Grandma and Grandpa

Well it happened today!! Mike and I are grandparents and we could not be more thrilled. Heather had our little angel this morning at 7:4 am and she is perfect.
We saw her for the first time and we are already in love...you should see the big grin on Mikes face. Finnley Shannon Nolan 8# 3 oz and 22 inches long. She is long and has pink chubby cheeks. She is an Irish lass for sure as she has the shamrock hat on already! Mother and father are doing well and basking in the joy of a healthy beautiful baby. She has one sock on as Patrick was in the process of putting them on to keep those long feet warm.

Thank you Patrick and Heather! Kathy and Michael

Hot Salsa Mamas

Well there it is...a big pot of salsa...one of two my friend Cindy and I made today in my kitchen. We alternate years at each others house but have missed the last few years related to traveling. We started with a bushel of tomatoes and added onions, garlic, hot peppers and spices to make our secret mix. Two big pots...one mild and the other hot hot hot.
We did the easy canning by filling hot jars with hot salsa and putting hot tops and caps on and then turning them upside down to make the tops seal. It works really well which is what I am doing in the picture above
Cindy is filling the jars as they are hot out of the oven. We talked, laughed and had a great time together catching up on our lives. I have know Cindy since our kids were in kindergarten.
Extra salsa pot picture just to impress all of you! The picture below is the finished product. My apron says Hot Salsa Mama's and we made 66 jars of various sizes of salsa...our biggest year ever. Lots of great gifts so watch out!!

Mike went to Lansing today to meet with the Lt Governor and discuss the cigar tax issue. He is home and exhausted with all that talking...hard to believe! Weather is beautiful...70's today and sunny and the rest of the week is to be the same. Love and hugs Kathy and Mike

New addition!

I have a new addition to our kayak family...still waiting for baby Nolan on the 24th! I purchased this used kayak from a friend, Susan, who has a kayak adventure business called Paddle Away. They had some smaller kayaks they were not using so I was lucky to snag this Wilderness Pongo in the wonderful color of orange. I LOVE IT!!! It will be my in town kayak and I have been having a great time so far paddling and exploring!
It fits into the Highlander with the frot passenger window open and I can get it in and out by myself. We may get a roof rack eventually but right now it works! I have gone to Lake Boardman (the lake in the middle of TC, which was from damming the river many years ago for logging) and really enjoyed myself. It takes about a half hour to go from one end to the other. I was also able to go down the river into town until reaching the Dam between Cass and Union streets. The picture above is looking north toward town. Lots of birds, ducks, fish that are hiding in the depths and not that many people. They do small boat sailing, some water skiing and some fishing on this lake. It used to have many small industries and most are now closed but the railroad tracks still run along the west side. There are now more apartments and condos with a bike path on the east side but still many areas with no development and lots of trees. I even saw what I think was a muskrat!
The picture above is floating toward the eighth street bridge..this is the main east west road in TC. Lots of traffic on the road but on the water it is very tranquil. The lake has several small bays where the current is less so there are water lilies in bloom. Most of the shore line has no beach and the lake gets deep quick but I did find several areas where there are some sandy shallow spots for swimming or wading. Our weather has not been so hot this week...70's which is nice.
Mike arrived home on Monday after a long day of flying. He got to see his brother Marks daughter Deidre ,her husband Stephan and son Luca while in Orlando(they came over from Tampa) which was wonderful.

I had to share my love of my new kayak with all of you...I do love being out on the water on the river at the cabin and lakes provide a whole new experience. I have ordered a spray skirt as one day I got very wet from the waves and wind. Love the adventure!

Love and hugs to all Kathy and Michael

Shower for Baby Gnome Nolan

So what kind of a picture is this you may ask?? Heather is modeling the Hooter Hider that I made for her...I had never heard of this but you have to love the Internet...found a pattern and a you tube video to instruct me! She is now all set to breast feed the little Nolan anyplace. She is trying it out with a stuffed monkey...lots of laughs from the audience
Welcome Baby Nolan sums it up for the shower that was held yesterday at Deb and Duane's lovely home. The weather was unbelievably warm and humid even for Michigan. But we all managed to tolerated it...drink beer from the kegerator, lots of water, ice tea and lemonade. then there was the food...wonderful. The organization committee lead by Heathers sister Shannon did a great job and we had lots of delicious choices. I made my bruchetta and they were popular ... "those little pizzas are great" .
The kiddie pool allowed some cooling down for the soon to be mom. Doesn't she look beautiful!!

