We’ve had several record-breaking warm days. I stalled on getting our spring cleanup started, and now I regret it. This afternoon our temps are going to drop from the 80s to the 40s as a cold front moves south over the Chicago area. It’s bringing showers that will come and go throughout the rest of the week. I can expect the ground to remain boggy.
On the other hand….. the squill and crocus are blooming, and some of the daffodils have opened. I’ve seen robins, and gold finches and house finches. The chives are easily six inches tall, and there are tulip leaves, day lilies, oregano, feverfew and one more plant that I can’t identify turning green in the herb garden. The honeysuckle along the lot lines and tree lines is leafing out. I think I may need to uncover the rose bushes before Easter.
We are all ready for a gradual warming that will lead to spring. None of us are completely happy about the yo-yo temperatures. We’d feel better if we could acclimate gradually, rather than being thrown into Summer with no preparation. Our climate is surely odd these days.
Rain and a Little More Rain
We started our day in a very light rain. I thought perhaps that Elegante Mother would refuse to go to exercise, but she went, without complaint. I like almost all of the music this session, which makes exercise easier. But, today we discovered that our exercise guru is capable of extending the songs digitally, and we’re working a little harder than we were a few weeks ago.
Our guru, “Gentle Dragon,” has been focusing on hip exercises the past couple of months, and I must need these exercises, because my hips have been aching. It’s not bad enough to do anything about it; I can control it with regular doses of Ibuprofen.I know that in the long run, this is good for me, so I try to make it to class. I thought I was going to miss on Friday, but the dentist rescheduled my appointment, so I’ll get to exercise.
I was sitting in the “green room,” the room off the kitchen that holds the plants and the casual dining table, having toast, and there was a flash of light. I wondered if it had something to do with my eye problem, but about 15 seconds later there was one LARGE boom of thunder! Just one. It seems that most of the daytime thunderstorms went north of us.
We had about an hour of lovely sunlight before the clouds closed in again. We’re supposed to have thunderstorms tonight.
The two retention ponds immediately to the east of us have been very poorly designed. They were fine when there were no houses, but the contractor who owned the land, clear cut it, dredged out more lake area and then connected those lakes to these two retention ponds, and covered it with houses and apartments. I think it’s all supposed to drain out the southern most pond. BUT….they underestimated the amount of flow.
A year later, they came back and increased the size of the lake. I still don’t think they have estimated the flow correctly, because we have been in drought since the houses were built.
I’m taking bets. I think by Friday those two lakes will become one, and our road will be under water. If it happens….I’ll have pictures!
Happy Spring, all! Enjoy the warmer weather!
Three liners and more
At 6:28 this morning, you could see you hand in front of your face. By 6:48 the sky was light. Unfortunately, Dear Husband was off to work at 5:30. Poor man. He must feel like a mushroom!
Bird song. Chit Chat. Bur-DEE Bur-DEE Bur-DEE! The birds are so ready for Spring that they are talking it in! We’ve missed their chatter during the winter, but now they’re making such a racket that you can’t miss them.
Elegante Mother’s Empty Nester sewing circle from church is meeting here this afternoon. EM bought a sinfully rich chocolate dessert and will offer Earl Grey in porcelain cups to go with it. I’ve been up since 5:00 putting the house to rights, putting quilts away, doing a few loads of laundry, getting the table organized for the crafters and faxing off tax information.
I think I’ve developed Conjunctivitis. I have a doctor’s visit later this morning to confirm my guess and get some treatment. As I recall, no shared towels, lots of hand washing, and maybe, eye drops. I wonder where this came from??
Crocus are in bloom, and daffodils, oriental poppies, day lilies, chrysanthemum, iris and chives all show growth. Dear Husband and I moved the plants I wintered over in the garage to the edges of the sidewalk Sunday afternoon. You should see the growth on the Seedum ‘Autumn Joy’!! And, of course, the mint is showing new growth!
We saw our first robin yesterday, March 19th. One of the ladies at exercise reported that she had seen TEN on her lawn, a couple of weeks ago when there was a particularly bad cold snap. Robins eat worms. How do the survive when the soil is frozen and the worms are hibernating?
Okay, it’s time to get cleaned up to visit the doc. I hope you all have a great day!
