Cop Car arrived yesterday afternoon, about twelve minutes earlier than I expected. We persuaded her to come the more scenic route, rather than the miserable twenty mile strip mall crawl that we first suggested, so she arrived in pretty good shape.
Of course, we talked….and we talked….and we talked some more. Dear Husband could barely get a word in edgewise. I was good, and gave Elegante Mother a chance to chat now and then.
Cop Car came bearing gifts. There were two wonderful bottles of Gabbiano wine for DH, a jar of the salsa that she and Elegante Friend canned last week, and FABRIC for me! She brought all the brights that I need to learn to use, and had admired from her stash. It was like Christmas in August last night.
Today we’re going to a quilt shop to check out the fabric. I suspect that we will be sewing a little every day. We have a project we want to move forward. I’ll take pictures when I can.
Have a great day! I’m sure we will, too!

We’re going to have a visitor! Cop Car is making the trek from Kansas to be with us for a week or so. We’ve had the chance to meet, but this will be our first long-term visit.
We share a lot of interests. Cop Car is a quilter, and we have traded fabrics over the last year. I’ve been working on a series of wallhangings from that fabric, and I can’t wait to show them to her. I’d be very happy to quilt with her all day long, but we have WAY too many other things we hope to do, including a trip to our favorite quilt shop!
If you’ve read here in the past, you know that I’m generally mired in weeds during the warm months. My gardens were in the best shape ever this spring, and then I hurt my knee. I’m just getting back into the gardens to pull weeds, so they have a two month head start on me. It’s probably just as well that we haven’t had a lot of rain! Did you catch where Cop Car says she’s bringing her WEEDING CLOTHES??? YEA!!! I might even learn the names of some of those miserable plants.
We have a bird feeder just outside the kitchen window. CC is going to check out our birds so that she can tell me what visits. We have a huge flock of sparrows that flit around so fast that I can’t tell which species we are seeing. It’s always nice to have a specialist on staff. *G*
Cop Car has also graciously offered to help us make chili sauce. This has been an annual activity here, but it’s more than I can do on my own. In the past Elegante Mother and I have worked together, but as she nears 90, it’s becoming a bit too much for her to do. I hope to take CC to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday, to pick up the produce we need. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get the jars I need tomorrow.
I have no doubt that our days will be tightly packed, and that we will sleep well at night. It’s wonderful that we have this chance to spend time together.

I whine now and then. I don’t whine a lot, but every once in a while, I hear that whiny sound and I know it’s surfaced again. Usually it has something to do with having to exercise or weeding.
Today, on the radio station that I frequent, the female personality was talking about women who whine about having to have a mammogram. She didn’t get it. As far as she is concerned, the trade off of good health, or catching the start of a cancer is well worth thirty seconds of discomfort. I realize that for some women it’s more than discomfort. And, not all the x-ray techs are as good as those I’ve been fortunate to meet. And, some women have to have repeated films taken.
But…..it can save your life. Yes, I whine a little when I make the appointment, but I go, every year. I think we should be allowed to whine a little if we’re good about getting a mammogram every year. If you don’t want to hear that whining, just put on your aviation ear protectors!
Look at it this way: If we whine regularly about this test, perhaps some inventive person will find a way to make other equally good tests less expensive so that women will get quality care that is less uncomfortable. It’s time to get that women’s health lobby up and running!

