I went hiking over the weekend with my mom. We hiked on leaf-covered trails through the woods and saw some gorgeous fall colors, and then ended up on the beach of Lake Michigan.
We encountered only a few other people so it was a wonderfully quiet and peaceful hike.
It was cool to see the US Postal Service at the Saturday farmers market with a display of artwork celebrating American farmers markets on its farmers market stamps.
As usual for the middle of summer, there’s always lots of bakery, produce, plants and flowers to see at the market, as well as great people-watching while sipping an iced coffee.
Hope you’re making time to go outside and enjoy summer!
Terri
We went to farmers market this weekend for the first time in about a month. It was really crowded so we didn’t buy much – a donut, monster cookies from an Amish family, a small bag of kettle corn, and a pepper plant for our kitchen.
Saturday is my favorite day of the week, so I love it when we go out exploring, especially into the urban neighborhoods. It was a beautiful day, so after farmers market, we had an early lunch and sat at the sidewalk tables for a couple hours, talking and people-watching.
On Sunday, I had a wonderful chat with my cousin, which turned into a great brainstorming conversation, venting session, and general catching up. I spent the rest of the day working on a new illustrated map for work. I’m really into maps and designing them, so this is a great project for me. I have to design a map that will showcase the neighborhood and community around an upscale apartment building.
Finding the right map source for reference (such as the above example), getting the perspective, grid of streets and major landmarks are usually the hardest steps for me. Once that is done, I can work on the fun stuff – the illustrations and icons. Since this map needs to feature things to do in the community, my next step is to design some icons as markers.
Hope you had a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by,
Terri
On the weekends, especially Saturdays, we’re always trying to think of something fun to do that’s outside our neighborhood. Sometimes, we go to the farmers market. Other times, we go downtown for a slice of pizza and a dose of people-watching. Other times, in Fall, we hit the hiking trails.
This past weekend, I was lucky enough to spend a couple days with my family at my parents’ lake house.
I met them at one of our favorite restaurants, Fred and Fuzzy’s (named after the owners), which is a waterfront bar and grille. Simple patio tables, chairs and umbrellas. Simple menu. I always get the whitefish sandwich with sweet potato fries. Their cherry margaritas are SO good. (Door County is famous for its cherries, which grow well in the local conditions.)
We took the boat out to sea for a cruise.
We had a bonfire, complete with s’mores and a lovely sunset each night.
After the bonfire simmered down, we were able to do some serious star gazing, another one of my favorite pastimes. We saw lots of shooting stars, constellations, satellites on the move, and the milky way galaxy.
We went letterboxing, which is always fun, even though the notebooks in this box were pretty wet and the entries were a couple years old.
It was still fun to peel apart the pages and see the variety of stamps people use.
Did I mention that I haven’t seen my sister in a year or my brother in six months? I have really missed spending time with them and spending time on the water.
We enjoyed a few days of fresh air, good food, and good times together!
It’s been a crazy busy summer, so a weekend full of R&R was exactly what I needed. Thanks for stopping by!
Terri
On Saturdays, we’re always trying to think of something fun to do that’s outside our neighborhood. Sometimes, we go to the farmers market. Other times, we go downtown for a slice of pizza and a dose of people-watching. Sometimes, in Fall, we hit the hiking trails.
This Saturday we went to the Blooming Butterflies exhibit at the botanical gardens. We saw a nice variety of free-flying butterflies in the conservatory:
Painted Lady butterfly, found in Europe, North Africa, America and Australia. I’ve seen these in our gardens, but they were much darker brown and orange.
Julia butterfly, native from Brazil to southern Texas and Florida.
Zebra Longwing butterfly, the official butterfly of Florida, also native to South America, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, North and South Carolina.
Monarch butterfly, the milkweed butterfly, the most known in all of North America, and famous for its migration from central Mexico to Canada and back again.
They also have cases of butterfly specimens from all over the world. The most colorful butterflies seemed to be from warm, exotic places.
I took as many pictures as I could for drawing reference when my imagination needs a boost. Such a great adventure full of discovery, treasure hunting, nature, and creative inspiration. Thanks for stopping by!
Terri
Terri's Notebook 
