Courage Tiger goes to Italy

Some of you know that one of my favorite charities is Beads of Courage http://www.beadsofcourage.org/
and I regularly donate beads and help out however I can.
Courage Tiger is the Beads of Courage mascot and I took him with us to Italy! We took several pics of him in Florence with beads and will attach those photos with the beads to be donated so that it gives the beads another meaning for children that cannot travel due to their current illness. Here are the photos we took.

Hanging out with friends in Firenze Italy

One of my favorite modes of transportation

Next to Italy's famous flowers

Rubbing the boar's nose will bring you good luck and will ensure you come back to Italy!

One of my ancestors?

The beads that we brought

Wearing beads sitting by the Arno looking at the Ponte Vecchio

I am also honored that I have recently been elected the Team Beads of Courage Regional Coordinator for Michigan. http://www.beadsofcourage.org/pages/teamboc.htm
I am super excited to have another opportunity to help out.

Behind again...

Sorry, I have been slow to post again.... Lots has happened so we will play catch up really fast.

Blueberry picking:

"Most of Michigan’s commercial blueberry production is located in Southwest Michigan where sandy glacial soils and high water tables result in excellent blueberry soils. These soils are moist with soil pHs in the 4.5 to 5.5 range. Over 20 blueberry varieties are grown in Michigan. The Michigan harvest season normally runs from late June through October." Taken from MSU.edu. 

 I have been picking twice at the Dexter Blueberry Farm and have had good luck finding the bigger berries since they are located at the top of the bushes and I luckily I am tall.

Here is what they look like on the bush.

Rows of bushes

My final amount, I think it was about 15 cups worth.

The blueberries were great, but the highlight of the day was seeing these Sandhill Cranes. This is the first time I have seen them this close up. Such graceful birds.

In case you were wondering, I made blueberry cobbler with 1/2 the batch, froze some for pancakes and ate the rest. Yum!