Making

My daughter has been pestering asking me for some time now to share the projects she and her brother made with their dad over Christmas vacation. Now that we are less than a week away from spring break - It's time.

He taught them about electric circuits,

and how to solder. 

I was surprised just how complicated these little trees turned out to be.

The kids were very proud to show me their little blinking trees and then to teach Mama all about resisters, LEDs and jumpers. 

I'm still surprised my daughter asked me to pack her tree away with the Christmas decorations.  It's going to be fun to watch her face light up when we get it out again next year...

Get your own tree kit here. They're out of stock now, but I bet they'll have them again next fall.

Vintage Fun

This past weekend I had a great time hanging out with these folks. My friend, Ken, is a member of the group and he invited them to cross the ice, tour the island and enjoy a hot dogs and chili at Turtle Park. Ken owns a few vintage machines and asked me if I would like to drive one. (OK, he owns quite a few, but only six of them are currently on the island.)  I had a great time tootling around on this lovely little 1973 Evinrude snowmobile. It's just three years younger than I am!

I also had a great time taking a ton of pictures, and then playing around with editing software to make them look like they were taken when the snowmobiles were new. The two pictured below were probably my favorites. The one on the left is a 1963 Arctic Cat. The one on the right is a 1969 Hus-ski;  it was in amazing shape. Frank, the owner, even let me drive it. I'd love to own one, but I'm not very mechanically inclined...

The Ice Bridge

I ran across to St. Ignace this weekend to pick up a friend, and decided to take my husband's GPS tracker with me so I could get a look at the "Beeline" trail. We mapped the British Landing trail a few weeks ago, but never the trail that left the island near the school. (The more southern of the two.)

Often, in years we have good ice, it's gone and the boats are running by mid early to mid-April. There's a lot of ice out there this year - it makes me wonder how long we'll be able to cross it...

That's me pulling in to St. Ignace. Steve, thanks for the photos!

No Ice Crossing Today

As you can see, conditions on the ice were pretty awful today. Visibility was so poor (and there was a rumor about a slush hole,) the fire department was advising people to stay off the ice. It makes me wonder if the St. Ignace Fire Department was out on their end of the bridge.

If you need a reference point for the photo above, look at the second picture in this post. The red box on the shore behind us is the same box that is in front of the truck.

As I was taking pictures I noticed a line up of snowmobiles behind the truck. They didn't look like locals, so that means they probably came over before the storm hit. My husband says the visibility was much better this morning. One of the cashiers at Doud's told me one gentleman stopped in the store this afternoon and actually asked if they sold compasses. Yikes!

According to one of the fire fighters out by the ice, a number of folks ignored their warnings and crossed the ice anyway. One pair of guys, (I'm assuming they were men,) went out attempting to drive from tree to tree. The next thing they knew, they were  back on our shore. The scary part was  - they hadn't intentionally turned around. Pretty darn scary if you ask me.

 

Needless to say, except for snapping these pictures, I stayed home!

Lantern Lit Ski for Kids

Earlier this week Sue arranged a lantern-lit ski for the island kids. It was so cool. She had "real" oil lanterns every few hundred feet all the way from Greany Grove to Arch Rock.

There was a great turn out!

You may be surprised, but almost all the island kids in kindergarten through third grade have skis. They were purchased with grant money and are provided to the kids by the school. During the week the skis "live" at school, but on weekends they can go home. Gym class this time of year often involves a quick ski, and our city recreation department regularly arranges hour-long after school skis as well.

My daughter, K, has been skiing all winter long. She loves it and has gotten pretty darn good. She actually did this particular ski with two right boots. (There had been a small mix-up at school, so one of her friends skied with two left boots.) My son has been involved in the school dance team and hasn't been able to go out skiing - until this week.

I tried to get him to tell me what he thought of skiing, but all I could get out of him was, "It was fun," which was very strange because usually he's quite the chatterbox. Apparently, tonight, he was a man of few words.

The ski was a great success - I'm sure in part due to the roaring fire, hot cocoa and marshmallows that greeted the group when they returned to Greany Grove. Quite a few of the kids  are already asking Sue when they can do it again; although, next time they want to do it in the dark.

Phew!

Photo: Jason St. Onge

I wasn't on the plane this morning, but I bet it was
one of those, "Thank goodness" moments.

Photo: Tracy Quinter

Thank goodness the pilot was awesome,
thank goodness the ice was so thick,
thank goodness all seven people aboard walked away
unharmed...

