In the Garden in a White Dress

Embroidery

2012-02-11T14:52:00.004-06:00

“For a needlewoman embroidery is like the poet taking up the pen; it expresses her deepest longing.” Ruby Pratt, Lark Rise to Candleford

My Tea Ladies and I have been watching the wonderful series, Lark Rise to Candleford. Which is a story about two nearby towns of very different types of people, and the interactions they have with each other. It is set in the 1890's, with stunning costumes, and a really fun story. We watched an episode last night while having our tea and late dinner. The quote above is spoken by one of the characters regarding a mysterious piece of embroidery that was found in a graveyard.

I have been thinking I would like to embroider again. It is a useful art when parked in front of the TV. But I never thought of it as romantically as Ruby Pratt does!

Where On Earth Have I Been?!

2012-02-11T14:44:00.002-06:00

My poor neglected blog. There is a good reason, however. I became ill mid-January, and am only now coming out of it. I have named the illness the Infinity Virus. The whole family got one form or the other. The worst part was losing my voice all these four weeks. For almost a week and a half I could not speak at all. I can speak now, rather rasp-ily, but cannot sing. I hope to post more now that healing in happening. At least I hope it is. This has all been going on so long, I feel as though it will never end.

Scenes from Christmas 2011

2011-12-31T12:22:00.004-06:00

We had a lovely Christmas! A wonderful blend of church and home. Here are the highlights:

We baked together.

We put sprinkles on cookies.

We decorated the house.

We acted in the church pageant.

We played harp at church on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

We ran downstairs on Christmas Morning!

We opened packages.

We got a fish tank!

And a dinosaur to go inside.

We ate an awful lot of chocolate!

"There shall a star come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel" from one of the hymns our choir sang. It was a lovely time all around.

Making a Gingerbread Man

2011-12-06T16:51:00.003-06:00

To begin our Advent season, Paul got a Gingerbread Man kit for Tyler. He waited excitedly for a day when we all could get together and decorate him.

Planning his design with mama. We ended up buying white frosting separately from the grocery, as the icing with the kit was not yummy or easy to work with.

Finished! (Mama and Da helped.)

Yum!

Paul Saves the Day!

2011-12-04T22:40:00.003-06:00

Our oven suddenly stopped working. We did all the trouble shooting the manual said. We weren't sure what it was, but most internet searches mentioned ignitors needing to be replaced under these circumstances. We were afraid to buy the new part and have it not be that, as the ignitors cost around $75. What if it was something else?! We called to arranged for the appliance store to come fix it, but they would take a week to get here. And they would charge $150, not including parts. So Paul rolled up his sleeves and got to work. He opened it up, took a look at everything, determined it would be a safe bet to try a new ignitor. Voilà! We have an oven! We also gave it a super cleaning. I love having a handy husband. He is a blessing!

My New Love

2011-11-03T17:22:00.003-05:00

I bought this pattern tracing paper from Vogue Fabrics. It works marvelously! So easy to use - it stays flat, cuts easily, and is easy to see through to see the pattern lines below. Quick and easy is what I need right now for my current project.

Organizing the Long Hair Stuff

2011-10-28T15:51:00.005-05:00

After my success at organizing my sewing stuff, I have wanted to do the same with my music and my long hair stuff. The music organization is going to be huge, so I opted to do the smaller project: organizing all of my hair care tools, products, and "toys" (fancy or not so fancy things that hold long hair in place). Everything was so disorganized, and in various places around the house. So I used the same system as I did with my sewing stuff.

I gathered everything hair related into one place. (The oatmeal box contained my henna supplies, not very attractive!) Note the obligatory cat, a necessary item in any reorganization project!

Some of the hair "toys". I neglected to put my pretty new bling combs in this photo.

My brush and combs. My beloved Mason Pearson Boar Bristle Brush (BBB), my Ric Carpenter wood comb (for combing dry hair only), and my faux horn combs for detangling wet hair.

Henna and herbal hair care products. All of the oddly named bags are ingredients for a "Lotus Plus Powder" which is an excellent herbal conditioning treatment for hair.

I purchased a large and a small plastic containers to house everything. Then I went through and purged out anything old or that I wasn't going to use. This included the cosmetics jungle that was mostly cluttering my dresser. I was able to reorganize everything into the two new containers, a wicker basket, and another small plastic container where I keep make-up. Here are the results:

Henna and herbal hair care items, including gloves, plastic caps, heat caps, Turbie Towels, and applicator bottles. This box is portable and can really be stored anywhere.

A view from above.

My newly cleaned (and dusted!) dresser. Hair toys are in the purple box, the make-up box is on top, the basket of other cosmetics is behind the small mirror, and the brushes and combs are right out in front. The only cosmetic sitting out is my lip balm - I sometimes need that in the middle of the night, so I keep where it's easy to find in the dark!

So Lovely!

New Kitchen Windows!

2011-10-23T23:59:00.005-05:00

Paul installed our new kitchen windows! I am so happy. This is the first step in someday remodeling our kitchen. The old ones were not only drafty and old and horrible, they were also too long, making it impossible to install cabinets in front in our tiny kitchen. Not good, when every inch counts. Now they are the proper height to place base cabinets and a counter top underneath. There is more work to be done, as you can see below:

We have to put up the siding again where it was removed. We will have to order more, as many of the old pieces split during removal (in spite of Paul being extra careful). But the insulation is on, the windows are caulked. The inner windows have their exterior sides painted. All that is left is to stain and polyurethane the interior sides.

Tyler has been a "helper" again. (Although he proved himself rather adept at removing nails from the siding pieces.) He found Paul's stud finder in the toolbox and was intrigued. So we brought him inside and showed him how it worked - hours of fun:

We are praying for a few more nice weekends so we can get the exterior a little farther along before the real cold sets in. But I am happy with the thought of a warm kitchen this winter!

Fun at the Pumpkin Farm

2011-10-18T21:31:00.006-05:00

We went to a pumpkin patch in Homer Glen, IL called Bengston's. It was a lot of fun. We went there last year, but Tyler was really too small to enjoy the rides. This year it was completely different.

Frog Hopper - Anticipating

Climbing up - Scary!

Whee!

All Aboard!

A Wanted Criminal

Captured!

The Honey Pot - Dizziness

A Happy Day!

Happy Fall!

2011-10-10T18:25:00.002-05:00

Scenes From A Birthday

2011-10-01T19:10:00.005-05:00

We had two birthday celebrations for Tyler in September. One was a party at Lifetime Fitness with his classmates. The other was a family party here at home. Here are some highlights:

The Bounce House at Lifetime

Scooters!

The Cake (made by my niece, Denys)

Tyler and Mama

The home party cakes - Oberweis Ice Cream Cakes!

