Merry Christmas

This year my students sewed snowmen to give to their parents for Christmas. I promised them I wouldn't share this picture until today so I wouldn't ruin their surprise. Hopefully, the presents have all been unwrapped and it is now safe for me to share.

I hope you are impressed with their snowmen. Each of those kids hand-sewed every stitch of their project. My favorite part is the carrot button noses. I was so excited to find those on Amazon!

(Six of my eight fifth and sixth graders are in the picture above.)

Island Style Christmas Tree

My friend, Travis, picked up his Christmas tree the other day; and of course since he lives on Mackinac, he got his tree home on his snowmobile.

Supporting Our Community

Every year my co-teacher and I work with our students to create items to sell at Mackinac Island's annual Christmas Bazaar. 

This year they created the cutest little Christmas trees made from yarn wrapped around a cone,

complete with little felt "lights."

The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth graders made quite a few trees, which brough in almost $300, but teaching them to donate their time to important causes was priceless. (All the money raised at the Christmas Bazaar goes to support the Mackinac Island Community Foundation, the Mackinac Island Medical Center, and the Island's churches.) 

2024 Christmas Cookies

December kind of snuck up on me this year, so I have been a cookie-making machine lately. This year's varieties include: zimtsterne, zitronenherzen, caramel springerle,  Nurnberger, spritzgeback, Scottish shortbread, ginger, stamped chocolate, Oreo truffles, peanut butter blossoms, and pretzel turtles. 

I just love making Christmas cookies. OK, who am I kidding? I enjoy making Christmas cookies, but I love eating Christmas cookies!

My kids, both home for the holidays, love eating them, too. Hopefully they will read my note so I'll have enough to pack into the cookie tins I give away.

This year I had a custom cookie mold made. The maker did an amazing job - I was a little worried about those tiny spots in the top of the bridge, but the springerle mold worked beautifully with both the springerle and chocolate dough.

All Tied Up

I was at my favorite thrift shop the other day and this display stopped me in my tracks. I'm guessing someone who loved bowties passed away and his loved ones donated them to the shop. Some lovely person spent quite a bit of time making all those ties. (I'm guessing they are homemade because I purchased some of the same fabric at Joann's.) Priced at $3.00 each they're going to make a bowtie-loving person very happy!

Letters to Santa

Getting kids to write can be challenging, so when I saw a Facebook post from our local Postmaster about her Santa mailbox, I started plotting. My fifth and sixth graders need to be able to write five-paragraph essays, so why not turn those into letters to Santa explaining why their names should be included on his Nice List. It worked perfectly; they were engaged and worked hard to clearly describe the three reasons each of their names should be on the list.

Once their essays were revised, edited, and printed, we addressed them and headed to the Mackinac Island Post Office to put them in the box. Thank you Molly for making this assignment more fun and include a field trip!

Camilla Returns

It's December in my classroom and that means Camilla the Christmas Chicken comes back for her yearly visit.  My students were so excited to come into the classroom to see what she brought them. (She brought a puzzle from this book, if you're curious.)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

While my family does not share my enthusiasm for vintage ceramic Christmas trees, they make me happy. And since it's "that time of year," they are all over the house! Do you have a favorite holiday decoration?

Thankful

I am so thankful to have this husband. He singlehandedly planned and cooked Thanksgiving dinner for nine. All I had to do was make desert (cheesecake and pecan pie, if you're wondering.) And yes, his cooking is delicious! 

Treat

I wasn't super excited about having to catch the first boat this morning, but the sunrise brightened my day, literally.

When Life Gives You Lemons

When life gives you lemons,

and you happen to have chickens,

(so needing 32 egg yolks isn't an issue)

what should you do?

 Make homemade lemon curd, of course?

One of the Island's hotels closed for the season and donated all their remaining produce to the school. Our cook pulled out the items he could use, and then the leftovers were put out for staff and parents to take (so noting would go to waste.) Not many people were interested in the big box of lemons, so I snagged enough to make two batches of lemon curd. I also got enough cream cheese to make a cheesecake for Thanksgiving.  One guess what flavor it will be!