All’s Well
My quilt Show and Tell (and Tips) went well, last Thursday night. I packed up the car with bag after bag of quilts, and we headed off to have dinner with My-Sister-The-Nurse. She was standing in for Second-Sister, who was in the hospital with pneumonia. SS will be okay, but she needs some time to heal, and is basically on house arrest this week.
When we arrived I learned that I had a maximum of two hours to fill, but that was the absolute limit. I knew that I could easily fill up 120 minutes. I was more worried that I had too much to share! I started with the tips so I could show how some of them appear in my own quilts. My mouth was on overdrive, because I knew it would be a race to show everything, but the ladies soaked it all up.
When I packed, I took one more group of things than I had originally planned, and it turned out it was a good choice. My-Sister-The-Nurse made a quilt with our hand prints over 25 years ago. I’ve wanted to make a current genealogy quilt ever since, and I’ve blogged about the batik version I’ve started. I took the run of fabrics for that quilt, and several of the completed hand prints, and the quilt my sister made. There’s also a signature quilt that I made for mother more than ten years ago. I didn’t have the time to search for it, or I would have taken that, too.
I substituted the hand print quilts for the wall hanging tops I made last summer with fabric Cop Car gave me, and fabric that I gave to Cop Car, and the ladies were very interested.
It was a VERY long day for Elegante Mother. She was quite tired by the time we came home. I think we pulled into the garage around 10:30 or so, and she announced she had no plans to go to exercise the next morning, thank you very much.
My-Sister-The-Nurse called on Friday and asked if I would do a similar show for her church. It seems that my family will keep me busy for a while.
For those of you who were waiting for pictures, I’m sorry to tell you that you will have to wait a bit longer. The room was set up in a way that wasn’t conducive to good photos. At best you might have seen a closeup of the quilts. Many of the quilts are so large that there wasn’t enough room to back up and get the entire quilt in one picture. Do you know how HEAVY some of those quilts are? An hour into the show I was perspiring from hefting them around! I was just as happy that the quilts and I weren’t being photographed.
Although all but one of the hanging quilts is back in place, I have to unpack all the rest tomorrow. If there’s sunlight, I’ll try to photograph some of them on the floor before they are put away. I need to make a list of just how many quilts need labels. I plan to take one day this summer and make labels for all of them. One other project is to bring my quilt journal up to date. I’ll have to ask family members to take pictures of the quilts I’ve given them, but I’d like to have a journal page for each, along with the photo.
So….a good time was had by all, and I’ve had incentive to get Spring Cleaning started. That’s a win-win situation in my book!
Showing Off
I have been invited to show my quilts to my second sister’s quilt group at church. This is the first time I have ever done a formal Show and Tell of my work. I’m accustomed to having guests ask me to show them what I’m working on (in my bedroom/quilt studio), but I’ve never done a program of this sort for a guild or bee or quilt group.
I have to thank these ladies for getting me started on my Spring cleaning! I’ve pulled quilts from the backs of couches and the walls and the storage cabinets in the great room, from my bed, from the quilt rack in the bedroom, from my closet and my mother’s closet, and from the closet in the guest room! Most of the quilts have been run through the dryer on air fluff to remove dust and lint.
Second Sister also asked for quilt tips, and I’ve posted those in an earlier entry. I’m taking one medium-sized tote bag with things like my favorite pins, needles and thread, and the magazines I consider necessary. I’m also taking the size olfa cutter I prefer and a new turntable mat I’ve fallen in love with for sub-cutting patches. One of the items is a piece of screening, the kind you use for summer screens. If you have a fragile quilt, like a crazy quilt, you lay the quilt on a carpet, and lay the screen over it, and hand vacuum it. It gets the dust off without damaging the fabrics and embroidery.
I counted, and last night I bagged up 31 quilts and tops . I have a crazy quilt and a scrap quilt to bag, and I’m debating whether or not I’ll be taking the family crazy quilt from 1890. My grandmother did six over-sized crazy quilt blocks to which I added a backing for safety. The fabrics are very fragile. Some are starting to disintegrate. I may choose to leave it at home once I’ve inspected it.
These 31 quilts are not every quilt that I have in the house. While my walls are really bare at the moment, I still have several antique quilts, and many wall hangings that I’m not taking. I wish I could take the Sails and Whales quilt that I’m doing for Dear Husband, but it’s pinned to the rollers for the quilt frame, and it’s just too long to pack.
