The Birthday

Saturday was Steve's birthday so we celebrated by eating dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant in Lansing. We were missing Marta, especially, that evening. Next Saturday she and Gabriel are returning to Michigan from their visit to Spain. Our dinner seemed especially tasty that evening, maybe because the restaurant was almost empty and the chef had more time to devote to his cooking. Here's Steve on the sofa at home relaxing afterwards.

Sunday Tony barbequed steaks so here they are, Steve helping his dad with the barbeque. We had a good time and really enjoyed Steve's visit.

Hello and Goodbye

Here are two of my favorite little girls, Ann Marie and Mary Jo. Ann Marie is 4 years old and is a princess. She loves her bear, playing with puzzles and watching a Barbie video. Mary Jo is 2 years old, loves Dora and reading books. The girls visit me often and I always enjoy their sweet loving natures. When they arrive at my house, they run to give hugs and kisses, while shouting "Grandma". Aren't they beautiful?




My students move to our Michigan community, often staying four or five years, then returning to their homes in Japan. While practicing English we share much about life here in the Midwest. They become my friends. Friday afternoon Yuko came to see me before moving to another American city; we will miss her very much!



Today is August 26, Steve's birthday. He is coming home today and we will celebrate. More later........

Old Friends

Old friends are the best! Here are my old friends today at lunch. We have been together for a long time, maybe 25 years or more. We all worked at the same school and shared many ups and downs through the years. From left to right in the picture please see Pat, me, Mickey, Pat (yes, two Pat's!) and Donna. The ladies in the picture are just a few of my old friends---there are many more and everyone is important to me! Now many of us are retired and we have time to get together for lunch occasionally. There are wonderful lively discussions which are a mix of what happened years ago with what is happening now. Sometimes we talk about local news or world events. Sometimes the discussions are “spirited”. I really appreciate and highly value all my old friends.

Zucchini Magic

Our garden is bursting with vegetables! Yesterday I harvested tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, eggplant, and zucchini. Several packages of green beans were prepared for the freezer. Tomatoes were made into sauce and frozen. The kitchen counter is full of still more vegetables!

Zucchinis grow so quickly that we can’t imagine what to do with them. There are the zucchini jokes about how to get rid of them, for example tossing them into open car windows.
Cathy suggests slicing the zucchini, dipping the slices in egg white, and frying in olive oil until browned.

Zucchini bread is a family favorite. Pictured you can see the zucchini freshly picked from our garden and the resulting zucchini bread. Tony likes chopped walnuts added; our children do not. I’m planning to make several loaves to keep in the freezer. Here’s my recipe:

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
½ cup oil
2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup chopped nuts (optional)
2 cups zucchini, shredded

Mix all ingredients. Fill 2 regular sized bread pans or 4 small pans not more than 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour for regular sized pan or 50 minutes for small pans. I check the doneness by poking with a toothpick; if it comes out clean, they are done.

Last Day

All our house projects are done so now we’re having a day of relaxation. This morning we went hiking. There is a 1000 acre State Recreation Area near here where Tom often goes biking. We did a 45 minute hike there. Last night we spotted a large black bear crossing the road not too far from the house. I am just a little aware of bears now so I was on the lookout, but we didn’t see any today. At the entrance to the recreation area there were three minibuses full of prisoners working on cutting the grass. Everyone was very nice; theirsupervisors moved the buses so we were able to park and everything was fine. Here you can see a picture of Tony on the hiking trail.

The bottom picture shows my current projects. I’m studying sock knitting using the book, Sensational Knitted Socks. It contains a first sock called “class sock” designed to teach sock knitting. The purple socks in the picture are based on that pattern. I think they will be a good size for Scarlett. Next you can see a sock that I began yesterday in red and darker colors self striping yarn. I’ve restarted it several times because of needle size problems. I’m now using size 3’s so it looks like it might be okay. On the left of the picture you can see my latest dishcloth, almost finished. These are easy and mindless knitting. I’ve made several and love mixing the colors. The top left is a sock knitting bag I made.You can see Gabriel’s picture on it, and Scarlett’s picture is on the other side. I printed these pictures on a fabric printing sheet in the ink jet printer.

There’s nothing like a knitting bag with grandchildren’s pictures for a Crafty Grandma!

What We Did on Our Summer Vacation!

