We have over ninety stores from as far east as Pennsylvania
and far west as North Dakota that carry Creekside Grains.

As soon as I can figure out where I can post it on the web site,
I will put a list of all stores that carry our mixes.

Michael is going to Lansing for a gift show this weekend, so hopefully,
there will be more stores to add to the list when he returns.
As soon as he gets back to Traverse City,
he will leave for Minneapolis to attend a five day gift show.
I can only guess how many more stores that will be added to the list!

I am going to Muskegon for the weekend,
with our new Miss Heart of Michigan, Missy Brown,
to join the Miss Michigan contestants for Orientation.

I will be back to work on Monday, trying to get all information posted for you!

Have a great weekend!

TV 7 and 4 Interview

Today was television interview day!
Kate Fox from TV 7 and 4 filmed Michael for Made in Michigan.
The interview will air tomorrow on TV 7 and 4 at 6:00 PM.

Kate is a beautiful young woman,
with great interview skills and a wonderful personality.

It was great meeting her today!

You can barely see Kate behind the camera on the left.

Thanks, Kate! We cannot wait to see the results!

I Love Winter!

This is the view from our deck.

Sometimes, it is very hard to go to work when I see this scene
and listen to the soothing sounds of Beitner Creek.

This is me, without my beekeeping shield.

It fell off when I was snow blowing on Sunday.

You cannot see them, but I have ice crystals on my face.

It looks like I am wearing sparkle makeup. Not makeup, just God sparkles!

It was so cold out that Michael would only walk just outside the office door to take this picture.

He decided against a pretty snowy tree background and took the shot
and ran back into the warmth!

Yesterday, as I was preparing to shovel the drive,
I decided against an extra sweatshirt under my jacket.
I said, "I don't need this. It is warm out!"
All relative, considering it was 22 degrees.
I was comparing it to the below zero temps from last week!

Good thing I really LOVE winter! We seem to get a lot of that lately.

The Beekeeper Snowblower

On Saturday, I spent the day snow blowing the driveway.

The wind was so strong that I could not see,
so Michael gave me his grinding helmet
to shield my face and help me see where I was going.

When I walked in the house, Michael sent me right back out
so he could take a picture of me, covered in snow.

One of our friends said I looked like a bee keeper.
I told her I was glad that it was snow that I was keeping out of my face instead of bees!
I prefer windy, cold snow much more than bees.

I felt like the little boy in the soup commercial
who was so bundled up that he could not move!

I am heading out to do this again.

Good thing I LOVE winter!

Happy New Year!

I am so excited to announce that we were only ninety mixes away from selling 16,000 mixes in 2010! We were so close, but could not figure out a way to get a giant wholesale order or a whole lot of retail orders in just a few days (we discovered we were that close on Thursday afternoon).

This year, our goal is 20,000 mixes! I cannot wait to see when that will happen!

Thank you to all of you who ordered on line, bought mixes at the farmers markets or craft shows, or purchased them at retail stores around the country. We are so grateful for your continued support and for God's blessing on our "funny little business." That is what Michael calls Creekside Grains when we pray every night.

We are blessed and pray that your 2011 will be, too!