Halloween

L loves her costume.

Look,,,no hands!

Trick or Treaters coming to Grandma &

Grandpa's house.

The candy was lip lickin' good.

M helped us hand out candy. He did a very

good job.

M says good bye and good night to his cousin.

Voted Today

I exercised my franchise today, and boy are
my arms sore. bah-doohm!

Ballot ready to be mailed tomorrow.

Little L's First, First Birthday Party

L, crowned Birthday Girl of the day.

It's passed her bed time, which explains the look

on little L's face. She did have fun though.

The Lopez' made this book online, great idea!

L eating her birthday cinnamon toast and

M helping with the chore of opening presents.

Sunday and Sunday Dinner

MJ and a work associate shared a garden this summer.
This is the the only eggplant that we got.

These slices have been egg washed and floured,
then fried.

The fixin's for eggplant parmesan.

These are La Ratte Gold Fingerling potatoes
that we purchased last week from the West
Mich. Coop.

After boiling, they were sauteed in butter with
diced garlic and sea salt added.



L enjoying an after dinner viewing of the
Backyardigans.

"Say Hello To My Little Friend"

Egg on face, Gregg says, I love Apple iPods and
iTunes. Say hello to my new Apple iTouch.

It seems my iPod nano had some water damage,
that was causing my technical difficulties.
The Tech Rep at Apple says that my nano had water
damage. Once again, WTF, water damage! I'm not
a Navy Seal, haven't swum with Michael Phelps since
my nano was delivered, haven't visited Niagara Falls,
and didn't run the Grand Rapids Marathon while
wearing my nano.
looking around, shifting weight on feet, I did allow
wonderful little L to hold the nano, she liked the
display and control circle. L is almost a year old and
is working on a couple dozen teeth. Therefore, lots
of moisture.
Lesson learned.
While talking with the Tech Rep at the Apple Store
and listening to my options, repair, which is really
replacement, MJ walked up and suggested an upgrade.
Say no more, Bob's your uncle, I have a new iTouch.
Cool.

Added later, talk about a case of tech envy. When I
placed my little nano on the counter, it sure looked small,
insignificant, and almost out of place in the Apple Store.

Apple Sucks!

I got a new iPod nano about 2 weeks ago.
I was really enjoying it and iTunes, when 2 days
ago it started acting up; playing music files without
being asked, none of the controls working, not
being able to be recognized by my computer.

My iPod, not working.

I talked to an Apple tech this afternoon and hetried to "talk" me through the problem. He didn't have me try anthing that I hadn't already tried, I can read a manual. Well, nothing worked and he asked if it was OK for him to make an appointment for me at our local Apple Store. Well, I suggested that Apple just replace my i Pod, the tech's response was, "if you had trouble with a new car, you wouldn't expect it to be placed". WTF, this had to be one of Apple's predetermined responses to the suggestion of having a product replaced. Tomorrow I have an appointment, to see a repair tech at the Woodland Mall Apple Store.

This Weekend

Last weekend I started curing a pork belly.
This weekend I finished the process.
I had a very low fire in the Weber and hickory
chips.
This piece of bacon has been pan fried.
The mouth feel and consistency of the bacon
was excellent. I did need more smoke and delete
the gran. and brown sugars from the cure.


Em and Checo are celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary
this weekend. We love you guys so much, congratulations.
M came over for his nap yesterday and was with us until
mid-morning or so today. What a freakin' bundle of energy he
is. We had a great time reading books, watching Thomas and Friends
and dancing to Backyardigans music. What a wonderful young
man my Grandson is. He is so loving and concerned about
others, that it just about bursts your heart to be around him.
Oh, and don't get me going on L!

I purchased Max and Ruby beany babies for M and L to play with
while at our house. They both like the TV show on Nick Jr.
Along with that purchase, I also purchased a beany baby of
Gary, Sponge Bob's pet snail. M loves him and likes wearing him
on his person.

Weekend of October 11th

Shrimp on the barbie.


The girls and their children went to Millennium Park.

Pumpkin bread with dried cherries.

The bread turned out very flavorful.

My toes curl when I'm teething!

Look at those upper teeth. They are quite new.


Oven roasted potatoes, onions and green peppers;
was eaten with the shrimp.

M And L On A Friday Evening

M went grocery shopping with us for the first time
today. He did great and helped us keep track
of the items that were on our list and the items
that we were putting in our cart.
As soon as we got home, he took a nap.

This is M waking from his nap and realizing that
his Mom and Dad and L were all here.

First Attempt At Fried Green Tomatoes

My Mom is and has been a great cook ever since
I can remember. The only REAL FAILURE that I can
remember is FRIED GREEN TOMATOES. It happened
while we were living in Pittsburgh, in the late '60's.
Pre- Fanny Flag.
Because of the frost this weekend, Jill picked a bunch
of green tomatoes and I figured we'd try frying them.

After checking online recipes and our larder;
our only choice in breading (we have no cornmeal),
was, flour, an egg wash and seasoned flour.

Emily suggested a chipotle mayo, so, Bob's your
uncle, I made a chipotle mayo.

Mom, the failure was not in your execution of
the FRIED GREEN TOMATO; it had to be in our
un-trained palettes.
Even this very basic treatment of green tomatoes
and condiment was BRILLIANT!

Kent Harvest Trail Fun At The Country Basket

We spent a couple of hours at Schwallier's Country
Basket Farm this morning. M got to pet some goats
and a kitten.

Just starting out.

M kept on saying, "Ahhh", every time he saw
another animal. It got to be pretty funny:>)

L getting close to the kitten; she offered the kitten
a drink of her water.

M loved the little straw bale maze.

L is showing M the way out of the maze.

WATCH OUT,,,farmer M is coming through!

L makes her choice of pumpkins. Well done.

One in hand and on the look out for something else.


M's personal pumpkin.

L's personal pumpkin.

M was quite proud of himself climbing up so high
all by himself,,,,,Grandma is just out of the frame,
so please don't worry about M's safety.

Em and M checking out another barn full of
straw bales.

M plays in a little grainery, where lose corn was
placed for play.

Cowgirl L,,,,giddyup!

She's got no more giddyup,,,,happy trails L.