We are at Tom and Kelly's lake house in Eldred, New York, and here you see us hard at work. Here I am in my painting outfit, brush in hand, and a can of wood stain. I am staining the deck and stairs which go across two sides of the house including the front which faces the lake. Yesterday and today I worked on the surface of the deck and stairs. Luckily I came prepared with old clothes ready for this task because my shirt and pants quickly became covered with stains. I like working on the deck and stairs because the wood stain just has to be slapped on. Not shown in the picture is the greater challenge, applying the wood stain to the trims of four windows on the lower level. Windows are a little frustrating because the stain wants to drip and run on the window glass and everywhere! Then I need to stop and scrub it off. It takes a lot more time to do the windows than the deck and the stairs.

Tony has been working on several tasks as well. Here you can see him, shovel in hand, in the driveway. The lake house has a steep downhill driveway, pretty rough, and a little tricky to drive down. After every winter and spring season, it needs a lot of attention because it loses its gravely surface. This spring there were floods here on the East Coast; the nearby Delaware River was flooded as well as many houses. A lot of the driveway gravel has been washed out and Tony was replacing it and making it more level.

Tomorrow we're going to have a fun day before returning to Michigan. We 're going to an interesting place for hiking and we'll have a seafood dinner in a restaurant recommended by Tom and Kelly. The weather this week has been so beautiful and we're enjoying ourselves very much. It is good to change your routine and get away to a new spot.

The Lake House Part 2

The Grillman was doing his magic at the barbeque. Here you can see him at the grill on the balcony overlooking the lake. The menu was shish kabobs with beef and veggies. Friends came to dinner Saturday evening and everyone enjoyed it.







Sunday morning we went to church and then went on a hike to a waterfall. Here are Tom and Kelly in front of the falls.

The weather is so beautiful, a little cool and really comfortable. A light jacket feels comfortable in the morning and evening and it warms up pleasantly in the afternoon.


Now Tom and Kelly have returned to work in the city so Tony and I will spend a few days here. It is very quiet and relaxing. We start off each morning with a long walk and then do a few chores. We're going to have a nice time here.

Lake House Visit
We are spending a few days at Tom and Kelly's lake house near Eldred New York. We drove here on Friday and had a very smooth trip. Kelly received a new sewing machine for her birthday; here we are Friday night investigating it. There's nothing a Crafty Grandma likes better than a new sewing machine fresh from the box!




Here's a picture of Tom and me on the lake in the Kayak. It is a small lake with no motors so kayaking is peaceful and beautiful. I'm not very daring and kayaking could be scary, but I really enjoyed being out there with Tom.

Today's Visitors

My student's son is visiting our city from Tokyo so today they came to my house. We had a little tour and a very pleasant visit. I really enjoy meeting visitors and having a chance to introduce them to our life here in small town America. Sometimes foreign visitors are surprised by our lives and sometimes they have questions. I wish all the world's people would have a chance to meet in a casual friendly way.

Visitors

This afternoon I was very pleased to have a visitor from Japan. My student's mother, a very charming and elegant lady that I met previously, returned to Jackson and came to my house. In the pictures I am wearing a Haori, which is a short silk garment resembling a kimono but much simpler and easier to wear. The colors of the silk are very beautiful.



The second picture shows my student and the last picture also includes her two daughters. It is so lovely to have three generations visiting today!

Weekend Report

Saturday afternoon we headed out I-94 on our way to Steve's house. Just a few miles out of Jackson all the traffic was stopped. We sat for a few minutes watching police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks zoom by on the shoulder. It turned out there was a major accident caused by someone trying to make a U-turn across the median of the highway, crashing into oncoming traffic. If you look closely at this picture, you can see a helicopter just taking off with one of the accident victims after landing right on the highway. Traffic was stopped for three hours!

Sasha, Cathy, and Scarlett met us at Steve's house. Here's a picture of Sasha on Steve's tractor. I think Sasha really enjoyed riding on it. He said it's like a Disney ride.

We all enjoyed Tony's barbeque. He made shish kabob with steak, chicken and veggies all on sticks.
Here's Scarlett modeling her new sundress. I bought it for her in the Philippines when we were there in April. It's a little long now, but I think she can wear it next summer as well. She looks so cute in it!

Steve and Coco

Steve and Coco came to visit us this weekend. Steve has been working hard while Marta and Gabriel are in Spain, so we were happy to see him on Saturday afternoon and Sunday. Steve always spends a lot of time especially with his dad; they did a little shopping together, washed and polished Steve's car, took Coco for a walk, and spent a lot of time talking. Sunday night Tony barbequed hamburgers and Sunday he planned to cook pork and veggies on the grill. Just then the sky opened up and it began to pour. Steve helped by holding the umbrella. The barbeque was delicious!

