March 31-April 6, 2019 Sault St. Marie, Ontario Canada, U.P., Girl's Day Pedicure, Spring Seed Planting, Eating Out on Deck

March 31-April 6, 2019
Sault St. Marie, Ontario Canada, U.P., Girl's Day Pedicure, Spring Seed Planting, Eating Out on Deck...

Sault St. Marie, Ontario Canada

Hello Friends!
Spring sure did arrive in Michigan this week! It started really cold (20 degrees), but made it to the 60's by the end of the week. Next week, we are forecasted to get new snow, perhaps twice, but this warmer week was very welcome!  There are bulb greens popping out and looking promising. It was great to be able to open our windows and let fresh air come inside for a few minutes throughout the week.  I enjoyed being able to be outside without a coat.

The PVC feeder Dh built sure has brought in the deer for me to see from my kitchen window!  I've begun to lose count of how often they spot by in the mornings.

Nancy:
I now have a friend named Nancy, I met her last week for the first time.  I was just telling her on Monday how I don't have any friends here in Michigan and had been feeling quite lonely here, especially after spending last week with Heather in Indiana!!  The ladies at church sure are friendly and nice to me when I'm at church but they are all very, very busy and we don't ever do anything outside of church hours/church activities.  Well, Murphy's Law kicked in after I said that because Doris called within 6 hours of me saying that to invite Dd and me to go with her and her 18-year-old granddaughter to have a pedicure and lunch.  Then Gemma called and invited us to go with them (another grandmother/granddaughter duo).  I just had to laugh!  We went from no social interactions with our church friends to TWO events in the same week, the very day I had just expressed how disappointed I was that we didn't get much socialization around here outside of the church.  I should keep telling Nancy what I need and maybe more good things will happen!  I'm undecided about this new friendship and hoping it will go well.  Nancy suggested I think about volunteering (maybe at our local thrift store?) or joining the Bible study she goes to on Monday nights.  She encouraged me to find something fun to do outside the home---she does ballroom dancing and finds it very fun.




Canada and Upper Peninsula (U.P.):

Henry: Babysat
Dd's bestie, Hailee, was on spring break this week.  Her grandmother called me on Monday or Tuesday to see if we wanted to go with them on a car trip to Canada for Hailee's special break event.  I couldn't leave Henry, our dog, alone with no way to go outside.  Then Hailee's mom agreed to come to check on Henry while we were out and that sealed the deal!  

Hailee and Dd on the Sault St. Marie Boardwalk---wish it wasn't covered in snow!!!  The water was so clear.

Headlights:
When Dd and I left our house we were surprised to find both of our headlights were out.  Dd noticed one out and asked Dh to fix it, then this week both were out.  Something is fishy with our headlights; we've had to change the right-side bulb 3-4 times since we moved here.  So Dd and I drove to Hailee's house using our 'brights' only.  I felt awful for the 4 cars we came across on the drive.

We drove to this Lighthouse---I forgot the name of it.  It was closed for the season, as was anything historic we wanted to see.

Moose and Deer:
When we all loaded up in Hailee's grandmother's (Gemma) car it was pitch black and cold.  We all enjoyed watching the sunrise.  It was just a beautiful display of color.  As we drove north Gemma saw a moose but was so surprised that she couldn't say anything in time for us to see it too.  For the rest of the day, we all kept looking for moose.  I saw so many deer, but never did see a moose!  

Check out the snow!  And this was after a week of warm sunny weather.  

Snow:
Grand Rapids had just about melted all of our winter ground snow but the amount of snow on the ground grew as we headed north.  It made me wish to drive north sometime during the winter to really see how much snow they get.  One rest stop looked like it had 2-3 feet of snow on the ground!  It was really interesting just looking at all the snow everywhere we went.  I thought Grand Rapids had a lot of snow!!!! Boy, was I unaware of the amounts of snow the north accumulates.  The girls had fun walking on the masses of snow and taking pictures of it. 



