Marvelous Mary Novak CDPE Sells MI Real Estate

This past weekend I was up north expecting to spend my Saturday fishing and boating on Lake Montcalm. Instead I awoke to a cold rainy dreary day-with a lot of wind. Not exactly perfect fishing weather. What to do with the 5 year old neice and 10 year old nephew?? Jump in the car and head over to Anderson and Girls Orchard in Stanton MI. Around 1pm I bundled up the kids jumped in the car and headed to the cider mill. I have never been to Anderson's but a few folks had told me what a fun place this was to visit. Not only is this an apple orchard and cider mill, it is also a petting zoo. We spent over two hours walking around petting the bunnies, pigs, goats, ponies, donkey and watching the pig race. This is a hoot to watch! The kids really get into this. Anderson also has exotic animals-lemers, two-toed slooth, zebras, camels, and more. But I have to admit the best time was in the "bird house." We walked into an enclosed "bird cage." There were parakeets, love birds and more. The kids each purchased a $1 bird stick sprinkled with peanut butter and bird seed. The birds would come right up and land on the stick and eat. We did not do the wagon ride, but it looked like fun. After the kids were done sliding down the giant slide and climbing on the animal statues, we headed over to the bakery. Another wonderful surprise. Homemade donuts to kill for! Warm apple cider! The bakery is also a gift shop with some really cute gifts for all ages. The zoo is supported by donations only. Even on a cold rainy windy day, the orchard and zoo were pretty busy. Looking for a fun, close by inexpensive afternoon-then I suggest you visit "Anderson and Girls."

www.andersonandgirls.com

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How many times did I hear this saying while growing up? LOTS. But usually this statement was made to me by my Mom when it to dating. Those words still ring true today especially when it comes to looking to purchase a home.

As a realtor, I do tell my sellers that buyers DO judge a home by the exterior BUT I tell my buyers that even if the exterior doesn't match what they would consider desirable, that they still need to look at the home-this could be the only issue with the home. I know this from personal experience! I have lived in my current home for over 20 years.

Back in 1983 when the agent drove us up in the driveway of our current home, my husband said "no way was he getting out of the car". The agent told Rick (my husband) that we needed to see the house since the appointment had already been scheduled and the homeowners had prepared their home for our showing. The home was similar to Frank Lloyd Wright architecture with the flat roof and was painted ugly Florida green; the bushes looked like they hadn't been trimmed in years. Well, we walked in and the first thing my husband said was WOW! The house did need some work, but the lake views were to die for. We walked throughout the home several times that day. When we came home for the evening, we sat down and wrote out our list. Yes, the home had everything that we wanted but,Oh Goodness, the exterior was something else. We ended up purchasing this home and have a lot of wonderful memories.

The first thing we did after we closed on our new home, was hire a landscaper to clear out all of the overgrowth and there was so much overgrowth, that after the landscaper was done, our next door neighbor came over and told us he never knew there was another entrance into the house! Painting the exterior of the home changed everything about the house. My husband even began falling in love with the exterior of the home!

In today's World of of foreclosures and vacant homes, it is very easy to miss a "diamond in the rough" by not getting over the exterior of a home. The vacant homes have been neglected on the outside, but the exterior may have everything and more than you were hoping for. So, if your agent has scheduled a showing for a home and when you drive up you think to yourself "yuck." Trust your agent. They chose this house for a reason. They may know something about this home that you can't see by the online photo or description.

Yes, it looks like Mother knows best and was right when she told me "You can't judge a book by its cover!" Happy House Hunting!

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Now that summer is here and we are enjoying those hot summer days and thinking about those trips to the beach or the summer cottage we should also start thinking about the transportation we use to get to our destination. I'm talking about the family auto. Just as you get hot on these summer days, your auto gets pretty warm too. With outside temperatures reaching 90 plus degrees, underhood temperatures can approach 250 degrees. With temperatures like that, it's no wonder that we see autos on the side of the road with smoke billowing out from under the hood. There are things you can do to protect yourself and family from those type of unfortunate situations.

