Have you been crocheting in your spare time?
I want you to keep in mind that Shelly, at This Eclectic Life, is still looking for 6″ granny squares for afghans for kids attending cancer care camp next summer. This is a wonderful project that will let you use up your scraps of yarn. There is a button on my blog that will take you to Shelly’s post about the program. Scroll down and click on the button that says “Share a Square” for more information.
Shelly, the Senior Exercise group came through with 39 more squares. I mailed them off on Saturday morning.
And……I have seven more ready to send.
Folks, Shelly is only about a third of the way to all the squares she needs. Please help her reach her goal!

Okay….we’ve had enough rain for a bit. I’d like for you Texans….and citizens of Kansas (Kansans??) to keep those storms to yourself!
Last week we had quite a bit of rain. Thursday brought storms with high winds and a few tornadoes were sighted in the Chicago area. Normally storms don’t bother me, but these were quite aggressive. Our personal computer is on a trestle table next to a wall of windows, and I felt that it was prudent to turn off the computer and move to an area where there would be less chance of flying glass, should a tree decide to take flight.
I actually moved Elegante Mother into her bathroom temporarily, for the same reason. I’m not sure that I can get her down the stairs to the basement, and we certainly can’t do it in a speedy manner. If the weather is sufficiently dangerous, we might attempt it, but I’d need enough warning to have the time to make it happen. Her bathroom was the next best choice, and my dressing room would be even better, if we added chairs.
At any rate, we have made it through, without loosing electricity or any other services. We don’t have any standing water, and the plants and weeds are in hog heaven! I’m a bit superstitious about mentioning it, but the basement is dry. (I didn’t say that……don’t mind me, I’m just a little rain cloud passing by.)
We normally have about four inches of rain in August. We had four inches of rain on Thursday alone. The northern third of the Chicago area has been hit much harder than we have. They are not only coping with the results of Thursday’s storms, they also have to deal with the flow of water out of Wisconsin that has brought streams and rivers to past the flood stage. And all this came at a time when schools were ready to open.
On my way to exercise on Friday, I had to cross an old bridge that is under reconstruction. The crews have taken out the two westbound lanes and moved all the traffic onto the two remaining lanes. After the bridge collapse in Minnesota, I’ve been a little wary of the bridge, but Friday I could see that the river was up almost to the road bed, which made the situation worse. As I drove across, I was trying to think what to do, should I find my car quickly sinking into the river, and maybe even being pushed downstream. Luckily, there was no problem.
It looks as though we have two dry days to start the week, and then Wednesday is supposed to be wet, again. Thank you, Mother Nature, for the blessing or rain. Now, could we stop before I grow webbed feet??

It’s time to play Taps for the elm tree that resides off the southwest corner of our house. Last year it looked sickly, and it didn’t make it through the incredibly harsh January weather. Now, when you look past our house toward the west, you see a crown of bare branches. I’ll try to remember to take a picture to add to this post later.
The tree service will be here at 7:30 to do their magic. It’s very difficult to come to the point where we have to admit we’ve lost a tree, but this one is a potential danger. Since it is SO large, I’ve hired the service, rather than waiting for Dear Husband to try his hand at bringing it down. It would take him all winter to cut this up by himself, and I’d be in fear for the new roof, and our skylights while he did it.
We’ve lived here close to eighteen years, and the changes to the trees and shrubs have been quite amazing to watch. The grove is a bit sparse now. I can see the outline of the neighbor’s houses to the west. As trees have died out, shrubs have moved in to fill those spaces, so we still have a wall of green to the west of the house. Someone with an unlimited budget could make quite a showplace of our grounds. We prefer to leave them closer to natural, so that the wildlife has a home.
My job this morning is to weed, and listen to chain saws. I’m also taking bets. How long do you think it will be, before Dear Husband notices that the tree is gone???

….or, at least I will tomorrow. We’re all fine, just busy. There hasn’t been anything so earthshaking that it can’t wait a few hours more.
I hope you’ve all been well while I’ve been away from the blog scene. I’ll try to post and visit to see what you’ve all been up to.
Do you sense fall coming??