Border Crossing:
When we got to the border crossing we drove up to the booth to answer questions to a border agent and show our passports to him.  He asked what we planned to do in Canada and for how long we were going to be visiting.  I jokingly said, "have fun for a few hours and then go back home."  I don't know if it was my answer or if he was just really grumpy, but all our exchanges were kind of mean and ugly.  At the end of the questioning, he asked us if we had mace, guns, or knives.  Gemma carries mace in her purse and told him.  His response would have been the same if she told him she had severed heads in her purse!  She offered to show him her mace and he very quickly told her to keep it in her purse and not touch it.  Then he directed us to the side of the building to wait for an officer to come out and take her mace as mace is illegal in Canada---and apparently considered a major weapon!  Words don't do justice to his whole demeanor or facial expressions regarding Gemma's mace being in the bottom of her purse.  

This is a view from our car as we were driving over one of the two massive bridges to get to Sault St. Marie.  The views of the big lakes were massively covered in snow and ice with sections where the current was running through and had made a clear path.

We drove to the canopy section he pointed us to and began our wait.  Other cars came and went for 45 minutes as we sat there discussing our options.  He had clearly told us to 'wait IN the car,' yet all the other people that pulled in beside us went in the building.  Finally, we asked someone why they were going in and they said they had a bill to pay, not a citation like we had.  Eventually, Gemma decided enough was enough and went into the building to see what was going on, only to find out they had never been notified we were out there.  The border agent had never submitted the form from her citation and we had been waiting an hour for nothing.  Two border agents came to the car with Gemma and she gave them her mace and they gave her a ticket of some sort and they actually apologized for the confusion.  This wasn't a good start to our visit to Canada.  Poor Hailee had never been to Canada and I'm afraid our welcome wasn't the best.  Finally, we were released and able to drive to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and St. Mary's River and the boardwalk Hailee wanted to walk.  

Money Exchange:
The money exchange place, located in the buildings at the border crossing, was closed for lunch.  Walmart was right across the street so we went there instead.  I bought some yarn for the crochet blanket I had been working on during the drive up and paid with American money and received Canadian money in return.  We all had fun seeing the Canadian Walmart!  And we all walked out with Canadian money burning a hole in our pockets!



We found the boardwalk right after Walmart.  The view of St. Mary's River was spectacular; so very clean with clear crystal (icy) waters.  There were lots of ducks and geese enjoying the water.  The only problem with Hailee's plan to walk the long boardwalk was that the city had not cleared any of the snow off of it!!!  We did find a few places to walk a little but then tried to drive to another section and never could navigate the city to find another place.  It was a lovely idea if only the boardwalk had been cleared.  We decided it was time for lunch and saw a mall by Walmart.



  Mall:
I hadn't been in a mall in years, much less a Canadian one, but they had food options for the girls.  The girls ordered from Subway and ate their sandwiches while we looked around.  We walked in the mall and enjoyed looking in many of the stores.  They had a Canadian version of the Dollar Store and we all found something to buy; I bought three card sets that I could have bought in Lowell for 1/3 of the cost!  But, it was a practical souvenir.  Afterward, we drove around looking for more of the boardwalk, but the city was too confusing for that so we found another mall/Dollar Store that the girls wanted to see and went there.  We also found a touristy street that had some fun shops and stopped there.  Gemma found some fudge to bring home and Dd and Hailee each bought a coin that you can have engraved for their souvenir.  



Upper Peninsula- U.P.:
It wasn't much of a visit, but I had really been wanting to see the much-hyped "U.P." that everyone in our church is always talking about and we drove through it on our way to Canada.  The "U.P." (pronounced you-pee) is part of Michigan, the strand that is above the better-known part, the 'mitten,' as is the shape of the state of Michigan.  I have to admit, I had never heard of Michigan's "U.P." before moving here.  I think I only thought Michigan was the mitten and assumed the land above the mitten shape was part of Canada.  Alas, I was ignorant of the extended parts of Michigan that is very scenic and not very populated.  The fact that this area doesn't have a lot of people and is very woodsy makes it an ideal location for many 'lower peninsula' Michiganders to buy little plots and put up cabins to hunt in during hunting season.  I often hear my fellow church friends say they are heading up to the U.P. for the weekend or for a hunting week.  I was glad I finally had a chance to see the U.P. as this is the most common destination for people around me; that and Mackinac Island, which we did see from the bridge!  Mackinac Island doesn't allow any motorized vehicles and I guess there are a lot of horse and buggies around.  The pictures online are beautiful of this scenic location.



