Arrrgh!!!

I wasn't on vacation. You would have heard all about my plans long before I left for vacation. I was among the missing due to a LOT of office work, a LOT of piecing quilt blocks, some gardening, and a recurring bout of light flu. I didn't realize how long it had been since I had posted.

I really need to get a voice activated blog. I think of things to share throughout my day, but by the time I get to the computer, I've forgotten what I wanted to say.

Fall progress:
It's been gorgeous here, a beautiful Fall. The black walnut trees, always the first to change, have been gold the past few weeks. With the stormy weather of the last few days, they've dropped most of their leaves. The rest of the grove is still green, with a hint of gold creeping in here and there.

Weather:
We've had a warm Fall, with occasional dips into colder weather. Yesterday it was in the eighties, but later today we will have dropped twenty degrees as a cold front moves through. We had a dry summer, but we seemed to have made up for it during September and October. The severe weather Monday night didn't cause any problems here, but neighbors have some branches down, and Chicago and several suburban towns were hit hard. There's been flooding of creeks, and flash floods were expected today as more storms come through. The two retention ponds immediately east of us are full to the brim. More rain today may put the road under water. Our daughter sent a cute e-mail thanking us for the pallets her dad delivered this Spring. It seems they needed them Monday night, and she was really glad that their things were up off the basement floor, high and dry.

Health:
Elegante Mum is a bit under the weather. She has a mild flu, and she's given it to me. I need to get her up and moving around, even though she doesn't want to be active. I know that if we let her sit too long her health will deteriorate. Call her and tell her to "Get BUSY!"

Gardening:
I RIPPED OUT the coreopsis on Saturday. I decided I didn't want to deal with it any longer, and simply tore it out. That end of the garden looks a lot better at the moment. I dug up two (maybe three) iris and moved them to pots to winter over in the garage. I moved two more iris within the garden. I don't know if those plants will make it. It's very late in the season to dig iris, but I used a shovel and moved them in huge clumps. We'll have to hope for the best. If the iris in the pots winter over, I'll transplant them back into the garden next year. While I consider myself a mostly organic gardener, I chose to spread "Preen" to keep the seeds I disturbed when I weeded from germinating. And, where ever I can, I use "Round-up" on poison ivy.

I plan to cut back the iris and chrysanthemum this Fall. I'll mulch around the chrysanthemums to help them through the winter. There's an absolutely beautiful bronze mum just opening in the herb garden. It's the only color there beside green, this time of the year. I need to tidy up the gardens so that the guests who come for Elegante Mother's Open House won't blab about what a lazy gardener I am.

Dear Husband bought CEDAR timbers to rebuilt part of the herb garden! It's going to look lovely as the cedar ages, and I doubt that the garden will have to be re-timbered again while we live here. *S*

Seasonal:
I'm slowly getting out the Fall and Halloween decorations. I have a few pumpkins, but I want to find a green Cinderella pumpkin, and some cornstalks. I don't think I have the ooomph to build a scarecrow this year, but I'll hang the bats and spiders and put out my rubber rat! *G* EM HATES that rat! lol

That's the general "stuff." Of course, there was sewing quilt blocks, and a few other things, but I'll put that in a separate entry.

I think this is my favorite time of year. I hope that you're all having a good Fall.

Susan, I need some particulars about where you garden to be able to make suggestions about shade loving plants. I need to know what zone you are in. Instead of announcing the town where you live, you can tell me what state, and upper or lower half, and I should be able to determine the zone for you. OR... go to this site and clock your cursor where you live to determine the zone number.

There's a wonderful little book called "Taylor's Guide to Perennials for Shade," published by Houghton Mifflin, which I would recommend to you. It will give you basic tips for preparing your soil, and when to move plants into and out of your garden. There is also a companion book on ground covers that would be very helpful.

The following list of plants are hardy to USDA Zones 5 or 4, unless noted. Taylor's guide shows a picture of, and describes all these, and as many more plants that I won't mention here. You need to choose by height, season, and also by type of shade. Most of these plants will grow in partial shade. If you need information for DEEP shade, let me know, and I'll see if I kept the websites that might help.

