SCENIC SUNDAYS: Blue

Mackinac Bridge; five miles long, it is needed to

connect where Lake Huron and Lake Michigan meet;

otherwise known as the Straits of Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw).

Have a wonderful SUNDAY!

Five 5 Five 5 Five 5 Five 5 Five 5

Five Things About Me

1. My name was AMY for three days before my dad named me "JOAN".
?

2. I have a dream of becoming a writer.
This blog, it turns out, is my preparation for that.
The discipline of writing an entry almost every day is getting me prepared
for the job it will be to write.


3. I like to people-watch. Always have, always will.
As kids, my sisters and I had the best time imitating accents, voices and mannerisms.
Without a television, we found a way to entertain ourselves.
It's FUN!

4. I love my country and wish I could have been a soldier.
I think I would have been well-prepared for it because of the way I was raised.

5. I would like to be buried in pajamas as opposed to uncomfortable Sunday clothes. And please NO GLASSES on the nose
when I'm laying in repose.
(I'm a poet, dont'cha know it!?)
Who sleeps with their glasses on, I ask!?!?

Now, aren't you glad I didn't write TEN things about me?
Heh.

*Ü*

Have a nice weekend!
XOXO
Joni

Chocolate + Zucchini = GOOD!

You know who you are.

You're the overzealous gardener

who planted way more of the "z"

than you needed to.

And now,

they're coming in like crazy

and you can't keep up.

You're the one

trying to pawn it off on

everyone you know.

Have no fear.

I am here to help you.

If you make these chunky, moist

and

delicious muffins,

wrap them individually

and give JUST ONE to a friend

along with a big fat zucchini,

instead of resenting you and the "z",

they will love you instead

and they'll be beggin'

you for those spare ones.

I can't say it's exactly healthy,

but, OH!

These muffins are good, girlfriend!

Everyone needs at least one batch a summer,

or they haven't really lived!

So, do you want the recipe?

CHOCOLATE CHIP ZUCCHINI BREAD OR MUFFINS

Sift dry ingredients

Blend wet ingredients.

Combine.

Spray baking pan with Pam.

Bake at 350 degrees, one hour for bread,

20-30 minutes for muffins, watching to make sure they don't over bake.

3 eggs

1-1/2 c. sugar

3 t. vanilla

1 c. oil

2 c. or slightly more zucchini

(this is about one medium)

I do not peel or seed it, just wash and grate.

If the zucchini was left on the vine a little too long,

seed and then grate.

*

1 t. cinnamon

3 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1 small package instant chocolate pudding

After the wet and the dry have been combined stir in:

1/2 c. coconut

1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

1/2 c. chocolate chips

Enjoy...

I have been known to freeze grated zucchini in packages with 2 c. shredded,

just to make this bread to give away at Christmastime.

I have also wanted to try it in sheet cake form,

it would go great at summer picnics and potlucks.

Flowers: At Their Peak!

Yes, the impatiens are at high bloom....

The prime of their lives...

I'm appreciating that.

I'm thinking ahead, to when there isn't much color on this "prairie" and the wind is sweeping snow and the topsoil in drifts across the desolate landscape...

In those dreary months, I can always punch up "July" on the archives and relive the days that were hot, sunny, sweet with color, impatiens dripping their hues all over the front yard.

I can savor it then and so can you, if you like.

This mixture of pleasure for the senses, this summer, this season.

And these beauties?

They remind me of peppermints.

Ahhhh....Summer, you give us so much color to revel in.

Summer allows special times for coffee on the porch,

on a gentle, breezy morning,

listening as the birds sing me awake...

Ivy in old enamelware and crocks...

It doesn't get much better than this!

Baby Blue...

He is just....

simply...

...beautiful!

Found these pictures of my new grandson from our visit there; they were on a memory card to the camera in my purse that I'd forgotten about.

Sigh...

I uploaded them last night and wanted to share these particular ones with you.

Only three more weeks and they'll BE HERE!
I'm so excited!