Home:
We headed home but stopped to eat dinner.  The girls were in no rush to get home and we didn't pull into our driveway until after 11 PM.  What a long day!  I didn't sleep much the night before and had to wake up at 4:30 to get my chores done before we met up with them, so I was very ready for my bed when we got home!  I only wish we would have had a better, more exciting day for Hailee's special spring break vacation day.  I wish I would have had time to research where we were going and what we could have done there.  The one historic lighthouse we went to was closed for the season and that was a bit of a disappointment, that and the boardwalk that was un-walkable.  It seems like Sault Ste. Marie really does close up shop unless it is summer.

You can see the long bridge on the left and the massive icy view on the water; if you can see over the piles of dirty snow!

Girls Day with Doris and Rebekah:
Doris invited Dd and me to a Girl's Day with her and her granddaughter on Thursday.  One Sunday I overheard Doris and Rebekah planning their next trip to the nail salon and I mentioned how I'd never had a manicure or pedicure and had absolutely no interest in ever having that done.  Well....that really stirred the bee's nest!  Doris and Rebekah told me how wonderful it is and how much I'd enjoy it---but, I still didn't have any interest and told them so.  When Doris called to invite us I was nicely telling her 'no' when she mentioned that Rebekah had wanted to spend time with Dd----and that did it.  How could I say no to that?!!  Dd has been trying to be friends with her since we started going to this church and this was a big opportunity for their friendship to grow.  So I took one for the team and agreed to have my toenails painted!  Doris also threw in a manicure for the girls as a special treat.  Rebekah's prom was coming up and she wanted to look her best.

 My findings after having my first pedicure:
Expensive.  Dd looked up "pedicures" on YouTube to do a little research and the video showed an awesome massage of the client's feet and calves.  My experience was that they just rubbed in some lotion and not much massaging was involved.  I did enjoy getting to chat with Doris and have a "Ladies" event but wasn't convinced it was worth the money to ever go just for the procedure.  But now I can't say I've never had a pedicure!  I have!  I was just thankful for getting to spend the day with Doris, Rebekah, and Dd.  They are a lot of fun. 

Afterward, we went out for lunch and then to the best ice cream shop!  What a fun, fun, fun day!!!!  I made Doris a batch of Ranger Cookies and a card to thank her for inviting us.


Dh Outbuilding:

Dh continues to work out in the outbuilding.  This week he finished up his project of making a contraption for his boxes that hang on the wall.  He had a great time making this---can't wait to see what he decided to sort into the boxes!  He has been really focused on making things to organize our outbuilding better and refine his skills so he can (hopefully) make me some bookshelves (I still have many boxes of books stored since out move here from Indiana that has yet to be unpacked and shelved.).



His masterpiece so far is his WORKBENCH:







Chickens:
I've been able to pick green weeds to feed the chickens, which they loved!  I moved the chicken tractors to some fresh spots for the girls to get some new dirt to scratch.  The only problem is they go through a new spot in around 15 minutes so I have to keep coming back to the tractor and pulling it around to find new spots for them.  I had two hens that kept flying out the top of the one tractor that doesn't have a complete top.  I worry about these two hens; they always figure out how to escape from the tractor and the bottom run and that is the quickest way to get eaten.  I try to keep my eye on them and any weak areas in my fencing, this week I figured out they were actually flying up and out!  Too smart.

Dh has already added more on to this and has more handled things hanging up---it is hard keeping up with him!

Free Range Chickens:
I was out with the chickens for a quick free-range time for the hens t his week.  They love getting to free-range, but it makes me so nervous.  We have so many things that would love to eat our chickens I can't leave them unprotected for a minute so they don't get much free time.  This week they did get a little, not enough, but a little!

