Project MCP - October

Once the October challenges were posted, I was really excited to start.  I knew some would be a little difficult or at least hard to submit by the weekly deadline though (only two were submitted on time).  As always, I found October to be an interesting month for photography.  The change in seasons is a welcome change from the same old same old of summer!

October Week 1 – Shadow

This was a fun one.  I love shadows!  I always notice them when I’m walking the dog or running and wish I had a camera with me.  Of course, it’s hard to take a photo of your shadow when you are the one holding the camera!  I managed pretty well with this one of Gilbert and I. 

October Week 2 – Cozy

Initially I had wanted to submit a picture of Mike and Gilbert lounging on the couch.  Gilbert loves to lay with Mike.  However, I couldn’t manage to do that without Mike knowing and therefore Mike didn’t really look that cozy.  I opted for this one….Gilbert curled up in his spot on the couch (go figure, the dog gets the biggest piece of furniture for himself usually).  Some days I wish I didn’t have a black dog.  They are so hard to photograph….especially against a dark brown couch!

October Week 3 – Leaves

I’m not sure why but I didn’t particularly like most of my leaf pictures.  I think I’ve taken better ones in the past.  I’m sure all my neighbors thought I was a weirdo when I was collecting pretty leaves on my walks with Gilbert!  But, I had to get them elsewhere because all of our maple leaves have that black spot fungus and oak leaves are a boring brown.  So, here's a close-up of a maple leaf that I stole from someone else's yard!

October Week 4 – Favorite Fall Activity

Personally, I don’t really have a favorite fall activity.  We don’t really do all that much fall related since Mike is usually busy cleaning up all the leaves that fall from our trees.  That pretty much takes up most of our weekends in fall.  I did visit my friend, Deanna, in Kentucky this month and we visited a pumpkin farm with her two girls.  So, I can’t say it’s my favorite activity, but, it’s a good fall activity!

October Week 5 – Scary

What’s spookier than a jack-o-lantern?  Ok, a lot of things.  Especially when they aren’t even real jack-o-lanterns!  But, this will have to suffice.  I like how the mouth of the left pumpkin sort of looks like candy corn.

November’s challenges have been posted and I'm not really looking forward to them.  We'll see what I can come up with for turkey month!

Back in Time with Man's Best Friend

I found out about this Flickr album from a blog that I read, Dog Milk.  The album is posted by Boston Public Library and is full of black and white photos of dogs and cats and often their human friends.  All were taken in the late 1800's/early 1900's.  I enjoyed perusing these photos because I'm a dog lover.  But I also enjoyed the look back in time...a time that I do not know.  I always find it interesting to look at old photos: seeing how people dressed and coiffed their hair, looking at the cars they drove, noticing how simple objects became children's toys, admiring the often intricate and detailed furniture.  I also like to admire how simple life seemed to be, yet it was still a lot more difficult than it is today (hello?  No washing machines?!).  One thing is the same though; people love their pets (and dress them up for Halloween) no matter what year they live in.

Favorite Things - Pyrex Storage Containers

I’ve been married for over five and a half years now.  We received many gifts for both the wedding and the bridal shower.  Many of these gifts were memorable (in both good and bad ways) because they were items that we didn’t register for.  I’m typically a person who prefers to stick to the bridal registry gift or give cash.  Some think it’s not very personal, but why waste my time and money on something the couple may not like or return?  Sometimes going off the grid works out though.  For instance, my cousin Nicki gave me a set of pyrex storage containers for my bridal shower.  Until that point I had been a user of plastic Tupperware/Gladware.  It hadn’t occurred to me to even register for the much nicer glass versions.  Upon opening the box and seeing how nice they were and how nicely they nested within each other I decided that this gift was a keeper.  And I went on to add another set of these storage containers (in different sizes) to the registry.  Every few months, when transferring leftovers to these glass bowls, I think, “This might be the best and most used wedding gift we received!”  The other day I thought that maybe we should invest in more.  We have approximately 12 different containers and often times we run out of the smaller sizes because they are used for so many different things. We don’t just use them for leftovers either.  We use them as casual serving dishes, prep bowls, and we use them for freezing items.  The tight fitting lids make them convenient for bringing leftovers to work and for storing and stacking in the fridge and/or freezer.  I love that they all nest within each other with the lids on.  I’ve virtually gotten rid of that cabinet exploding with plastic containers and lids.  I just don’t have the cabinet space to waste.  We’ve been putting them in the microwave all this time with no ill effects.  None of them have broke or chipped.  The lids are still intact and the bowls are not stained with spaghetti sauce.  There are also no funky odors to smell!  So, if you’re looking for a solution to that scary Tupperware cabinet of yours, I suggested investing in Pyrex instead!  I’d also like to give a shout out to Nicki for opening my eyes to a different storage solution!

Doing Door County

Mike and I recently took a weekend getaway to Door County, Wisconsin.  Neither of had ever ventured to the peninsula of Wisconsin before and we weren’t completely sure what to expect.  After a day there I began to wonder why we had wasted so much time in the past visiting Wisconsin Dells!  Door County isn’t much farther away than the Dells and there is far more to do, especially with the close proximity to Lake Michigan and Green Bay.  We stayed at Bay Point Inn in Egg Harbor and have nothing but good things to say about it.  The room was great and they had a nice breakfast which was included.  The location was convenient to everything and they had a friendly and helpful staff.  Plus, there was a beautiful view of Green Bay which could be seen from our private balcony.  Hopefully on our next visit the weather will be warm enough that we can enjoy lounging on the balcony or swimming in the small pool.

