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.

I need someone to take me by the hand and lead me out the back door. Or, give me a swift kick in the tush!
I have been thinking about gardening all morning. I just need to go do it! Isn’t that what Nike says? Just Do It!
I want my garden to be beautiful. I know how to get started making it look better. I’m just feeling very lazy.
Maybe admitting to all of you that I’m a sloth will embarrass me enough to get me going. I hope! *G*

Do you find yourself talking about the weather these days? A lot!? It’s got to be in the top two things that I talk about the most lately. I know that blogging about the weather is a dull choice of subjects, but our weather is so astonishing I really feel the need to comment.
First, while everyone around us seems to have had a shower now and then, we have gone without rain for close to a month, possibly more. When my sisters came to help me with the gardens, my youngest sister saw to it that the sprinkler was set up and moved. That was two and a half weeks ago, and we were really dry at that point. I was astonished at the response of the gardens, and I realized that I was going to have to water some part of the gardens every day.
Earlier this week the weather forecasters said that we would have 30% chance of showers on Friday and Saturday. Yesterday in the early afternoon, a storm blew in and rained hit or miss over the northern and western suburbs. Usually 30% chance reads as “Don’t count on any rain today.” The Cubs deserted the field because the cell over the ballpark was violent.
Shortly after 1:00, we finally had a short gentle rain. It lasted about 20 minutes. I was away, having lunch with a friend, and when I returned the only way I could tell it had rained was a plate-sized puddle at the end of the driveway.
We decided to go out at 4:00 on an errand for the company. Dear Husband rode shotgun to keep me company. I’ve made this particular trip hundreds of times, and wasn’t worried about driving. On our way home we ran into a little rain, and then more rain, and finally into a LOT OF RAIN!! At one point I was relieved that the guy ahead of me had on his hazard lights so I could see him and maintain a safe distance. The rain came down even harder until I couldn’t see his lights! I thought about pulling over, but I was on a stretch where there were no turns or side roads. I moved to the inner lane to avoid creating rooster tails with the standing water. The sewer openings just couldn’t keep up with the downpour.
When we got home, there were a few tiny branches here and there, but there was no serious damage. I was glad to have the rain. We weathered it (pun intended), and my gardens perked up.
We have the possibility of more storms this afternoon and tomorrow. I don’t count on it, but it would be really nice to have more rain. Could I put my bid in for about six days of gentle rain?
Do you think our climate is changing permanently, or is this year a fluke? Do you think that industrialized nations have caused this change? Do you think that all the building we do in cities and suburbs, and the interstate roads, affect our weather? Personally, I think we need to be supporting much more study on these subjects. I bet I could surf and find 100 frivolous grants which would have been better spent assessing man’s impact on the weather.

If you have loads of time, read the entry “Joy 2” which follows. If you want the highlights, continue reading here. *S*
I am blessed with two of the most amazing sisters, and a niece, who ever lived!!! I am in the process of packing my house so that I can put it up for sale. It’s been a slow process, and my youngest and oldest sisters, and my youngest niece offered to give me a hand. My-Sister-The-Nurse arrived Wednesday morning with her grandson, and stayed through dinner time on Thursday. My youngest sister, Frankie, and her daughter, whom I will call The Artist, arrived before dinner on Wednesday and were here until 1:30 or so on Saturday. MSTN returned to be with us this morning.
They assisted me in packing kitchen utensils and dishes, china, the items in the china cabinet, and the last of my mother’s clothing. They also helped to clean out five gardens, covering one of them with a cubic yard of mulch.
That’s the bare bones of how we spent our days. Add to that watching Jane Eyre, making meals and chattering as fast as we could, and generally enjoying each other’s company, and you have the basic picture.
But, how do I describe how very thankful I am to have been given such incredible help? How do I tell them how much I love them for giving me the gift of their presence, their time, and their counsel, without getting maudlin about it? Think about it……these three women gave me almost 50 hours of assistance, in the most good-natured, pleasant way, and have helped to move me forward to our goal. What a blessing they are, and how very fortunate I am to count them as my sisters and friends!

Fabric manufacturers are always looking for ways to make more sales. Someone came up with the idea of selling fabric in pre-cut widths, saving the quilter a time consuming first step. You can get fabric in 5 inch and 10 inch squares, in fat eights (9X22), in fat quarters (18×22), and half yard cuts of collections. They have also come up with what they call “Jelly Rolls,” which are strips 2 1/2 inches wide across the width of the fabric, which is between 42 and 44 inches. Manufacturers will put together strips from an entire collection, typically forty strips or so.
I’d heard about Jelly Roll quilts. There are quite a number of books available with ways to use these strips. One way is to sew the strips end to end, and then sew the lengths together. You can find video on-line of women racing to sew these strips into quilts.
Here’s a link to show you how a Jelly Roll quilt is made:
I was working on a project for Scraps on a Mission and cut two of these strips from every black and white fabric we had. There were a LOT of these fabrics left over once the project was finished, so we started looking for ways to use them. We created two small lap quilts, one with turquoise and one with lime green, and I think there will be one more of these quilts to use the last of the fabrics.
This is the quilt with lime green strips:

One woman donated fabric with sharp contrasts, and this is an example of how they have been used.

I couldn’t resist these “kid’s” fabrics, so I made up four kits. They’ll be going to the pediatric division of our local hospital.