Yesterday's Adventure

Yesterday we woke up to... this white January weather outside. But we proceeded to head down to Petoskey to drop off my artwork for the exhibit.As it turned out, we didn't have to drive 5 miles from our house before snow levels went down. The rest was a pretty easy ride. We realized this wonderful small community of Petoskey is only half an hour below the bridge. Not bad at all. Still, in case we got really hungry in the car, so I didn't become Joe's lunch, we took sandwiches along. Check this serious creation of Joe's!

We strolled through downtown Petoskey before heading back and enjoyed every little corner, including a neat general store and an ice cream/chocolate shop. We'll be going back in a couple of weeks for my show opening. Now we're looking forward to exploring the town a little more.

On our way back, the sun was out and warm. One couldn't believe it was snowing earlier in the morning. We took a side-track to do some mushrooming. We went back to our usual spot where we celebrate our anniversary. Here's a picture for my mom, who still has a hard time believing we just pick and eat things from nature and not get poisoned. It's hard to imagine how mushrooms grow and even harder to understand how one can spot such a tiny object. Trust me, it's still a mystery to me.

Well, Happy Mother's Day!

Four Years...

... and 3 days, and it's snowing outside. Our weather guy was right this time. If he's really right, we are expecting 3-5 (No! they increased to 7-10) inches of accumulation by tomorrow morning. Great. We get to drive 4 hours to drop off my artwork for an exhibit below the bridge tomorrow.
On this 5th we went out to Sai Uwa Thai Bistro for our 4 year anniversary. I almost DIED with heat from my dish. Our authentic chef, actually from Thailand, cooks jalapenos like we would sweet bell peppers. He told us kids in Thailand grow up eating hot peppers like that. Amazing! Meanwhile, Joe just enjoyed his noodle dish, watching me with burning red fat lips.

For dessert I made a tiny cheesecake with a hint of caramel. Yum.

And tonight we're having a bit of Mexican to make up for Cinco de Mayo. Pork enchilada, black beans, fresh guacamole, and what's miraculously left of the caramel cheesecake for dessert.

Spring Blossoms

Happy Spring! It was only a few days ago that I complained everybody else's lawns were so much greener than ours. Well, our lawns don't look much better, but our cherry trees in the backyard are blooming. Last year we didn't have any blossoms on the cherry trees. They actually had bugs, and Joe sprayed bug killer and seriously thought they were dying. So these cherry blossoms were quite unexpected surprises. I love these modest pale blossoms... a symbol of Japan. Today Joe got to go out mushroom hunting. It hasn't been a good season for mushrooms. Way too dry. But he managed to pick a handful of morels, along with six wood ticks!! Yes, spring is here.

Home-made Pizza

Some photos from the weekend.... Since it was so windy and chilly, we couldn't go fishing. We spent the afternoon making home-made pizza. I prepped the dough and the toppings. When the dough was ready, Joe played a pizza man. His pizza is as serious as he looks, loaded with lots of toppings.

Here's a perfect picture... before we devoured it. Lots of cheese, sausage, onion, orange pepper, mushrooms, asparagus, and some more cheese! It was very good and reminded us that we should do this more often.

There is no picture of fish to show off, and showing off this might cause us not only snow but hail or something even worse. But I must. Joe grilled his famous BBQ ribs on Sunday. Mmmmm..... that's all I'm gonna say.

Back to Winter

Brrrr... no fishing. It got cold again and started snowing sometime early morning, and hasn't stopped snowing since. The city actually had to plow this morning. We're not the only ones to feel the cold. Gnome here in the picture below... a poor guy. Not mentioning all the plants Joe put outside the other day. If they survive, they will be very hardy.Though I shoveled our front steps for the mailman, snow drifted in and covered them up by the time he came. Still, it's April, and we are NOT too surprised by this snow. We never put away our winter gear! Never!! (It was very wet heavy snow... I was thinking it would make a great snow man.)

This was more of Joe's idea... to make you jealous. In the picture is the salmon Joe prepped to cook on the grill the other evening. It was a wonderful taste of fresh spring, for a brief moment.

F.Y.I. We have a fresh lake trout in the freezer, so come on and taste it. The second day fishing, neither of us actually caught a fish, but another fisherman gave us one! We've had two fishing trips so far this season and haven't yet had a fishless trip. Pretty good.

Fresh Salmon!

Finally, yesterday evening, we renewed our fishing licenses and headed out to the breakwall to go fishing. Our first time this season. It was a beautiful evening at the lake. We caught a nice sunset... no fish for me. Then, Joe quite unexpectedly caught a fish!! A very nice 17 1/2" coho salmon. A very good start to the fishing season. Well, Joe is now getting ready to put it onto his grill, with some onion, garlic, seasoning salt, and butter....

Happy Easter, Happy Spring!

On this Easter Sunday, we were hoping to get out fishing at the lake for SALMON! but it got too windy and slightly drizzly. The warm rain though was a nice change. It should also get the fish movin.'
Later on the sun came out. Joe had to get out and start some gardening. First he divided some bulbs that his sister gave us and planted them. The fact that I like these daffodils is that they are like the kind with simple small flowers my mom has back home. Here Joe made a nice tulip patch.
No photo evidence, but all the while Joe was digging and planting, guess who was present to check out his every move? The Chipmunk with a curious mind. He has already dug every sunflower seed Joe planted as an "experiment." I'm afraid the Chip is already too smart. I fear for his little head!

We also put out a Christmas present from the Murphys, for the bluebirds. They say the birds will come if we have the birdhouse out for them.... so we wait. We can perfectly view this birdhouse from our kitchen window.

Finally, introducing our new garden gnome! Not just any gnome, but the one from Travelocity's commercials, or so its package sold. It was a very thoughtful birthday gift for Joe from his sister Anne. (You'd understand if you know about Joe's gnome-zilla that traveled to Japan with us.) We'll have more fun gardening this spring and summer (including the gnome and hopefully the Chip).