Autumn Harvest Sale

(L.) Booth at this weekends Autumn Harvest Sale at The Wooden Shoe Herb Farm.

Great food an

good friends at the Friday Wine, hors d'oeurve, dessert reception. This year's dates November 2 and 3.

Jeanie's beautiful cards, felt bags, and scarves
Unique and elegant jewelry

This past weekend was one of those quintessential fall weekends that we all get nostalgic about. I spent both Friday and Saturday outside in the beautiful gardens of The Wooden Shoe Herb Farm with my friend and owner Brenda Ginther. It was our 2nd annual Autumn Harvest Sale. I set up my jewelry outside under a tent and Brenda had her gorgeous and fragrant herbs, wreaths, and floral arrangements inside. A fun weekend selling jewelry and chatting with old and new friends.

We are gearing up for 2 Fall events:

Designing Women Open House

5 very talented and artsy women will gather at my home for a sale; Me with Firefly Jewelry and accessories, Jeanie Croope with note cards, scarves, and mixed media, Jane Rosemont with amazing photography, Brenda Ginther with wreathes, soaps, potpourri and dried flower arrangements, and Nancy Williams with gourmet dog treats and her organizing business

This is a great way to get a jump on the holidays or just to treat yourself.

Friday, November 2 from 5-9 ***Wine, hors d'oeurves, and dessert reception Friday
Saturday, November 3 from 9-5

We had such fun last year. Come join the fun this year.
For more information email me at janefal@comcast.net

Come join the fun!

33rd Mason Christmas Craft Sale

Thursday-Saturday November 8, 9, 10
Thursday and Friday 9-9 and Saturday 9-5

This is the sale everyone waits for. It's huge and so much fun. 18 homes and more than 50 exhibitors. All the houses are decorated for the holidays and many houses feature a sampling of treats as well as holiday decorations and gift items. Look for the numbered house signs; each house will have a flyer and map of the participating artists.

This year I will be at HOUSE #12 The Iron Pig Antiques at 611 E. Columbia Rd., Mason.

Life With Izzy

Labor day Weekend in Traverse.(Far left) Katie and Izzy camping.
(Near left) Izzy at 3 1/2 months. She's a long legged beauty and about 20 lbs here.

I took her to the vet this week and now at 4 1/2 months she weighs in at 32 lbs.

Up North

The beach where the Platte River and Lake Michigan meet. Sleeping Bear dunes are in the background.

(L.) Our "cottage" in the woods

Mission Point Lighhouse

A bunch o' grapes at one of the wineries.

The beach at the lighthouse.

The perks of retirement. In my 33 years of teaching it was rare that we went away for Labor Day. School had already started and there was too much to do to be ready for the 2nd and "real" first week of school.

Retirement has allowed me to enjoy my first real Labor Day weekend Up North in Traverse City. We packed up the camper and the dog and headed for one of my favorite places in all of Michigan; Lake Michigan and Grand Traverse Bay for a weekend at the beach taking in the sun, shopping in Traverse City and roasting marshmallows over the campfire at the campground.

This year, Katie and I did the whole wine tour thing. Because of the lake and temperate weather the MissionPoint Pennisula is known for its great wines much like eastern Long Island. We did a wine tasting tour of 4 of the 5 wineries, tasting a variety of wines from dry white to dessert wines and sampling all the jams, salsas, and mustards made with Michigan's famous cherries.

"Another Opening, Another Show"

Ahhh, Fall!! The beginning of the school year, crunchy autumn leaves, harvest festivals, pumpkins, apple cider and donuts, holiday craft shows, and the NEW THEATRE SEASON.

9 months

38 weeks

12 theatre venues

56 shows

8 musicals

48 straight shows

Our area has an amazing number and variety of theatre groups. No need to go to NY only to see the latest and best. (In addition, there are another 5 performance groups and venues in the area not counting local high school shows which can be amazing). I'm looking forward to seeing them all. It will be tough (trying to squeeze them all in between real life), it will be trying (sometimes hitting 2 or more shows a weekend. Shows come in waves, usually every 6-8 weeks with some weekends void of any show) it will be exhausting (3 shows a weekend is really too much!) it will be mind boggling boring (yes, there are some of those too) and it will be exciting and exhilarating (some really unusual, timely, and cutting edge shows from some companies and directors.

Will I blog about them? Probably not if I hope to continue working in this town. There are others who are covering the theatre scene far better than I. The City Pulse, The Lansing State Journal, Jane Zussman, Bridgette Redman, and Jim Fordyce cover all those bases well. When something truly amazing comes along I will probably wax eloquent on the show or an exceptional performance.

In the lyrics from Pippin,"We've got magic to do........ Just for you. We've got miracle plays to play. We've got parts to perform.... Hearts to warm. Kings and things to take by storm. As we go along."

John and Larry's Excellent Thailand Adventure

Most of the photos on this site are from my December trip to Thailand. I spent most of my time in Chiang Mai, doing day trips to fabulous places. John and Larry were able to visit Katie in March and they spend a few days in Chiang Mai but most of their time was spent in Bangkok and Phuket. Larry has a friend and a former business partner who has lived in Bangkok for more than 20 years and played tour guide while they were there. Katie joined them for a few days in Bangkok and then they all went to Phuket the beach area of southern Thailand. These are the some stunning pictures of their trip.