One of the gifts - a Dual Light Saber, spinning in the dusk

Blommer Chocolate Factory

2011-10-01T18:49:00.006-05:00

We love to put cocoa mulch in our garden. It degrades fast, looks pretty and smells divine (although be careful if you have dogs - if they eat it they can get quite ill). The local garden centers run out of this in springtime, so the only way to get it now is by going to the factory to pick it up (call first to be sure they have it). It is near downtown Chicago, and Paul and I went one day when he was off work. The first thing we noticed was the heavenly, chocolate smell emanating from the air vents of the building. It was literally like walking past Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. We didn't know until we got there that they have a little chocolate shop on the premises. Yum!

Look at the rows and rows of chocolate!

Ginormous Candy Bars on the Top Shelf

Sculptures

A Very Happy Man!

My Baby Goes To College

2011-09-10T11:14:00.004-05:00

Robert has left for college. Fortunately for me, he is not far. He is going to school in Downtown Chicago and is staying in the dorms (to avoid a daily commute and to avoid the harshness of travelling on the train in frigid winter in Chicago). But it is very odd not having him around all the time.

I think he is very happy!

The World Outside Your Window

2011-09-10T11:07:00.004-05:00

We are in the process of painting the exterior of our house, an enormous job. But the quotes from painters were just too high. So we sallied forth. We may not get it all done this year, but are comfortable with the idea of breaking it up. While working on Side 1, the east side and front of our house, we also finally, finally stained and polyurethaned the interior side of our bedroom windows. This has only taken us about 22 years! Paul also repaired a section of the window where the molding had separated out from the wall that needed gluing:

Both the interior windows and the storm assembly were out. I took this opportunity to take a photo of the view from above, looking down on our scaffolding:

Scary

School Mass

2011-08-31T15:43:00.004-05:00

At Tyler's school, religious education is an important part of the day. It is so freeing to know that God can actually be mentioned in his classroom. The entire school attends Mass during the week every two weeks, and the classes take turns reading the Scripture readings for the Mass (in every Catholic Mass you will hear God's Word: the readings typically consist of an Old Testament reading, a Psalm, a reading from a New Testament, and a reading from the one of the Gospels). On Mass days, they must be dressed appropriately. I love this!

A Darling Little Boy Wearing a Tie

Cat Art

2011-08-31T15:42:00.000-05:00

The Little Schoolboy

2011-08-25T17:56:00.004-05:00

Unbelievable. Tyler is 5 years old. He is a big boy now, and went to Kindergarten on Tuesday. I love his little uniform.

I Think I'm In Love!

2011-08-25T17:49:00.004-05:00

The old washer gave out. The old dryer has been given a new home at my nephew and niece's. The clothes are beautifully clean and fresh smelling. The best part of all: my new washer sings a happy little tune to me when it is done with its work.

Do NOT Mix Cats and Lilies!

2011-08-07T10:12:00.003-05:00

I learned very recently that lilies are extremely poisonous to cats. Fortunately I learned this without one of my cats getting very sick or dying. I had made a blog post about how we "decorated" Snuggs, our cat, with lily pollen. A dear friend warned me of the danger after reading it. I was horrified and absolutely terrified! Fortunately, Snuggs did not suffer any ill effects (nine lives, you know) , but I wanted to let others know in case anyone else is as clueless as I was.

A Meeting with Long Haired Friends

2011-07-11T18:13:00.005-05:00

I got together on Saturday with a group of ladies I "met" online at a long haircare forum. We had a lot of fun. All of us like the romance and beauty of long hair. We also like all the fun "hairtoys" available for interesting styles. Here is a photos of all of us, in Millennium Park in downtown Chicago (I'm on the far left):
And here are just some of the hairtoys:

What a fun and interesting way to spend a day!

Army Guy on the 4th of July!

2011-07-04T16:43:00.003-05:00

A shopping trip to Old Navy found Tyler picking out his own clothes (and backpack):

Happy Independence Day all!

The Clumsy Gardener

2011-06-14T17:57:00.003-05:00

That is me. Last night I had about an hour after work, once I got dinner in the oven, to get some seeds planted. Everything was so delayed, mainly due to the awful weather we've been having. I am usually very precise with whatever placement of seeds I do in my square-foot garden boxes. Last night the goal was - get 'em in the ground! And so I did. We'll see what the results are, but at least my conscience is clear!

Robert Graduates!

2011-06-06T11:15:00.005-05:00

Robert graduated from high school yesterday. I was unemotional about it all until we were at the ceremony, and the music started. Then it hit me: what a journey this was!

You see, Robert had some trouble at school starting in 5th grade. We didn't know it at the time, but he had a mild learning disability which was causing lots of problems for him at school. Plus he was being bullied. This all came out one night when Robert, not quite 11 years old, broke down in tears begging to be homeschooled because he couldn't stand it anymore. Homeschooling was something I had been thinking about and looking into anyway as a maybe for subsequent years, but it was not something I was considering for right then.

But after a frustrating experience dealing with the public school, particularly about the bullying issue, we went ahead. Kristin ended up joining us after the first year, an arm fractured in two places confined her to home with a tutor from the public school coming over weekly; she ended up liking what she saw with homeschooling, and finished junior high and high school at home. We had to spend many months building up Robert's self-esteem, as he felt "stupid" because there were certain things he could not do well. So our initial months were very free.

We became members of the Field Museum in Chicago and went there almost every other week (they have an excellent learning library for teachers, both regular, and homeschool, where boxes of learning aids and collections can be checked out for three weeks at a time). We joined two homeschool groups, one Christian, one secular, and attended group classes with other families. Most notable were homeschool fitness classes at Lifetime Fitness, a marvelous Shakespeare class, that both Kristin and Robert attended for several years, and a innovative video history class one of the other moms designed that Kristin and I went to. Robert did get some LD assistance through the public school in 8th grade, for English class; he attended one class at the junior high and had a specialist help him out. Homeschooling was a wonderful experience for us. It was a blessing for both Kristin and Robert, and for us as a family.

As Robert got older and felt more confident, he eventually felt that he wanted to try going back to school outside the home. He started high school at Loyola Academy, went there for two years, and then spent his last two years at New Trier. I am so happy to report that Robert learned to work around his disability. His writing and penmanship will probably always not be his strong suit, but he got really good grades in high school, was named a member of the Honor Society, and got a partial scholarship to De Paul University.

So, you can perhaps understand why I was fighting to hold back tears at the ceremony yesterday. And when it was all done, and a smiling Robert, handsome in his white tux, met us outside the auditorium among the crush of all of the other happy graduates and their families, why I did cry a little bit!

