My dear friend Pam, who has certainly gone through trials and tribulations of her own through the last year, sent a care package for my "Sister" Ethel.

I delivered it last night.  Ethel's excitement was off the charts.  Behold:


New top...


New sweater...


New pants...


New pot holder that says, "Home Sweet Home."  "I'ma hang this up in my kitchen wall!"


New dish cloths and towels...


New bath towels and face cloths...



New bath mat...


Sweet note with Dunkin Donuts gift card...




For once she was too excited to sit and chat, and zoomed out of the train station on her new electric wheelchair (yay!) so she could catch the first bus home. I got a voicemail later telling me she had arrived home and had gleefully arranged all of her new things.

Generosity on the one hand, gratitude on the other, and I got to witness it all.

For quite some time I have been working on getting this pretty girl to land on my hand.  Now she lands on my head.  (I'll try to get someone to snap a couple of photos sometime.)

In the meantime, here's my girlie...

Yes, we're still on Saturday.  Heading home to Camp Grown-Ups for dinner but stopping in New Buffalo to grab one of these and...



... load up at Barney's full service store.  As opposed to 3/4 service.  Or half service.


Consider yourselves told.


'Tis the season.


You don't find brussel sprouts like this at your big-box grocery stores.  (Hostess Rona, doing her best Carol Merrill impersonation.)

Steak, locally grown sweet corn and green beans, garlicky mashed potatoes and fresh heirloom tomatoes with basil and a tangy viniagrette... and that's on top of a groaning board of cheese (5 kinds), charcuterie (3 kinds), olives, spicy mustard and crostini.

(I'd have taken photos, but we were too ravenous to stop long enough to do so.)  

If you like really, really sweet wines (I don't, but I won't look down my nose at you if you do), it's a great place.  But... it was busy, busy, busy with bus loads of people.  If you're at all claustrophobic, I'd go during the week, and not on the weekend.


Still, the scenery is beautiful.

Then, on to Dablon Vinyards, also in Baroda, but a wildly different tasting room experience!


We met and had quite a long chat with the owner, who also owns the artsy and eclectic Music Box Theatre in Chicago.  Then we started the tasting...



The owner shared the story of the winery name, and how they came up with their logo.







Contrails over the vineyard.

Next stop?  A walk on the WILD side in Three Oaks, MI...











(This combination of racing gear and furniture and antiques was a head-scratcher.)


(Because plebeian pies just aren't good enough.)