Hard Days

I've had some hard days lately. Someone I care very much about is going through some things that, quite frankly, I can't help them with. Other than letting them know how much I care and that I'm here for them, there is not a darn thing I can do, and it's killing me. I'm a take action and solve the problem kind of person, and right now I can't do squat and I hate it. And I know if my days have been hard, their days have been much, much harder.

Then there's the worry. Some days I am physically ill with worry for this person. I tend to be on the anxious side to begin with, so throw in some actual serious concern and my anxiety goes through the roof. 

Logically I know they have to deal with this and it's their issue, but it's still hard not to be able to help. And I'm told that when I get anxious, I come across as angry. Which I'm not. I don't mean to seem angry. I just wish I could help.... I know. I'm sorry.... This is a long rant with very little context, but putting it in print is helping me deal with it.

Perhaps this person might see this and come to realize I am not upset with them, but rather I am upset about their situation and just wish there was some way I could be of help.

Ready for Winter

Chickens don't require huge amounts of work, but there are things you have to do to keep them. One of the most dreaded chicken-chores is cleaning out the chicken coop. Luckily, my coop is small so cleaning it isn't an overwhelming task. 

Today I managed to cross that job off my Fall To Do List. The girls now have a clean coop, complete with new nesting material. As soon as I finished, several of the girls had to pop inside to check out their newly cleaned digs. I can't tell if Princess Poopy Pants is pleased, or if that is a look of disapproval.

If you're wondering why there is a phone taped to the wall in the chicken coop - it is being used as a camera. I can open an app on my phone to check to see if the automatic door has opened or closed. The automatic door makes owning chickens soooooooooooo much easier!

Hopeful

I took my fifth and sixth grade class with me to the poles today. I've never taken my class before, but we've been studying the US Constitution and it seemed like the perfect field trip. And, since it's Mackinac Island, our poling place is an eight minute walk from the school, so why not. Our poll workers were gracious; they explained each step of the voting process to my class and answered every question the kids threw at them, including: 

• What happens if you forget your ID - can you still vote? 
• What if you don't have hands and can't sign the form?
• If you can't read, can you bring a friend to help you?
• How does the voting machine work?
• Has the machine ever broken down? Then what happens?
• How many people will vote (here) today?

I tried to be upbeat and positive, and not let the kids see the almost overwhelming feeling of dread I have in the pit of my stomach, but when I start to get anxious I remind myself that I am hopeful.

Hopeful a majority of my fellow Americans choose wisely.

Love

One of my absolute favorite Mackinac "things" is the sound of freighters traveling through the Round Island Passage. Several passed by while I was teaching today and I couldn't help but smile. So much better than listening to car traffic!

Night-Night

Today Grand Hotel's gardeners were hard at work planting tulip bulbs. They tucked the bulbs into their earthy beds, so come spring we will be treated to displays like this:

I can't even begin to imagine what their bulb budget might be...

Fall Favorites

 Mackinac is beautiful in any season,

but I am quite partial to fall. 

Unbelievable

We have had the most amazing fall in northern Michigan. The weather has been incredible! Today, Allen and I ate dinner outside, without coats, because it was 67 degrees! Later, while I was scrolling on Facebook, I was reminded that eleven years ago on October 22, Mackinac already had snow. We're supposed to get cooler weather later in the week, but for now we are happily soaking up these warm days.

Autumn

A tapestry of terra cotta, gold, and brown;

leaves dance and swirl,

then slowly drift down.

They make a fragrant carpet - 

with earthy scent so deep,

a place where the woodland whispers

secrets nature keeps.

Northern Lights Over Mackinac

Thursday night, much of the northern United States was treated to the northern lights. Despite it being a school night, we're completely nerdy people so there was no way we weren't going out to see them. Thankfully Mother Nature cooperated and gave us a mostly cloud-free sky.

My pictures aren't nearly as impressive as many other folk's are, but they do more accurately reflect what we were able to see with just our eyes: lots of red. At one point it almost looked like the sky was being illuminated by a nearby forest fire - it was that bright.

