late summer flowers.

Good morning.
Late summer finds the flower beds a bit ragged, but there's still a lot of flowering.

Pretty pink Hibiscus.

Japanese Anemone starting to bloom.

Work as expected, has been busy, and today is booked also. Looking forward to a nice long weekend!
Have a great weekend!

gotta love those coke rewards!

Good morning.
Gotta love those Coke Rewards!
This is one reason why I collect Coke codes, and ask for your codes also.

 My nifty new toaster! Multiple settings, and not only was it free with my Coke Rewards, it also came with free shipping! All just because we drink Coke!
Anyway, it was a very nice weekend. We finally got some rain Monday night. Nearly half an inch. We're looking to get some real summer weather now with forecast temps in the mid 80's and night time temps in the upper 60's.
Managed to wax another car Monday, and mow the yard. Yesterday, we did our power walk, and spent the rest of the day relaxing. Was nice from our hectic previous 2 days.
Last night, more storms rolled through giving us 2 1/2 inches of rain! And the radar showed us being on the edge of the storms. Lansing may have gotten even more, as the entire region is under a flood advisory.
And today, it's back to work. Looks to be a busy week,as we will be off Saturday due to the holiday weekend.
And here's a couple of late summer flowers that are currently blooming.

2 colors of Heleniums.

Now off to work.

a day with Mom

Good morning.
I think it's time I did a post, don't you?
So, the work week ended pretty busy.
Saturday afternoon, we got in our power walk, and then relaxed on the deck. The warm weather continues, but it's turned into a very dry period. I've been watering, although the gardens tend to look a bit ragged this time of year anyway.
Sunday, after I cleaned the Salon, we headed over to Muskegon to help my Mom celebrate her 80th birthday.
The building she lives in is fairly old and they are now doing a complete remodel, which means, new kitchen, bathroom, furnace, air conditioner, and floors. She was very happy when I arrived as they had finished the kitchen cabinets, counters and repainted, and her living room, (which is pretty small as it is) was filled with boxes full of all her kitchen stuff. I spent a good hour putting everything back where she wanted it. I would imagine the workers would have done that, when they returned, but Mom was feeling claustrophobic, with only enough room to get into her chair. We put all the boxes at the end of the hall so the workers could use them for the next apartment.
The new kitchen and bath look very nice.
After that, I emptied her trash, cut her hair, and off to Applebee's for lunch we went.
then it was to the VFW for drinks and pull-tabs. The place got packed shortly after we arrived, as a memorial for a deceased member was beginning at 2pm in the adjacent hall. When just about everyone went next door, we proceeded to play some pull-tabs. The first $20 got us a measly $5 back. pretty much our usual. But the next $20 got us a $150 winner! I split the prize with Mom, and was happy to win enough to pay for lunch.
Stopped at the store on the way back for some groceries, and got her back to her apartment and us back to Lansing.
This morning, while Craig sleeps in, I cleaned the bathroom, and washed 2 cars.
And now that I've finished this post, time for a shower.

artzy sidewalk

Good morning.
It's been a rather slow week in the Salon, but today and tomorrow are busy.
We're finally getting some summer weather after much of our cool weather. Looks to be a very nice weekend.
As promised, here are some pics of battle Creeks new streetscaping.....

They've really done a beautiful job with the bricks, planters and lighting.
It will be interesting to see how the different bricking patterns hold up over some of our Michigan winters.

It made for a pleasant stroll through the downtown area.
Now whether this encourages more businesses to move downtown is yet to be seen. There were numerous empty storefronts. But it does look nice, and it certainly couldn't hurt the downtown.
Now time for work.

a weekend RV trip

Good morning.
I've just returned from cleaning the Salon. Yep! That means we were on a weekend RV trip!
We left Friday after work, and went just a short hours drive to Fort Custer State Park.
This is a great park for hiking, biking, swimming,sunning, boating, and people watching.