Bugleweed
Lady's Mantle (I have one, and it sends out runners to make more.)
Anemone (Zones 4-6 depending on the variety)
Columbine (Spring bloomer)
Goatsbeard (a shrubby perennial that grows 4-6 feet. I want one!)
Astilbe
False Rockcress (a mat-forming plant for edgings)
Siberian Bugloss
Bellflower (dozens of varieties and sizes)
Leadwort (zone 6)
Lily of the Valley (This spreads nicely, and smells wonderful)
Bleeding Heart
Dutchmen's Breeches
Foxglove
Shooting Star
Leopard's Bane
Sweet woodruff (I've used these under taller plants)
Hellebore (I've never grown these....the Lenten Rose)
Cranesbill
Coral bells (I love the "Purple Palace" variety)
Hosta (Francee is my favorite....a creamy stripe down the center of the leaf)
Blue lily turf (The book says this is zone 6, but I grow it in zone 5.)
Blue Lobelia
Lupine
Creeping Phlox (beautiful at the edge of a garden or base of a tree)
False Dragon Head (This is a good tall plant for the background of a garden)
Chinese Lantern Plant (Very invasive. Grow it in a pot for dried arrangements)
Jacob's Ladder
Solomon's Seal
Primrose
Stonecrop (Sedum) I have "Autumn Joy" and one other
Snow Trillium
Violets (which will spread all over the place, if you let them)

I hope this list gives you a jumping off point, Susan.

YES!!! $2.329 is a far cry from the cost of a gallon of gas this summer. I think the place where I buy gas topped out at $3.159, and I know it was more expensive in Chicago. Yeah, I know that those of you who don't live in this area are paying less than two dollars a gallon, but I doubt we'll ever see that here.

Did I tell you that my youngest sis called one day just to tell me that she had driven past a sign for gas that read $1.999 a gallon? Mean, I tell you. She's just plain mean!

I've had to get new eye glasses, not because of a prescription change, but because the right nose piece snapped off. I wore them cockeyed over the weekend, and then visited the optometrist's office, hoping they could repair them. No such luck. They advised me to take the pieces to a jeweler to see if they could be soldered back together, and I'd have a spare pair of glasses.

One of the women who runs the office for the practice took me back to a wall of frames and proceeded to choose seven shapes that I liked. Then we went to a mirror with good natural light, and she handed me three of the frames, and instructed me to select the two I liked the most. We kept on with that until we narrowed it down to two choices. Then, everyone in the office got to give their opinion. Luckily, everyone liked the pair I liked the best. The glasses will be ready either Friday or early next week.

I'll be glad to have them. You don't realize what that little variation in focus will do until you have to live through it for a week.

I've ordered progressive bifocals that are frame-less on the bottom edge. The lens is held in place with a thin plastic cord. I'm not a fashion maven. They aren't Red Hat Lady colors....just a natural look that will last for years. The pair that just died was five years old. Not bad, huh?

Will wonders never cease!? I was going on about $2.329 gas and today I managed to fill up for even less! I suppose in Kansas and Indiana gas is back to 25 cents a gallon, right???

Still...it's nice to think that there's gas under two bucks somewhere!

So tell me....have we hit the Mother Lode of oil somewhere in the US? What was all the $3.15 gas about other than the oil companies wanting to get richer? I can't see that anything has changed in terms of supply and demand other than we have gotten through the summer. I know the oil companies think we use more gas in the summer as we go on vacation, but I'll bet you anything that $3.15 gas curtailed a LOT of vacations.

I believe in the concept of supply and demand, but I'd like to see a little less GREED at work here. And, I'd also like to see natural supply and demand, not those which are artificially created. It's almost as though we are returning to the era of the robber barons.

It's nice to see the cost of gas dropping. Now, what would be a reasonable cost for a gallon of gas?

Yup....just this morning. $2.209 for a gallon of gas. Is there hope that we might flirt with $1.999??

It's a splendid day! Dear Husband and I left the house about 7:45. He was dropping me off to pick up the car, which had needed to have some work done. They repaired the back ball joints, flushed the radiator and winterized it, change the oil, and put in a new battery. The heck of it is, I couldn't tell it needed all that. I just knew it was time for a check up. We'll be going to Indiana next week, and I never start a trip without giving the car the once over.

The next stop was the optometrist's office. My glasses were ready. I was in and out the door in less than ten minutes, and on my way to the Farmer's Market.

I bought a white pumpkin. I'm still on the lookout for a green Cinderella pumpkin. A woman bought THREE of them right under my nose, and cleaned out the entire supply. As I strolled back to get some leeks for potato leek soup, I discovered that she must have beaten me to all the leeks, too!

