May 2010 Blog Posts (32)

Join Stile Mediterraneo Italian Cooking School on a 8-day cookery and wine tour in a castle in Puglia Italy from October 2 - 9, 2010.

Stay in a beautiful 16th century castle, experience the local flavors and meet the locals! Cooking classes are truly hands-on and for small groups. Cookery classes are taught by two teachers, native to Puglia who speak fluent English. You will learn the secrets of traditional…

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My Nordic Walking Poles are doing double duty these days - it is spring and time to hunt for the prized morel mushroom. When I’m not hosting Nordic Walking classes I am hiking with my family and using my favorite Nordic Walking poles in the woods in search of the elusive morel mushroom.

more info:…

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The Traverse City Film Festival has launched its 2010 Bumper Contest. I didn't know that "bumper" is the proper term for short films that play before feature films. This short film contest focuses on why you think Traverse City is great. There are several winners which makes your chances a bit better. If you're one of them you'll be a hero amongst the locals who will get a kick out of a short film that celebrates Traverse City, but there's more.… Continue

Before showing a tree in an exhibit, it typically goes through a 'make-over' process. We use wire (frequently annealed copper) of various sizes. Larger branches need larger wire, and so on. This wire job took about seven hours to complete, over a period of three days. It will take another half hour or more just before the exhibit to finalize the styling. Above, the tree has been growing without wire since mid-summer 2009. This is May, 2010. The next…

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Roundabouts are a hot topic in Traverse City. Peter Payette looks at the pros and cons in "Should Traverse City Have Traffic Roundabouts?" on MyNorth.com and there's a conversation starting. Peter starts out...



"In the opinion of Traverse City Mayor… Continue

We recently received two exciting grants that will help us with restoration and removal of invasive species. Watch for more details. In the meantime, we seek a used pickup truck in good condition with relatively low mileage to aid us in our work. Of course, we’d love an outright donation, but do have some limited grant funds to purchase a used pickup truck in what we hope will be a great bargain sale. If you are interested in offering a truck for… Continue

Northern Michigan wineries are making chardonnays that reflect the

fruit-growing heritage of the Old Mission Peninsula and Leelanau County.



Loved by winemakers for its textural versatility, chardonnay can be round and

supple or lean and bracing according to style. With the excitement of

spring release time, we map out the local chard scene, highlighting a

few producers and their interpretations of this noble grape.… Continue

I'm fully entrenched in my mostly toxin-free makeup and skin care now.



I wish the blog could end there and you (all five of you reading this), would know it wasn't as long a process as I thought. Not so much.



As with everything in life, there is always just one more thing.



Really, I'm not bitter. I'm empowered.



On a daily basis I find that something I'm using or considering contains toxins. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to keep the weeds out… Continue

Matter of Trust is a non-profit organization that uses hair clippings to make hair mats used to clean up oil spills. There's a video on our page that demonstrates how they do it and how incredibly effective the hair mats are. Matter of Trust is front and center in the Gulf working closely with the EPA and Coast Guard, and they need our help! They need old nylon stockings--runs and all, they need rubber gloves, they need money to buy supplies down there. Would you like to help? Call me at…

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To encourage young people to connect with and appreciate the outdoors, Little Traverse Conservancy and Bearcub Outfitters of Petoskey co-sponsored a Kids Winter Photo…

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I was all set to write about something (this time it was shampoo) when something better caught my attention.



My God daughter, Maddy, is a pint-sized philosopher of sorts. At 7, she says things that amaze many adults, including me.



Recently Maddy's uncle built her a swing, so she said to her mother:



"Mom, you should blog about my swing because it would encourage everyone to make their own swing and that would be splendid."



Her mother wrote in her blog… Continue

I was all set to write about how excited I am to use my Arbonne FC5 cleanser every day now as it seems to be doing a nice job on my skin and smells so wonderful. On the flip side, I emailed Intelligent Nutrients to ask why my anti-aging cleanser smells like band-aids and old mushrooms. It could be the greatest skin cleanser ever, but I can't get past the smell. It sets off my gag reflex every time I use it.



And that's all I have to say about that tonight because in the past two weeks… Continue