Of course, the only pics I thought of taking, were at the beach.
There's a concession at the top of a small hill, then grass down to a sidewalk, the sand to the water's edge. The entire lake is within the park, so not a house or cottage in sight.

We arrived late Friday, set up, and got in our power walk. Had turkey kielbasa's for dinner.
Saturday, we went into downtown Battle Creek to check out their farmers market. It was disappointingly small. So we decide to check out their downtown area. They've completely redone all the sidewalks throughout the downtown area. I'll post some pics later.

For lunch, we ate at this big old train station that's now a restaurant. Built in 1988, it sits near the river. There was of course, train tracks that rain right next to the river, but they've been removed, and now a park runs along it. The restaurant uses part for outdoor seating. A very nice setting.
Saturday afternoon, we headed over to the beach for sun and people watching. That's the pics above.
Later, a bike ride, and pork steaks on the grill with grilled zucchini, and a pasta salad we picked up earlier.
Sunday morning, after our coffee walk and a light breakfast, we headed over to Firekeepers Casino.
For the first time in ages, Craig won also! We left a couple hours later up a combined $40. It helped that they mail us a flier every month giving us slot play on our cards, even though we haven't been there since Craig's birthday back in January. I had $20 and Craig had $25. We also used a couple of coupons for lunch and had a tasty meal that ended up costing us just the tip!
Back at the campground, another walk to help burn up the lunch, and then relaxing with the Sunday paper and cocktails. later, a bike ride, and chicken thighs on the grill with baked beans and corn on the cob. After dinner, we broke down camp, hug the bikes, and put away furniture for an early departure.
Monday morning came, and we left around 9, arriving back home around 10:30.
It was an uneventful trip, and that means a good trip!   :-)
We got our power walk in and I spent the rest of the day, cleaning and restocking the mo-ho, while Craig did his usual bookwork and laundry.
Now time for a shower, get Craig up, and enjoy our last day off.

Damn it's cold!

Good morning.
Well, another weekend over, and it wasn't the best. It rained all day Monday, and Tuesday was cold and windy, not even reaching 70. It's a bone chilling 47 out this morning. It should be near 60.  Except for a hot week earlier this year, we've been below normal, temp wise. I guess the good of it is low electric bills.
Anyway, we did get our power walk in and here's one of the new paths the township has put in trying to create a more walkable community.

This path starts in a neighborhood a little east of the Salon.

It winds through this huge stand of old trees snaking west to the township library, just down the street from our Salon. I was quite surprised to see such large old trees in the middle of suburbia. Made for a very nice walk. After our walk, had lunch at Logan's. Craig had a cheeseburger, and I some very good ribs. And true, it wasn't good for our cholesterol, but we're on a keep your sugar, level, diet. And protein is good for sugar levels.   :-)
Spent the rest of the day mowing, and cleaning.
Now back to work, and it's looking a little slow this week, but I imagine it'll pick up.

28 years latter.

Good morning.
I discovered this in the garden a couple of days ago.

No leaves, just a long stem with these pretty flowers at the top.
I was about to post this and ask if anyone knew what it was, until I read a post over at Dirt Therapy.
It's called a Surprise Lily, as the leaves which supposedly come up in the spring, die back, and in August, (in Michigan) a stem comes up and the flowers bloom.
Craig remembers way back in 1985 when we bought the house, there was one of these at the corner of the house. He said I transplanted it somewhere, but it never came back. Now here it is, 28 years latter, and it's blooming! Crazy huh?
Anyway, it was a very busy work week, and we did walk Friday and Saturday after work. I cleaned the Salon on Sunday morning, as usual, and we walked again. Back home, I washed and waxed a car, and Craig did his usual bookwork and laundry. This morning, it's raining, so I'm letting Craig sleep in and later, we'll do our Monday running around.
That's all I have for now.....

nothing really

Good afternoon.
It's been a crazy busy week in the Salon, and tomorrow is more of the same.
We did manage to get in our power walk after work today.
Not much else to say, so here's some more flowers currently blooming in then yard.....

