I could probably leave it at that, but you know I won’t! lol. Our trip through the central Illinois and Indiana farmlands was wonderful. We got to watch the harvest in progress. I’m assuming that the farmers either got their crops in early this year, or the crops are drying out early due to lack of rain. For whatever reason, the harvest looked to be as much as one quarter of the way done! The farmers were harvesting both soybeans and corn. I thought the tradition was to harvest the corn first, because the beans suffer less damage in the field if the harvest is delayed.
We had to take a detour in Indiana, but I lucked out, and had been on those roads, and knew my way. I avoided adding an hour to the trip because I was familiar with the area. We arrived, and unpacked all the goodies and sat for a bit. My-Sister-The-Nurse had made a Crockpot of sausage and peppers and Nan put together a great meal around it. We sat and talked all evening, just us girls. The guys all had other things to do, so it was a girly weekend.
On Saturday, MSTN and I collected Nan at the school and drove her north to the competition. For some reason, I thought the competition started around 3:00, so we hurried up into the stadium. But, as we turned the corner, I realized there was almost no one there! I checked the program, and the first performance was scheduled for 5:00. We watched the class D, C and B bands perform, probably 10 or 12 bands, followed by the awards ceremony. I’m delighted to tell you that my niece’s band won first place in her class!
The band set up props to create a huge clock face on the field. Props with numbers surrounded them in a circle. They did an incredibly daring move at the start of the program. As the show started, a line of kids created the minute hand of a clock and swept from twelve to about four. I know that doesn’t sound so terribly amazing, but in corps-style marching, you avoid straight lines because anyone out of line, or out of step is so easy to see, and for every error the judges see, you loose points. My niece said they had worked on the opening for some time, moving kids in and out, until they found the group who could sweep the “hand” in a perfectly straight line. I AM SO PROUD OF THEM!!! I can hardly wait to see them next month!
Elegante Mother decided it was going to be too long a day for her, so she stayed home with my youngest niece. My niece decided to make Chicken Parmigiana and called her mother to discuss recipes. Nan was sitting in the stands with us, and a band was about ready to take the field, so Nan suggested that she get out a cookbook. The results were fine, but my niece definitely didn’t like having to cut the chicken. Dislike of touching raw chicken must run through that side of the family! *G*
We got home late, and crashed. Sunday morning we had a few hours with the girls before they went off their separate ways. EM, MSTN, Nan and I had a leisurely breakfast before we had to pack up and hit the road. It was a MUCH too short visit. We all would have liked to stay longer.
The trip home went well. We avoided the road that had the detour, but were still able to drive home through the farmland. We were home in good time, and no one was any worse for the wear.
Nan, and K. and B., thank you SO MUCH, for letting us come to visit. We had a wonderful time, and I’m really looking forward to visiting again!!

I’m almost packed. I have to use the curling iron, finish my hair, and then we can be on the road. Elegante Mother and My-Sister-The-Nurse and I are going to visit my youngest sis, Nan, and her daughters for the weekend.
For the past three years, I’ve been following Nan’s oldest daughter around the northern half of Indiana, watching her high school marching band compete. It’s been an exciting three years for this proud auntie, because the band has been in the top five Class C bands at State all three years. I want to see them in mid-September so that I can determine how much the performance has changed when I see them again in October. We hope to return to Indiana for District contest, and if they make the cut, to State Contest, too. State Contest is held in the Hosier Dome in Indianapolis, October 20. For those involved, the marching season, from mid-July to mid-October, seems to go on forever, but for those watching from the sidelines, it goes by in a flash. I’m fortunate, and delighted, to have a niece who shares my love of band.
Soooo, we are trying to remember all the last minute things that have to be done. I have to water the containers at the front sidewalk, or the plants will be dead when we return. I need to feed the birds. Most of our things are packed. We could have just backed some kind of suction device up to the back door and directed everything in the house into the trunk of my car, and it would have been about as efficient.
The house is clean, most of my office work is done, except for the dreaded filing. I’ve even put some of the fall/Halloween decorations up! I won’t say that I’m going with a clear conscience, but I don’t have a LOT to be guilty about.
I hope you all have a great weekend, and I’ll check in with you when I get back.

