25th Annual Howell Michigan Challenge Balloonfest!

The Balloonfest had a GREAT year this year with over 100,000 attendees. We went on Friday night and had a terrific display. In addition to the balloon launches they had a medivial festival, a car show, lots of crafts (wish I'd have bought that birdhouse), a carnival and lots of people watching. Saturday was another perfect day with lots of fun. The wind brought in Sunday so there was no launch, but everything else was very exciting.

I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. There were lots of colorful balloons and lots of different distinct motifs. This first one had a definite Halloween theme.


This one had a beautiful American Flag on one side and the other side said USA.


This carousel balloon has been here in years past. Love it.


Here's the local radio station in all it's glory.


This one has lots of fishies and scuba divers... cute.


The Boynton Character one is quite comical.


The Cherry Bomb needs no explanation.


There were literally balloons popping up everywhere!


Doesn't the Phoenix look majestic?


Had to get this one with a penguin for my daughter.


Saturday we stayed home and had a bbq with the family. Peanut came over early so I had lots of one on one time with her before Muffin arrived. Got a great shot of Muffin with Auntie. Is that not adorable?


Later in the evening my daughter was trying out these portable chairs she was going to borrow. Doesn't Peanut look like this chair was made just for her? She loved it!


Sunday arrived and MM put up some hammock chairs on the front porch and we spent the rest of the weekend chillin. It doesn't get much better than that. Gotta love the weekends.

Fertilize Friday

It's Friday so head on over to Tootsie Time to see all the other gardeners and their beautiful flowers.

I'm kind of embarrassed to put my flowers up after seeing some of the other gardens out there, but it is what it is and I love it. So here's what's going on in my little corner of the world.

The daisies are interesting, one is full of blossoms and the other is full of buds. They're not more than 6 feet from each other. Go figure.




The hanging basket has lots of color - we had a few issues with keeping it watered while away, but it's going to be fine.




There are a few cone flowers. Mostly buds right now, but a few blossoms.



The day lilies are full of blooms. Beautiful.


This is the first year we're trying the tomatoes in this topsy turvy planter. We're having trouble keeping them shaded so they won't wilt from the heat and sun. MM has been putting a cardboard box up to shade them in the heat of the day.


There are two coreopsis plants. One has lots of buds and a couple of blossoms the other is much smaller with a couple of blooms.



The Salvia Blue Hills are a little droopy from the heavy rain recently.


All the hostas by the front tree have buds on them. A couple are actually already blooming.



The petunias in the pots by the front porch had soil that was too compact and the plants in one died, so I bought a couple of more plants and repotted both pots.


Here're pictures of the trumpet vine and rose of sharon. They surround the back deck. No blooms yet, but a little later and they will be loaded. Wanted you to see them in this stage.



Then on the other end of the house the tiger lilies are blooming now.



I'm not sure what the name of this plant is, but it'll have pretty cluster orange blooms in a week or two.


On this end of the house I haven't done a lot of work for several years and these things just keep coming up. I might try to transplant them in the Fall to an area that I can appreciate them more.

Looking at these pictures more closely I can see that I have a lot of work to do... between the weeding and putting more mulch down. The bed on the end of the house got put off this year. Maybe next year we'll build it up and clean it up a little. There's always something to do. But then, that's the fun of gardening.

Dinner's Done!

I'm so pleased with myself. For the last couple of nights I've been puzzled about what's for dinner. Today I got smart and made a nice chicken pasta salad while I'm home for lunch. I love coming home and not having to cook or think about dinner. A nice salad will be perfect today too, cause it's really hot outside. Actually, I've not really wanted to eat too much because of the heat. Any good recipes or ideas for what to do when you're not really hungry and don't have a lot of time? In the winter time I like to use the crock pot more, but like I said I really don't want anything hot.

Little Sable Lighthouse

We had a quiet weekend over on the west side of the State this weekend. It rained a lot Friday night, but we had a fabulous day Saturday. Did a lot of running around Silver Lake and spent some time at the Silver Lake State Park where we got this great picture of the lighthouse.



We stopped at a couple of farm markets and got some really fresh asparagus. Just a nice relaxing day. We also went to see where all the dune buggies and ORV were staging to go onto the sand.



