there's no place like gnome.

Cheers to 2025!

We rung in the new year (before 11pm) at our home with Dave’s sister, Sarah, and her four kiddos. There were fancy glasses (read: real) with juice (or milk or water), noise makers (which the dogs LOVED – full sarcasm), and a sharing of gratitude for the year behind. And then we went to bed, already much past my bedtime of 10pm. (Scroll to the end to see what we did the next day.)

Reflection post. 2024/2025 hopes/dreams. In and out. All of it/everything. Ready GO.

IN:
+ Road trips. We took a couple last year – NJ, GA, MI. We’ve gotten pretty good at them. Only found cockroaches at one of our budget overnight stops so we’re basically winning. Here’s to more (roadtrips not cockroaches).
+ Entering our travel era. I declare it. Our 40s will see our passports stamped and world traveled.
+ Wool clothing/capsule wardrobe. Both Dave and I will give you our wool clothing TED talk anytime, probably even if you don’t ask for it. (It’s how we will do two weeks in Europe in June with only carry-ons. WAIT FOR IT.)
+ Even bigger flower garden. (Have I mentioned my obsession with cut flower gardening? Oh wait. That’s ALL I BLOGGED ABOUT this summer.)
+ Books. More books. Quilts. Always more quilts.
+ Being socially adventurous. You know, like I got invited to a Bunco night with a bunch of ladies I don’t know. And I think I’m going to go. (Whoa, right?)
+ Lentils? We think it would be cool to eat less meat. We’ll see how this goes …

OUT:
+ Spending my PTO hours on sick days, please. (Stomach flu x 2 + covid in 2024. Gross.)
+ Cooking shortcuts every night. You all, I have gotten away from cooking dinner. Gathering recipes now.
+ And that’s all I can think of. 2024 was pretty great; not much needs to change.

Right. So what did Dave, myself, sister-in-law Sarah and her four kids do on New Years Day? We began with sourdough pancakes. And then? Road trip to Chicago for Legos and supper in the rainforest. There were a few hiccups along the way. (Who knew it was supposed to snow? Uh huh. And who could have predicted that carsick kiddo delay? Yup.) But we made it there and then back again to our house for pinball, Candy Land, and ice cream sundaes at Uncle Dave and Aunt Lindsay’s.

I posted back in August about the cut flowers in my yard that were in the prime of the season. Well, today is October 1 and this is what I cut from the garden after work today –

Many of the flowers will keep producing until the first frost. I’ll divide the flowers above into a couple bouquets to give to coworkers tomorrow. I have a standing Thursday afternoon visit with a patient who loves flowers; she gets a bouquet most weeks too. THESE FLOWERS (and giving them away) BRING ME GREAT JOY. Sorry I had to yell. They just make me so excited. (Also: Next year I’m planting way more snapdragons.)

With the first frost inevitably arriving sometime, I’m turning my attention to seed gathering. I’m dipping my toe into seed collecting with celosia and zinnias that currently are drying on paper in the sun room. (Zinnias are the ugly things in the upper left.) Next up: dahlia seeds.

Science: Here’s what I’ve learned (mainly from Floret Farms, where they do an excellent job of sharing how to and why) — If the varieties of your flowers from which you are harvesting seeds are not isolated, because of pollination, you don’t know what variety will grow from the seeds you harvested the year prior. I planted four varieties of zinnias in close proximity; when I plant the zinnia seeds next year, I don’t know what variety will germinate or what colors. Cross-pollination. Surprise!

But a step further: I’ve learned that with dahlias, you harvest a seed pod (which is a flower that has bloomed, died, and shriveled up while still on the plant). It doesn’t matter what type of dahlia it came from, the seed pod contains something, like, fifty seeds and each of those fifty seeds could germinate to be different dahlia flowers. Perhaps a variety of dahlia flower that has never grown before. Here’s what Floret Farms says about it: Unlike tubers or cuttings, which produce an exact clone of the plant they come from, dahlias grown from seed offer a treasure trove of new possibilities, each one something that’s never existed before. The opportunities are endless, and if you find one you love, you get to name it!  How cool is that?