I got an armload of fresh eucalyptus, and a dozen deep red glads for the house, and some wonderful sweet peppers: long narrow deep red peppers, and yellow and green bell shaped peppers to use in meals this week.

I stopped at the bank and the post office and the grocery store before heading home. Tomorrow, one of my nieces is coming to visit around noon. We have some work to do to prepare for Elegante Mother's 90th birthday celebration, and I suspect there might be a few hands of Spite and Malice. None of us give any quarter, and my niece hopes that it's her turn to win for a while.

I've decided to do a tray of things to nibble on because we are going out to dinner tomorrow night. I'm going to roast some garlic, and toast diagonal slices of French bread. Then, I'll put out chevre, feta, a smoked Gouda and a spreadable cheddar cheese. I think I'll make a bruchetta topping (the one that Cop Car likes) with tomato, onion, basil, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil. And, I'll add a few crackers, some ham folded in fan shapes, and green grapes. And I have some chocolate-caramel coated popcorn for a sweet. I know....it's too much, but everyone will find something to eat from that platter! Our house has the best left overs of the neighborhood.

Elegante Mother and I are on our own today. My stepson is off to camp with some friends for the weekend, and Dear Husband is enjoying his last sail of the season. I think I'll do some gardening, and then work on a quilt for a bit. I may make an elegant little supper of shrimp scampi and rice, with a tomato-cucumber-dill vinaigrette salad. It's easy to do....looks spectacular, and won't take me any time at all. What can you say other than YUM!!!!

So, I hope you're all having a great weekend, too. Happy Fall, everybody!

Cowtown Pattie is baking! She's hot on the trail of pumpkin pie recipes. I've donated my mother's recipe, and I thought I'd share it with all of you.

Pumpkin is not my all time favorite pie flavor, but Elegante Mother's recipe is sumptuous! I love all the spices, and the house smells wonderful as it's cooking!

I'm assuming that this is a 9" pie. The instructions simply begin with the words PIE CRUST. As I recall, you prepare the crust and put it in the pan, but don't bake it ahead of time. Also, prepare a narrow band of foil to cover the edge of the crust for part of the baking time.

1 1/2 cups canned solid pack pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
3 whole eggs
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Mix all the ingredients well. Add to pie shell. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 325 degrees for 50 minutes. Use foil to cover the rim of the pie to prevent overbaking.

One large can of pumpkin will make two pies. (214 calories per slice, serves 8)

Isn't this a wonderful way to usher in Fall?!

...to see the Wizard... No, No...that's another trip.

Today, were off to see Frankie and her family. This weekend the Frankettes are competing in the Indiana Regional Marching Band Competition. Their high school has placed fifth and third at State in the past two years, and we hope they will be going to State again this year.

Dear Husband says that I have packed all that I can take. Elegante Mother asked if we needed to tow a trailer. There's one over-sized soft-side bag of clothes, one hanging bag of clothes, ALL my coats and gloves and scarves, and a LOT of presents. I'm sure we could squeeze in a little bit more!

My oldest sister will be staying with Elegante Mother and our son. They plan to shop and eat and eat and eat, and maybe shop a bit more. Sunday evening they are going to a concert. I know they'll have a lot of fun.

So....We're off! I hope you all have a wonderful fall weekend. See you on Monday.

What a lovely weekend!

We left at 9:00 a.m. on Friday heading south and east for north central Indiana. We both detest Interstate 80 where it leaves Illinois and crosses Indiana, so we choose instead to make a slightly longer trip through the Illinois farm fields.

Harvest is well under way in both states. Farmers were working to get as much corn harvested before the rain comes this weekend, as possible. Perhaps half the bean fields were cleared, too. We had to slow for a few tractors pulling bins of corn to the co-op, but for the most part, the roads were in good repair and sparsely traveled.

We stopped for lunch at a truck stop sort of a place just into Indiana. We both had soup, a sandwich and fries. It was too much food. It's a wonder Dear Husband was able to stay awake. He drove the entire way.

Before we left, I selected about a dozen CDs to play. DH is a Mozart aficionado, so I chose about six CDs by different performers. We listened to two hours of Mozart Piano Concertos played by Rubinstein, before we stopped for lunch.

