The Finished Project

Our new front patio and walkway are all done. And, may I say...they are beautiful! It is very hard to capture in pictures, but here is my best try....

First, there is the walkway from the driveway.

This is the view of our front door....

We paved over the old herb garden, and put the herbs in pots. Now I have room for a table and chairs (when I find one I like....and can afford).

The bricks cover the front steps and the porch...a real improvement from the poured concrete.

And, this one looks out from the front door....

I believe we are really going to enjoy this upgrade. Even if it means more to shovel in the winter.

My First Eagle!

I know this may only appeal to the golfers out there, but I chipped one in for eagle on my golf league tonight. It was a weird round overall. I started playing very badly, and was 12 over par after the first four holes. The eagle came on the 5th hole, then I finished par-par-bogey-par. I was really geeked by the time I finished. I probably could have played nine more, if it wasn't getting dark. Instead, I went into the club house and bought a round of drinks for the girls.
A truly fun night!

They Finally Started

OK...here we go...

I have been waiting for our contractor to start the front patio project ever since the snow melted in March. I had noticed the heave in the broken concrete walk and decided the time was right for the brick paver patio and walkway I have been dreaming about since we bought the house.

Today they broke up all the existing concrete and hauled it out to the street. They are regrading the front and then will fill it all in with brick pavers. I am really looking forward to the finished product. Then I will spend the rest of the season dividing hostas, and reworking the rest of the landscape. I am shopping for the perfect bistro table and chairs for the new patio, but I haven't found them yet. I had moved my herb garden into containers earlier. I plan to set them out in that area also. In the winter I can move them into the garage, and I should be able to harvest fresh herbs through the winter.

Fun at the Cottage

This weekend we went to our friend Patt's cottage in Lewiston. We went with my BFF and her husband. Played golf on Saturday morning, but the rest of the weekend was spent just relaxing. The Hubs did some fishing. He caught a large small-mouthed bass. It was the largest he has ever caught, at about 15 inches.

The rest of us just layed around and enjoyed the great weather.

Tomorrow, it's back to work for me. It was a great vacation, and I am really rested. Let's see how long that lasts!

We had a great canoe trip with the gang this year. The weather was spectacular, which made the trip down the river very enjoyable. We tubed, rather than canoeing, and the water was really refreshing on a hot day. After the rest of the gang went home on Sunday, we decided to stay around. We drove the west side of the peninsula from Mackinaw City down to Petoskey on Monday. It is an area that we haven't seen much on our many trips up north. As we exited the south side of Wilderness State Park, we encountered a Great Blue Heron that just wouldn't get off the road in front of us. We finally had to honk the horn to get him to fly away. Really unusual to get such a close look at one of those great birds.

From there, we continued through the Tunnel of Trees, which is really worth the drive if you have never done it before. We found the new casino in Petoskey, and spent the afternoon playing the slot machines. On Tuesday morning, we broke camp early (just before a thunder storm, luckily). Since we had been staying at the Jellystone Campground, we had to stop and say goodbye to Yogi

Then we went to Paula's Diner for breakfast. This is such a cute diner right at the Indian River exit on I75. It only seats about 50 people, but they have great food, and the biggest teapot collection I have ever seen. We stayed til the rain ended, then headed home.