Things started early. Allen and I were at Point Lookout, with out camp chairs, by 9:30 enjoying the show. It changed minute by minute, varying between red and green, bright and dim, and where in the sky the lights danced. It was absolutely stunning. Surprisingly, we had Point Lookout virtually to ourselves. It seemed like just about everyone else went to Fort Holmes or the airport.

We packed up and biked home at about 10:45, grinning from ear to ear the entire way. 

Capital City Comic Con

Back in February I posted about working on my Princess Leia costume, but I just realized I never posted pictures from the comic con. We had a blast! The Lansing Comic Con isn't huge, but it was a prefect con for us to start with. We had a great time. My favorite moment was getting my picture taken with a little Ghostbuster. She told me Princess Leia was her favorite Star Wars character and that she had been trying to catch up with me to get a picture. He dad was kind enough to snap a picture with my camera as well. I also got to hear Tim Russ, who played Tuvok on Star Trek Voyager, speak and answer questions; which made my nerd heart happy.

I went with my good friend, Keith. He's an incredible maker! He really doesn't appreciate it when I brag about his talents, but he really is incredible (and modest.) The man can make / build pretty much anything - his Boba Fett costume for instance. While he bought the jumpsuit and helmet, he 3D printed, built, and painted the rest of it. He even made all the hard parts of my costume, including my helmet, blaster, etc. 

Now we've got to start planning for next year! The nerd in me is thinking Star Trek, but who knows...

Happiness Is

Not only did I get invited to a cook out at a friend's house today, but Mackinac was treated to a beautiful rainbow. I wasn't able to catch a photo, but for a while it was a double rainbow!

Disapproving

We spent the weekend up in Marquette visiting the kids up at Northern Michigan University. Since we were there, we took the kids on a little shopping trip to Meijer. As we drove out of the parking lot, I got the distinct impression Meijer did not approve of our choices - probably because we tried to stick to a budget! Lol.

Glorious

Fall is, by far, my favorite season on Mackinac. Many days, like today, are practically perfect weather wise.

I'm Loving It

One of folks in my city harvested seeds from her hollyhock flowers and put them on her fence to share with all. I just love this this is the kind of town I live in!

Good Morning

This time of year I'm quite busy. School has started so I am teaching, but I'm also still housekeeping at one of the Island's historic cottages. To keep up with everything, I often stop at the cottage to do laundry before school. While it does mean my day starts very early, it also means I get to enjoy a Mackinac sunrise. I can't think of a better way to start the day! 

Old Faithful Inn

Lots of people are surprised to hear my family likes to vacation away from Mackinac Island. When you live in a vacation destination, that place is just everyday life for you, so of course we want to get away and spend time somewhere else. Part of this summer's Yellowstone and Grand Teton trip involved a stay at the Old Faithful Inn. I hadn't heard of it, but it was close to the the top of my mother-in-law's bucket list.

Much of the 1903 section of the hotel looks like it did when it first opened - including rooms in which guests still have to use lavatories located down the hall. Additions were put on in 1913 and again in 1927 (where we stayed.) A few of us took a tour of the building, which was quite interesting. We learned the architect, Robert Reamer, used local lodgepole pine from the park to build it. 

Many of the light fixtures in the hotel are original. The simple fact the building survived the summer of 1988 fires is a miracle.

Unless you're inside the building, it is hard to get a feel for the sheer scale of the building! It's HUGE!

  

The main lobby is 76 feet tall!

There is even a tree house at the the top of the building's peak. Sadly, the little house had to close after several deadly hotel fires forced the U.S. government to regulate the number of exits in hotels. (Today, two are required for all public areas._ But, on our tour we learned six lucky people get to access that part of the hotel each day. Those six slots literally book up within hours on the first day the hotel begins taking reservations for the next season!

Old Faithful's eruption times were clearly posted all around the hotel. You literally walk out the front door, turn the corner, and the Old Faithful geyser is right there.

Seeing Old Faithful with my own eyes was on my bucket list, and it was incredible. It was definitely one of the highlights of our trip.