We stopped at a small bakery on the way, and practically bought them out. Sprouted wheat bread, Challa, and Cinnamon bread, lemon bars, Texas brownies, pumpkin bars and cherry-oatmeal crumbles, and cranberry-nut muffins! We had enough for a WEEK! lol My brother-in-law brought home apple cider and a dozen sugary apple donuts (that were to DIE for!), and bagels from Panera. Nobody had to make anything for breakfast of snacks all weekend.

We arrived before the first of the family returned. Frankette #1 drove up after school, and let us in, moaning that she was supposed to clean her room before we arrived. Unfortunately for her, our visit always means that she has to give up her bed, so there were sheets to wash and dry, and re-apply. She got it done in record time.

My sis, Frankie, was the next in, followed by her husband. We were introduced to two new members of the family....Hawkeye, a kitten that was rescued from the fields (having been dumped off by some despicable person!), and Tommy, a long-haired black and white tomcat of a remarkably calm disposition. My brother-in-law made jokes all weekend about sending one of the cats home with us.

Friday night I helped pack uniforms on the trailer, and then we spent a pleasant evening at home with the family. Sis made pasta e fagiole that was really yummy. We all crashed reasonably early. The girls had to be at school well before 6:00, when the bus was leaving.

We drove to the site of the competition and found seats up above the 50 yard line. We lucked out that the stands shielded the field from most of the wind. It was a brisk sunny day in the 50s. The band has a huge number of props that are used to delineate the performance area, and wind could have been an issue. Luckily, everything stayed in place for the performance.

The girls were in the very first band to perform. This is definitely NOT the spot you would choose IF you had a choice. The judges are reluctant to give a perfect score the the first band because they are aware that another band might come along later which could top their performance. The scoring of the top bands is usually fairly close. Often the difference in scores turns out to be just hundredths of a point. So...the girls gave their absolute best performance and hoped that the judges would recognize quality when they saw it.

I didn't realize it, but most of these bands are now amplifying the flutes and clarinets electronically. Frankette #1 is a clarinet player, and she told me that the equipment on her clarinet malfunctioned just as they took the field. Beyond that, the sound board died as well, so none of the flutes or clarinets could be heard up in the stands. I suspect the music judge was one of the two judges on the field, and that he knew what was happening. Their director chose very challenging music, and it was well performed. Even if WE didn't hear it, the judges did.

We watched fourteen bands perform over about three and a half hours. The awards ceremony followed the last performance. You heart is up in your throat, and you're in agony, waiting to hear what judges thought of "your" kids. They announced ratings in the order of performance, so we were the very first to learn that we had earned a GOLD! YES!!!!

Then, we had to wait for them to announce which five of these bands would be going on to compete at State this coming weekend. Again, they reeled them off in performance order. WE were the first announced!! YES!!!! The stands around us erupted with screams of joy!! (My voice may be off for a few days. *G*)

The kids loaded the busses and went to have a late lunch. We headed home to wait for them at the school. Parents lined their cars up facing each other across a wide aisle. Just before sunset, the local fire truck lead the busses into the parking lot. The busses pulled up three abreast and every parent laid on the car horn, saluting the entire band. It was marvelous to see!

We stayed with the kids to watch two videos of their performance. After having seen all 14 of the bands, it was instructive to see their performance again. It had incredible depth and challenge. I can't wait to see it in the RCA dome in Indianapolis next Saturday.

The girls joined us and we had a wonderful dinner. Three of the six of us at the table were celebrating October birthdays. We had yummy meals, but passed on the desserts. We were too full...and just to tired for any more.

Everybody fell into bed, and slept late. MY sister fixed an incredible noon-time meal (Sunday DINNER for those of you who are interested what we call that meal). We all had the chance to chat once more, before Dear Husband and I took off for home.

We had a lovely trip back. I drove about half of it, and despite my stopping four times along the way, we made good time getting home. Dear Husband has saved me a trip to Morris. We stopped at "Big R" to pick up six 50-pound bags of black oil sunflower seed. What a sweetie.

Half my face is sunburned. My lips are windburned and chapped. My voice is fractured from screaming with joy! I'm stuffed to the GILLS, but I had the most wonderful time! Thank you, Frankie and family, for making our stay perfect! Congratulations, girls! See you at the Dome!

I know....you don't belive me.

We were in North Central Indiana, getting ready to start the drive home. I stopped to fill the tank before we hit the road, and there it was......$1.969 per gallon! YES!!

It seems that a lot of places closer to where I live are starting to edge back up again. I'll refill at $2.059 tomorrow, and I suspect that will be the lowest it will get in this area.