Here's a picture of Steve and Coco. I'm sure Coco misses Marta and Gabriel but she's very sweet and very well behaved. She has matured into a really nice dog. I remember her puppy days when she was much more active and busy. It was hard for me to hold on to her sometimes because she's really strong. Now she obediantly walks along when we go outside and can be trusted to stay in our yard and not run away.

Craftiness!
Here are some of my current projects:

1. Baby quilt for Tim and Bernie
2. Toe up knitted socks
3. T shirt quilt for Dee and Jazmine
4. Knitted stole as part of a Yahoo group: Mystery Stole 2
5. Lots of other projects are in my mind ready to go when some of the above are finished.

What's New?

Today is Kelly's birthday. Kelly is an important new member of the family. We are so glad that she joined our family when she married Tom in March. Many more happy birthdays, Kelly!

We've been a little busy. Last week, Father McElduff, pictured here in our living room with Tony, visited. He is an old friend and the priest who married us 41 years ago. He is in very fine shape for a young man of 85 years, keeping busy helping people as he always had in his Pennsylvania town. He and Tony went to northern Michigan for a couple of days to see Machinac Island and look at the lakes.





While the men were up north, I decided to visit my granddaughter Scarlett! My favorite thing in the world is spending time with my grandchildren. On the way to Scarlett's house, I enjoyed lunch with Steve. Marta and Gabriel are in Spain visiting family so Steve is making the time go quickly by working hard. It's always nice to see him. There's nothing I enjoy more than talking to my children and finding out their thinking on a variety of topics. I especially like to surprise them by knowing things that people my age don't usually know, like computer stuff.



Then I went on to Scarlett's house and enjoyed every minute with her. Is there anything better than rocking a sleepy baby until she falls asleep? She is 15 months old now and enjoys so many things. I took her to McDonald's for the first time in her life, not to eat, but to visit the play area. Another day we went to the mall which has a large play area for small children. Scarlett is very careful, holds on to my leg for awhile before deciding to take off and play a little, but carefully and thoughtfully.
I seem to be making a lot of cabbage rolls lately! Scarlett's parents, Sasha and Cathy, pictured here, requested cabbage rolls. Cathy doesn't eat meat so I made this version with ground turkey. I made enough so there were leftovers for the next day.
Sunday afternoon I came back home, stopping for a little while to have a little lunch with Steve. It is good to go away and it's also good to come home again.

Tom's Cabbage Rolls

When Tom comes home, I always ask him what he'd like to eat and he requests cabbage rolls. My mother made this dish years ago and it has become a family favorite. A few years ago we had a visitor from Japan and I happened to make this dish; I was very surprised to learn there is a similar dish in Japan. I think the American version would originate in Poland and my friend Dee would call them "Golomki's".
Here's how I do it:

Ingredients:
10 cabbage leaves
3 cups cooked rice
1 chopped onion
1 egg slightly beaten
1.5 pounds ground chuck (could be ground chicken or turkey)
Seasoning: garlic powder and salt
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce

Preparation: Cut out the core from a fresh head of cabbage. Put it under the faucet, run water into it while carefully removing 10 leaves, trying not to break them. Then boil the leaves in a pot with a cup of water for a couple of minutes to make them soft and pliable.
Next mix the chopped onion, egg, meat, half of the rice, and seasonings. Prepare the cabbage rolls by opening a cabbage leaf, putting a scoop of meat mix in center, folding the sides in and rolling up.
Cooking: put a little olive oil in a large frying pan, arrange cabbage rolls in pan, cover, cook on medium high heat for 10 minutes. Then turn the heat down to medium low and continue cooking for an additional 30 minutes, checking that they don't burn.
Five minutes before serving pour the tomato sauce over the cabbage rolls in the pan, cover and warm at medium heat until thoroughly hot.
Serve the cabbage rolls with a scoop of rice and tomato sauce, garlic bread, and salad. Enjoy!

We are surrounded by wildlife. Early on a recent morning I came downstairs to have coffee, looked out my back window, and there were three deer comfortably relaxing. I grabbed my camera and they began to run. Deer are beautiful animals and they cause lots of problems. There's approximately one deer to every 2.5 people in our county. They are destroying gardens, farm crops, and causing terrible accidents. Recently a local guy on a motorcycle crashed into a deer and died. Balancing man and nature is not so easy.

Yesterday we had more international visitors, very delightful ladies and children. A young mother and her four year old son are visiting here from Hong Kong. It is very interesting to talk a little about the differences in life style between a small midwestern town like ours and a big crowded place like Hong Kong.









