Priceless

Bear with me here....



Cost of a rawhide dog bone.......$3.95





















Cost of gas to race 100 mph to the emergency vet clinic once I realized my dog was sick from the rawhide....$10.00










Cost of visit, x-rays, bloodwork and pills......$550.
And yes, this is Scout's x-ray.










Cost of knowing my baby girl is going to be okay.......PRICELESS!!!



And I didn't even mention the cost of the carpeting I'm going to have to replace because of the puppy vomit and diarrhea. Or the xanax pills I had to pop cuz I thought I was going to lose her. No - just kidding about the pills.....(Greg reads my blog ya know.....ha!)

Someone's knocking at the door...

So I'm in the cabin reading a book when I hear a knock at the door. I open the door and no ones there. "That's strange" I thought. I shut the door, and then there's even louder knocking! At this point I think Greg is playing a joke on me....





Once again I open the door, and my little "door knocker" (well actually he was knocking on the cabin walls!) flies away to the tree in front of our deck.


This is the Pileated Woodpecker, one of LARGEST Woodpeckers in N. America. And yes, he can do some serious damage to a log cabin! I put out some more suet cakes which I saw him feeding on later. Hopefully this deters him. Otherwise, I'm going to have to break out those aluminum pie plates and hang a few from our roof (I received this expert advice from some fellow bird friends - for some reason this works!)

Or maybe next time I'll invite him in for some tea and cookies....

Weekend Recap at the Cabin

Greg and I went to the cabin for a long weekend to celebrate our anniversary. (Thank you to everyone for your kind wishes! Greg read every single comment!) Let me recap our weather for you:

Thursday - Rain
Friday - Rain
Saturday - More Rain. I am contemplating building an Ark at this point.
Sunday - Clears up and of course it's time to head home.

No matter the weather, we still had a great time! We rented movies, read books and went walking in the rain. It's hard to explain, but just being in our log cabin itself feels like a vacation to me.

Here's the last of Autumn's leaves, still clinging on.

My Wedding Anniversary!

Four years ago today, I married my best friend. I was introduced to Greg from a mutual friend at an art auction. I still remember his olive green suit and all the curious questions he asked me. I thought he was so handsome and had such a calm, pleasant manner about him. Now, here we are and I am still crazy in love with this man! Come walk down memory lane with me....


Here's our wedding invitations that I made myself. The day we got married was a sunny, crisp fall day.





We just walked out of the church as husband and wife. Greg is knocking my socks off again!






We had our reception at a log cabin of course!






I love this photo. It reminds me of our love of the great outdoors.





We had a Mariachi Band play during dinner. Greg introduced his love of Latin music to me and we had many fun dates going salsa dancing.







I thank god every day for this man!

Saturday, in the park....

Saturday in the park
You'd think it was the fourth of july

People talking, really smiling
A man playing guitar
Singing for us all...
-From the song: Saturday in the Park by Chicago

Do you remember that song? I'm probably dating myself here... Anyways, Greg and I love to visit the parks near our cabin. There's this small one in the city of Grayling, site of one of the largest canoe races in N. America. It's located right on the Ausable River.


Here's what it looks like right now...





And this is what it'll look like this winter! Hard to believe, huh?






Okay, sorry I scared you with that early winter scene! Back to present time. Here is Greg and Scout checking out the river from the bridge.





Look how fast that water is moving! There's over 180 miles of Blue Ribbon Trout Fishing here. Michiganders refer to it as the Holy Waters. Recently Forbes magazine named Grayling to their Top 10 List of Top Trout Fishing Towns.


Greg is a big fisherman and taught me to fly fish during our "courting" years. I think it cemented the deal for him to marry me once I was able to tie my own fly and cast my own rod. (But I'd make him take the fish off for me of course. No way was I touching that slimey fish! Ha!)

Clean Cabin

As many of you know our log cabin is a weekend place for our family. When we get ready to leave, I clean that place inside and out. I mop the floors, wash the rugs, dust every nook and cranny - you name it! I love the feeling of when I come back the following weekend and the place is spic and span. Now for my downstate home...well lets just say it's not given the same treatment. (I was about to say I treat it like a stepchild but then I remembered I have a stepson - ha,ha! Never mind, some of you won't think that is funny. But some of you might...Suz??)


Now the one thing I don't like to pick up (and make Greg and my stepson do cuz I am the evil stepmother) - DOG POOP! Yep, everyone is running from me now...

Birds at the Log Cabin

Some of you already know that I'm a birdwatching enthusiast (okay - I'll say it - I'm a bird nerd!) Winters at the log cabin bring some of the best birding opportunities. Last year I had an abundance of Pine Siskins and Common Redpolls that passed through and ate out of my hands. (Can you imagine what my neighbors think when I'm outside in my sheep pjs, holding out my hand and talking to the little birdies?) Anyways, I've notice the bird activity has increased at my feeders. Come meet some of my friends!

Can you see the Downy Woodpecker storing his food supply?




Here's the Tufted Titmouse. He likes to hang with the Black-capped Chickadees. His bird call sounds like a strangled duck in my opinion - but I still like him!




Here's the Dark-eyed Junco - a sure sign winter is on its way! (I know the only people happy about this is me and Betsy!)




Okay, Scout is not a bird, but I just have to show you how big she is getting. I love this dog so much. She is a big cuddler and still crawls onto my lap whenever she can. Marvin kitty still gets jealous but they are playing well together - i.e. Scout goes to give Marvin a kiss and then Marvin slaps her 10 times in a row.