Yacth Club, Docks In, Mowed Grass, 15th Birthday, & Good Neigbors

                                                                    April 26, 2016

We have had several people who live in town, tell us we should join the Boyne City Yatch Club to meat new people. There are 600 members, and you do not need to own a boat. It's a beer drinking club, no fancy stuff. For $30 a year, we decided to join. At the first event that was held at a local boat shop, they served pizza, Hors-D'oeuvres and wine and beer. I am sure Joe was thinking, "I'm going get that $30 back, in no time"! After eating and a social time, we were invited to wander around the boat building shop. Joe stands in front of a wood boat that is being build from ground up.

The Tattler 2 is just about finished.

Inside of the back of the boat.

Going forward in the boat.

Here is another boat. Not sure if it is just being worked on or being build for someone in Lake Geneva.

On April 28th, our dock was scheduled to go in.

It just amazes me to see these guys pick up the docks by themselves. This guy carried it on his back going down the rock wall embankment. Scared the  crap out of me watching him do that. If he slipped, he would have no hands to catch himself or the dock would smash him as he fell.

I asked how the water was, and I got a "Very Cold" answer. We started to see docks and boat hoists go in around April 13 which is really early around here.

We were the first dock in our block to go in.

Dillion also moved a big rock to make the boat hoist going in easier.

These guys must be pure muscle to carry and move this stuff. I know their backs are going to be bad if they do this for years. Dillion got his leg caught in front of the hoist bar as it was rolling down the hill, which scared me and him both.

I was just glad they were both OK when they finally got the job done.

Mallery has had some good days and has enjoyed rolling in the grass. The next video was much longer, but I had to cut it way down in order to download it. I took the video on my I phone, but then posted it to my Window's laptop. They don't seem to like each other much.

My neighbor Mindy's Hyacinths had been coming up and every time I walk Mallery up the alley, I got this wonderful aroma. I sent Mindy a picture of her flowers, so she could enjoy them too, minus aroma.

I try to wash Mallery's face everyday to clean her sleepy's out of her eyes, but because our schedule is so demanding with her, it get undone many days and then it is a real chore to get out. It gets matted in her long hair under her eyes. I then have to hold a wet rag over those areas to soften the gunk. She has always been a bobble head (won't hold her head still) making this task challenging. On this day I decided to wrapped the rag around her eyes and muzzle, and she just laid there.

She got into a relaxed mood and just chilled. I guess she is a spa girl!

On May 2 2016, I enjoyed my morning coffee celebrating my little girl's 15th Birthday. Who knew she would make 15. I remember praying to God to let her make 13, when all her health problems started.

This is not her on my cup, but it's one of my favorite cups. On her Birthday I like to take pictures with her Birthday hat on, but I couldn't find it anyway. Who knows where it is, from all our moving from the bus and moving van last summer. We sang Happy Birthday and gave her even extra special food which is hard because she get the best of the best already.

Before the moral Mushroom Festival started, I found 2 very small mushrooms next to the driveway at our little convenience store down the road. Joe enjoyed them with his eggs one morning.

Our neighbor Mindy came up from down state Michigan (her main home). When she comes, we like to have her over for happy hour. The night before she left, she invited us over for Hor D'oeuvre's and wine. We feel "Blessed" to have her as a neighbor. We need to step up our game a bit I guess.

The morning Mindy headed back home, she brought over some of her flowers. My dinning room had this wonderful aroma for about a week. Funny thing was, Joe could never smell the beautiful aroma.

Most day's Mallery is a picky eater, picking through her fresh daily made gourmet dinners. She picks out the new stuff and throws out the rest. Sometimes she can be so frustrating. But I have to remind myself, I am lucky she is still eating.

The above picture is of another early morning, that Mallery woke me up. She went through a couple of weeks of getting me up and  pooping in her diaper. I guess she got her days and nights mixed up. Nothing like having to wake up to clean up the poo from your dogs hair on her back end. Glad that ended and she is back pooping during the day.