I’m so excited for this project. But here’s what I hope: that frost doesn’t come too quick because, before I was armed with this knowledge about harvesting dahlia seeds from spent flowers, I went through the garden and cleaned out all the done-blooming flowers and seed pods. The very things I need for seeds. Fingers crossed there is enough time in the season for more seeds pods to brown on the plant so I can try my hand at planting my own dahlias.

Dave and I took a long weekend away in Michigan and here I am to tell about it. I think I blog about these little getaways so 1. I can share our adventures and 2. I can look back and remember the tiny moments that were so fun. Here’s what happened —

I bought Matchbox Twenty tickets months ago because Matchbox Twenty will always be my first music love. I’ve seen them a couple time over the last twenty (25!) years, and so when I saw they were going to be in central Michigan on a Friday night, I bought tickets and dragged Dave along. It was stressful getting there between traffic and attempting to park, but once we arrived to our seats and the drizzle stopped, we enjoyed our evening outside.

The biggest highlight was, of course, Rob Thomas & co., and singing a collection of songs I love, BUT second to that was a woman sitting across the aisle from us. (If I had to guess – 70 years or so?) The opening act was Gavin DeGraw, not someone who super excited me. But this woman across the aisle? She was VERY excited about Gavin. She sang her heart out to every word, screamed, “I love you, Gavin!”, and threw her arms in the air, dancing in her seat. Her husband left to buy her a sweatshirt from the Gavin merch table at one point. And then, when Gavin was done, they left. They clearly were only there for Gavin. It was the darn cutest.

(Third highlight? Can I have a third highlight? I had printed out our concert tickets because I’m old school. We handed them to the gentleman who was scanning the tickets at the gate. He took the paper and as he held it, he said, “That’s some nice paper.” Yeah, I used my premium 32 lb. paper. Thanks for noticing.)

We stayed at a cabin at a local KOA that evening and the next day, began our trek south through harbor towns on Michigan’s west side. We love Michigan harbor towns, that’s no secret. We’ve explored more on the northern part of the lower peninsula; this was our first trek into the southern towns. We spent the most time in Holland, making it to town to catch the tail end of the farmer’s market. We ate a blueberry hand pie from the market as we walked/shopped downtown. We popped in and out of shops, including a shop of intricate German clocks and an antique store with the most impressive display of Pyrex that I’ve ever seen. (I bought none.) We shared a delicious sausage and roasted potato with hot honey pizza (so good) and beers at New Holland Brewing when we needed to cool off a bit inside. (Why is it still so hot in September?)

We continued onto Saugatuck where we didn’t explore the town so much; we sat on Oval Beach in the beach chairs we packed and enjoyed the warm September afternoon. Cat naps were taken. After that, a stop at Waypost Brewery where they let chickens roam freely through the outdoor seating and playground.

We checked into our little cabin at another KOA. (Rustic in that you bring your own bedding and walk to the bathroom; not so rustic in that there is electric and a/c.) Unloaded the car quickly before we got back in it to drive six miles down the road to The Loma Theater in downtown Coloma (pop. 1,465). They were playing three movies; we’d already seen one and the other was of no interest. So we payed $19 to watch Transformers One at 9pm.

When I say $19, please understand that was two tickets, one popcorn, one soda, and a box of Buncha Crunch. $19! In the cutest little theater on Main Street in the cutest little town! It tickled us both. Didn’t love the movie but the experience was top notch. If we want to go to a movie near our home in the evening, it’s $15 for ONE ticket, say nothing of concessions. This theater experience was enchanting. Dave was especially joy filled over the experience, including how you fill your own popcorn bag!

After a good night of sleep in our non-fancy cabin at a super-fancy campground, we made our instant iced coffee (with the most delightful milk jug in the all the land) and walked to the camp store where we ordered breakfast sandwiches. Dave took a couple jumps on the jumping pillow before it started to rain and we packed up.