Dear Husband is a member of the Chicago Maritime Society. Chicago has an astonishing connection with sailing ships, but for some strange reason, the city doesn’t acknowledge this history. There is no maritime museum. The members of the Chicago Maritime Society hope to change this one day, and to that end they hold a fund raiser every year. This year it was an evening ride through the harbor and the Chicago River on the “Little Lady.” My Sister-The-Nurse had a birthday late in July, so we treated her to a trip on the river.
We boarded at Wacker and Michigan across the river from the Tribune Tower at 6:00 p.m. and the ship turned to head for the lake. The treat of the night was to see the Tall Ships moored along the south side of the river. Our guide gave us the history of each ship as we passed, describing the rigging, the sails, the hulls and historical tidbits. Five or six boats were docked along the river so people could board them.
The first of the ships was the Niagara. The U.S. Brig Niagara was built in 1988 as a reconstruction of the warship aboard which Commander Oliver Hazard Perry won the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813 during the War of 1812. I need to study up on this battle, because it’s where the phrase “Don’t give up the ship!” originated.
The Appledore IV and Appledore V were the last in line before we came to the lock. They are part of a fleet of schooners which are named for an island off Maine.
We went through the lock to the inner harbor and turned to make a pass by Navy Pier. “The Pride of Baltimore II,” with her raked masts, was the first boat we could see. A smaller tall ship was docked behind her that boasted of a crew that was women only. Right behind that was a recreation of the Nina, one of the ships Columbus sailed to America. I find it astonishing that anyone would sail such a small ship across the Atlantic, and Columbus did it several times. It had to be a hairy ride!
One of the last of the Tall Ships docked along Navy Pier was the barque, Picton Castle. It’s one of the most fascinating of the ships, with almost 80 years of history. Please check out the link to learn more about it. We think this is the ship that has had a cat aboard for the past ten years. The cat joined the crew one day. It was walking along the railing and the captain swatted it into the drink. Of course, it was saved, and it learned a very valuable lesson about where it was safe to walk. I understand that when the boat is docked, the cat takes shore leave just like the rest of the crew!
Chicago is home to the Tall Ship “Windy,” a 150 foot schooner, that takes passengers for sails during the summer. While we were out, we got to see the Windy returning from a sail, setting her square sails.
We motored past the end of Navy Pier, and made a loop around the outer harbor, past the light house, the Planetarium, the Oceanarium, Buckingham Fountain, and past Dear Husband’s boat, coming back through the lock to the Chicago River. I was a little relieved to be back on the river. The water was calmer, and there was virtually no surging sensation. We all know what a lousy sailor I am, and I was hoping not to cement that image in the minds of the Maritime Society.
We motored west to where the Chicago River divides, sailing past fabulous buildings that glowed in the last of the evening’s light. When the Merchandise Mart was on our right, we turned and cruised up the north branch of the river to Goose Island. Our guide told us that the only structure with more floor space than the Merchandise Mart was the Pentagon. This area was once populated by companies like Montgomery Ward, the first of the catalog companies, but the warehouses are being rehabbed into condominiums.
We turned, and motored down river, passing the Chicago Lyric Opera, Sears Tower, and River City. We turned back just north of a vertical lift bridge used for train traffic. The bridges of Chicago are quite varied, and interesting of themselves. One of the last buildings we saw before we returned to our dock, was the start of the new Trump Tower. I didn’t count, but I’d guess it was somewhere between six and ten stories tall right now.
We had a wonderful night! Dear Husband managed to outwit TWO traffic back-ups to get us to the boat in time. The weather was outstanding, the company genial, and the view was spectacular. The moon rose as we were on the last leg of the trip, and the passengers all marveled at how huge it looks as it rises above the horizon. IT was so astonishing that everyone was trying to take pictures of it playing hide and seek with the buildings as we motored north.
We couldn’t have asked for a better night. I wish you all could have joined us!

We’ve hit the dog days of summer, when we seem to abandon our computers and blogs for the comfort of a hammock or swing in the shade, a summer read and a cold drink. It’s been ages since I had a good idea for a blog, but I wanted to let my friends know that I’m still here.
I’ve been going to physical therapy. My knee still hurts, but much less. I like the woman who is working with me, despite the tortures she devises for me twice a week. We discussed the exercise program Elegante Mother and I attend, and agreed that it might be good to avoid any of the floor work that goes side to side, until my knee strength is better. So, I modify what we do in class a bit.
I got into the front garden for an hour about two weeks ago. Sunday morning I hope to get more done along the sidewalk. If the weather is good, I’ll use the string trimmer at the front of the house, too. The gardens were beginning to get that burnt look when we FINALLY got a healthy rain on Thursday morning. I’ll need to use the watering wand, to more heavily water the new transplants, but the rain saved a lot of parched-looking plants.
Last Sunday I cut the pieces for a wall hanging from the run of fabric that you’ll see in one of the next entries. It’s the second in a series using this fabric. Cop Car, you’ll be happy to know that I’m still thinking about the third one. Tuesday and Wednesday I pieced the blocks. Thursday I cut the setting triangles, and today I pieced most of the rows. I hope that tomorrow I will be able to sew the rows together and choose a border.
I think my stash is procreating. I KNOW that I’ve made four wall hangings in the past few weeks, but it seems like there is more of this fabric now than when I started. If I really want to use it up, I’ll be making wall hangings for the next year or two!
Quilting bee met here tonight. Occasionally this group is in really good spirits and can find things to chat about until close to 11:00 at night. Tonight was just the opposite. We actually quit about 45 minutes early. Everyone was simply ready to close down, and they were out of the house and down the driveway by 9:45. Thank you Bee….you’ve given me the time to post tonight!
I plan to crash shortly. My goal for tomorrow is to make a very early run on the Farmer’s Market, and then stop at Target on the way home. If it’s convenient, I’ll get the car washed, and pick up the dry cleaning. I hope to spend the rest of the day finishing the wall hanging, and perhaps planning the next.
This weekend, it’s going to be the girls and Ed again, as Dear Husband sails across the southern end of Lake Michigan. EM loves bruschetta. I was thinking about making bruschetta, and serving either shrimp cocktail, or shrimp scampi for dinner. I’m still pondering what’s for dinner Sunday.
Dear Husband has asked for stuffed green peppers for dinner one night, so I’ve put that on the list. Several of my relatives prefer stuffed RED peppers, or any color other than green. I might cook a red or yellow pepper just to see if Elegante Mother likes them better than the green pepper. I have a watermelon I plan to cut up for dessert.
I have harvested the first of my miniature yellow pear tomatoes. The early cherry tomatoes are gone, but there are several cluster developing. I’ll have to be sure to water the plants to avoid blossom end rot.
So, my days are following the traditional summer plan: gardening, reading, cooking, visits to the Farmer’s Market, and quilting, with little things thrown in here and there. I need to make time to see what you have all been doing. Stay cool!