You could say that I'm fixated on the price of gas, and you'd be right. Today, I filled the tank and paid $2.039 per gallon. We're SO close to less than two buck gas. Will we make it? Somehow, I doubt it.

The oddest thing about this is that what I paid today was LESS than what they were charging in central Illinois. I suspect the cost is artificially increased there because of all the farm trucks being used right now.

It's always something!

I blogged earlier about the obscene amount the CEO of Exelon, the parent company of ComEd, is paid ($27,000,000 a YEAR!). I have to agree with Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, of Illinois. He says that the company, which is seeking to raise the cost of electricity in Northern Illinois by 22 to 55%, needs to consider tightening their belt first.

I realize that rates for electricity have been frozen since 1997, but an increase of 22% the day of deregulation is purely greed. "We can, therefore, we will" take you all to the cleaners, and there's not a darned thing you can do about it.

Conservatively, I'd guess that we pay approximately $1,500 a year for electricity. ComEd is proposing to increase that by $330 to $825 for the year.
I have the sense that we are recreating the golden age of the Robber Barons.

For more information on this situation, visit this site.

Saturday morning at O:dark:thirty, we will be heading for Indianapolis to watch our nieces compete in the Indiana State Music Association high school marching band competition. Dear Husband, Elegante Mother and I will roll out early to make the trip. It's down to crunch time.

I know that kids will look at you squirrelly if you tell them that it's an honor to be selected to go to state competition. They feel that you are preparing them for a bad score, but that's really NOT the case. Only ten bands in Class C will have the chance to go to Indianapolis tomorrow to compete in the Marching Band competition. The kids in those ten bands, and the parents, and the band directors and the staff worked their BUTTS off to get there. It's not an insignificant achievement.

Trying to convince the kids that going is reward enough is made more difficult because their band earned sixth place three years ago, fifth place two years ago and third last year. Every single one of those kids are wondering: "Will we be second this year? First??"

There's no way to predict what will happen. At Regionals they were one of five bands chosen to go to State despite the fact that their sound board died just as the band took the field. They must have done something right to overcome the difficulties. With attitude like that, anything could happen. I don't think this band is going to be overconfident. They've watched their competition, and they know it's going to be tough.

When the competition is over, you'll be likely to see one band scored higher than the others, and then several will be clumped together, with scores that are hundredths of a point apart. Part of the band director's job is to help the kids understand the honor of going. He has to validate the effort they put into the past four months regardless of their score.

He won't have to make any effort on my part. I'm blown away by what these kids have done, and wish I could have been there for every performance. All I can say is:

CONGRATULATIONS, KIDS! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!

We think that we have hit that time when our egrets and herons take off for their winter homes. We've been watching for the past week, and have seen just one heron. An armada of geese have taken over the pond where we see the egrets in the morning, so we think the egrets have taken wing.

We're always sad to see them go, but my driving should improve, now that I'm not rubbernecking to see those lovely birds!

Well...at least on my part. The girls may be a little disgruntled.

My nieces's marching band came in third at State! Of course, they were hoping for second, or even better...first. They won third last year too, and expected to keep moving up the ladder. In fact, they did. Their score this year was even better than last.

It's really tough to convince teenagers that there is honor in placing anywhere other than first. I wish they could have seen the entire field of ten bands compete. They would have been so amazed at the competition, and they might have felt better about their standing.

We left the western suburbs of Chicago shortly after 5:00 a.m. The trip to Indianapolis took us less than five hours. With an early stop for lunch outside of town, and crossing a time zone, we were at the ticket booth of the RCA Dome by noon their time. The class C competition started at 1:05.

I was blown away by the performances! It's astonishing what 70 to 138 kids can accomplish in three and a half months. The uniforms were incredible, the music was thrilling. The pageantry of the flags and rifle work stirs your soul. Each performance was spectacular, and I feel blessed to have been able to see all of them, not just my nieces.

What a memory these kids will have.

In August, Cop Car came for a visit, and helped us can the 2006 chili sauce. Elegante Mother's chili sauce is a condiment that is used with pork roast, and can be used with leftover roast pork to make a sandwich spread. It's made of tomatoes, peppers, celery, onions, and LOTS of spices and vinegar. We've made a batch every year for at least ten years, probably longer. If you're interested in the recipe, I've posted it here.