I know that I should have jumped out of bed and rushed to embrace the day, but I snoozed in for a bit. We turned on the heat last night. Temperatures in the Chicago area dipped well into the 30s, and I was concerned that my mother might turn blue in the night without a little heat.
In the post below, you’ll see that I’ve finally started working on my basement. I shifted Christmas and Easter decorations to their storage spots along the wall and began the reorganization of the companies papers. Unfortunately, I also stirred up a LOT of dust. Our furnaces draw air from the basement, and along with it, that same dust.
So, this morning we have the snuffles. I’ll have to go out in a bit to do some shopping. Actually, that sounds like a sure way to end my snuffles: get away from the dust!
Dear Husband resolved the situation by going off to sail for the day. I’m betting that he has both the snuffles AND chattering teeth. It’s still pretty cool out there, and it will be colder on the water.
For whatever reason, I’m glad to have the chance to get out today. We have a beautiful, sunny, clear Fall day, and it would be a shame to waste it!
Enjoy the weekend, y’all!

I know you’ll never believe this, but I actually made a start on the mess we call our basement!
The Christmas and Easter decorations have been sitting in stacks on a sorting table in the basement, waiting for me to take the time to reorganize them and store them on the shelves at the wall. A number of years ago I began buying large plastic bins to store decorations. We have mice that think our basement is heaven during the winter, and I need to discourage them from making homes in the decoration boxes.
I spent two hours on Tuesday, and two more on Wednesday morning. I was astonished at what you can get done when you start before dawn and hustle for a couple of hours. Elegante Mother starts our holiday decorating, so I’ve grouped her things together to make it easier to find them. I have several boxes of table decorations, the nativity set, a box of ribbons, and two boxes of wreath making materials. The lights have been grouped in one area, and the wrapping paper is in another, and tree decorations in yet another. This year I may look into the boxes that exist for paper storage. I can save space, and protect the paper, too.
The Easter decorations were easy to organize. I have two boxes of bunnies, baskets, plastic eggs, and a stuffed rabbit that reminds me a little of Bugs Bunny. I still have a little reorganization of the shelves left to do, but that won’t take more than 10 or 15 minutes tops.
In the opposite corner of the basement, we’ve stored business records from 1986 to 2005. I spent some time thinking about those boxes and decided we could make better use of the space. I moved a few things, to get a feel for what’s there, and then dragged Dear Husband downstairs after dinner to get his help. Of course, it’s never possible to do things my way, but I can deal with his modifications if they give us the chance to clean and organize the area. The boxes from 1986 to 1989 have been removed from the wall so that we can sort through them for contracts and tax documents, and we can pitch the rest.
In one pile, we are collecting outdated software and manuals. In another, I’ll be gathering computer hardware. We have several computers that either need to be rebuilt or thrown out. There’s no point in storing them if we’re not going to use them, and there’s an area drop off one Saturday a month for electronic stuff.
The most difficult part of this process is not having a dumpster where I can collect things as I clean. It’s going to take a LONG TIME to clean this basement if it has to be done one garbage can at a time! But, at least we’ve made a start.

Sunday, Dear Husband is giving up a day on the water to take Elegante Mother and me to the races. We have never been to Arlington Park Race Track in Arlington Heights. Actually, I’ve never been to any kind of horse race. I’ve never bet on the ponies, so this will be a new experience for me.
I downloaded some information on betting, and realized right away that we will be confining our betting to “Win, Place or Show” bets. And, we will most likely be making very small wagers, given that we know nothing about the horses or the condition of the track.
Basically, we’re going to have a great afternoon, doing something new. I’m encouraging Elegante Mother to wear one of her red hats! It will be like the Ascot races at Arlington. *G*