We had lots of sun and heat and a little shower,from the skies, later in the afternoon. It was fun to see them open the gifts and I tell you this little Nolan is ready for anything!! Patrick gave a heart felt thank you to every one and I know he sends it out to everyone who could not attend. Friends and family are so important at this time in their lives.
The morning work was set up and cutting up the pig that Duanne roasted all night in the pig roaster that he and friends built...you can see part of it to the right of the picture.

Mike is due to return tomorrow from the trade show in Orlando. A very busy time for him.

I have been doing some kayaking on lake Boardman, right in the middle of town, and catching up on a few things here in TC. We have been at the cabin so much that I have let a few things go here at home. The weather has improved today with temps in the 70's which is fantastic.

Love to everyone from the beautiful Northern Michigan...I love living here!

Kathy and Michael

Friends at the Cabin...Wonderful!!!

I have spent lots of time at the cabin this summer and it has been wonderful. The friends below are my "church lady" friends and we meet every month or so to eat, laugh and in general have a great time. They came to the cabin for an overnight and kayak the next day. It was a beautiful day and a perfect day to kayak...Thank to them for coming and being such great friends!Kelly looks like a serious kayaker!
Tammi did a fantastic job and did it in style!
Susan is the professional kayaker and can give us all lessons.
Michelle has such a great smile and a can do attitude!!!
We are back in town for a week or so which is good as I can clean the house and get caught up on things here. Mike is going to Orlando Florida to the trade show Wed thru next Monday.

The big baby shower is Saturday and I will send off a post to let you all know how it went.

Heather is doing great and looking very pregnant...a good thing!

I hope this finds all of you well and enjoying the summer weather, your friends and families.

Love and hugs Kathy and Michael

Summer and the Art Fair

Greetings to all.. this hot summer weather has finally given us a break with temps to in the 80's and a break with the humidity! I just returned from the Ann Arbor art fair with my friends Della and Linda. We drove down Tuesday and stooped at some quilt shops on the way down. The Art Fair started on Wednesday and ran thru Saturday. For those who have never attended it is a great event...actually 5 or 6 different art fairs that take over the Ann Arbor streets. We spent Wednesday struggling with the heat and humidity but still managed to spend some money and get some treasures. The vegetable(ceramic) that I added to my wall in the picture was the broccoli on the bottom left. It is always so hard to choose just one but I am running out of space! We returned on Thursday after a quick spin thru several areas to take a second look at things or make final decisions. Great fun, great food and great friends to share the experience. Ann Arbor always has lots to look at...the guy is the picture was the "Violin Monster" He played very well and seemed to be doing well with $ in his case. Always something new.

Della came out to the cabin the week before to kayak and have fun on the river. We ate, talked and laughed...a great time as usual with a great friend.

Mike was in Montana and Idaho for the last week fishing with two friends. He called with fish updates and promises some pictures that I can post of all the big ones that did not get away. Sounds like they had a great time so stay tuned for the proof!

We are back home and getting back to normal...whatever that is! The next big event is the baby shower for the new Nolan Gnome and then the big event on Sept 24th. Hoping the rest of the summer weather is not so very very hot...all days like today would be wonderful.

Kayaking up and Floating down...a day on the river

The weather is hot hot hot and humid...I know those of you who live in the southern parts of this country have lots more to complain about than the Michigan Nolan's do...but we are not used to 95 with 90% humidity. There fore I have been Kayaking, swimming and generally trying to keep cool. We have a new dock to launch our kayaks with steps that go down to the water...thanks to Geoff Smith for his design and hard work! It is a breeze to get into the water now and my Otter and I have taken advantage of it.
So I kayak upstream for about 45 minutes and then float down river with my feet dangling in the cool water and sipping ice tea from my water bottle...does it get any better? I kayaked today with our neighbor Barb Smith and the picture above is as we floated toward her cabin.
Lots of flowers on the river this time of year. These are Forget Me Nots which grow all over the banks. The water is getting lower than a few weeks ago and it is fun to see the changes over the days and weeks. This is the longest period of time I have been consistently kayaking so many days in a row. I have a stretch of days off and will be out here for the next week. Michael is leaving for Montana with two friends to fish on the Green River in Utah and at Twin Bridges in Montana. He will not be back till the 16th. So I have planned some girlfriend days and will try and finish up on some sewing projects.
This is where the kayak downstream ends up...the cabin from the water..just love it. Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. We relaxed and had dinner on our deck with friends.