This has been a weekend for comfort food. Dear Husband is off to sail the south end of Lake Michigan, and we girls, and Ed, are bach-ing it. I started Saturday out with a big bowl of Cheerios. I haven’t eaten cold cereal in a long time, and it brought back memories of school days.
Elegante Mother, who will be 90 in December, has had a change in her eating habits. She’s eating less at meals and snacking more between meals. Dinner gets pushed around the plate, but she never ends dinner without having ice cream or some sort of dessert. I worry that she’s not getting a balanced diet.
Last night we made a meal that we haven’t cooked in close to forty years. When I was a kid, Mother would cook breakfast sausage links, and roll out a dough made of Bisquick. She would lay half the dough in the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan, set the cooked links on it, and then use the second half of the dough as a cover. We made half a recipe last night, and had half of it left over.
With the fat left in the pan from cooking the sausage links, you make a gravy to spoon over the baked casserole. We call this dish as “Pigs in a Blanket.
EM and I started dinner together, and realized that neither of us quite remembered the recipe. She cooked the sausage while I rolled out biscuit dough. We jointly made the gravy, with her adding flour while I stirred.
It turned out well. We needed to salt and pepper the assembled meal, but otherwise it tasted like the meal I remembered. It was an interesting trip back to my youth. Dear Husband would have enjoyed the meal, but this is another meal in the category of comfort food that he should no longer eat. We make things on the weekends when he is away that he would love to have. I do my best not to taunt him about the meals he misses when he goes off to sail.
EM is asking for my homemade macaroni and cheese. I make a white sauce, add shredded sharp cheddar to it, and add that to boiled shell or elbow macaroni. It’s baked for 30 minutes, and then Durkee onion rings are scattered across the top, and baked for another two to three minutes to crisp the onion rings. This meal gives me heartburn, so I try not to make it often, or try to have an alternate available when I do make it.
Something else Elegante Mother has asked for is the tuna casserole made with wide egg noodles, tuna, peas and white sauce or mushroom soup. We add crushed potato chips to this casserole the last few minutes. Can you see where her tastes are going? Old-fashioned food that is high in fat. I don’t cook that way any longer, and she misses it.
We have a box of Tilapia fillets in the freezer. The other night after physical therapy, I needed to pull together a very quick meal, and I chose to make Parmesan Encrusted Tilapia fillets. After you cook the tilapia in a saut

Dear Husband and I have watched several documentaries on a new hotel that has been built in Dubai. A man-made island has been created offshore to support a “tent building” that is sixty or more stories tall. Part of the skin of the building is canvas, and the building has the shape of a sail filled with wind.
One of the things that caught my attention was that the builders were commissioned to create a memorable design that would make the shape one of the ten most recognizable buildings in the world.
They drew two shapes which we recognized immediately, but left the rest unmentioned. That list has been on my mind all day.
They drew the Opera House in Sydney, and the Eiffel Tower. I might quibble with the Eiffel Tower as a building, but it is a memorable design.

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