Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 4:00 a.m. in "The City."

The current temperature is 48° under partly-cloudy skies. Today's high is forecast to reach 62°, also under partly-cloudy-skies. The sun will rise today @ 8:05 a.m. and set later @ 6:52 p.m. However, that Gale Watch that was issued yesterday by the NWS has been upgraded to a Gale Warning in effect from 11:00 today until Wednesday @ 8:00  a.m. Once again, the local surfers will cry, Surfs Up! Plus, starting around 11:00 a.m. today, the NWS is also forecasting anywhere from a 35% to a 95% chance for rain and possible T-storms.


More on the conditions on or near the "Big Lake" later in this blog. Right now, I will try to take our day in some form of chronological order. Don't forget, that all pix can be seen in a larger size by clicking on each and every one.

I should mention, that I peeled nearly all of the remaining apples from our 1/2 bushel. I've already made an apple pie, some apple sauce and some Coleslaw with those apples, but before they could get too old, we decided to convert most of the balance to more of the best homemade applesauce we can remember. We ended up with about six quarts of applesauce as seen below.

The apple pie, the Coleslaw and this sauce were all made from made from Cortland apples, purchased on the return trip from Harbor Springs at the end of September. With the apples safely ensconced in our slow-cooker, we were free to travel.

We set out to go to the Spring Lake District Library yesterday afternoon for a Concert By The Fireplace performed by a Michigan based, husband-wife duo, Wyatt and Shari Knapp. They were there to perform songs from the 40s thru the 70s. We planned to run some errands after that, but as is often said, "People plan and goddess laughs." However, our Senior Staff Photographer had taken her trusty Olympus Tough TG-6 Waterproof Camera along for the ride, so I have some pix to include.

Nice harmonies and solid picking.

This is that aforementioned Fireplace.

As I said, we had planned to do some shopping, but the late fall day was so nice, that we scrapped those plans and headed to the beach in GH. As I noted above, there is a Gale Warning in effect starting @ 11:00 a.m. today, so the chance to visit the newly reopened south-pier and catwalk was just too tempting. We scrapped our shopping plans and headed to the Grand Haven State Park Campground and parked.

I often mention the waterfront in my blogs, but unless you have visited GH, you can't get a real picture of what the beach, the pier, and the catwalk are like. With little to no wave action, it was the perfect time to walk on the south-pier and take some pix.

Since our Senior Staff Photographer still had her camera, she took numerous pix, some at my suggestion and some that caught her eye. I'll include many here.

As we approached the south-pier, this driftwood caught Mary's eye.

A nice shot of a nearly-empty state park beach.

Looking out into the "Big Lake."

A perfectly framed shot of a boat heading out into Lake Michigan.

Apparently during our last Gale Force Winds, this piece of driftwood got solidly jammed into the barrier.

A memorial to the people who have lost their lives when they ignored the Red Flag warnings.

Nobody home.

On the north-pier side of the channel, someone is building a huge residence right on the point.

Since the fur-children were safe, we decided to stop at the World Famous Tip A Few Tavern for a snack before heading home. We had already seen the losing score, 30 - 42, of the Lions/Vikings game, but there was more bad news in store. We watched part of the the equally inept Bears loss to the Saints, 25 - 36. Apparently, after an opening safety, the game didn't get any better. I guess that the dreams for the Bears to have a breakout season were just that, dreams.

The music at the Tip A Few Tavern was loud when we arrived and the place was emptying out following the Lions' loss. It soon filled up again and we watched as Mandy, one of the waitstaff, and a patron showed their moves to the rhythm of the music. We also ran into our recently moved neighbor and her brother.

A final pic from that Olympus camera shows the last of our roses on display in the Flower Room. Sigh.

My acrylic pumpkins still make a great backdrop for Mary' rose pic.

Today, we may or may not go out to run those errands. We do have an appointment for STWD at her doctor later this afternoon, but if the prediction for today of possible T-storms drive Sugar to her hide-e-hole, then all bets are off.

I repainted part of my acrylic painting yesterday morning, but I am still not satisfied with the results. So another repaint is in order. As long as I don't run out of paint, I'm good to go. Later this evening, I plan to travel to the library for another Grand Haven Art Meetup session. Ciao.