This morning I headed out early to the airport to pick up Tom, who is visiting for the weekend. In the picture he's eating zuchinni bread and drinking coffee before going to the golf course. Tom's wife Kelly is spending the weekend in Florida with old friends and Tom will play golf with his high school friends. It gives his dad and me a chance to spoil him! (Sorry, Kelly!) While home, we have his favorite foods: tonight, cabbage rolls, tomorrow barbequed spare ribs. It's fun to have him home!

Sunday

I was invited to a baby shower in Bloomfield Hills for Trisha who is having a baby girl in August. My Yahoo map worked perfectly and I drove straight there without any problem. I was happy to spend some time with Carole and Sherry and catching up with what they're doing. My gifts to Trisha were the baby quilt, quilted ball, basket, and ducks that I've talked about here before.
Then on the way back to Jackson I stopped at the new IKEA in Canton. It's at a very convenient location, easy driving and parking, and a beautiful store. We always like to go to IKEA in Chicago. (Not that I need anything IKEA sells! My house is full. I just love window shopping!) Actually I bought packages of IKEA cookies with the chocolate centers. I'm embarrassed to say how many!

Visitors

My students sometimes have family or friends visiting from Japan. I like to invite them to my house for what I call an "American Home Tour". A few years ago Tony and I had a "Chinese Home Tour"during a trip to Beijing. With our tour group we were invited to walk all around the home, then sat down and were invited to ask questions about Chinese life. I do exactly the same thing in my American Home Tour. It's very interesting to see how people live in all parts of the world. Always when people come together, friendship results.

Baby Things

I love making baby things. If I hear about a new baby coming, I usually make a sweater or a quilt. With a baby you don't have to worry about the size because they always grow into it. You don't have to worry about colors because the baby doesn't have much say.
We have a new baby coming to our family in August, Keith and Carole's first granddaughter, Chris and Trisha's first child. Carole told me the baby's room is green and white so I added pink and started a quilt.

I love to use scraps of fabric to make something useful, so I decided to make a fabric "bowl" and a soft ball from the quilt scraps. The bowl is based on a bread bowl I saw at Marta's house. It is a square with rounded corners, thick pellon in the middle to make it firm, and 8 fabric ties at the corners to tie it into the bowl shape.





The fabric ball is a very useful baby toy. Since it is soft, it's easy for a baby to hold and catch. Also it's washable; you can just put it in the machine as needed. One time I saw Gabriel carrying his in his mouth, maybe copying Coco.
I learned to make this ball from one of my students. Twelve pentagons are sewn together and then stuffed. My student had made hers by hand, but mine are done on the machine. I have to do things quickly.

The baby's shower is coming soon and I'm ready!

Potholders and Dishcloths

Like so many knitters, I am fascinated with the new book, Mason Dixon Knitting. It contains a wonderful pattern for making dishcloths. They are quick and satisfying to knit; mindless, so I can easily ride in the car or watch TV while knitting . I adapted the pattern for potholders by making a slightly smaller version times two, putting them back to back, and single crocheting around the edge. The reason that it's so much fun is seeing how the colors go together plus it takes very little time. I sent a few home with Marta on Sunday and I'm obsessively making more now. If you see me coming, I might try to foist my dishcloths on you. I may be standing on streetcorners handing them out. Help!

Last night we ate our first zucchinis and cucumber from the garden. The rain continues. It rained all night plus part of yesterday and it may rain again today!

We had a lovely weekend. Saturday was Marta's birthday so it was a day of festivities. It was a beautiful sunny day. At breakfast time the waffle chef was doing his magic.
This was followed by a lot of shopping. In the evening we celebrated with Chinese food at our favorite restaurant followed by fresh strawberry shortcake. These two pictures were taken at the end of the day when we were having dessert.














Gabriel has really begun to talk! He now has so many words we wouldn't be able to count them. Very often he tries to repeat the words he hears. In the morning we hunted bugs. We had watched part of the movie "A Bug's Life", then decided to hunt bugs outside. We got down really close to the ground to look for bugs. Gabriel would shout "bug" and "ant" when he saw them. Once he found a really big ant and surprised me by quickly smashing it! So funny!
We were shopping Saturday afternoon and Gabriel was in the cart with me while Steve and Marta shopped. We went to the fruits and vegetables to study. I said the name very clearly a couple of times and he tried to repeat. It feels
exactly the same as when I'm teaching my students vocabulary.
It is so wonderful to see the world through the eyes of a child.

The waffle chef

The waffle eater