We walked out to the lighthouse at St.Joseph, raincoats and all, before driving to New Buffalo to Beer Church Brewing for lunch. It’s a brewery. In a church. And they embrace it in all things; their menus are called hymnals. The meatball sandwich we shared sustained us through inevitable Chicago traffic before we arrived home to two very excited dogs.

My yard may not have much curb appeal with random flowers planted in odd configurations, but all that matters is that the cut flowers are grown for a time like this —

It’s cut flower season! Oh, the great joy I find in going into the yard to see what’s newly blooming, to cut flowers to bring inside. (Spiders often included. The one downside.)

This all started back in April when I planted many of these plants from seed. My babies have grown up! (Not from seed: gladiolus from bulbs, snapdragons, cone flowers, dahlias from tubers. The rest: seed.)

I’m already making notes for next year. Will work on the curb appeal part.

The gardens on Beacon are plugging along. Baby green tomatoes are growing in number, plants are growing taller, reaching towards the sun. I kind of dropped the ball on anything but tomatoes and peppers; our established veggie area is slowly becoming more shaded because of the surrounding trees so not all bales get the sun required. I half-heartedly planted zucchini and green bean seeds with nothing to show for the quick effort. Oh well. We’ll have to buy those at the store or farm stand.

But what I really want to update you on are my ranunculus. A couple blog posts back, I shared the beginning process to get the corms in the ground and how I had just learned they should have been planted, oh, a month or so sooner. Ranunculus like cool weather and so I was worried they would result in nothing.

Lo and behold, we have some ranunculus blooms! They’re not the most full or tall plants in the world (I think the heat has stunted them.) but we have a handful of blooms and that makes me happy. Next year I know to plant earlier and even squeeze them a bit closer together for a more appealing garden appearance.

The cut flower garden isn’t ready for blog attention yet; I remember from last year that it will be August before they will bloom and have something to be featured. Stay tuned.

Dave and I are fresh off a nine-day, 2300 mile trip to the east coast and back. We left mid-afternoon on a weekday and didn’t stop driving until we reached the Atlantic. (It was a bit crazy and not necessarily the plan but an audiobook from John Grisham kept us awake and safe.) We arrived to the beach before our hosts and so we spent time eating (authentic east coast – I’ve told you Dave is a bagel snob) bagel breakfast sandwiches and napping on a park bench until we could get into the house for a proper sleep.

Leg 1: Ocean City, NJ

Dave’s brother, Ryan’s in-laws have a family home two blocks from the beach in Ocean City, NJ. It would be our home base for the next three nights. Matt, another brother, and his family was due to arrive same day but a delayed flight brought them in the following day. While we were gathered at the beach house, we spent time on the beach, walking the boardwalk, eating classic beach food, and hanging out at the super cute house.

This, my friends, is called Polish Water Ice. Apparently a NJ/beach specialty? Think slushy but creamier, not as ‘icy.’ That’s the texture of the water ice, the red (cherry) pictured. It’s best mixed with soft serve.

Leg 2: Stroudsburg, PA

We drove to PA where we would spend the next three nights with Dave’s brother, Ryan and his family. More specifically, Dave and Ryan would embark on an overnight hike on the Appalachian Trail, complete with a black bear encounter and coming to the aid of a sick through-hiker. While they were off on their adventure, I did a little hiking with the family left behind and engaged in some alone time, antiquing and cross-stitching.

Leg 3: Cleveland, OH

Dave and I left PA for a single night stay in downtown Cleveland. Why Cleveland? Because Cleveland currently has a run of The Back to the Future musical and it was kinda, sorta on our way home. (I made it be on our way home!) Did you know Back to the Future is my favorite movie? (I’ve probably mentioned it two or twenty times.) We checked into our hotel, found a fun brewery for supper, and then settled into our seats at the theater. The whole time I was worried Dave would HATE it. He proclaims that he hates musicals. Well, folks, not this one. Dave was just as enthralled with the show as I was. I’ll be watching for future closer stops and will happily pay money to see it again. (Fun fact: Dave’s brother Matt and family continued onto NYC after the beach. They also saw the musical in the Big Apple and loved it just as much as we did.)