During the first week of May on a very cold and windy weekend, we saw two jet ski's go by with people not wearing wet suits. You got to be kidding! The picture is not good with shooting through the screen, and I only got the last one going by. I put the picture in only to remind me to tell this story. We decided they were putting in their jet ski's from the marina just east of us. That was why they were hugging the shoreline. The water is still so cold, and I have heard news reports that you have 6 minutes in the water before you go hypodermic. I think I would wait a bit before putting them in. I am sure by the time they got to their dock and ski hoist, they were freezing.

Just another cute picture of my Mallery after rolling in fresh cut grass that her dad just mowed. I can tell she loves the smell of it, and I am sure it reminders her of her younger years in Iowa.

After she was done, I had to pick a lot of grass out of her hair, but that is OK. I just love seeing her enjoying her senior years.

First Weeks Up North

                                                      Monday April 4, 2016

We got home, and found we love our new windows which add more light and a broader view.

The next day we got some more new snow.

Joe got to see if his snow blower worked after 7 years of storage.

He wanted to sell it, but I told him we should keep it, just in case we ended up someway that snowed! Glad he listen to me.

The next day we had a beautiful snow fallen view with a lake view to boot!

Because our counter tops were not in yet, after a week of using paper plates, and plastic utensils, and washing what we didn't have in paper or plastic in the bathroom sink, I got smart. I bought some plastic tubs and toted water from the bathroom to do the dishes. Good thing, because the counter and sink didn't come for another 4 weeks.

While waiting for the counter tops and sink, I tried to figure out the paint color. The original color that the interior decorated helped me pick out, ended up being too dark. With the 3 new windows, we have a ton of natural light which makes everything darker and orange when the sun shine in. Kim, the sales girl who helped us pick out our floor, and backslash tile, also an interior designer came by to measure. When she saw my paint swatches, she suggested mixing two of my paint colors to tone down the orange and to lighten the original color. (Our chair is coming off looking a strange color- it is a cream color in reality)

So I did, but still was not happy with what it produces. I then mixed other color paints I had.

I continued into the kitchen for more wall space and to check the color it that light.

And then under the new windows. You would not believe how light changes the color.

Then under the other windows. I tried a paint color I had in our guest bath, which I really love, and it had tones of orange in our dining room. They look like totally different colors of paint.

You can come up with many shades, with one part this and 2 parts of that, or 2 parts and 2 parts of each. You get the picture. This is a sign of an anal person (or crazy person) who is trying to find the perfect color of paint.

Soon after the snow, we had a warming trend, and it didn't take long to melt all the white stuff.

In the shadows we still had a few piles left though.

Especially in front of our garage. Joe got a shovel to help hurry along the process. I think he is loving all this home owners stuff. NOT!

The lake is crystal clear with no boat action. You can see the rock bottom a long ways out. This side of the lake is all rock bottom. The other side is sand bottom, which makes it much more expensive to live on.

Joe and I had made bets on when we would see the first boat. I bet around the first of May. Joe bet in April. Joe won! This was April 14th. We actually saw 3 boats on this day. This was a fishermen, but we also saw speed boats.

On April 17th we got in the high 70's. We saw many docks going in on this weekend.

I couldn't find some medicine that Mallery had been taking since she was 6 years old. I always got it at Walgreens. Walgreens told me that the drug was not being made anymore. I called all the pharmacy's and was told the same thing. I call her veterinary that prescribed it years ago and he told me to ask for a alternative drug. No one carried that drug either. I called my vet in Gulf Shores and she said she could mail it to me, but it would take 5 days to get to me. I told her to over night it, but she said she could not. While waiting for the drug, Mallery seemed to be having problems, especially at night. The drug is for her collapsing trachea. It is a bronchodilator. By the second night she was pacing and and an occasional bark almost all night. Of course this was on a weekend. On Monday I called a veterinary and made an appointment. I needed anything they could do to help. I had gone 2 nights without sleep. They carried the drug and gave me enough to get through until my order came in the mail. The picture above is one of the positives of this ordeal with Mallery. (5am sunrise). The veterinary thought there must be something else to be causing Mallery so much distress, but wanted to see how she reacted to the medicine. After 2 days on her meds, there was a definite change for the best, and with in 4 days, she was her old Mallery self.

Mallery lately likes to bury her head under her blankets.

A foggy morning on the lake.