Blueberry time

Summer in Michigan brings lots of fruit! This month it's blueberries. Jen, my partner in fruit crime, and I went picking at the Dexter Blueberry Farm. The blueberries are big and sweet this year even in the face of the drought. The farm was packed with blueberries and people. Oddly enough there were kids everywhere yelling out the mantra, "there are millions over here" and "there are billions over here".

Jen and I didn't pick millions or billions, but we did get hundreds... 

This is the first time I have ever seen how blueberries are grown

 They are so good, that I decided that they shall be eaten in their natural form, or with pancakes...

Check out the gorgeous color of blue.

No breakfast would be complete without one of my favorite coffee mugs made by my friend Allison Shock. http://threestarowl.com/

Summer in Michigan

Summer is full of things to do here in Michigan, so my Mom is coming for her first visit.

It started out pretty scary for her, the first flight she got on was diverted back to Phoenix due to an engine failing.... Then the chance she would not be able to get another flight.... But she made it safely and we are having a great time exploring.

At the airport waiting for arrival

The Ann Arbor Art Fair started in 1960 as one street length, since then it has grown to 4 fairs and takes up the majority of the downtown and campus. The event attracts over 500,000 people. Most of the art is juried, but the fair also includes some political booths and food vendors.
We walked for miles and had a great time looking at the art.

Me and Mom

Traverse City, MI

Last week we went to Traverse City and got to spend time with some friends. We walked on the beach of Lake Michigan, tasted some fabulous wines and had the best cherries we have ever eaten.

This is the old State Hospital, it has been restored and now houses several fantastic artisan shops and restaurants.

Lake Michigan at sunset

Wine barrels at Left Foot Charlie winery.

The view of Lake Michigan from Chateau Chantal Winery. 

Beach bench

At the Grand Traverse Distillery we tasted their rye vodka, wheat vodka, cherry vodka, and two types of whiskey.  

The distill

Happy 4th of July!

Hoping to see lots of kids with farm animals in tow, Gordon and I went to the Ann Arbor 4th of July parade. Although there were no farm animals, there were lots of fun things to see. Here are some photos for you to enjoy:

Gorgeous police horses

Kids Bikes

Baton twirlers

Every parade needs a princess or two or three.

The ukulele club

Ann Arbor Derby Dames

Eat your veggies!

This truck was FULL of balls ready to explode into the street causing kid hysteria.

The lawnmower drill team!

The End!

Sights and sounds of summer

Summer in Michigan is spent outdoors. Downtown is crazy busy, the restaurants and shops are full of people hanging out and the lakes and rivers are full of people boating, kaiaking and canoeing.

Each morning I am awoken by a multitude of different birds chirping and socializing and the squirrels talking to each other.

Yesterday I noticed the cicadas for the first time. The sound they make brings back memories from my childhood.  My grandma lived in an older part of Phoenix since the 40's and she had very mature citrus trees in her backyard. During the summers, we would spend lots of time in her yard playing in the irrigation and collecting the molted cicada skins from the trees.

Lots of time is spent in the yard here too. Since our yard has grass, I got us a Bocce Ball set. I have always wanted one, but playing it on desert landscaping really isn't much fun!

Hope you are finding ways to stay cool and enjoy your summer!

Strawberries and Festivals

Yesterday I went picking strawberries with my neighbor, Jen.

Strawberries waiting for their fate

Decided to make jam.
Strawberries cooking.

Finished jam!

I ♥ strawberries!

 Every summer Ann Arbor hosts the Summer Festival http://www.annarborsummerfestival.org/, tonight after enjoying dinner at one of our favorites restaurants downtown, we wandered around this evening's concert.

Yes, it is still that light out at 9:20 pm!

Gardening Green

One of my favorite things about summer is being able to walk into your back yard and picking something fresh from the garden to eat. Here is our mini garden supplied with most of the plants we use on a regular basis. And yes, tomatoes. Biting into a tomato right off the vine, still warm from the sun, is still one of my favorite memories from childhood and continues to make me smile every time I get the opportunity to do it again.

This year we came upon a planter called an Earth Box. Its a self watering planter. You fill the planter with water that is stored in the bottom of the planter, when the soil needs water it is wicked up from the reservoir. So far it has worked wonderfully. We planted 3 tomatoes and they are getting big. http://www.earthbox.com/

 Here are the first plants.  

Once we started getting tomatoes, I decided that 3 plants was not enough. I found directions on making your own self watering planter for about half the cost. The one I made is the grey and black planter. I filled with 4 tomatoes, Rosemary and Oregano.   http://www.josho.com/gardening.htm

Sage, Thyme, and Cilantro

Here is the Oregano and Basil. My garden would never be complete without Basil. We use Basil at least 4-5 days a week. It goes with almost anything. Once the tomatoes are ripe, Caprese salad will be a daily lunch special at this house! And a basil martini is delish too!

The Oregano and one of the silver spoon markers I made.

Basil

And our garden would never be complete without a chihuahua or two!

Pico

Speedy G