Garden Plan 2011

2011-06-03T11:44:00.003-05:00

With my surgery and the bad weather, gardening has been very delayed. I am really not supposed to do any strenuous digging for 12 weeks. I am allowed to put plants in planters, provided the soil is loose. And I can do a little in the square-foot garden (again as long as the soil has been loosened up by Paul ahead of time). On Memorial Day, we went to the local parade, then spent the afternoon in the garden. Tyler and I walked to the nearby Jewel and picked up tomato and pepper plants. At least those are in the garden now:

I have made a plan for other seedlings and seeds to be planted, which I hope to get a lot of done today:

Then there are more pretty flowers for planters and for the corners of the square-foot boxes:

Spring Flowers

2011-06-01T13:38:00.004-05:00

After living through an entire springtime of almost no good weather, we finally had a nice break. We can finally appreciate this:

Rhododendron

Lily of the Valley

Iris

Economical Beauty

2011-06-01T13:13:00.004-05:00

A while back I went to an Arbonne party at a friend's house. I loved the products and started using the facial products they have. The trouble is, they are very expensive. I have been gradually replacing my facial regimen with less expensive, but still good quality products. The thought of giving up the toner in its spray bottle was hard for me. I just loved it, used it after cleansing and for a quick spritz now and then. I finally realized that it was the spray action and the smell of witch hazel that was truly behind my love of this product. So I bought some Humphreys Hydrating Toner for a fraction of the cost, and poured it into the empty Arbonne spritzer. Voila!

The Cherub and the Angel

2011-05-25T16:09:00.004-05:00

So, we finally got some nice warm weather the other day. Tyler immediately requested the pool. The pool is one we bought when Julie, Tyler's mother was his age and used by her and Kristin and Robert. We never got rid of it, from sheer procrastination, and we're really glad now. Best investment ever! So we have a little naked cherub next to our angel statue:

What a cutie!:

Jammin'

2011-05-18T12:29:00.004-05:00

Here are Paul and Tyler practicing violin together. We have discovered that Tyler likes to walk about as he bows. As long as he is walking, he plays the rhythms ("Mississippi-hotdog", and "run-pony run-pony") very well and concentrates on his practice. What's really amazing is to see Paul playing a musical instrument. But, anything for the boy!

P.S. Look at the creepy cat eyes in the background!

A Fruitful Day and a Mystery Bird

2011-05-09T17:28:00.003-05:00

After going to bed early last night, I awoke at 6:00 am, unable to sleep an longer (this almost never happens to me!). I was able to do some light housekeeping tasks while the rest of the family slept, and get Tyler fed when he woke up about a half hour later. I then got him set with his current movie obsession (Toy Story I - he had seen it before but is finally aware of the sinister Sid, and wants to watch this movie again and again), and went out for a long, energetic walk. I stopped at the grocery on the way home for a few things, had breakfast with Paul and saw him off to work. I was able to fit in some time with a Bible study I have be wanting to continue for a long time. The rest of the morning and early afternoon was errands; I am driving again after two weeks off.

When we got home, Kristin, who had been weeding part of the garden, showed me some photos she took of an unusual bird in our cherry tree that neither of us had ever seen before. He was black with an orange front, and had an unusual call. While I was planting flowers in a planter, I saw this bird myself. How lovely he was! We are guessing he is a Baltimore Oriole:

Bird in Flight:

Finally I took Tyler to the park, the one he calls "Bratty Gwel Park" due to the rather rude little girls who were there the one and only time we had gone before. This time there was a nice little boy, who played with him. Perhaps we can rename it to "Nice Boy Park"!

Busy Weekend

2011-05-09T17:16:00.003-05:00

This past weekend included both Prom for Robert, and Mother's Day for Julie and me. Getting Robert ready for for Prom was fun for me: just in helping him with this totally un-Robert-like event, and for the gentle razzing I gave him. I was glad to offer pearls of wisdom on gentlemanly behavior, and corsages and such. I also had fun teasing him a bit about meeting the young lady's family and all of the potential hazards that could go along with that (stumbling up the stairs on the way to the door, being unable to think of what to say). But Robert handled it all with grace, and they both had a wonderful time. Here they are at a friend's for pre-Prom photos:

The following day was Mother's Day. I was having a hard time at first, in spite of the lovely breakfast and gifts I received. I had been trying to reduce my pain medication, but this was a terrible idea, as my post-surgical pain became very bad. I felt very helpless, like this would all be forever, that I was old, and other depressing thoughts like that. I rested a bit, then we all went out to dinner together. Finally, Paul and I had some quiet time together which really has been missing these past two weeks. He has been so busy doing the heavy lifting (literally and figuratively) around here, and taking care of me and Tyler. There was no time for us. So it ended up being a very nice Mother's Day, and gave me a good start to this week with feelings of hope and happiness.

Recovering!

2011-04-27T13:18:00.001-05:00

Just letting people know I am back home and doing well after surgery!

Getting One's Affairs In Order

2011-04-25T09:12:00.002-05:00

I am going in this morning for surgery. It is not a serious problem, not life-threatening, but still a rather involved surgery that will sideline me for a while. This weekend I got the bills paid, the laundry done, talked with my family. My sister had my mother's rosary with her, and she lent it to me to bring today. I have a small pile of college papers for Robert to deal with, and another stack of bills for Paul to take care of next week. I think everything is mostly set. Those of you who read this in time, please pray for me, especially at 11:00 today when I check in, and especially at about 12:30, when surgery starts.

Easter Centerpiece

2011-04-25T07:55:00.002-05:00

A 1960's Coat for Easter

2011-04-24T23:48:00.002-05:00

I started making a 1960's coat from this pattern, a long time ago:

I finally finished it in time to wear to church Easter morning:

Colorful Easter Preparations

2011-04-23T11:35:00.003-05:00

Easter is such a special time of year. Spiritually grounding, family-oriented, hopeful, and beautiful. We are in the midst of the Triduum Masses at church. Last night we decorated Easter eggs in preparation for the Easter Basket Blessing and Children's Egg Hunt held at our church on Easter Saturday.

Colors!

Sparkles!

Eggs in a basket

Easter Bunny!

Breakfast Outdoors

2011-04-10T18:26:00.005-05:00

Today was the first truly warm day of the year. It seemed everyone took the opportunity to go outside. I made pancakes for breakfast and we decided to eat outside (one of our favorite things to do!). Paul quickly got the umbrella set up for the patio table.

Then we surveyed the garden and enjoyed looking at this:

The Young Master Commences His Violin Lessons

2011-04-06T14:54:00.004-05:00

Tyler started his violin lessons on a Saturday afternoon:

First, Mrs. Roberts taught him how to take his violin and bow out of the case. Then she tuned his violin for him.

Then, Mrs. Roberts played a song for him. He absolutely loved it!

She showed him how to hold the violin and bow. It was a little awkward at first. He had to support the violin with his hand until he learns how to keep it in place with only his chin.

Playing some notes for Mrs. Roberts.

After the lesson, we went to Boris' Cafe, a little restaurant in Winnetka with a vintage decor:

A happy little boy.

Yum!

Ballet and Old Friends

2011-03-31T11:29:00.003-05:00

Recently I have returned to dancing. It was my passion in my teens and early 20's. But then my life took a different path. I continued taking class over the years, and finally stopped all together, life and ankle injuries taking their toll. It was frustrating because, even though I am in my 50's, I still love ballet; it is still the only form of exercise that I truly enjoy. It is more than exercise to me. It is in its own realm.

