At Last!

I know you've all been wondering about the family mascot; it's been quite a while since he surfaced. Well, here is The Snake crawling out of Ben's computer bag. He decided to go south to Indiana because Michigan is just too cold this spring.

Newest Smile-Causers

Mulch!!!

Filled my new flower pot with pretties!

A step-stool for my Memory Dollhouse. My Grandma Robbins had a yellow one like this that I used to sit on. I couldn't find a yellow one, so settled for red. Cute, eh?

How's this picture for throwing all perspective out the window? Is it a teeny-tiny stool near a regular-sized cup? Is it a regular-sized stool next to one gigantic cup? Is it a little stool next to a large cup? If you hadn't already seen them separately, you might have trouble figuring them out!

Here's the kitchen the step-stool is for.

The is the air-stream oven I found at a thrift shop. The new belt just arrived and needs to be installed so we can use it. This was one fantastic find that I had only dreamed of locating.

And of course, this little sweetheart makes me smile every day!

This Week

Betsy and Kate cooked a delicious dinner for Mother's Day. We had Swiss Steak (which Kate always called 'mistake' when she was little--it was her favorite), cheesy potato casserole, broccoli and homemade rolls.
I heard rumors about a fruit salad that met with an untidy end :-)




For dessert, Betsy made her Scutterbotch (butterscotch) cake. I'm ashamed to admit how much of this I ate. So good.

Dale finally got out to go fishing--first time in years.

All that fishing made him thirsty...

Actually, this is a flower pot I received for Mother's Day. When I get the plants into it, it'll go on the patio table. I love it!

Search And Rescue

Just returned from Traverse City a while ago. I was there for a 2 day training for CERT. I think there were about 120 CERT members there from our region. I had a great time and learned a lot.

I laughed when I saw this sign. If we are there learning to do serious search and rescue, do we really need signs to help us find our classroom???


Our instructors (pictured here) were from Michigan's Dept. of Corrections and are well-trained in searching for escapees. Besides classroom study, we had practicals and exercises in search & rescue in buildings and woods, also training in using compasses and GPS units/coordinates. This was a full-scale operation with fire department, Salvation Army (food to site), ambulances, sheriff department and canines, ham radio operators, the instructors, and of course the CERT teams. I had never realized before how important ham radio operators are. In times of power outages and disasters, when nothing else works, including cell phone systems overloaded, the ham radios are the only available form of communication.

This chef was responsible for keeping us well-fed. (I feel like a wart toad.)

Each CERT member attending received one of these T-shirts. (This is the back)