Most everything in the ‘touristy’ section of the peninsula is within easy driving distance.  We spent one day driving north stopping at Peninsula State Park and a few other parks/scenic  views.  Once we hit the ferry to Washington Island we turned around, stopped for lunch and then headed towards Bailey’s Harbor on the Lake Michigan side and ended up back in Egg Harbor to do a bit of shopping.  Another day we drove around to a few wineries in the area and also visited Cana Island Lighthouse.  Both days we were out from around 10am-4pm and managed to cover a lot of ground during that time while still taking our time and enjoying the views and a leisurely lunch.

We will definitely go back to Door County for future visits.  We would like to bum around Egg Harbor, Fish Creek and Sister Bay when it’s not so chilly and windy, maybe do some hiking, take the ferry to Washington Island, and check out some other lighthouses and natural areas.  When it’s warm out I’m sure there is even more to do as well….like lounge at the pool or beach and relax!



View from Bay Point Inn



Mike and I at Peninsula State Park

Sunset



Cairns at Door Bluff County Park



Cana Island Lighthouse



 

Another Sunset



Wine Tasting





One more sunset





 

Project MCP - September

Here I am with my submissions for the Project MCP Challenge.  The themes this month revolved around going back to school and the entrance of fall. 

September Week 1 - Back to School

I swiped some pens and markers from work (I returned them) for this challenge.  I always loved getting new school supplies!

September Week 2 - Teach or Teacher

This was tough!  I really don't have many willing models to use and this one seemed to require a person.  Instead, I took photos of words from the newspaper....and I taught myself a few things on the editing end.  This didn't end up looking as I had envisioned, but I spent way too much time on it as it was and this is what I ended up with.  Eh.

September Week 3 - Signs of Fall

In our yard, acorns are the first sign of fall.  Our driveway gets covered with them and it sounds like we are driving over rocks!  To my surprise this photo was featured on the MCP Blog!

September Week 4 - Fall Color Scheme (red, yellow, orange, green, brown)

This was taken on the Root River Parkway at the very end of September.

 

Recipe - Homemade Peanut Butter Sauce

I love peanut butter.  It's as simple as that.  Creamy or chunky.  Sandwiches, cookies, candy, ice cream.  Alone, on toast, with chocolate, with honey.  I'm even known to dress up pickles with peanut butter (don't knock it 'til you try it).  I should really by stock in Reese's  because Reese's peanut butter cups and Reese's Pieces are some of the few candies I eat.  Recently, I had a hankering for a decadent peanut butter cup sundae.  I really wanted something sweet, rich, and gooey.  Peanut butter flavored ice cream/custard would even suffice, however, upon checking, I realized I had just missed this flavor at Oscar's Frozen Custard.  I couldn't take it any longer and decided that there had to be a way to make my own peanut butter sauce.  I found a few recipes but this one was the only one I had all the ingredients for.  I didn't add all of the water mixture to the peanut butter because I thought it would make the sauce too thin, but I think it would have been just right (my sauce was a bit thick and not sweet enough).  If I'm ever in this sort of predicament again I will definitely whip up my own peanut butter sauce.  This at home sundae hit the spot and satisfied my craving.....until I requested peanut butter and chocolate chip waffles for breakfast two days later!

Peanut Butter Sauce

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. light corn syrup
1 c. peanut butter
Combine sugar, water, salt and syrup. Boil for 1 minute. Let cool a few minutes. Whip peanut butter in with wire whip. Cover ice cream with sauce.

Favorite Things: Fab Feet Shoe Cushions

For years I have been using products by Fab Feet, Foot Petals, and sometimes Dr. Scholls for Her.  These companies make various cushions and inserts for shoes that don’t fit quite right or pinch or rub.  I first bought a package of ‘strappy strips’ for a pair of flip flops I purchased to wear on my wedding day.  The shoes fit perfectly when I tried them on in the store, however when I wore them around the house a bit I realized that the strap was a tad bit uncomfortable.  I didn’t want a pair of shoes to ruin my wedding day (and I was determined to wear said shoes) so I found these little stick on cushions that would help to prevent the straps from rubbing.  They were the perfect solution!  In fact, I carry the remaining strips in my travel toiletry bag so that I have them just in case a new pair of ‘vacation’ shoes gives me problems.  

The product that I really love and use the most is the back of the heel cushions.  Virtually all of my high heeled shoes have these additions.  I know people think that maybe I should just get the right size shoe, however, if I purchased a size 6 my poor little toes would be scrunched up.  The 6 ½ always fits fine….until I try and walk at a quicker pace.  That’s when my feet start to slip out of the back of the shoe.  Placing these stick ons inside eliminates that problem.  I also find that they help me wear those new low profile ballet type flats easier (again, my feet tend to slip out of those shoes since there is so little shoe to grip to the foot…and a smaller size isn’t an option). 

In addition to these I have used a few other items as well:  Ball of the foot heel cushions which are good for higher heels.  Padded insoles for shoes with little cushion.  I like these for work shoes that I stand in all day, especially when the original sole has lost its cushion.  Ball of the foot/flip flop thong wrap around thingy (that I can’t find on either website) to cushion between the toes when wearing a flip flop with a heel.  It worked in a pinch, but they did slip around some.    If you have a pair of shoes that just aren’t fitting right I suggest you try out one of these awesome shoe add-ons before you send them off to Goodwill.  Depending on the product they will set you back about $5-6.  Well worth it for the lack of blisters or not falling on my face because I walked out of my shoe, in my opinion!  You can find these products almost anywhere (I get them from the grocery store sometimes!) but places with actual shoe departments (Target) will have the most selection.