About a month ago, I had a vivid dream about one of my old ballet buddies. You see, back in the early 80's in Chicago, I had two best ballet buddies. We danced together, had fun together, and were rather crazy together. We have kept in touch sporadically over the years. So I dreamt about Carmen, and just had to call her. We had seen each other the previous summer, where we compared ankle injuries and talked about going back to ballet. It just so happened that a short while before this phone call, she had return to a nearby ballet studio, and encouraged me to do the same. I felt apprehensive because I am really out of shape; quite tubby, in fact, for a ballerina! But I committed to returning, after getting Carmen to promise she would not watch me in class until I was better! It was so nice to be back in the studio with an old friend - older bodies still remembering the joy of dance, and a nice lunch after one class, where we talked for a long time.

Right around this time, my other ballet buddy, Ruta, found me on Facebook. We began talking and catching up a bit. Then, she came back to Chicago. We went out to dinner last night, and shared what we've been up to during the 20 years or so since we last saw each other. Ruta has also kept up with dance, to a very high level.

The three of us have all been through many changes and trials, some of the trials tremendously worse than others. But three things remained constant: I absolutely love these two friends, we have a blast together, and we all love dance.

Ruta has given me a challenge: to go this summer together to Birute Barodicaite's ballet class (she was one of our teachers back in the day). So, I have a lot of work to do to be in shape for this class! The thought of the three of us dancing and laughing together again is such an inspiring, happy thought.

The Making of an Ewok

2011-03-31T10:54:00.005-05:00

It all started when Robert was watching Tyler one day, and Star Wars VI was on TV. Tyler had seen it previously, but the whole concept of an Ewok had not registered with him before that. Suddenly, Tyler needed to be an Ewok, and NOW!

I knew there had to be a pattern for this costume, but since Star Wars had its heyday many years ago, I knew whatever patterns there might be would be out of print. I was very lucky, however, that just when I wanted an Ewok pattern, a woman on e-Bay just happened to be selling one: McCall's 8731. She also happened to live in the same state, and shipped it immediately. Talk about instant gratification!

Next was a trip to the fabric store (or "The Ewok Fabric Store" as Tyler was calling it!). I was a little leery of using faux fur. I had never made anything with it before and found it a little intimidating. I originally settled on some nice, thick brown fleece, but lo and behold, there was not enough on either bolt for this costume layout. So I took a deep breath and bought this nice faux fur:

I also got some faux suede for the hood:

The pattern went together easily, and my faux fur fears (try saying that ten times fast!) were quickly put to rest. The mask was more challenging, so I made it last. I also did that so Tyler would at least be able to run around in the main part of the costume (the jumpsuit as the pattern calls it), and stop nagging me a bit. I love how creative this pattern is, forming a snout with tiny well-placed darts, and using felt and fabric glue to make the nose and eyes. Here is the mask and hood:

Finally, here are two views of Tyler playing in our "forest" in the backyard (in Star Wars terminology it is the Forest Moon of Endor). His weapon is a tree branch that Paul trimmed to resemble the weapons in the movie.

The Young Master Acquires a Violin

2011-03-25T00:01:00.003-05:00

A Suzuki violin teacher has offered to teach young children from Tyler's school. When the notice came in the Backpack Express, I was immediately intrigued. Tyler expressed interest, so we called the teacher and set up his first lesson for this Saturday. But first we had to get a violin. We took a little journey to a neighboring village to visit the violin shop. Just a little while later, we were set with a teensy-tiny violin, a CD of Suzuki beginning violin pieces to listen to, and one happy and excited boy:

Organizing the Sewing Stuff - Part II "After"

2011-02-23T12:13:00.005-06:00

Now to share the results of my organization project to tame my sewing stash. First, I did find the tucker kit that inspired the project in the first place. It was in a catch-all box containing all sorts of unrelated things, many Civil War, but also fabric lengths and other jumbled together things. I also found a book I have been desperately looking for (Skirting the Issue by Elizabeth Stewart Clark, a Civil War sewing technique book), a new box of quality pins I had bought months ago and really needed, and a couple other things that were MIA.

I tried to spend as little money as possible on this. I already had lots of bins and file folders, and a label maker. I wanted to pare down the stash to fit into not only the bins I already had, but the space I have as well. I ended up buying two plastic file boxes (buy one, get one free!), another large bin, and a refill of label tape. My goal was to fit everything onto no more than two of the several wire shelving units in our basement.

The categories I used in the sorting process were: Fabric, Patterns, Current Projects, Unfinished Projects, Tools, Trims, Notions, Ribbon, Toy Making, Millinery, Corset Making, Quilting, Embroidery, Books, and then the piles for Give Away and Sell.

I was able to reunite lone, lost pattern pieces with the rest of the correct patterns. I made two bins of "Projects On Hold". At some point I may get rid of them; the fact that they are in a bin labeled as such not only reminds me they are there, but also will hopefully will either inspire me to get to work on them, or give them away, discard, or use for something else. I have all of my over-sized patterns with their toiles in a separate box since they won't fit in a conventional file box (the toile pieces are just too big to cram all together to fit in a file folder. But again, they are labeled so I know where all are).

My patterns were purged of ones I will not use. This was so painful! The keepers are now in file folders, in chronological order, the labels showing the range of time periods for each box. (For example, "Medieval-Civil War, Part I".)

I still want to go back and micro-organize the interiors of a couple of the boxes. My box of trim and my small box of ribbons could use this. I did micro-organize the drawers of the small chest of drawers that sits next to my sewing machine table. I have these small boxes that my kids had to get with their school supplies ages ago. Each one contains different notions (such as elastic, or hooks, snap, and fasteners, etc.), each one has a label so I know what's what.

Finally, I would like to purchase one of those fabric-lined baskets to put my Current Projects in (not too many please!). This will sit atop my chest of drawers, neatly, for when I am ready to sew.

Here are the results:

The small chest of drawers by my sewing machine table. Most of my notions are in the middle drawers. Sewing machine manuals, machine needles, bobbins, and presser feet are in the topdrawers. Tools, pattern weights, measuring rulers, etc. are in the bottom drawer.

Sadly, I don't have a dedicated sewing room; my machine is up in the dining room and my stash is stored in the basement. However, now it is all in one area, not scattered about in various parts of the basement. And I was able to achieve my goal of only using two shelving units.

One of the fabric bins. This my Whites bin. I had many of my fabric lengths measured already, and indicated that on each label. Not everything in this bin was measured. That's another task I can go back and do in the future.

Two of my pattern files.

I have a separate bin for my Titanic patterns (my favorite fashion era). The box next to it are my over-sized patterns, including the majority of my Sense & Sensibility patterns.

Yesterday I sewed for the first time since I did this organization project. It was delightful! I worked on my corded petticoat. I knew where it was, where my crochet cotton was, I was able to use my fresh new pins for pinning the cording in place. Also, I didn't have a ton of stuff to be transferred from atop my sewing machine table before I could begin sewing (and before this it was really a huge, intimidating pile of stuff). It was just my small pile of other current projects (that will someday soon be in the designated basket I mentioned above), my little notions caddy, and my large pin cushion that needed to be placed on the dining table so I could open up my machine. When I was done sewing, the crochet cotton went back into its labeled bag in the labeled drawer, the petticoat was folded and placed in the Current Projects pile, the machine was tucked away into its cabinet, and the items placed back on top. It took a few minutes, that is all. Lovely!