You can watch the news story here.

 Photo: Tracy Quinter

Ice Crossing

The ice bridge this year is amazing - thick, smooth, and covered with snow. In some ways it is kind of a waste not to take advantage of it! It's the only time of the year we aren't bound to some kind of transportation schedule - we can just hop on the snowmobile and go. That said, the kids (now seven and nine) have never been out on the ice...

until yesterday. K was super excited, but S was about as unexcited as possible. He was very worried, "Remember what happened to Mr. George's son? I don't want that to happen to us!"

On the one hand, I was glad S was treating the ice with the respect it deserves, but on the other I wanted to reassure him that both his father and I felt it was completely safe. (Or else we wouldn't have even considered it.) We reminded him that we planned to cross with clear heads, in good weather, during daylight, and that the ice is the thickest it has been in years. We also pointed out to him, "You've never been out on the ice before because we've never felt it's been safe enough - until now. We would never take you out there if we didn't believe it was safe."

That made him feel a bit better, and he thought it would be OK to go part way across. K and Allen planned to go all the way across so they could ice fish up on Brevort Lake.

Of course, I insisted we stop to snap pictures. At that point, about 100 yards out, S decided he was done and asked to head home. So he and I said good-bye to Allen and K, turned around and headed back to shore. 

Since it was their first time out on the ice, I thought it might be fun to show the kids exactly where they went. When you're out on the ice, it's hard to fathom that you're really driving over several miles of Lake Huron. Luckily Allen had picked up a little GPS tracker at a thrift shop recently. He clipped it to his coat and it worked perfectly; charting our way down to British Landing and across the ice. (Some years there is a second trail, the "Beeline," which leaves the island at the end of the Boardwalk (near the school) and joins the British landing trail part way across.)

The path of the ice bridge changes from year to year. Ice thickness, pressure cracks, and pack ice can all alter the route of the tail. It would be interesting to map the route over several years and then plot them all on one map. 

The fisher-folk had a great day;

they stayed warm, brought home 14 delicious perch and had some great fish stories to share.

Winter Sun Dog

Yesterday, after school, the kids and I were treated to a beautiful sun dog while we ran to Doud's to pick up a few things. I haven't seen one in a long time. We saw a nice one back in 2008  and another one in 2009, but nothing lately.

Of course, the only camera I had with me was my cell phone, which doesn't take the best pictures. Since I've had my phone, I've gotten lazy. I use to carry my good camera with me pretty much everywhere I went. I need to get back into that habit...

Mackinac Moment

If I had to sum up yesterday in a word, it would have to be "blizzard." It wasn't particularly cold (it was 10 degrees, which was warmer than the day before) but it was blowing like stink. We had 40 mile (about 64 km) an hour winds pretty much all day. Two of our teachers, who had left the island early in the morning to go to a professional development class in Sault Ste. Marie, ended up turning around when the driving conditions got really bad. The farther north they drove, the worse the roads got; less than halfway to the Soo they turned around and headed back south. Things got so bad the State Police closed I-75 and US-2 due to poor visibility, and the Mackinac Bridge Authority closed the bridge due to high winds. So glad I was safe at home...

Photo: Stephanie Baxter

Heritage Day

Yesterday was the first Heritage Day Party on Mackinac. Designed as a day for locals to get together, relax and share old photos, it wasn't really advertised.  From two until five there were kids games outside and lots of photographs and good conversation inside. A number of folks brought out stacks of old pictures and family albums, while others literally took pictures off the walls. I've only been here 21 years and it was a nice walk down memory lane for me - I can only imagine how wonderful it must have been for the folks my parent's age. 

The afternoon was on the quiet side with adults chatting and kids wandering in and out, but after five, the band came out and people let their hair down. Well, I'm assuming they let their hair down - the kids and I left a little after four. We had to get home and get ready for sleepovers...

Drama

There's been a wee bit of drama on Mackinac over the last few days. Drama over snowmobile helmets. It's winter, it's quiet, there's change in the air, so, of course, everyone's talking about it...

I'll be honest. I own a helmet (it's so old it still labeled with my maiden name,) but until Monday, I've rarely actually worn it. (For the record, my children do wear their helmets 99% of the time and I always wear it when I go out on the ice or when I ride on the mainland.) Over the 20 plus years I've lived on Mackinac Island, to my knowledge, the helmet law has never really been enforced. Many people on the island only drive about 15 miles an hour (about 24 km) and only drive a mile or two each day - if that much.

