Pegs marker is finally in place, as its been almost a month since it came in, but I guess things move slowly at the cemetery. Pegs marker is the first one at least in this area that includes a picture, big thanks to cousins Ron and Renee who contributed the extra funds to make that picture possible. Our goal was to get the marker in place by Labor Day so that if the family wants to get together to view the marker we can.

I guess this officially closes the book on Aunt Pegs Funeral as everything has been taken care of that I know of. I think she would be happy with the arrangements made for her. Her marker is the closest to her mother Loretta which is something I know she would approve of.

Once again we all packed in the car, battled the traffic, and headed out to the 180 mile long US 12 garage sale. Traveling US 12 (aka Michigan Avenue near where we live) we noticed that there were not any garage sales until we reached Saline MI, once we hit Saline though there were plenty, most of them in large groups along US 12 rather than the individual garage sale. We did not actually buy anything till we hit the city of Clinton on US 12, where Dad got a lit up pumpkin for $2 and James got a sealed (new) set of photo albums. We continued our trek onto the Irish Hills where we found out that the barbecue restaurant there that we liked at the top of the hill was now a submarine shop, guess nothing last forever.
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James attended the 82nd Abbott Get Together in Colon Michigan along with his Mom, Dad, and Dynamike the Magician. Mom was hoping to get good seats for the show because her favorite performer, fellow Nashville Native Stephen Bargatze, was performing this particular night. Mary got to know Stephen several years back when he was performing at Abbotts Closeup Convention. When she was a child, she remembered her bus driver was called Sim Bargatze and she wanted to meet Stephen to see if that was a relative of his. She worked with Hank Moorehouse of Abbotts who introduced them and as it turned out, it was Stephens Uncle who drove her on the bus.

The show was great, Stephen was fantastic, and the seats were awesome, thanks to Abbotts for making this a very memorable experience for the whole family. Afterwards we went to the dealers room to see the latest magic for sale and everyone loved the “Devils Candle” effect which would be perfect for Halloween. After watching several demo’s we watched Abbott’s make the presentation of awards to the young magicians who completed in the stage talent contest earlier in the day.

A great time was had by all and we even included a short video of the Devils Candle!

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Bronners really looked different this year as we saw many items that we never saw before including a motion light snowflake that was really cool (but they were out of, only the demo left, but plenty of time till Christmas. We really enjoyed the Santa in the classic car mural and will have to review old pics to see if we just missed that or if that is something new. Regardless its something that is not for sale but it certainly is cool to look at. The day was perfect so we tried to spend as much time as we could outside of Bronners, looking at all their outside decorations as well as the inside decorations.

Taking the back roads from Lapeer to Frankenmuth is a very enjoyable ride, you go around a beautiful lake, and you find all sorts of small ma and pa type stores. However, with a gps its almost impossible to know your way around.

Stopping at Past Tense in Lapeer MI is always a pleasure, although it always brings up the debate on which is the real 24, the 24 that we refer to as Telegraph or the 24 that goes from the Palace of Auburn hills through Lapeer? In addition to antiques Past Tense has a Christmas and Halloween section plus a garden shop which has all sorts of unique products for the outside decorator. We got some interesting ideas for the yard but only purchased an “outdoor cemetery” sign on this visit.

After leaving Past Tense we headed North via side streets and stopped for the first time at an antique store called the “weathered windmill”. It was really cool and had many items that we simply could not live without, but did. We managed to buy an old antique crate. Continue reading “Antique Shopping at Past Tense & Weathered Windmill” →

Mom took these pictures of the various types of flowers located throughout the yard and also inside the house. Mom has created quite a variety of flowers throughout the home and yard and it will be difficult for her to top it next year. These pictures were taken on a beautiful day in early August 2019 and it makes you remember just how precious summer months are. We hope that we will appreciate these pictures in the upcoming winter season, especially January and February. Mom works hard to make the yard look good and we don’t think it ever looked as good as it does this year, although we think that every year. Great job Mom.
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VIP Camp came to an ending with a party at Skore lanes where all the kids got to bowl and eat pizza and drink pop with their family. James did real good bowling with a 137 and said he was going to take bowling in College like his Dad did. As in the past, the party was bitter sweet for James knowing that another year of camp has come and gone, but he will be supporting VIP camp later this August as they will have a booth at Lincoln Park Days on Friday, August 24th, Saturday, August 25th, and Sunday August 26th. VIP camp will be selling tickets for raffle baskets, t-shirts and selling bracelets and need people to help and to let people know what they are all about. With this in mind, James has started a new website that he does on his own called http://www.vipcamphistory.com Continue reading “VIP Camp Party 2019” →