Leg 4: Adrian, MI

We left Cleveland and drove the coast to Dave’s family home where we stayed a night with his parents. En route, for kicks and giggles and coffee, we stopped off in tiny Heron, OH where we ate the best donuts we have ever had from this unsuspecting little donut shop filled with retired men around the counter drinking coffee out of mismatched mugs. We ate our donuts on the shore of Lake Erie and walked out to the lighthouse before continuing on our way. We arrived to the farm with time to catch up and supper out at Culver’s.

Nine days after we departed, we picked the dogs up from my mom and step-dad’s and arrived home, happy to sleep in our own bed and inspect the progress of the garden. Okay; that second part was really just me. (The garden is growing! Blog update to come!)

We’ve been out with the camper twice this early season. Mid-May found us at Devil’s Lake State Park – a new to us state park. This past weekend, a familiar place at Lake Emily County Park near Stevens Point.

Devil’s Lake weekend was filled with hiking, some exploration of another nearby state park, and a short trip into Wisconsin Dells and Baraboo. We arrived to our campsite super late, as we pulled off to wait out a severe thunderstorm with some crazy high winds. The tick count was relatively low (oh, how I hate those little things) but they didn’t stop us from hiking through the bluffs. It seemed like a fun area we hope to explore more.

This past weekend we returned to a favorite campground near Dave’s sister and family. It has become one of our favorite places to stay while we visit them. We arrived Thursday night and spent Friday on our own adventure; we visited and hiked Rib Mountain State Park in Wausau (another new park for us), stopped for pinball at one of Dave’s favorite places in Point, and then enjoyed a beer at the Point Brewery beer garden. Saturday we met up with family, starting at a local swap meet (My sister-in-law purchased two goats! This swap meet was other-worldly with chickens, ducks, and rabbits galore.) and then waiting out some rain at the camper with lunch and a movie. S’mores, bowling and pizza followed.

The best purchase to add to the camper this year has been this set of collapsible loveseats/double chairs. (Thanks, Costco!) Emmett has always been an old soul, preferring a chair to the ground. And honestly – we prefer it for the dogs, as it keeps them cleaner. They have adapted well to their new spot.

Once we journey home later today, the camper will stay parked for about a month until we head out for the Fourth of July weekend. A couple weekends at home are needed (so I can to finish planting the garden!) and then we’ll head out for a non-camping trip at the end of the month. More adventures to come!

It’s not a secret that it’s the year of 40 for myself and my high school besties. I blogged about my 40th birthday weekend in Chicago. My twin friends Kim and Kris threw a roller-skating 40th birthday party in January. (Where we were encouraged to also dress as twins. See Dave and I at the end of this post.) My friend Kay? Her birthday was 4/7, the day before the eclipse and she decided, for her 40th, she wanted to be in the path of totality.

Kim, Kris and I (the WI/IL crew) met Kay and her husband (VA) in Indianapolis for the big event. The Sunday to Tuesday gathering was filled with laughter, the first time we’d been together in … forever? (And we’re only 4/7 of the Dancing Bananas. We missed the rest of our bunch!) Fun dinners out, lovely weather, games of giant Scrabble and The Great Dalmuti, and – the main event – the eclipse on Monday.

We made a home on a patch of grass at White River State Park with thousands of our closest eclipse-viewing friends. My sister and her husband joined us too (since they live in Indy) and shared a picnic blanket with us. It was certainly an awe-inspiring moment; the darkness, the cheers, the gasps. AND DID YOU SEE OUR MATCHING SHIRTS? (Thanks, Kim.)

Even if there hadn’t been an eclipse, it would have been a lovely time with a handful of my long-term besties.

(As promised: Dave and I as twins in January.)