I had to move some things in the mud room, and I needed to store this year's batch of chili sauce. Somehow FOUR BOXES of half-pint jars ended up on the counter, waiting for my attention. Meanwhile, my sisters are saying to me that they want the annual distribution of chili sauce!

I went to the mudroom closet this afternoon, and started checking out the stack of boxes filled with canning jars that I had stored there. Box after box came out of that black hole. In all there were easily ten boxes filled with home canned goods. As I looked through the boxes, I discovered that many of them don't have a date or label. Some of the jars have a little masking tape tab with the year, and some of the boxes have a date on the side, but there are 82 half-pint jars of chili sauce, and 39 of them are unmarked.

I have 16 jars of 2006 sauce, 17 jars of 2005, and 10 jars of 2003. I suspect one box of twelve jars is the 2004 vintage. I also have 11 full pints of chili sauce from 1996! AND....a dozen jars of mustard pickles from the same year, which will be thrown out. I didn't like the results of that batch and shouldn't have bothered to keep them.

I'm going to get Elegante Mother and Dear Husband to assist me, and we are going to create "gift boxes" of chili sauce for my sisters. We're going to clean the mudroom closet. YES! I think 27 little jars of chili sauce will be going down the tubes unless I can find a way to make potpourri of them. I have one of those itty bitty crock-pots that you use for simmering potpourri. I bet I could heat the chili sauce with a little water in one of those and the house would smell WONDERFUL! The clove and cinnamon scent would be perfect for the season.

Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without. Waste not, want not. Doesn't chili sauce potpourri sound like a virtuous thing?? *G*

Elegante Mother and I go to an exercise class three days a week. We started this tradition about seven years ago, when I wanted to help her get ready for a trip to the Chelsea Garden Show in England. I was concerned that she needed to be prepared for a long day on her feet, so off we went to exercise.

Three years ago we had a change of instructors. We didn't quite know what to expect. This new leader had a back round in Asian exercise forms, and we were exposed to Tai Chi for the first time. I have to tell you that our Dragon Lady has grown on us, and I hate to miss a class with her. She's become our exercise "guru."

Unfortunately, our guru's mother is seriously ill, and she needed to find a substitute for several weeks. She had all but one day covered, and she asked if I would do the class for her. My response was...."If it's a case of no class, or my leading the class, I'll do it."

Dragon Lady gave me an outline of the music and which exercises she does to them, and a copy of the music. I've had it for two weeks, easily. Each day, I listened to some of the music, and started counting the beats to see how many repetitions of the exercises we would need to do. I think this is where I have to tell you about my bad habit of leaving things until the last moment...

Last night I finished planning the number of repeats for the exercises, and then started to write the movements on poster-board, so that I would have a "cheat sheet." I finally finished close to midnight. It would have been MUCH wiser to get this done earlier so that I could have had a good night's sleep, but I am a confirmed procrastinator, I'm afraid.

Dear Husband woke me at 5:00 this morning. I showered and dressed, read for a bit, answered some e-mail and had a banana before it was time to leave for class. I took extra music for those who come early to walk, and got the room set up.

I was beginning to get a little nervous, and the term "flop sweat" flashed through my brain. Right on time, I welcomed the class and told them I hoped they would all help to make the day a success. And it was!

Despite a few miss-cues, we got through the session. The class chortled when I stood still at one point and asked..."What the heck does THAT mean?" in reference to a description of an exercise on the cheat sheet. I was astonished at how fast the time passed. I decided that we would use the Tai Chi balls rather than poles for the arm exercises, and inadvertently saved myself from the class pranksters. They had rolls of duct tape and masking tape, and were planning on taping me to the poles and stuffing me in a closet. Neener, neener, neener!

The class was very supportive. They worked hard, and had kind things to say when we had finished. I have GREAT respect for Dragon Lady, who can do this, facing the class, cuing us to travel left when SHE is actually traveling right. And, she can do it without notes! My hat's off to her. I'll be very glad when she is able to return to us.

I plan to maintain my "Apprentice Guru" status, but I hope that it will be a long time before I do this again.

Tomorrow, October 26, is Dear Husband's birthday. He isn't much for celebrating birthdays, but that doesn't matter. His daughter is orchestrating a big surprise for him. He thinks she's going to take him to play Bingo. She asked him how he'd like to celebrate, and he quietly mentioned Bingo and shuffleboard. Personally, I think she SHOULD take him to play Bingo. Maybe next time he'd give a more reasonable answer when someone asks him what he wants to do! *G*

Sunday, the kids and I, Elegante Mother and Frankie, will take him to dinner at noon, at a favorite Italian place. What he doesn't know is that extended family and friends have been invited to the house for coffee and dessert when we return from dinner. I have to see to beverages, plates and napkins, and cleaning the house. My step-daughter is taking care of everything else. It was a deal I couldn't turn down.

