This past weekend we made our annual trek to north central Indiana to be with my youngest sister and her family. My-Sister-The-Nurse drove us down through a rainstorm. By the time we got there, the rain had cleared off, and we had a great weekend.
This year we had other reasons for making the trip. Friday was my youngest niece’s 22nd birthday. That was a great reason to go. We love celebrating her birthday. But, this visit we also had the chance to see a piece of her furniture which was being shown in a gallery in Indianapolis. It’s always fun when an artist moves from school galleries to showing her work in a commercial gallery. It’s was big break time for her, and we got to be a part of it. With any luck, she might share a picture of one of the pieces so I can post it here.
After the gallery, we walked through the art center where Frankie throws pots and her husband works in wood. The only person missing was Frankie’s oldest daughter (who had to work), who writes and is a wiz with a camera! What an artistic family they are!
We visited some of the stores in the Broad Ripple section of Indy, and then moved on to a French place for dinner. My steak and frites were fabulous, but the soup with mussels, and the crepe my sisters had looked equally good. We were stuffed for the ride home. I was really glad I didn’t have to drive.
Sunday morning, the birthday girl cooked crepes for us. Frankie cooked a savory filling with spinach, onions and yellow peppers, to which I added olive tapenade, crumbled feta cheese and Parmesan. MMMMMMMMMMM…it was fabulous. I had fresh fruit and a slice of pumpkin bread with it. I was stuffed, and missed out on the fruit filled crepe, but I hear it was great. The food at Frankie’s is always wonderful *S*
It’s really tough to have to leave. I gathered hugs from just about everybody, including Mickey, the cat. I hate to go because we have such a good time there, and I get to see family, and enjoy the house, and eat, and share recipes, and do all sorts of wonderful things. It’s so tough to leave.
But, we piled into the car, and headed north with Dear Husband Driving. I always wish we could stay longer. Thank you, dear sister, for making us welcome!

Oh my…… Sunday night, after we came home from Indiana, we walked toward the kitchen, turning off lights, heading for bed. I smelled something a bit “off.” At first I thought something might have been left in the garbage can while we were away. Nope….not that.
I got closer to the kitchen sink, and thought we might need to run the disposal. You know how bad it can be if you leave broccoli or a cole crop in the disposal and don’t run it. Nope…not that. BUT, it WAS getting stronger.
Apparently, a skunk had been frightened, either just outside the window at the kitchen sink or the mud room, OR….it might have been scared, fallen into the escape window (in the basement) and decided to fumigate the house. Unfortunately, years ago we saw a skunk go into the drainage pipe that leads to the sump system, so we know a skunk could survive the fall. If a skunk let go in the pipe, we were going to be in real trouble. It’s hard to sell a house that smells like skunk. ;-(
I’m a chicken heart. I DID NOT want to be the one to figure it out. I eased away, saying to myself, “IT’S HIS JOB to figure this out!” I went off to bed, praying the skunk was on his way somewhere else. Dear Husband must have been thinking it was MY job. NOT!
At any rate, the skunk must have been outside on the lawn. By the time I got up on Monday it was apparent that the scent had not permeated the house, and we had lucked out. Either that, or my sense of smell has been killed. *G*
DH must be really happy that he doesn’t have to put the skunk ladder into the window well!

While we were away this weekend, we had a chance to see the color change on the trees between north central Indiana and suburban Chicago. Color in Indiana was spectacular. Reds, golds, bronze, purple, brown and green were blended together in a glorious display. As we traveled north into Illinois we saw a lot of brown, dull, drab trees, and I thought we had missed the color change in Illinois. The crops were stunted. Some were being harvested, but you could tell the drought has hurt the crops seriously. We saw fields of beans and corn that looked as though they had simply died, rather than drying in preparation for harvest.
As we got closer to the suburbs, we began to see a little more color, and by the time we got to our own town, the red was in full flame, and you could tell we hadn’t missed the color change. Our lawn has several huge circles of gold, and a few smaller circles of red, where trees have dropped their leaves, but there are still trees in the parkway that have their leaves.
I meant to blog about the black walnut trees. I don’t think I said anything about them. They are the very last trees to get their leaves in the spring. They are the first trees to change color, in late summer, and they are the first trees to loose their leaves. As I look out my kitchen windows, I see strong trunks, and branches that are bare, and stark against the sky. It amazes me that the squirrels get such a harvest of nuts from a tree that has such a short season. I’ll chuckle all winter, as I find places where the nuts have been stashed.
Fall is a fabulous time of year. It might be my favorite time of year, since we celebrate so many birthdays, but the trees alone make it spectacular!

I’ve been watching for herons and egrets for the past two weeks. I think the egrets left us during the first week of October. About five days ago I saw two herons, but they’ve been missing since then. I think I can say that they have flown south for the winter. I need to check blogs from previous years to see if they have left earlier than usual.
l love watching for those beautiful birds. I will be waiting for them eagerly next spring. Maybe I can persuade Dear Husband to take a trip south during the winter, just to check up on our feathered friends.