*

I am shocked at how fast July has flown!

Is it just me, or does February seem to take longer to pass than July?

Is It Monday Again? Life Is Just....

...wonderful,
especially with
a
quiet spot,
a gentle breeze,
a comfy chair and a cup of
sweet black Michigan cherries...

Oh, the simple pleasures that come 'round one time a year!

What's your favorite fresh-picked fruit this season?

SCENIC SUNDAYS: Dreams

"America is too great for small dreams."
--Ronald Wilson Reagan

Dream on, America,
that's what we do,
that's what we're good at,
then we do it
and
do it big
and
do it right!

Weekend!

late to bed::late to get up::breakfast at noon::ice cream for dinner::a drive at dusk::biting into a juicy tomato fresh off the vine::skipping rocks on the water::a movie on a whim::flip flops to wear::oldies on the radio::breezes ruffling the curtain at the window::sunsets to savor::black cherries on my counter::sandals on my feet in church::baseball on television::dogs chasing fireflies::buzzing trees::busy bees::rocking on the porch::sheets on the line flappin' in the breeze::

::remembering how far away winter seems right now::

Presque Isle Light Station

From my bulging photo files, a 2006 trip to the Presque Isle lighthouse, near Alpena, MI. This is on the Lake Huron side of Michigan. Climb to the top of the lighthouse for breathtaking views of the peninsula.

Have a wonderful day, ya'll! It's rainy, muggy to beat the band, but I'm off with a friend to go garage saling for the first time in months! Yee haw!

Vintage Baby Shower!

Pretty soon, Jamie and Thad and the baby will be here in Michigan to attend a wedding of one of Jamie's cousins.

Can't tell you how excited I am for them to get here and can hardly wait to get ahold of that sweet little baby once again, mommy tells me he's giggling, cooing, and even tries to imitate her when she makes faces at him.
(That kid is going to be a character, I tell ya.)

So my sister and I are throwing a shower for Jamie while she's here, it's going to be fun! The hall is rented, and the invitations are out.

We'll use my collection of vintage Little Golden and Tiny Tot books and vintage toys to decorate with, we'll just dig them out and go to town.

Just so you know, invitations in the form of postcards, from WINKFLASH make it easy to get the word out. Winkflash is user friendly and will print all your party information on the back, and postage is cheaper than sending out envelopes, too.

Levi's baby shower invitation can be seen here sitting on this vintage doll chair
(which by the way, I've been meaning to show you. I got it for a dollar at a garage sale one cold day this spring. I could not believe the lady was selling it, it was hers as a kid, and her daughter and granddaughter had both played with it all their childhoods, why would she part with something like this?).

On the postcard invitations: please just make sure when you upload the photo and place your order that you specify the "MATTE" finish on your postcards, the glossy finish on your photo postcard gets really messed up in the mail system. Ask me how I know!)

We'll use my little collection of wooden blocks to scatter around, too...they're perfect-o!

Now if you have any ideas for a summertime baby shower menu, I'll be all set!

I Hear Them Calling....

Michigan can be a gritty place...
she's got an industrial base that's crumbling and rusting right before our very eyes.
Hard times are here, and have been here longer than almost anyplace in the U.S.
People are leaving to find work elsewhere, just leaving their homes and going.
Housing is cheap.

But Michigan does have her perks.

Did you know that Michigan is blessed with hundreds and hundreds of miles of shoreline?
And that each of her Great Lakes are unique?
The Lake Huron has rocky shores.
The Lake Superior has shores that vary and even contains canyons, mountains?
That Superior is cold, very deep, very unforgiving in the storms?
Lake Michigan has beautiful waters that are turquoise blue, and sandy beaches, huge dunes of sand? And fishing villages everywhere?

Well, now you know.
There are resorts galore, cabins galore, camping everywhere. Anyone in Michigan is with a couple hours of oceans of fun...only it's freshwater lakes.

These lakes call out to me.
I need to answer, soon.

It's STORY TIME! Farm ABC's