Bake-apalooza

2011-02-21T00:29:00.004-06:00

Tonight, after a calmer weekend, I ended up going nuts in the kitchen! We're short on cash, so I wanted to bake some desserts. I was also inspired to make Boule bread, after reading about it on another blog. Earlier this afternoon I had mixed up the Artisan Bread Dough, so it was waiting in the fridge. After supper, Tyler and I started the cookies, while Paul took care of using the apple peeler-corer-slicer on some Granny Smiths and got them into the bowl with the sugar and spices for the pie filling. While the cookies were baking, I made the pie crust and assembled it. Cookies out, adjust temp, pie in. Then while the pie was baking, I got the bread shaped and ready to rise. About 45 minutes later: pie out, bread in. By the time the bread was done and I took this photo, a lot of the cookies were MIA. All was good if I say so myself. We all liked the bread the most though. Yum!

Organizing the Sewing Stuff - Part I "Before"

2011-02-17T13:01:00.010-06:00

Recently, I was inspired to finally, finally organize my sewing supplies. The incident that prompted this was when I was looking for a tiny thing, a tucker kit for my Civil War ballgown. I looked all over the place in every bin (although, as it turned out, I hadn't looked hard enough), but I simply couldn't find it. I knew I still had it though. I ended up ordering a new one from Mrs. Christen's Miscellanea where I had gotten it before. Although it was inexpensive, it really bothered me that I had to spend good money on a duplicate item, simply because I was so disorganized.

So I decided it was time to get it all organized. This included everything. I used the organizing plan that Peter Walsh (from Enough Already!) uses. I took everything up to my parlor so everything I had was all in the same place; it was an enormous stash. Then I envisioned how I wanted it to look once organized. I mainly wanted to have similar things together, in easy access bins, where I could find anything I need at a moment's notice. I also wanted to be able to see exactly what I did have. And I didn't want my stash to be encroaching on other areas of the house. Basically, I just wanted my stash and the way it was stored to be my servant, not my master.

The next task is to sort through everything and divide all into piles, those things to keep and those to sell, donate, or trash/recycle. It looked overwhelming when I first had everything all together:

I made up some labels for the various piles. I just printed out a big list, then cut them apart and laid them along the walls of the parlor:

Next, I sorted things into the piles, including my piles for things to be thrown away, recycled, given away, or sold. This was difficult! There are many things I had a hard time delegating into the sale/donate pile. The things I wanted to keep were then organized into bins and drawers. I had my trusty label-maker at hand, large and extra large Ziploc bags for oversized patterns, etc. and file folders.

I was up extremely late when I did this, but by the time I finished I had most of it done. I spent the next week putting the finishing touches on my stash.

Stayed tuned for the next episode: Organizing the Sewing Stuff - Part II "After".

Blueprint for Late Winter and Spring

2011-02-17T12:40:00.003-06:00

After a long week with illness, I am on the mend, and making plans for the upcoming months. I have three goals:

Restoring Health, including proper exercise and eating.
Organizing my "stuff", especially sewing stuff and music.
Preparing my home and harp for Easter.

My exercise regimen took a big hit, first because Paul and I were working very hard on our house, refinishing woodwork and installing it. We have been waiting for years (literally) to do this. The big push came because we were anticipating having our house appraised for a refinance (fingers crossed, still waiting to hear!). Then late last week the whole family, except for lucky Robert, became ill with this horrible virus. So starting Saturday, I want to go back to the health club and plan some wholesome meals.

I have begun a huge organization of my sewing supplies. I am close to done. (I will post my How-To and photos once this process is complete.) This process was so satisfying, I want to also do it for my music, which is in similar disarray as my sewing supplies. This clears the mind, makes finding things a breeze. So I would like to have both areas completely organized within the next month.

Finally, I am very excited about Easter. I met yesterday and today with our interim music director and another choir member to help plan Easter music for the Triduum (In the Catholic Church, this is the three important components of Easter: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday evening). I will be playing harp and singing with the choir. Lots of work to do! Lots of practicing ahead for me. I also want to have the house all clean and sparkley for Easter, and I would like to have my extended family over on Easter Sunday. I have time off from work around then, so this will be delightful. I will also have the week after Easter off to start gardening.

I feel very happy about this plan!

A Resurrected Ballgown

2011-02-03T20:41:00.006-06:00

Did you ever have one of those dreams where you walk into an area of your house that you never knew was there before, and it's really awesome? I had a similar (real) experience this week with a Civil War Ballgown.

I had started a lovely ballgown five years ago that I boxed up in frustration after a problem with the taffeta I was using: apparently the needle I was sewing with was either not sharp enough, or had a burr on it, because it was making these odd lines in the fabric, almost like a run, but not as bad. It looked gargantuan to me and I abandoned the project. So, it's been sitting down there in the basement and I didn't know what to do with it. I had thought of taking it out many times, even of throwing it out, but it was silk taffeta that, even though it was purchased on a great sale, it was still a lot of money.

I am needing a ballgown in either March or April for Civil War balls that I am just dying to go to. I decided to assess the situation in the basement box. I thought I might have enough fabric to re-do the parts that had concerned me previously. The bad news was that there wasn't really enough to re-do. The good news is that the areas I was concerned about are no big deal. Either time has improved it (unlikely) or my standards have lowered, or could it simply be that with time and work I have let go of much of the perfectionism that has blighted my life? Whatever the reason, I am ecstatic! A project well on its way already, most of the dreary stuff done.

So, I began ironing the skirt panels to be sewn together, and the skirt lining, while listening to one of my favorite sewing CD's Harpestry (seen above on one of the lilac taffeta skirt panels). The bodice itself just needs to have the side seams and piping done; I had done the lining and interlining, some assembly, and the eyelets for the back closure already.

Blizzard 2011

2011-02-03T20:34:00.004-06:00

We are used to deep snows and terrible weather in the Chicago area. This one had us *a bit* concerned (some predictions were that we might get 28" of snow!). We didn't get that much, but almost, and the blowing and drifting snow made huge hills and mountains. We had prepared for the worst (getting in food, purchasing extra shovels, propane cannisters for the space heater and wood for the fireplace in case we lost power). I also decided to buy a sled for Tyler in case there was some fun sledding to be had.

There was!

Morning Scones With Da

2011-01-25T19:33:00.003-06:00

This past weekend Paul made scones for us. He loves scones and has learned to make some of the best chocolate chip scones I've ever had. Tyler is still enjoying the old tea set he found in my childhood dish cabinet. So it was Tea and Scones with "Da" (Tyler's name for his grandfather).