Well, now the police are starting to enforce Michigan's helmet law. While I don't like wearing my helmet, it is the law, and it does set a good example for my children, so I'll wear it without too much complaining. Plus, I've been told the ticket for not wearing one is 180 bucks. Yikes!

A Little Late for Christmas

There is a little girl living in my house who decided yesterday was the day for her tooth to be out. She asked her father to pull it out with dental floss. He tried twice, but both times the floss broke. (Yeah, I couldn't watch.) When she makes up her mind about getting a tooth out, she gets tunnel vision and wants it out now. Sometimes I'm amazed at that little girl's pain tolerance. 

Well, after much wiggling, she asked her dad to try again today. This time it popped right out and hit his glasses. She's thrilled and looking forward to the Tooth Fairy's visit. Though, she doesn't want to put the tooth into the beautiful little bird shaped tooth box her Aunt Kelaine gave to her because, "I don't get as much money when I use the box. And I want money!" (Luckily that made her Aunt chuckle.) Now we're all laughing as we enjoy her toothless grin.

Off the Couch

I decided to think of today as a gift; an extra  10 hours I wouldn't ordinarily have had. I often feel like there aren't enough hours in the day, so it made sense to me to use my extra time to get stuff done.

We started the day with homework. Well, actually we started with  pancakes, but then it was on to spelling. It made sense to me to get homework out of the way right off the bat. While the kids finished up their work, I tackled the Christmas tree. I don't love artificial trees, but it has simplified things for us. This morning I managed to take off all the ornaments, pack them away, and  dismantle the tree.

Somehow I also managed to process and felt two batches of wool sweaters and to wash, dry and fold two loads of laundry.

Then, since I still had energy left I went around and completely de-christmased the house. I packed everything away and carried all the tubs down to the basement. I even sorted through the decorations and pulled out a bag to toss and a bag to take to Goodwill the next time I'm on the mainland.

Right after lunch, my daughter, her friend and I built a fort in the living room. The boys were too busy with Minecraft while we built, but once it was up, they couldn't keep away. I mean, who can resist a fort?

The kids forted for a while and then they settled down to watch Enchanted, which, by the way, is cuter than I anticipated. While the kids watched, I popped upstairs, measured and pinned, and then came back and hemmed a pair of pants while we watched the movie. 

Since I wasn't dead on my feet yet, I thought I'd start on some dinner. Vegetable soup and honey buns -

 yum. But now, I'm bushed. It feels good to have all the Christmas decorations put away, the laundry done and my pants ready to wear, but I think I'm ready for bed...

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

It's mighty cold in these parts; delightfully cold. Sure the wind chill was -25 (about -30 C) this afternoon and my cheeks and thumbs hurt when I got off the snowmobile after school, but those frigid temperatures are forming an ice bridge, and caused this note to go home today.

"Snow days" on Mackinac are few and far between, so this was an unexpected surprise. (The wind chills tomorrow are supposed to be in the -30s.) 

Tomorrow is like an extra day in my week. Luckily I have a rather long "to do" list, but then again I may not get off the couch...

2014

2014...

When did that happen?' I can't believe  how quickly this year has flown by. It seems like the older I get the faster the years seem to go by. But I can't complain; I love watching one season flow into the next and the kids grow and change.

I know most people don't keep New Year's resolutions, but the new year always gets me thinking about  the changes I'd like to make in my life.

This year I'd like to focus on health. Not exercise (we do pretty well in that department) but eating better, eating healthier. To me, right now, that means eating meals with more vegetables and less fat.

Eating well has been a challenge for me. I tend to be tired when I get home from work, and have little interest in spending time cooking dinner. I'm getting better at using the crock pot, but I still need to grow a lot in this area. My husband loves to cook, but to me it's just another chore...

We tend to eat a lot of frozen vegetables, given that we only grocery  shop every couple of weeks to once a month. With a shopping schedule like that, keeping fresh vegetables on hand is a challenge. 

Any help anyone has to offer would be greatly appreciated. Do you have some great healthy recipes? That "go to" dish you make often because it's quick and easy (and hopefully healthy?) Please send your ideas my way.

I'm going to start out slow and try to cook at least one new thing each week. Here are a few recipes I've found so far: Hungarian Goulash, Vegetable & Chickpea Curry, Garlic Chicken, Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff, Crock Pot Lasagna, and Chicken and Dumplings.