White and pink Joe-pye weed.

Tiger lilies.

So, have a great weekend!

a good camping trip

Good morning.
Well, to update you on our last weekend, We went to Indiana Dunes State Park.
Happy to say, we got there safe, and returned home safe, and no surprises.   :-)
We arrived during the threat of afternoon showers, but stayed dry and was able to get all set up and just in time as the sky opened up and let loose. We sat inside with cocktails watching as fellow campers arrived and set up in  the pouring rain. It actually rained pretty much all evening and into the night. Happy we weren't in a tent.   ;-)
The rain ended by morning, and we went for a little coffee walk. ate our breakfast, and got in  the car and headed into the big city of Chicago.
We avoided Millennium Park as this was the weekend for Lollapalooza. A giant music festival with 9 stages and over 300 bands. There wasn't even a chance to get tickets, as it had been sold out for weeks earlier. But that was okay, as there's always a lot to do in Chicago.   :-)
We did a little window shopping, sightseeing, and as usual, ended up out at Navy Pier, where we enjoyed some time in the beer garden listening to what sounded kind of like a Yiddish rock band.
It was fun.
Back at the campground, we fixed turkey kielbasas for dinner. 
Sunday morning, after our walk and breakfast, we headed into Michigan City for a little fun at the Blue Chip Casino, where as seems to be the plan, I ended up $30, but Craig ended down $40. I really should just leave him at the campground.   :-)
Then we went over to the big outlet mall, where Craig, with a 40% off coupon, got himself some good walking tennies.
Back at the campground, we had a light lunch, and then headed over to the beach for some sun and people watching. It was a mild sunny day, and the beach was fairly crowded. We strolled along the pavilion taking in the sun and sights. Near the one end of the pavilion there was a large family grilling some real good smelling food. It looked like thin cuts of some type of beef pounded and marinated. They also heated on the grill small tortillas and wrapped the meat in  them and ate them. They smelled delish!
So we headed back to the campground to cook our chicken thighs on the grill to eat with a pasta salad we'd bought on the way back to the campground.
Monday morning, we packed up and arrived back in Lansing. It was a very good trip!
Tuesday, we did our usual Monday running, mowed the yard, and I deadheaded flowers and weeded.
Now, it's back to work for a busy week.
And here's a few summer garden pics.

Two types of Rudbeckia. One with a green cone and the familiar Black Eyed Susan. The green cone ones get 6ft tall.

And the flowers keep coming on the water lilies.
And now, time to get going.

And he aces his test!

Good afternoon.
Yes, my absence means we were on a trip!
Our first since the expensive transmission episode.
But more on that latter.
Here I want to share Craig's test results.
We received them last Friday, as we were getting ready to leave on our trip, and with no wi-fi at our campground, had to wait to post until we got back.
Anyway. As you know, Craig was considered pre-diabetic, and had to make a few changes to avoid becoming diabetic.
He was a trooper, and his results show it...
Before his dietary and lifestyle changes, here's what his results were....

As you can see, every one of these test results were higher than the normal range.
He didn't call for a regular glucose reading as these results are a better indicator of diabetes.
After just 5 weeks of dedicated effort, here's his latest readings.....

He dropped all his scores by about half!
Not only did he bring his readings back into the normal range, he brought most of them back w-a-y normal!
I was very proud of his effort, and he was quite surprised he was able to drop the scores as much as he did. Now, no more pre-diabetic. He can probably even slide a bit and still be okay, although he says he wants to continue with his changes. I hope he does.   :-)
So, I wanted to share the good news, and I'll report on our trip, hopefully tomorrow.

a very short grassy post

Good morning.
It's been a very busy week in the Salon, and I'm crazy busy today also.
Haven't received Craig's test results yet. Still waiting.  :-\
Here's a few pics of some of my ornamental grasses...

Not much else to say, so....
Have a great weekend!