Tea and Scones

The Scone

A New Year, An Old Dilemma

2011-01-04T19:48:00.002-06:00

So here we are in January 2011. I have not made any official New Year's Resolutions, but I do have something I very much want to accomplish this year (and forever). I want to spend more time doing self-care/pampering and more time making my home a lovely place. Time is one of the difficulties, but in all honestly I waste a ton of it on stupid things like dopey TV shows, computer solitaire, and other stuff like that.

I have this dream vision. In the vision I am the type of person who relishes exercise, is rested and well turned out fashion and make-up-wise, makes a little sanctuary of peace and beauty in her home, and spends time creatively (music, sewing, etc.). I do some of these things, some of the time. I don't know why I keep getting in my own way. It is a dilemma.

So my goal or resolution for this year is to try and be that woman I described above, the majority of the time. (Wish me luck - I will surely need it!)

First Snow!

2010-12-10T18:21:00.003-06:00

Our First snow this past weekend brought lots of fun. Tyler and I walked in the snow, built a snowman (his carrot nose was from our vegetable garden, freshly dug up!). And our resident squirrel-pal came to the door for some nuts (he is exceedingly bold!).

Tyler and me

The Little Snowman

Our Pal

Butterflies and Frogs - The Milwaukee Museum

2010-12-04T11:19:00.015-06:00

During Thanksgiving week we took a trip up to Milwaukee. We went to the Pabst Mansion (one of my absolute favorite historic mansions), the Milwaukee Museum, and to The Safe House (a spy-themed restaurant). It was fun and especially nice because all of us were able to go. Here are some photos:

Here are the kids with butterflies:

Grandson - what a cutie!

Julie - "wearing" a big butterfly

Kristin - two butterflies landed on her, including the big one

Close-up of the big one

On Robert too

And here are the big boys at The Safe House:

The Gentleman Joins Us For Tea

2010-11-22T00:38:00.005-06:00

At Movie Night this past Friday, Tyler and Paul returned home at about 9:30 PM from the "Tree Place" (an indoor shopping mall with a huge artificial hollow tree that kids can climb in, slide down built-in slides, etc.). Tyler likes to say hello to the Tea Ladies and partake of the yummies served. This time he wanted tea, and he wanted it in a tea cup. As I would not let a four year old use one of my good china cups, Paul dug out an old tea set that we discovered was stored in the toy cabinet my dad built that was recently moved into Tyler's closet.

No cream, one sugar

Ahhhh!

Autumn

2010-11-15T18:38:00.002-06:00

Phyllo-Crusted Apple Tart

2010-11-06T10:57:00.004-05:00

While hunting for low-fat dessert recipes at the library, I found this:

I'd give the source, but I simply jotted down the recipe quickly while Tyler was enjoying the library. I'll have to find the name of the cookbook. Anyway, it was delicious.

A Study In Beiges

2010-10-25T23:17:00.003-05:00

With the blue jeans too.

Eagle Scout

2010-10-20T16:59:00.004-05:00

On Sunday, Robert finished off many years of hard work as a member of the Boy Scouts by earning the distinction of Eagle Scout. He received his pin, kerchief, and patch in a ceremony with two other young men who also received it. He also received a hand-crafted walking stick pictured below. We are very proud of him. I do believe that being a Boy Scout has helped Robert immensely in his life, and helped shape him into the pleasant and much more self-confident person he has become.

Ah, The Good Life!

2010-10-04T14:17:00.001-05:00

Miow!

The Birthday Party - Four Years Old!

2010-09-22T16:26:00.004-05:00

We had a wonderful party for Tyler's birthday. We had beautiful weather, the food turned out well, and the little boy was happy:

An Apple Dessert

2010-09-22T16:18:00.007-05:00

I tried a new dessert the other night: Paula Deen's Skillet Fried Apple Pies. They were yummy, but I'm sure the fat content is astronomical. I am curious to see if I can get as good a taste if I simply bake them instead of frying (Note: Since posting this I did try just baking them - they were fine without the frying!). I used biscuits I got in the frozen section of Sam's Club, and a jar of apple pie filling from the grocery store.

Back After a Long Absence

2010-09-22T15:50:00.005-05:00

We have been so busy in the past month. Mainly, we have been doing home improvements for three reasons: to get our home in good shape for a possible refinance, to get Tyler moved into his very own room, and to get the house ready for Tyler's birthday bash/family get-together. More pictures of the improvements will follow, but here is a preview:

Woodwork around the door (at last!)

Tyler's newly remodeled closet (still needs woodwork around this door)

Toys and a little critter in the closet (including a stove and china hutch my dad made, that I played with as a child)

Butterflies In the Garden

2010-08-07T15:49:00.002-05:00

Two years ago we planted butterfly bushes in our yard. The butterflies are happy!

Tyler's Room - Making Progress

2010-08-06T15:35:00.003-05:00

The closet is almost finishing in what will be Tyler's new room. It took a long time for such a tiny space, but since it needed to be gutted, insulated, electrified, wallboarded, taped, primed and painted (phew!), it is only now almost done:

Here is Paul, who just finished painting the walls of the room:

What Tyler Has Been Up To

2010-07-29T20:16:00.005-05:00

Strawberry "mice". Cut the green part off, and the bottom off the strawberry so it sits flat. Use sliced almonds for the ears, tube icing for the eyes, a mini-chocolate chip for the nose, and a section of red licorice whip for the tail.

Ice cream and face painting at the church picnic.

Around the House

2010-07-28T17:06:00.002-05:00

Random scenes of what we have been doing lately around the house:

Filling the grain bucket

Enjoying fresh flowers from the Farmer's Market

Another Farmers Market treasure

Who's hiding under the table?!

Bike Riding

2010-07-28T17:00:00.002-05:00

We fixed up my son's neglected bicycle. Originally it was for Julie to keep at her new apartment. But she realized it would be cumbersome to bring up and down the stairs and would take up a lot of room. So Paul and I have been riding a lot on the Green Bay Trail. It is a bike trail that runs alongside the train tracks for several miles in the northern suburbs of Chicago. It is bordered on both sides by heavy foliage, and is peaceful and quiet. It is a lovely way to exercise, get fresh air, and be out in all sorts of weather - I don't even mind if it rains.

Our Time In The Forest

2010-07-10T13:43:00.018-05:00

There is an area at the back of our lot that is almost like a mini-forest. This year we decided to make it a more useable space for our grandson to play in. We cleared weeds and underbrush, moved stones and brick and yard equipment, and spread red bark chips down for cushioning. It's just right for a little boy to have adventures in. Tyler has had a lot of fun there, often hiding and pretending to be a dinosaur. I find it cool and soothing. When I am in the forest I often hear in my mind a piece by harpist Andreas Vollenweider that I love, called The Years in the Forest (hear a sample here).

Yesterday, I finished making a new toy for Tyler using this pattern. I hid the little leopard in the forest for him to find:

A leopard hiding in the forest

Captured!

Cuddling with a "lion"

A happy boy!