Actually this post is not only about friendship, but Amish bread.
One of my friends from the Senior Exercise class came to class about ten days ago, carrying four plastic bags with what looked like tan gravy. I didn’t get to join Senior Exercise without having been around for a while, and I knew what was coming. She shared with me a cup of starter for Amish bread.
I’ve been babying it for the past week and a half, “mushing” it for five days, adding ingredients and mushing for five more. Today was the day I was to add more ingredients and divide it up into four bags, plus starter for my own loaves. I had a clever plan. I was going to spring the bags on my Mother’s Empty Nester group. I was sure I could find four women who would take them off my hands, if only to dispose of them! *S*
Unfortunately, my day went awry from the start, and the bags didn’t get divided until this evening. I planned to bake my bread early tomorrow morning, until I realized that I need a box of instant vanilla pudding to complete the loaf. Drat! It’s always something!
I know, I was going to talk about friendship, too. Isn’t it amazing what we do for friends? Our children are in their thirties and forties. We don’t have any school age kids right now. We have one three year old granddaughter, and another on the way, so we are in between the ages when kids need to sell things for school, Brownies, band….whatever fundraiser is front and center. My extended family and our friends know that we are an easy touch for their little salesmen. Say the words “Girl Scout Cookies,” and we are on a mission to make that child the top seller in their council!
For the adults, we’ve done Pampered Chef, Longaberger Baskets, Southern Living at Home, makeup and all sorts of other parties. We purchase garbage can liners, and hoagies, geraniums, and theater tickets. The list is endless. So, it makes sense that we accept the starter for Amish bread. Think about it. We’re receiving a gift. Yes, it takes a little effort, but we don’t have to pay cash for anything, and you could keep all the starter to yourself, bake ten loaves of bread and freeze it, and have the jump on holiday gifts! (At least, YOU could….I have to wait until we replace the dead freezer in my garage. (sigh)).
It seems to be a little thing to do to maintain our community of friends. I’m sure there are those of you who are forthright, and announce, “I don’t cook! Please don’t ask me.” That’s okay. I bet you help out in other ways. I rather like the idea of each of us baking bread. I want to see all the variations that come, as each baker adds her own extra ingredients.
So, if you don’t bake, be happy that you don’t live near me. I have these four bags of starter just begging to visit my friend’s houses!
If you DO bake…..come for lunch, and you can tell me how you plan to personalize your Amish bread.

Finish center seam on Birds in the Air Quilt
Add borders to Halloween Quilt
Stitch the backing for those two quilts
Box up tops, batting and backing and send them to the machine quilters
Stretch and pin baste two lap quilts for the bazaar and quilt them
Make my bed, clear off the sewing table, file away hand quilting equipment
Wash vases and return them to mudroom storage
Put away kitchen decorations and spices.
Make Summer Salad for Brunch
Take EM to Empty Nester’s Brunch
Finish two granny squares for Shelly (Share a Square)
Weed (but not today….it’s raining)
Loaf a little…..watch a movie on TV, read a book….snooooooooooooze. It’s a rainy day. What can I tell you??

Elegante Mother is recuperating from another bout of that dreadful cold. We’ve gone through this two or three times now. In May, she proclaimed that she had never felt so bad before, and I believed her. She got over whatever this upper respiratory gunk this is, only to get it again from one of my sisters.
She was coming along, slowly, when I decided it might be a good idea for the doc to see her. We try to avoid pneumonia at all costs. So, we made the appointment and visited with Doc. G.
He said that she was doing fine, but he wanted her to take two different inhalers. If the “cold” hadn’t abated over the weekend, she was to consider having a prescription for antibiotics filled. She was very well last weekend, and then she had a little relapse on Monday. I finally had the antibiotic filled on Wednesday. EM had taken one, when the doc called to say that he wanted to change which antibiotic she was taking. So….back to the pharmacy.
EM was better right after she put the first pill in her mouth. You and I know it doesn’t work that way (usually…) but she showed definite improvement. I don’t know how to prove it, but I think that taking a pill, and knowing she had a follow-up appointment with the doctor was all she needed to be well. I think she did the hard work all on her own, but she was willing to give the credit to the drugs.
I’m keeping an eye on her, checking to see if she took her medication at the right time. It’s also my job to be sure that she eats before she takes the antibiotic.
I’ll be glad when we wind down this session and I can spend my time on other, equally important, things!

Two-thirds of my house is disrupted. My absolute favorite contractor, our painter, was here today, to paint the kitchen and mudroom.
Last night I made a good dinner for Dear Husband and then dropped the bomb. “DH, you’re going to have to help me move everything in the kitchen and mudroom. Of course we didn’t move cabinets or such, but you’d be amazed at how much we had crammed into those two spaces. Pictures, wreaths, a microwave and a bread maker, my tea cup collection, books and magazines, mail, two occasional tables, wastebaskets, wine, detergent, and a collection of vases that has been growing for 18 years, were moved to into three other rooms We also had to move all of DH’s “stuff” off the mudroom counter. He has a collection of plans, tools, a phone, and sailing caps that claim about half of the counter.
There were a few things that had to be moved this morning, but the lion’s share was done last night, along with several loads of laundry. I’m going to leave everything just as it is, until Dear Husband returns from sailing, and then we will work together to put it back. One exception is washing all the vases. Since everything has been moved out, I’ve taken the opportunity to get a jump on my Fall cleaning. I’m going to sort through the vases, pitch some and wash some, and clean the top of the cabinet before we return what I plan to keep
My painter is SO GOOD that he even cleaned under the washer and drier for me, and believe me, they NEEDED it!
The rooms look bright, and I’ve always thought paint was a “clean” smell. I’m glad we were able to spruce things up.
He got the ball rolling right after dinner last night. I would have liked to sit a bit longer, but he knew that it was going to take until bedtime to get everything done.

…we have rain!
It’s been promised for several days, and never panned out. It was gray and the clouds promised rain this morning, but it didn’t finally come until 1:30 or so. The air outside is COOL! I’d forgotten just how lovely air cooled by Mother Nature can feel. I’m tired of the need to be indoors most of the day just to deal with the heat. I’m ready for Fall!