I organized the quilts into categories to decide what to take. Early work, Mystery Quilts, Bee Quilts, Crazy Quilts, Half-Square Triangle Quilts, and One of a Kind Quilts were the divisions that made sense to me. I just realized that I could have borrowed TWO signature or album quilts from Elegante Mother, and the Hand-print Quilt in the hallway, and the box of batik hands that I’m doing for the next generation, to talk about genealogy quilts. But…..enough is enough. I know there’s going to be complaining when we have to carry everything in, and back out.
I’m going to give my digital camera to one of the ladies and ask her to take pictures of the quilts as they are shown. It will be the first time some of these quilts will have been photographed. I need to bring my quilting journal up to date.
I don’t need to have you wish me luck; this is a subject near and dear to my heart. But, you can wish me smooth sailing. The ladies will probably have to tell me that it’s time to go, long before I get to the end of what I want to share. Isn’t it wonderful to be able to share something you love?
Blessed, I Am
I am truly blessed with wonderful sisters! I’ve always felt that they were there for me, but this past year has really brought that into focus. When I hurt my knee they acted as chauffeurs and cooks and housekeepers and gardeners. One in particular kept saying “GO SIT DOWN!”
They took care of me off and on for several months, as the need arose.
It’s usually momentous occasions that make us treasure our sisters, those memorable moments in our lives that become part of the family lore. But, this weekend didn’t start out to be one of those memorable occasions. It was just going to be a laid back visit, a “mini-vacation.”
Nan, My-Sister-The-Blogger, who wears ninety thousand other hats: MOM, Lt. Commander, teacher, principal, confidant, church lady, band uniform mother, gramma, scrap booker, gardener (you get the picture), attended a seminar in Gary, Indiana on Friday. Since she was in the Chicago area, she decided that she would come to visit us for the weekend. She’s always welcome. She knows she doesn’t have to ask, but she did, rather than just appearing on my doorstep.
Dear Husband and I lead a very laid back life. Since he’s become an avid sailor, we have fewer and fewer winter weekends where we are away from home. This weekend happened to be one of two for the year that had been booked with something that couldn’t be postponed. I told Nan that DH and I would be away Saturday night, but that she was more than welcome to visit with Elegante Mother and make herself at home.
She did just that. While we were away Saturday night, she folded my laundry, washed my dishes (things left from Friday dinner that didn’t fit into the washer), and kept my cat company. I suspect that I need to check to see if my ironing was done, too.
She did all of this without a word, fitting right into the household seamlessly, and when I realized that she had done the dishes, and marveled about it, she merely poo-pooed the recognition.
I had a lovely day with her Saturday. We were at an amazing mall, and we both wished we could have stayed to shop until we dropped. I have the feeling that we might do that one day, but we were other directed Saturday. We paved the way for EM to attend the Red Hat Lady luncheon, and then Nan kept her company in the evening when Dear Husband and I went to Orchestra Hall.
What started out to be a mini-vacation for my sister, turned out to be “the same old thing” but at my house, not hers. Not much of a vacation, in my mind, but she seemed to enjoy it, and I certainly enjoyed her company and help.
Despite the simplicity of the weekend, I think it’s going to become one of those memorable occasions. It isn’t often that we get to share times like this with our siblings, once we have reached this stage in our lives. I think that makes this time with Nan all the sweeter.
I hope I said it when you were here, but if I didn’t, “Thank you, Nan! I really enjoyed your visit. Let me know when I can return the favor.” *S*
P.S. I REALLY like the new layout that our fearless leader is creating for you on your blog. The light house is a great choice!
Come ON, Spring!
It doesn’t take much of a change in weather to make us happy campers. Yesterday and today it was still coat weather, but hardy souls could have made due with a jacket rather than a long coat and woollies.
We had so much sun this weekend that most of our snow cover has melted off. We know better than to be running out on the lawn and tossing a few footballs, because the lawn is not completely defrosted, and we have a lot of mud waiting to trip up anyone who’s not wary. It will be a couple of weeks until we can safely walk out there because we have more rain on the way.