Hanging Out The Wash

2010-07-04T10:22:00.003-05:00

I have been wanting a clothesline for some time now, and Paul set a post in the ground with a hook on it, then installed a retractable clothesline on the house. I am loving this! I wonder what it means that I get excited by a clothesline. The explanation I came up with is two-fold: it is a wonderful process from the past that is making a comeback for various reasons, and I love the thought of freshly air-dried clothing and sheets. I will have to post a new photo once we get a new camera (ours broke a few days after I took this photo). We have added a clothesline prop which supports the middle of the line from drooping and can be stored out of the way once done, and a beautiful flower pouch of lavender-colored petunias under the birdhouse.

I am transported to another place and time when I hang out the wash!

Our Sort of Evening

2010-06-07T16:22:00.004-05:00

Last night Paul, Tyler, and I had a delightful evening. We often like to go somewhere on Sunday late afternoons/early evenings, preferably something outside, since Tyler is an all around happier child in the outdoors. It rained heavily off and on yesterday, so we weren't sure what we could do outside. So first we went to one of our favorite pizza places, Barnaby's (not sure if there are Barnaby's restaurants outside of the Chicago area, but it sure is good pizza!) for their yummy thin crust pizza. By the time we were done, the rains had cleared.

We decided that, even though it was already 7:30 or so, we would go to the Chicago Botanic Gardens anyway for a quick stroll before sundown. Going there on a Sunday, near closing time, after a heavy rain is the absolute best time to go. Other than a wedding party on the terrace, no one was there. We walked the paths of this beautiful garden by ourselves, drinking in the beauty of the scenery. It looked especially nice given the weather and time of day.

By the end, our little pal, dressed in his new dinosaur raincoat, was sleepy and very happy. So were we!

Corded Petticoat

2010-05-22T20:15:00.006-05:00

It's really odd, I haven't sewn anything in a long time due to time constraints, life getting in the way, and a shocking lack of inspiration. My good friend tells me she can tell when I am depressed - when I am not playing harp and not sewing. I guess I'm not depressed now, because I have been practicing up a storm, and I finally got an inspiration to sew.

My choice was not at all what I expected - a corded petticoat. This is a mid-19th century undergarment; basically a petticoat with rows and rows of cording stitched into it, then starched to an amazing level. It helps make the skirts stand out, but is less poofy than a hoop skirt.

I gleaned all I could off the internet, found some great pictures of what others have done, and I'm off. I wanted the circumference of the bottom to be less than 90", so I used a nice Kona quilter's muslin, 90" wide. That way there will only be one seam since I don't have to join widths. I cut it 52" long to allow for a waistband and a deep facing at the hem in order to encase the cording, sandwiching it inside the facing. I'm using Lily "Sugar'n Cream" as the cording. I turned up an ample hem facing to enclose the two sets of close-together cords I have planned (probably two sets of 16 cords next to each other, with an inch or so of space in between the sets), then will sew single cords going up to about knee level. All I have to do once the cording is done is sew one long seam to make the tube, make the top of the seam into a placket, and turn down a waistband. The time-consuming part is the cording, but it is simple and rather satisfying to see the rows begin to form.

The first seven rows at the hemline; only about 30 or so left to go!

New Home Improvements

2010-05-22T19:57:00.006-05:00

We finally got back to our home improvements - working on Tyler's new room, the upper hallway and the foyer. I'm really pleased with the progress. For Tyler's room, Kristin has been refinishing the woodwork and almost has it completely done. Paul has been working on the upper hall window and Tyler's closet. I have been helping out where I can (standing around holding stuff for Paul while he attaches it or cuts it - yawn, making meals, household chores and Tyler-watching), but I also went on another paint hunt, solidify our "crellow" color for the foyer and upper hall, and choosing a nice blue for Tyler's room.

Paul working on the old upper hall window - can't wait until it's done!

Tyler's closet: we removed the falling-down plaster, insulated, and electrified it. Now we just need wallboard and paint.

Tyler's room color and "Crellow": Summer Shower blue and Old World Romance yellow

Cats and Sewing

2010-05-21T14:27:00.004-05:00

So, I finally got motivated to do some sewing, and what do you know - Cats!

"What do you mean, you want to sew?!"

"I'll just help you hold this in place!"

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T12:16:00.004-05:00

Resolution

2010-05-05T18:23:00.005-05:00

A month has passed and, surprisingly, what seemed to be a most calamitous occurrence with two family members actually ended up being positive in many respects. Without disclosing too much personal stuff, just imagine this: young people, peer pressure, lack of thinking, and immaturity. It was like walking through a nightmare; I kept begging someone to wake me up. The two weeks that followed were so stressful, my blood pressure skyrocketed and I felt so ill.

But the sky was not falling after all. It's amazing that God often requires struggle to obtain growth. I could not have imagined in those first weeks that things could actually end up better. Before, I was living in a world of illusions. I did think at the time this all was discovered, that I would prefer the illusions to the truth. I do know now the meaning of leaving things in God's hands. There is just no control! One must just trust in God's plan. This is a great load off my mind, although scary to just let go of the illusion of control.

The results:

The family members in question had a giant wake-up call, and now appear to be headed along the right path.
The changes that have occurred as a result of this have removed a great deal of stress, so that I feel emotionally free to pursue my interests, something that has been stagnating for a long time.
Because of the health scare I had, Paul and I are now on a sensible exercise and eating plan.
I guess I have more "intestinal fortitude" than I thought!

Life Turned Topsy-Turvy

2010-04-03T09:49:00.002-05:00

...yet we need to keep it in perspective. Without going into too much detail, our lives have taking a rather shocking and upsetting turn. It's very much like the shifting kaleidescope: you are looking at one pattern and in the matter of a few seconds, the whole view changes into something else. More details will follow in the coming weeks. But to quote Rachel Lynde from Anne of Green Gables, "You're never safe from surprise until you're dead!"

To put it in perspective though, my co-worker and I were talking to one of the nurses on the unit we both used to work on prior to working in the Peds clinic. She told us some very upsetting news about another nurse we have known for years. Her teen daughter was in a terrible ski accident over spring break, has a head injury, a spinal injury, and is on a ventilator.

Here is the story that always helps me through the tough times, that is so applicable in this situation:

The Cross Room (author unknown)

A young man was at the end of his rope. Seeing no way out he dropped to his knees in prayer. "Lord, I can’t go on," he said. "I have too heavy a cross to bear."
The Lord replied, "My son, if you can’t bear its weight, just place your cross inside this room. Then open that other door and pick out any cross you wish."
The young man was filled with relief. "Thank you Lord," he sighed, and he did what he was told. Upon entering the other door, he saw many other crosses, some so large the tops weren’t even visible. Then he spotted a tiny cross leaning against the far wall. "I’d like that one Lord," he whispered. And the Lord replied, "My son, that is the cross you just brought in."

Such A Deal!

2010-03-06T09:52:00.003-06:00

Paul and I went on a woodwork hunt this past Wednesday. We were searching for Victorian-style baseboards for the Julie/Tyler room as well as porch railing to replace the rotting handrails on our front porch. In our new financial mode, we went to several places to find the best deal while still finding something we like and something Paul will find easy to work with on the porch.

