Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well! We are doing pretty good over here. I am enjoying the slide into cold weather. I just replenished our hats and gloves and cold weather gear, especially for Wyatt who has gotten bigger. We have a Blackbirds meeting planned for Saturday night that will be outside, and it is supposed to be cold, so I wanted to make sure we had proper cold weather clothes. We should hopefully be all set now.

So, let’s see, where did I leave off last week? Saturday was mine and Billy’s anniversary, 26 years married. We managed to get out of the house without boyo for a bit too! We went to a place in Detroit called The Lone Goat, which is an English style pub. It looks so much like one (or at least my imagining of one) that it felt sort of like I walked through a portal to England from the streets of Detroit. Everything is done pub style – you order at the bar and take a seat wherever. We chose to stay on the main level, although there is an upstairs. We had both been wanting fish and chips so that is what we got, and they were fantastic.

Strongbow seems to be my go to lately. After we ate, we walked a bit around the area, and down Parkers Alley which is across the street. It had a bunch of neat little shops and restaurants, like a grilled cheese place we are going to take Wyatt too, and a bon bon place called Bon Bon Bon. Each tiny bon bon is $3.50 each and so we were frugal (much like my English grandfather would have been). We got three and split them, a bite each of each. We got Salt of the Earth, Creme Brulee (Billy’s pick), and Better Butter Crunch. My favorite was Better Butter Crunch, and Billy really liked Salt of the Earth.

We had such a great time together. We need more date nights out – I am going to start hitting up my brother to stay with Wyatt so we can. We can swap one night a month, I watch his kids, he watches mine.

And speaking of my brother, I am going to skip past Sunday and then come back to it to tell you about last night. I went out with Devin for our new annual tradition of raising a glass for the 29 lost souls of the Edmund Fitzgerald. It is the second year we have done this and it was nice to get out with him too. He had a bunch of stories to tell me, and we were cracking each other up. The Edmund Fitzgerald figures into our family lore; my great-uncle was the superintendent of building it at the shipyard. My family I have learned, through all of my recent digging, were shipbuilders all the way back, at least on my mom’s father’s side. And some on my mom’s mom’s side as well, like this superintendent Hugh McIlory. His name is reported everywhere as McElroy, but it was McIlroy, my grandma’s brother. My mom was at the launch, and remembered the wave when the boat was released into the water, and getting wet. She also remembers that the champagne bottle did not break on the first try when they christened it. Despite her bad ending, the Fitzgerald had many good years on the lakes, carrying ore from 1958-1975. The boat went down in a huge storm, with sea like waves plaguing it, including waves called the three sisters, which are rogue waves that are right in a row, each getting bigger than the one before, and being oversized to begin with. She went down 6 days before I was born, and my mom said that she could hear the bells tolling down the river from Mariner’s Church while in the hospital. Devin and I decided she was making that up but it makes a good story so we are sticking with it. Devin also decided I must have been the witch of November, haha Devin.

I also tried my hand at some maritime watercolors. Lol.

So back to the weekend. On Sunday, it was sunny. Chilly but pretty. My favorite. We needed to get out into the sunshine and fresh air so it was out for a family walk we went.

We went home and had a warm comforting dinner and it was the perfect end to a good weekend.

And I think that is it from me today! But before I go, here are some photos of Max and Mouse.

I hope that whatever you do today, that you do something that makes you smile!