Today, as we left the house, I saw two hyacinth bulbs pushing up through the dirt in the sidewalk garden. And, there’s a line of daffodils marching across the front of the house that is about three inches out of the ground. Soon we should see crocus blooms!
I had this terrible urge to go out and clean up the gardens. I ignored it, and worked on a quilt top, instead. I want to get the Halloween quilt finished and sent off to be quilted. There will be time to play in the gardens soon! *G*
From the Ridiculous to the Sublime
We had the most interesting day yesterday. My youngest sister was visiting and she joined us for a Red Hat Lady’s luncheon. They welcomed her warmly and asked where she lived and worked, and then the conversation was off and running. We had lunch at “The Claddagh” as a tip of the hat to St. Paddy’s Day. I had a great corned beef and coleslaw variation on a Reuben. While we were out, we visited Trader Joe’s and Crate and Barrel. Nan egged me on to make a major dish purchase, while she walked out of the store empty-handed!
We made it home a little after 3:00 and then Dear Husband and I drove into Chicago to hear the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I’d given DH tickets for Christmas to hear Sir Alfred Brendel perform Mozart. It was the first time we’d been there since they have remodeled the facility. It’s a beautiful bon-bon in cream, taupe, silver and gold. It just shimmers, and has great sight and sound lines.
We heard Haydn’s Symphony No. 93 in D Major, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major, K.453, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67. We arrived more than 30 minutes early, and had main-floor seats on the aisle. Rather than get up and down ten times, we spent part of the time standing until the aisle filled. The staff is energetic in getting everyone seated so that the performance can begin on time. We were interested to see the layout change for each performance.
Roberto Abbado was conducting, and he chose to have the basses and first violins to his left, the second violins and violas to his right and the cellos in the center, second row. The woodwinds were behind the cellos and the brass were off to the right, and slightly higher on the risers. There was one lone percussionist, a tympanist.
I thought they were going to have to roll in the piano for Sir Alfred, but we were surprised to see it rise from the pit. Beethoven’s symphony required more performers than the Haydn and Mozart, so there was an intermission before the last selection, so they could get everything moved in place.
The first flute, first oboe, first clarinet and first bassoon of the CSO create a beautiful core of sound for selections like these. Where the musical line moves from one to the next, the trade off is faultless, and the tone quality so perfect that it sounds as though one instrument is playing the line. I closed my eyes to listen just to focus on the incredible sound. It was a wonderful evening, one which we need to do again, soon!
We came home to change our clocks forward, and slept fast. Elegante Mother wanted to go to early church, and then we had breakfast at a great Cajun place, before Nan started the drive home. When you factor in the warm weather, Nan’s presence, and the enjoyable activities, this has to be one of the best weekends we’ve had all winter. Let’s do it again, SOON!
Taxes
I am SICK of TAXES! I propose that everyone, EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE COUNTRY, pay 15% of their income each year to support the federal government, and another 3% for state funding. Wouldn’t THAT streamline the process?
Can’t ya see all the accountants, and lawyers and government workers scrambling to head off that proposal? They’d all be out of jobs, or would have to shift over to collections.
We are so top-heavy with management, and so overwhelmed by government that we are slowly sinking into the mire. Soon the middle class won’t be able to support all the demands made upon them, and then just who do you think will pay those bills?
Carded
I was carded yesterday. That hasn’t happened in more than twenty years.
I was at Office M@x yesterday to buy cans of compressed gas. I use them to clean out my keyboards. Number-Three-Son was coming to work on the computers, so I needed to clean out the cat fur.
At check out, the clerk asked me for my identification. I handed it over. He muttered something about a birth date, and I finally realized that he was carding me for age. It seems the company had just instituted a requirement that purchasers of compressed gas dusters needed to be a certain age. I don’t know just what age. I muttered (loudly) that I was OLD ENOUGH! He finally got the computer running the cash register to agree.
I picked up one of the cans just now to be sure I had the product name right, and on the label it says “Contains a bitterant to help discourage inhalant abuse.” Good God. What the heck are kids doing with this stuff? It’s not like it’s going to make you talk like Donald Duck!
And, what the heck is a “bitterant”? Does that sound like a made up word to you? (As far as www.dictionary.com is concerned, it isn’t a word. Some PR person probably came up with that to save room on the label.)