Dare I tell you which birthday this is? Nah.....I'll be a good wife. Go ask Frankie, (my sister). Maybe she'll tell you! *G*

Last Friday, on my way to exercise, I saw one last heron in the redesigned conservation area at the end of my road.

I thought that all the herons and egrets had made the trek home, but here was one last tall, dark, elegant bird, looking for his breakfast.

I love my cardinals, and the junkos, and chickadees, and blue jays, but I'll be waiting for the return of the herons and egrets.

I can't believe that it's been a week since I last posted! You can tell that family takes priority to blogging in this household. So did gardening.

Thursday, the day of his birthday, I cooked a favorite meal for Dear Husband. We spent the evening at home because we planned to go out with the kids on Sunday.

My youngest sister, Frankie, of Just My Opinion, (I know...she's been absent during marching band season), drove up from her home in Indiana on Friday, and we spent a pleasant evening together.

Saturday, my two older sisters joined us, and we created the picture boards for Elegante Mother's 90th birthday party. Frankie is working on an archival scrapbook that is simply amazing. We plan to have the entire scrapbook duplicated for each of the siblings, so we have the pictures and memories.

Pizza for dinner....no one had the umpf to cook.

Thank goodness for Daylight Savings! We had an extra hour of sleep Saturday night, and I needed it!

Sunday morning I was awake about 6:30. Frankie had been up for more than an hour, working on the layouts for the memory book. I cleaned the kitchen, put things in their proper places, ironed two table clothes, did the dishes, did laundry, and ousted Dear Husband from the bed so I could make it.

At 11:30, I was encouraging a general exodus to the cars. My step-daughter was planning to drop off food for the party as soon as we left the house. I was afraid that we would run into her coming up the drive if we didn't hurry, so I looked like a traffic cop, waiving people toward the cars.

We had a lovely meal at Dear Husband's current favorite Italian place. We had the chance to catch up on the kid's lives, and visit with our granddaughter. Frankie and Elegante Mother talked about journaling to save our memories for those who follow. I so wish we had started EM journaling sooner!

Frankie left for home after lunch, and one of Dear Husband's sons had another obligation. The rest of us returned to our house. The guys settled in to watch the Bears game. When the doorbell rang, we sent DH to answer it. Bogie....I think he WAS surprised. Co-workers, friends, and family all showed up. Although I had said "No gifts, please," when we invited them, almost everyone brought a gift. Most of the gifts from his friends at work were gag gifts, but they were just right. There were enough people to fill the kitchen and living room, and a few spilled over to the "green room" just off the kitchen. I'm delighted that so many were able to make it.

My step-daughter did a spectacular job with "nibbles" for our guests. We have two pies and a cake, and two éclairs filling the fridge. I also have half the world's stock of chips, and some spinach dip left. I'm sure that no one went hungry. I would have been really happy if she had taken ALL the food with her. The temptation to snack is overwhelming!

I quizzed Dear Husband after our guests had left, trying to find out if he had tumbled to the surprise. He swore he didn't know what we had planned. I thought that he might have figured it out because the house was unusually tidy for a Sunday morning, but he says that it was a surprise.

I don't think that it matters. I'm glad he enjoyed himself.

Monday, the weather was gorgeous in the Chicago area! I think it may have made it to 70 degrees in the afternoon. I decided to use the good weather to work at cleaning up at least part of the flower beds. Having to cut plants back, and kneel on the ground in 40 or 50 degree weather is not my idea of fun, but I like to clean out the dead blooms and branches before the snow comes.

I finished about half of the sidewalk garden, and Dear Husband mowed part of the lawn. We'll just keep slogging away. For SURE this year, I plan to cut back the peonies and mound them with compost for the winter.

Today, I've been chained to the desk in my office. It's been worth it. I can't believe the amount of paperwork I've cranked out! I can see the desk top again. Another four days like today and I could have the office in tip top shape. I'll just have to keep working at high speed. At best I'll get four afternoons. Maybe I'll get tonight off for good behavior.

I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween!