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.