There were tons of them. See all the little orange flags? That's so they don't get lost in the dunes. Too bad we didn't buy that Jeep MM wants :(.

We're hoping to take some time in maybe August to go up north (the upper peninsula). I'd love to get lots of pictures of lighthouses and water falls. There are a lot of both, some involving hiking and others right on the roadside. Not wishing my life away here, just making plans. When we got home Sunday, we just did a little work around the house and had a quiet dinner.

Quote That Made Me Say "WOW"!

I heard this on the radio this weekend and it blew me away. Wish I'd heard it when I was a teenager.

"Never make someone a 'priority' who regards you as an 'option'."

Wish I knew who said it. How many teenagers need to hear this today?

Another Case of Ducks in a Drain

How many times does this have to happen? Poor things are so tiny, they just fall through the grate and down to the storm drain they go. This happened outside at work. The mother duck and five ducklings were spotted walking back and forth across the driveway and squawking away. Then another squawking was heard coming from the storm drain. There were 6 more ducklings down there.

One of the girls called her hubby to bring a net to try to catch them... this was most effective


The ducklings were temporarily placed in an orange bucket before being reunited with their mom and sibs.


Finally, they were released near their mom.


The only sad thing is that one of the six decided to go wandering into a cement drain and wandered off before being rescued. We waited around for a while, but he was gone.

Is there anything they can put over the drains to protect these little guys? They do special things for human babies...

Time for Direct TV

With the 'all digital' television now mandatory a lot of people are having to make a choice about their television viewing. With directtv you get 100% digital programming and HD viewing. They offer good pricing and a large variety of programs. My Mom, who cannot put a dish out, is always complaining about the cable prices. I also hear lots of complaints about cable service. Are you going to be the last person in your neighborhood to switch over to Direct TV? We're usually the last to get everything, but this might just be the exception. The idea of so many channel choices is very appealing in our family. I think our next purchase, right after Direct TV, is going to be a high definition television. Might as well have a good picture with all those extra channels.

Our Disney Week

We had a very full and fast week. Our travel time was very pleasant with Peanut playing from her car seat. I'm still amazed that she travelled so well. Only once did she say "STUCK" like she wanted to get out. Daughter just explained that the car was moving and she had to stay in her seat. She was not stuck lol.

Peanut did a lot of napping - not a bad thing.

Once we checked into Disney's Fort Wilderness Campground we set off to explore the area. This first photo was with a Mickey topiary.

Another shot with Mickey - of sorts :)

We also rode the monorail - Peanut enjoyed all modes of transportation - especially the boat ride.

When we were waiting for a boat once Peanut wanted to go walking on this particular boat dock. They guy said no one was allowed on the dock without a jacket, so she donned a jacket and walked like she owned the place.

The campground had a market with souvenirs and some groceries. Peanut spotted these cute dogs and wanted them all. It was really funny how she was trying to hoard them all. When it was time to go Daughter just explained that the doggies lived there and we'd visit them again another time. Is that not AMAZING!!??

The campground has a fun evening campfire and entertainment with Chip and Dale. This evening Peanut was so cute that her family was selected to have a 'magical moment' with Chip and Dale. In case you've forgotten, Peanut does not like large heads - they're just not normal. She tried to claw her way out of the picture so we had to act fast. The rest of the evening she loved dancing and running around... just keep those characters away from her!

The first day at the Magic Kingdom was very exhausting. When I decided this would be a good shot guess who was sleeping? Still a nice shot.

Papa was holding her on his shoulder - don't you love her chubby cheeks?

The Tom Sawyer Island was hot and had lots of caves and tunnels. We made it through them and posed for a family photo.

Peanut was full of lots of hugs. I think she just loved the constant attention - the week was all about her :)

A shot with Mimi and Peanut.

The day that Mom and Dad went to the park alone we did some exploring on our own. At the Wilderness Lodge they had a very colorful totem pole with the Disney characters.

We also just chilled at the camper with bubbles. Peanut is so easily entertained that we all had a great time.


We did several rides and one evening went to Downtown Disney and had dinner at Planet Hollywood. You could literally find something to do every spare minute you wanted to. A couple of days was not nearly long enough to explore everything so we'll definitely have to plan another outing. Maybe next time Muffin will be old enough to join us. Hope so.... we'll have twice the fun!