Every March I instantly become ready for spring, even though I live in Michigan and I should know that it’s going to be another month or two before anything resembling “warm” happens.
Until then, I’ll just be daydreaming of the spring/summer.
Camping from likheter
Tennis from MOJOmercantile
Canoeing from Canoe Bay
Bicycling from What Good Have I Done Today?
Trevor
I have been completely crushed by the wait for new episodes of ‘Downton Abbey’. Fortunately, I’ve just discovered the series ‘Call the Midwife’ on the BBC. It’s about midwifery in the east end of London in the late 50s.
The costumes are amazing! Plus the nurses ride adorable bicycles when they make house calls. Don’t be surprised if you see me riding down the street in a vintage nurse’s uniform.
Vintage Red Cap from Lucky’s Vintage
Blue Dress Pattern from Deer and Doe
Cashmere Boyfriend Cardigan from J. Crew
Mixte 3 Limited Edition Bike from Linus
Mary
This last weekend, Trevor and I took a biking brewery tour of some of Michigan’s microbreweries. We stopped at five breweries and biked around 80 miles. Since my Sunday morning was spent peddling from Kalamazoo to Battle Creek, my photo is a few days late.
Mary
Over the summer, Mary posted some vintage ads of her Raleigh bicycle, which got me thinking about my bicycle, a Peugeot, and what great ads might exist for it.
I did a little searching yesterday evening and found these gems. Since Peugeot also made cars, I especially love the one where the little boy is riding a bike by a classy car with the caption, “I also have a Peugeot.”
from Squidoo
from Poster Pal
from Zazzle
from Cruiserized
from Flickr
Trevor
Continuing my bike trips around the city to train for mine and Mary’s brewery tour in October, I recently biked to and around Belle Isle. Belle Isle is one of my favorite places to go for its abundance of nature and amazing historic buildings. Also, it is an island and anything on an island is infinitely better.
It’s sad to see how many of those historic buildings are not currently in use, but with the official reopening of the Belle Isle Aquarium, it’s good to see Belle Isle on the right track.
There are so many great little things to find on the island, I may even have to take a second trip there to see what else I can find.
Trevor
A few weeks ago, I started a list of goals for this fall. Eventually, the list got so long that I decided it was unmanageable and unrealistic. I decided to par it down to two goals:
1. Learn to play one song on guitar
I’m going with Moondance by Van Morrison, because it is only a few chords and it seems seasonable.
2. Learn to knit socks
I have wanted to know how to make socks ever since I began knitting and can’t seem to figure it out on my own. This year I’m biting the bullet and signing up for a class. I will have cozy feet this winter, no matter what.
Everything else on the list is still in the running, but instead of using the intimidating word “goal,” I am going to call them “projects.” I guess my reasoning is that projects left unfinished aren’t necessarily a sign of failure.
Here’s a roundup of some of my fall projects:
I think it would be a blast to get a group of friends together and pickle vegetables or make jam. Martha Stewart has a ton of recipes for both on her site.
Since I’m obsessed with Puritans, I want to make a few detachable collars to spruce up basic dresses. I love this DIY Detachable Collar Pattern from A Common Thread.
I love a good mug. There’s nothing cozier than curling up on the couch with a book, wooly (handmade!) socks, and a mug of coffee. I live in a tiny apartment and don’t have room for a lot of dishes. So, I can only get new mugs when I break an old one. Fortunately, I recently broke a mug so now I can design my own with this Sharpie Mug Tutorial from Wild Olive.
Lastly, Trevor and I are planning a brewery biking tour in Michigan this October. The plan is to bike from Bell’s in Kalamazoo to Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti over a weekend. I am so excited to finally be taking a longer bike trip. Plus, I love anything involving a microbrewery.
(photo from Bon Appetit)
Mary
Being in the midst of both moving and completing a music video (more on that in a future post), I’ve had little time for much else this week. I did, however, get a chance to take another bike trip, this time traveling through downtown Detroit to the Dequindre Cut, riding that up to Eastern Market and then back again until it ends at the Riverwalk. I then took the Riverwalk west until it ends at Trumbull, and then back home.
For those unfamiliar with the Dequindre Cut, it’s a path specifically for biking and walking that cuts through the city from the Riverwalk to Eastern Market. It makes it much faster for cyclists to get through that part of the city and avoid all of the downtown traffic.
The bike ride was a great way to start my morning.
Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit
Dequindre Cut
Riverwalk Lighthouse
View of Canada from the Riverwalk
Trevor
I’ve begun going on longer bike trips through Detroit, and even though I’ve been living in the city for two years now, it’s amazing how different the city feels by bike. There are so many little areas I’ve never explored and little details that get missed by car.
Today I rode through New Center, then by the old Dodge Plant on the way to Hamtramck, across Gratiot through the east side of the city, eventually leading back to Downtown, and then home in Woodbridge.
Hamtramck is a great example of an area I don’t really feel like I explored until today. It’s not that I haven’t gone there many times before, but my visits had always been resigned to the two main streets where the shops and bars are. Today was the first time I felt like I really saw and could appreciate the city.
A view of some of the plants on Grand Blvd.
Welcome to Hamtramck
Obviously a very welcoming area
A small courtyard/park in Hamtramck
A farm I stumbled upon on Mt. Elliott St.
Trevor
Recently, I came across the bicycle zine delivery service of Théophile’s Papers on Cycle Chic Belgium. Théophile has several indie bookshops and runs a delivery service on his bike. How awesome is that! I love a mobile and green bicycle based business and was curious what else was out there. Here’s what I found.
Hopeworks Bike Bar via Oregon Live
Maid Marian Muffins via For the Love of Bikes
Cafe Velo via flickr
Théophile’s Papers via Cycle Chic Belgium
Perhaps What good have I done today? will start a craft bike. You never know…
Mary
There’s a glorious perk of going to college in Chicago called a UPass. It’s a transit pass that is added on to your tuition for the semester and it saves students a ton on public transit. Since I graduated in June, I have been unable to accept having to pay for a monthly CTA pass, so I’ve bicycled everywhere.
I usually bike as my primary mode of transit in the spring, summer, and fall. This summer has been more serious. I can count the amount of times I’ve taken the train on one hand and no 100° day will force me onto the El.
My bike, Caroline, is a Raleigh Olympian. This morning I stumbled across some amazing vintage Raleigh ads. Clearly, riding a Raleigh makes me a pretty classy lady.
from The Spokesman-Review
from The Urbane Cyclist
from Hidden Garments
from Paul Fillingham
Mary