One of the things that you can do, especially if your car is more than three years old, is to have your antifreeze changed and your cooling system flushed. Most new cars come with "long life" antifreeze that is supposed to be good for 100,000 miles. But most of us don't drive 100,000 miles in three years. Long life antifreeze looses it ability to protect aluminum cooling system parts and gaskets after about three years. So, despite manufacturer's recommendations, it's a good idea to flush the system and change the antifreeze. And while you're at it, you should also change the hoses and thermostat. It's simply good maintenence procedure.

One of the most overlooked items during the hot summer months is your cars' battery. High temperatures can literally "cook" a battery. If your battery is 3 years old or older, chances are it's going to let you down...especially if summer heat stays with us for long periods, and this summer is shaping up to be one of the hottest on record. Simply replace it. You will most likely need one this winter anyway. While you're having that flush and fill done to your auto, have the technician check your charging system, replace your battery, and replace the drive belt(s) that runs your alternator and water pump for the cooling system. Again, simply good maintenance procedure

Getting the above things taken care of before that trip to the beach or the cottage will increase your chances for a pleasant journey and a relaxing day or week away. Have a good time, and enjoy the sun.....

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Who doesn't like home grown tomatoes? Of course once they start producing you ask yourself "what was I thinking when I planted that one puny looking plant?"

Check out the attached video and see how to slice, chop and dice a tomato correctly. Who knew all these years I was doing it wrong?

Here is a simple tomato recipe~

Marvelous Mary's Simple Tomato

2 ripe tomatos (cored and chopped)

1 garlic glove diced finely

1 green pepper chopped coarsely

1 onion sliced thinly

salt and pepper to liking

splash of olive oil and red wine vinegar

Chill before serving

Serves 4

Don't forget about the green tomatos. I like to slice them up, toss in egg wash and seasoned bread crumbs and fry in bacon grease-don't tell my doctor this! Quick, easy and delicious.

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What Happened to Lake Manners?

I love Lake Chemung! I live on Lake Chemung located in Howell MI. Our family has many happy memories of this lake. From my kids learning how to swim; our annual July 4^th Pig Roast; and my niece catching her first fish. I am happy that there are other lake loving water people who visit Lake Chemung. Some of the things I love about Lake Chemung, is watching the balloons float over and touch down on our Lake during Howell's Balloon Fest. I also love sitting outside in the early morning and watching talented skiers do their water tricks on the lake.

But what has happened to lake manners? I have lived on this lake for over 20 years and recently have been experiencing poor lake manners. You are a lake visitor. For the first time, I have had to put up no trespassing signs on my dock and property. I am sick and tired of people not picking up after themselves. What happened to DON'T LITTER! My dock is NOT your waste recepticle. If your beer cans or bottles fall off of the boat, (and what the heck are you thinking when you have glass on the water!) PLEASE pick them up. I had the experience of getting cut on a piece of glass off of my dock last year. Check out the pictures I have posted. You will see beer cans and a diaper. Thanks for helping the environment! Please don't put your empities on my dock! Put them in your cooler-you didn't have a problem purchasing the beer and dragging the 12 pack out to lake, just take them back home with you. Please keep your dogs off of my property! My property is not a doggie park or toliet for them. If you need the name of a nearby doggie park, drop me an email.

Oh, and the next time you want to go skiing on the lake, please don't leave your children on my dock. Sorry, that you need to use a restroom, but don't even think about asking me to let you use my bathroom. Jump your lazy behind back into your $40,000 boat and drive yourself to the public access and use the outhouse.

My dock is not for you to tie your boat up to or to use as your lounge chair. You brought your boat to the lake, parked next to my dock, so go sit on your own boat. My dock is private property!

When driving a boat, you must keep 50 feet away from swim platforms and swimmers. Please don't drag your tubers close to my dock-but on the other hand, please do. I may win that bet with my husband that you are going to take out the dock. Pulling a skier but you don't have a spotter....first off it is against the law. Good luck on finding your skier when your skier drops and you are half way around the lake before you realize your skier is down...By the way follow the flow of the boaters-don't decide that you will drive your boat counter clock wise-that is against the flow and doesn't follow boater safety rules.

Jet skis are not to be driven by eight year olds. You must be 12 years old or old have an passed a boater safety class.

Visit the lake, enjoy the lake, but please be courteous and safe.

Happy Boating!

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