 Sunday Special Lunch : Vietnamese: March 31st:

Vietnamese Restaurant:  We rarely go out to eat and it had been a while so we had a little special meal after church on Sunday.  Dh and I really enjoyed our rice noodle soup and Dd tried Bubble Tea.  She had been hearing all about this and was really happy to finally try it out.  We all thought it was super sweet and even between the three of us, we couldn't finish one. After eating we went to the really authentic grocery store next door---with pig heads wrapped in plastic wrap and Bantam chickens wrapped in plastic too...it was really something I've never experienced in all the other "authentic" grocery stores I've gone into over the years.  This store was beyond words; glad I went and saw a little different perspective.



Spring Birds: Red-Bellied Woodpecker & Mourning Dove
Each week this time of year we draw in various odd birds.  Some of the birds stay and some just visit for a few days.  This week started with one Mourning Dove and by the end of the week, he had a girlfriend.  After pairing up they only stayed around for about three days.  I just love seeing all the unusual birds this time of year and coming to my feeders too!  We have a lot of woodpeckers around us, we live surrounded by Spruce evergreen trees, and they don't normally come to our feeders. 

He put in electrical outlets so he can wheel his workbench anywhere and put in one extension and have a complete station.

 

Spring in Woods: Chainsaw & Deer Feeder
This is the week the first buds started to begin on a few plants/bushes.  Most of the trees still don't have anything showing but there were just a few that did!  I don't know for sure, but it seemed like it were the weeds that were quickest to sprout!  Of course.  Dh and I went for a walk through my trails with the chainsaw this week.  We cut down the trees that had fallen over my path over the winter; which made me SO happy!!  We also put up a new deer feeder in the bottom woods of white PVC and filled with corn and black sunflower seeds.



Garden: and Inside Seeds Planted
I worked in the garden a few times this week when the weather was warm.  I turned over some of the beds and got them ready for planting.  I started my inside seeds in plastic---tomatoes, Swiss Chard, Kale, Basil...good to get things started!



Migraines:

Good week, no headaches or migraines all week.  My stomach was off all week though.

First Meal Outside on Deck:

Yay!  The weather was finally warm enough that I took off all my plants from our deck table and chairs that I'd been keeping dry in our sunroom and brought it back outside.  I found our umbrella in the outbuilding and got our deck ready to be used again.  Saturday we had our dinner and Dd's Moo-Less pie on our deck!

Dd trimmed hedges and used the leaf blower to clean out our pool area, garage, and driveway.  It was great having all three of us working hard outside on independent jobs.

Dd's Academic Progress for the Week:
Dd was fighting being sick all week and was overscheduled on top of it.  She had a sore throat and was feeling very runover which didn't help her mental state.  She was happy to do the social activities but was a bit of a lump at home trying to recuperate after each thing.

Bible:
Church, Sunday School, and Youth Program
Independent daily Bible Study: Word of Life and Awaken:90 Days with the God Who Waits by Priscilla Shirer

Volunteering:
Nursery at church: 1 hour

Physical Education:

April 1st: Dd workout

Walked Henry 4x

We ate our mooless pie, and our dinner, outside on our deck for the first time this spring.

Home Economics:

Sat: L made Moo-less pie--Yummy!

Henry being a charmer!

Grace Classes:
Dd's classes are going mostly well.  She is very ready for spring break.  Two weeks ago we drove to Indy for the "L" family's spring break fun, then this week we enjoyed Hailee's spring break fun and all the while Dd is fitting in her lessons around all these activities.  She feels like she is too far behind in her Logic class and is quite disappointed.  She has been working with Dh most evenings on her Algebra.  We are looking over the classes/schedule for next year to figure out what she will take next year--big decisions!

Cultural Geography (BJU)
Spanish I (BJU and DuoLingo daily)
Algebra I (Saxon) 
Introductory Logic 
Exploring Economics (Ray Notgrass)



Next Week:
Dd's Birthday Party! H, FA, J, K coming over to go bowling and spend the night!
SNOW is forecasted!  Dd has a job interview with Subway.  

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