Early Spring is Stark ~ 3/15/16

I haven't taken this walk for months and it was good to be outside on a 50 degree day. The landscape is a bit bleak yet but holds beauty of its own.

 

Little signs of spring are appearing, however.

Along with those, the damage from the winter is also revealed (the 1st photo is from 3/8 with some snow still on the ground).

I also found a new friend down at the PreSchool Farm, who trotted up to greet me.

He may have disapproved of me :-)

Cheers to spring and to finding beauty everywhere at any time of year.

 

Tini Bikini Building ~ 4/23/15

The day started with another tour of the soon to be purchased ex-Tini Bikini Bar, which was to become the new home of Heartside Ministry & Art Studio (that did not happen).

I hadn't been in the basement yet due to the dark and lack of flashlights. And here it is - eww!

The main floor and the two upper floors looked the same other than water damage that occurred over the winter.

And repairs of the front from the driving-into-the-window-incident last year revealed original tiling and a painted over tin ceiling.

The musty smell and bad atmosphere were palpable to everyone.

Heartside Ministry never bought the building and as of December 2023 the building is still vacant.

Tini Bikini Photos to date

Smokey and Spring ~ 4/18/15

We finally hit the 70s and no Michigander would have been caught dead inside today.  A little yard work was in order and then relaxing with Smokey who is all about relaxing.

It finally got a little warm for this fat cat and she had to find shade.

She later joined me for a little reading and appreciated the newly cleaned out birdbaths.

It's staying light so wonderfully long now and I like to take a pass through the yard and the edge of the woods to take photos in the setting light. Hyacinths and forsythia are joining the daffodil party, and what could be better than flowers, happy cats, and happy people in this long-awaited happy spring. Cheers!

 

Grand Haven ~ 5/8/14

We haven't been back to Grand Haven since February when we could walk on water ~

Grand Haven 2/15/14 

Today our temps were in the low 80s for the first time in many months so we took a drive out to enjoy the lake. The first thing we saw after we parked were these large kites. Oh wait - there's a person attached to each kite.

These guys are harnessed to their kites and wait for the wind to catch them to grab some air. Impressive but a little scary (from our perspective).

There are new warning signs and a memorial to those who were blown off the pier and and to the people who tried to save them.

The pier is a little more rugged this year with more uneven footing and cracking concrete but we've been warned after all.

The lighthouse today sans ice, and back in February.

Each of these three are holding a smart phone, and the next two have actually ventured into this very cold Lake Michigan.

A few campers have already arrived and are parked behind these dunes, but not worth photographing.

On our way back to the car we found an actual kite flying. Here's to summer maybe finally arriving in Michigan sometime soon.