I was surprised Wednesday to receive a package of gifts from a friend in Scotland. June and I have not met, but we have a lot in common, including a love of quilting. Two years ago I was planning a visit to Scotland that was postponed, but still hope to get there and meet June.
As I opened the package, it felt like Christmas! There was a red plaid tote bag, a package of heather seeds, a tea towel with Scottish sayings and their English translations, an English quilting magazine, a tray with drawings of Scottish castles, and a very long letter and post cards bringing me up to date with the news at her house. My office work simply stopped while I opened everything and read the letters.
June has sent me some of the most wonderful calendars of Scotland. She knows I’d love to visit and see her homeland personally, so she sends bits and pieces of it to tide me over until I get there. I wish I was as clever as she is in sending gifts. I’ve sent quilting magazines, and a few things from Chicago, but I’ve been rather stymied about what to send. It hasn’t occurred to me that I could send things from all over the USA, and not just from the area where I live. DUH!!
I’m open to suggestions, if you have any to share.
There were two more things in my goodie bag that have me grinning. They are coasters, but not just any coasters. The first gives the word “teuchter” and it’s definition: (choo-chter) Dialect, chiefly Scot. -n 1. (trad.) one who derives from the Highlands of Scotland (a Hielander); more commonly used by city folk to describe rural dwellers. 2. Gaelic-speaker (mostly to each other) esp. at strange Gatherings known as Mods. [definitely not Rockers] Occasionally partakes of a wee dram. (also heuchter teuchter). (June, does this describe Michael??? *G*)
The second coaster just cracks me up. It’s a picture of a Scottish woman from the past, in a long dress or skirt, with a plaid over-skirt or apron, and a cape, using a head strap to carry a mammoth woven basket on her back. The caption to the left of the picture says “Does ma bum look big in this?”
I’ve found a picture of the design that’s been used on “couthie cards,” which must be note cards. Scroll down to where it says “Big Bum Cards” and click on the image. Each time I see this lady I just have to grin!
June, thank you, SO much for your generosity, and for my daily grins! *G*

“Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair
Flow it, show it
Long as God can grow it
My hair
I want it long, straight, curly, fuzzy
Snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty
Oily, greasy, fleecy
Shining, gleaming, streaming
Flaxen, waxen
Knotted, polka-dotted
Twisted, beaded, braided
Powdered, flowered, and confettied
Bangled, tangled, spangled, and spaghettied!”
From the lyrics for the song “Hair,” from the musical of the same name.
I had my hair permed on Saturday. The first few days after a perm I strongly resemble Ralph the Dog of Muppets fame. If you click on the link, Ralph is in the top row, slightly to the left of center. My hair is a bit darker now than when I was twenty (at least most of it is…) when the sun bleached it, and highlighted the copper strands. Immediately after a perm, I have a head full of tight brown curls.
At this point in the life of my perm, I tend to think “Thank God nothing lasts forever!” As the perm is trimmed and starts to loose some of it’s curl, I complain “WHY in the world can’t I get my perms to last longer!
This entry was brought to you by “The Old Hair Blues.” *G*

I was astonished to learn that Carlos Zambrano, of my beloved Cubs, is worth 91.5 MILLION DOLLARS over a five year period. That’s 18.3 million dollars a year for each of those five years. He works roughly seven or eight months a year, playing a game, and he earns more money than I will ever see in my lifetime.
Please, PLEASE tell me why someone who plays baseball is worth that kind of money, when teachers are begging for contracts that let them keep up with the cost of living.
Please tell me why a baseball player can earn so much, when we have soldiers whose families are on welfare because they are not home to support them. And, those same soldiers are putting their lives on the line because our government says it doesn’t have the money to adequately cover them with Kevlar.
I enjoy listening to the Cub games. I think Zambrano has been good for the Cubs, despite his recent loosing streak. But, when did we decide that entertainment was so valuable? Personally, I’d think twice about paying for a ticket these days. My money could be put to better use helping my own family, or helping others.
I was on a website today where tickets are sold. My niece wants to take a friend to a Cub game. I discovered that tickets were on sale for a range of prices from $44 to $975, with two seats on the infield going for $10,000 EACH!! When did this get so out of hand.
I’m really glad that I’m not addicted to sports. It might matter to me not to be able to go, but thrift, frugality, and just plain common sense matter more to me than wasting my money this way!

