Cat Island get away

We have taken a week vacation on Cat Island in the Bahamas..the opportunity was one we could not resist...fishing and a quiet beach. The Carney's invited us to join them and we had a great time. Pam and Dennis have been friends for 30 years and we had fun relaxing and fishing together. Mike and Dennis fished for bone fish in the flats area of a river that was near our Banana Wind cottage. They did the hunter gatherer thing and they had to figure out for themselves where the fish were...they had moderate success with the fishing but a great time trying. We went out on a fishing boat into the ocean with Reynold, our guide, and caught about a dozen fish that we were able to eat for the rest of the week. Great food and drink ...the local Kalik beer...were the standard for the week.

The Banana Wind was isolated on a beach and faced south...Cat Island is thin and about 50 miles long ...and we had a cooling breeze, temps in the 80 range and saw fishing boats as well as cruise boats. The people are very helpful and friendly. We saw a different lifestyle.. a poor island with not much going on except tourism and some local craft business. We drove around the island in our beater van (praying each time that it would start)...on the other side of the road as it is a British colony.. and saw amazing beaches, ruined stone houses and a very beautiful views. Pam and I walked for several hours in the morning and then relaxed and read till the boys returned for lunch. Then we took off on our afternoon adventures.

Our trip home took two days because of delays and missed connections ..we stayed the night in Atlanta and finally got home to the snow and sunshine of Michigan. It was a great trip! Kathy and Michael

Winter is back

Well it is snowing today and winter is back in northern Michigan.  We have had some nice warm (30's) sunny days which has been nice for getting around and ones frame of mind.  However it is not good for the economy of norhtern Michigan that depends on snow for so many activities.  The White Pine XC Ski race was cancelled last week and it was touch and go for the Vassa this weekend but I think they will be fine with the temps in the 20's and the couple of inches of snow we are getting today.
Mike has been in Washington DC doing Cigar Lobby work...I call it that...with the national board that he is on...he returns today.
Weather update...No Mike at the airport....they flew to TC but could not land and went back to Detroit.  His flight is cancelled so he has to rebook.  The joys of living in northern Michigan!!  Stay tuned.  Kathy

Create and recreate

It is the last day of January and it is sunny and warm...a record of 51 degrees here in Traverse City.  I took three walks with Riggs today to take advantage of the nice day.   Lots of snow has melted.  I rehabbed this calendar that i made for my parents many years ago.  It is a perpetual  calendar that  needs to be changed each month...fun to try and keep up with... which I will try and do.  

 I have been working on a wedding quilt for Gina Ahnen and it is now at the quilters...this is a sample of one of the batik fabrics i used...
I LOVE batiks and this is all in earth tones and turned out beautiful...I think I will call it River Bottom as it makes me think of our river...more later when I get it back from the wonderful and creative  Lynn, my longarm quilter friend.

 My friend Pam Carney gave me this pattern ...the little Monster...and I knitted one up and just love him!!
We have had tons of Blue Jays at the cabin...big and fat and bossy.. they love the peanuts that fill the snowman bird feeder.  Not sure if we will be skiing at the cabin this weekend with all the warm weather and melting snow.  It was perfect last weekend with three days of perfect skiing.  Kathy and Michael

Winter is finally here!

 We had a beautiful winter weekend at the cabin with about 10 inches of snow that arrived on Friday as we were traveling to the cabin.    Saturday was sunny and the river was so beautiful right out the front windows..crisp and cold!    It is finally winter and we took a long walk on Saturday and a long XC ski on Sunday.
It was a dog weekend as we have the Smith dogs for a few days while they are away.  Tess and Sage are Italian hunting dogs ...I could make a joke about them only liking Italian food but they will actually eat anything.  Sage is a counter suffer so you have to watch her every minute.

Life with 3 dogs is more of a challenge than with just one dog.
They all had fun together and really enjoyed to snow.

The birds were all over the feeders and I keep trying to take pictures...this one turned out good.  We have lots of blue jays, nuthatches, sparrows and woodpeckers.  Tess and Sage sat at the window for hours watching them..very entertaining.
I did lots of sewing and Mike worked on his end of the year books...and got them DONE!!  He hates doing this and feels great when it is finished.
We talked about our memories of MLK as it his birthday today...his death was such a part of our coming of age...we were seniors in high school.  Listened to a few of his speech's on NPR...what an inspirational speaker.
Winter wishes to all from the Winter Wonderland of Michigan
Kathy and Mike    and all the dogs

2112 Fun and Snow

Greetings from the second day of 2012. Yes we are at the cabin and it is snowing...6 plus inches and still coming. Mike shoveled the deck and ran the snow blower...love that snowman look...and we have been watching football. We sent Timothy on his way yesterday morning at 5 am and he drove all the way to Vermont...about a 15 to 16 hour drive. It was a great holiday weekend and week with Timothy and Casey. Patrick and Timothy had some brother time and they even took their Mom Geocaching with them...lots of fun as you can see from the pictures.


My goal for this Christmas was to get the train in the basement working again. The boys always want to get it out at Christmas but too much cleaning and purging needs to be done to make that happen. After our return from our trip I attacked with a vengeance and got it done!!! I was able to drop down the train table that grandpa made,he would be so pleased . After much head scratching by all of us the train worked but needs fine tuning...I have till next Christmas to make improvements!

We love the Sauna sign , a gift from Deb and Duane, it is on the inside door and looks perfect!

Christmas gifts from Patrick and Heather for the Sauna...Great basket with towels and the sauna temp and time accessories. The sand timer is fun to watch as the sauna and you heat up, it always seems like you are there longer than it says. The snow makes the sauna have an authentic feeling and we are enjoying it tons. We had a wonderful Christmas and hope that you did too....Kathy and Michael

Family Christmas on the Manistee River 2011

Timothy, Casey and her mom Kym McKenzie, from Paw Paw, who we were delighted to have with us for Christmas weekend.
Patrick and Heather looking Fantastic!!

Lots of cooks helped make dinner a huge success...every one made something and we all left the table feeling very satisfied and thankful for our blessings. Timothy and Casey were filling their plates with Michael wondering if there will be food left!!!

The hostess, Kathy, with her dresssy"serve the food" apron from Aunt Kay Tupper. Not too practical but very frilly and with lots of Christmas memories! Love those deviled eggs!!!

The Christmas table at the cabin with a view of the river. We had 11 for dinner, including Deb and Duane Walter, Andy Zemke, Kym McKenzie and our prime rib chef Rudi Stimac. The best toast was from our friend Andy "May you always have friends that are family and family that are friends". We feel that blessing this year and are thankful that we were all together and that we had wonderful friends to join us.

Patrick and Timothy with their Stormy Kromer hats...aren't they handsome!

TC Decorations and Memories

Mike and I have our decorations up in Traverse City and are pleased with how they look. We got a fake tree a few years ago and it goes up in 10 minetes which is fantastic. I end up decorating the whole thing since there are not any kids at home to help. The Santa on the front porch is from my brother David several years ago and I love its old fashioned look. The deer was made by my father and is a regular on our front porch...I added the lights this year and think he looks very festive. We finally have a little snow so it looks more like Christmas. We look forward to Timothy and Casey arriving next weekend and will be joined by Casey's mother Kym from Kalamazoo. Patrick and Heather will be out on Christmas eve and Heather's parents Deb and Duane will join us for dinner on Christmas Day. Our guest of honor will be our friend Rudi who is cooking the prime rib. We should have a great meal and I am so happy that we can share the beauty of the cabin with friends and family.
Kathy and Mike