The weather is glorious! It’s warm, but not TOO warm. It’s sunny and it’s just lovely out. I set my alarm for 6:00 to get an early start on the weeding. Unfortunately, I managed to stall until close to 7:30 before going out, but I still got some very important work done on the gardens. I’ll have to water before I continue tomorrow morning.
We’ve purchased our first chrysanthemums for the season. Elegante Mother picked out a huge pot of red-violet mums, and I chose the burnished bronze color. I also have three small pots of burgundy blooms, and two of that cheery yellow. They’ll help stretch the bloom season where other plants have gone fallow for the year.
Yesterday, My-Sister-The-Nurse came over and we went the the Wheaton French Market. Since Wheaton has a Farmer’s Market on Thursday, we weren’t sure what to expect, but we had a fabulous time!
Three aisles with booths on either side filled a small parking lot downtown. We found flowers, incredible jewelry, fruits and veggies, inventive decorative wrought-iron plant stands, odds and ends of things, and bakeries…..oh my god! the bakeries!
Since MSTN is addicted to bread, she thought she’d died and gone to heaven! Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough arms to carry everything we would have liked to buy, so our purchases had to be limited, but I think we might have bought enough between us to start our own bakery booth.
We both want to go back to buy wrought-iron plant holders. There was one that was an outline of a pumpkin in a darker brown (sort of rusty) look, that was slightly larger than a basketball, and a companion piece that was smaller, that we both wanted. The pumpkin was hinged so that the top half opened out and you could put a large plant in the center and have it grow through the iron ribs. MSTN saw a metal chair that looked as though it had been painted a light blue over white, a chair that might have been used to feed a toddler 60-70 years ago. She thought it would make the perfect plant stand for her front doorway.
I’m not sure just what baked goods MSTN bought, but I came away with a long, narrow French baguette encrusted with salt crystals, a long narrow pretzel loaf, and a hand crafted loaf of light rye encrusted with all kinds of seeds!. I bought apricot Kolache for EM, and a slab of apple slices, oh…..and a focaccia! The next booth was the mushroom booth, and it turns out they are the same company I purchase mushrooms from at the Farmer’s Market I usually attend. This booth had a refrigerated jar of five cheese spread with garlic. You could take a chunk of pretzel loaf and smear it with this spread, or put the spread on hot pasta. You could split the bread and spread it with the cheese and heat it. And the guy selling it said that you could just eat a bit on bread with a glass of wine at the end of the day, and that picture is what sold me! *G*
One booth had baby clothes. Since my step-daughter is having her second baby in a month or so, I browsed, and ended up buying a long-sleeved onsie with a wonderful pumpkin painted on the chest. I figure the baby will be my little “Punkin!” *S* I hope her mother likes the onsie as much as I do.
We patted dogs and compared notes with other shoppers, and finally, after buying a HUGE bouquet of red lilies and eucalyptus, it was time to head back to the car. Sis treated me to iced tea and an almond-toffee square at Starbuck’s, and we took our things home to share with Mother.
So that EM wouldn’t be left out, we all went to Red Lobster for lunch. EM hardly eats enough to keep a mouse alive, and she wanted lobster. We tried to order one of the small, 7 ounce lobster tails, but we ended up with the BIG one. That’s okay. This is one meal that EM will eat as leftovers. We’ll reheat part of it with butter for one meal, and I’ll make lobster salad for her with the rest. One lovely side effect of the lunch was that I didn’t have to cook dinner! YEA!
And, even better, I got to talk with my sister. We almost NEVER have quality time alone, so this was the perfect day!
I spent a lazy late afternoon, loving up the cat and reading mail. I napped for a few minutes, and then caught a second wind and sat down to quilt. I’m making good progress. Now that I have twelve granny squares to send to Shelly for Share A Square, I need to concentrate on getting this quilt finished and off the frame. If I stick with it for the next two days, I’ll have two-thirds of the quilt finished!
Gardening was wonderful this morning. I liked the look from the front door, so I took a picture that will pop up elsewhere one day. I did some dead heading, moved some pots around, ripped out catnip that was well past it’s prime, and cut florets off the basil in a last ditch effort to keep those wonderful plants producing usable leaves. Later I’ll have to harvest cherry and pear tomatoes.
It’s good to catch up. I hope you all have as beautiful a day as we’re having. Happy Labor Day!

I know that Bogie doesn’t want to hear about this, but the signs are beginning to mount in the Chicago area……..Fall is coming.
1 The goldfinches are eating the seeds from the heads of the purple coneflowers.
2. The bean fields are beginning to show some yellow areas. (A good time to do a little aerial photography.!
3. School is IN!
4. The cat keeps bringing in burrs on his fur.
5. Young maple trees have started to change color
6. The Thyme and Basil plants are flowering.
7. We’ve bought our first chrysanthemums for the year.
8. and I’ve felt the crisp air of Fall one day two weeks ago….a harbinger of the cool air to come!
I’m not pushing to get to winter, but these are all things we’ve seen at Casa Buffy. I don’t do well in the heat, despite the fact that I love the growing season. Spring and Fall are more comfortable times of year for me. Besides…..like Bogie, I’m tired of watering the plants!