As usual, the Home Depot in Glenview answered our need. We found a gorgeous baseboard that this store was discontinuing, and we found enough for the one room! In fact, the supply they had left was just a little more than we needed, so we bought them out (it never hurts to have a little extra, in case of mistakes). Usually oak woodwork such as this can sell for anywhere from $2.80 on up per linear foot. The price on this sale was $1.29 per linear foot. We looked to see if any of the other Home Depots in our area are also discontinuing this. Then we would have baseboards for our bedroom (oh delight!). But sadly, at this time, none of the others are discontinuing it, so their prices are $4.50 per foot. But no concern - we have so much to keep us busy, so maybe by the time we're freed up to work on our room another store may have a sale.

Today Paul worked on an icky window in our upper hall. It's way up high, not really functional because you'd have to stand on a stool to even try to get it open. But it lets in light, so is useful in that. Anyway, it has been sitting there, without any woodwork, the sash weights in view, and the old cracklin' paint right out there. Paul removed the sashes so they can be scraped and painted. He scraped the inner part of the window where the sashes slide, and he leveled off the side with some thin wood, so the new woodwork will lie flat when installed. Tomorrow is more scraping and then priming.

It's almost time to buy the paint! I decided that I really wanted a sort of cream yellow for the foyer, stairway walls and and upper hall. I have dubbed the color I have in mind "crellow", and I found my crellow on a paint chip sample from the paint store. This is all very exciting!

While Paul did that I took care of Tyler (Julie was at work). He ended up falling asleep, so I cleaned my dining room. Boy did it need it. I did a "deep clean", getting every part practically, dusting washing, vacuuming, mopping, and uncluttering. It took so long. But it looks divine.

My New Best Friends

2010-02-28T20:00:00.008-06:00

Ah, Rubber Gloves

All I can say is - Eureka! The splinter has come out. After two weeks and two days, it finally, finally worked its way out. Now all that's left is for the wound to heal. But I was honestly starting to think that the pain would never go away, that the wound would never heal.

I employed my rubber gloves very well this weekend, cleaning up after Paul and Kristin bashed out the falling down plaster in Julie's walk-in closet. Besides moving Tyler's chest of drawers and a large number of his toys in the closet, we hope to have enough room left even for a little play area for him. This closet remodel is the first step in our aforementioned newest home remodeling project: having Julie and Tyler together in Julie's room. Julie is choosing paint colors for the walls. We have all of the casings, the plinth blocks, and the rosettes for around the doors and windows ready. We need to purchase and refinish baseboards and quarter-round for the edge of the floor. Paul is going to extend the cable for the satellite TV so they can watch in their room. The closet, of course, needs new wallboard to replace the awful plaster. And we are saving up for the bunk beds, with drawers underneath, so Julie has extra room for her clothes. I can't wait!

Various Things

2010-02-23T21:06:00.003-06:00

I feel very scattered these days. I long for several days of not much going on just to get things accomplished. Here is what is keeping me so scattered:

Motivating Robert, who is working to finish his Eagle Scout requirements before his 18th birthday - which is in April (gulp!). He's almost done, just needs the cattle prod to get him to finish up.
A finger injury that has been incapacitating me harp-wise for the past 10 days. The moral of this story is - never, NEVER clean without wearing rubber gloves. I made this mistake and got two badly embedded splinters. I can't tell if Paul was able to get them all out completely. one area is doing really well, finally, but my index finger is still very problematic. I've been to the doctor and the orthopedic doctor. I'm on antibiotics now (finger ended up red, warm to the touch, and throbbing in pain on Sunday). The plan is to soak the finger in warm water, use vitamin E oil on a cotton ball covered by a band-aid, and to call if not better by the end of the week. In that case he may need to go in and dig it out (eek!). Needless to say, but harp is gathering dust.
Our uncluttering of the basement and Julie's closet meant a lot of fairly good stuff that we decided to sell on e-Bay. I've had some good sales, some duds, but I have a whole batch of costumes and other sewing related things to put up for auction. The extra cash is most welcome!
Sticking to our commitment not to incur any more debt and to live within our means. This is a challenge, but in a really good way. Being blind to one's financial state is no way to live. However, this means some needed creativity by the whole family and a willingness to eat pasta, beans, and rice those couple of days before payday when we run out of money.
The next step in our home remodeling. This is a cheapie: we are painting Julie's room and our foyer and upper hall. We are also finishing up the woodwork in the basement to put up around the doors, windows, and floorboards. This will make the room very nice, and all we need to buy at this point is paint and bare wood baseboards we will refinish. Eventually, with our e-Bay money, we are going to buy bunk beds so Julie and Tyler can be together in the same room (instead of Tyler being in the over-sized closet/nursery that is really supposed to be mine and Paul's walk-in closet!).

The happy news is that I have two weeks vacation time coming in May. So that's a pleasant thought. Truthfully, I wish I could be home again full-time. That is a goal for me, once we are out of debt. I do long to be here, to spend my time being a homemaker, supporting the family by being here all the time, planing meals, gardening, making the house lovely, spending more time with spiritual devotions. I've started reading The Tightwad Gazette again for some ideas on cutting costs. The happy thought is that there is an end in sight, and I will be done with working outside the home in the foreseeable future.

The Tale of the Furnace and the Harp

2010-01-31T21:14:00.008-06:00

It all started on a frosty winter day in December. I had brought my harp down to Lyon & Healy (conveniently located right here in Chicago) for an overdue regulation. Regulation is where the technicians at Lyon & Healy check the harp over, adjust all the mechanical parts so they are working well and so the harp is in tune in all pedal positions, and change any strings that need changing (usually all the lower strings, the wire strings, are changed at this time). I love to look around the showroom when I am there, looking at all the lovely harps, dozens of them, and in particular, drooling over the Style 11 Gold Concert Grand with it's 1919 style, flower motifs, and all that gold! (Well I can dream can't I?!)

I happened to notice a large vent that appeared to be pouring out humidity into the room. I asked Steve, my favorite harp salesman who took care of my regulation details, if that was the case. He explained about the need for humidity for harps so that the wood does not get too dry, and reminded me to be sure our humidifier was on now that it was winter. I went home and asked Paul to have a look and turn it up.

This is where the trouble began, and what followed was almost a comedy of errors, with Paul realizing that the valve to the humidifier water was apparently clogged (he replaced it), me scheduling furnace maintenance on a Friday in January (never do that!), the repair company basically killing our furnace but refusing to do right after that, and us needing to replace the furnace and having to go the whole weekend without heat!

We were blessed with the following:

A warm January for Chicago (meaning - temperatures about 25-30 degrees, as opposed to the below-zero January weather we often get).
Two propane heaters that Paul and Robert used on Boy Scout camping trips. These heaters travelled about the house with us. In the sitting room and dining room during the day, upstairs at night.
Our bathroom heater-fan (at least we were warm when we showered!).
New electric blankets.
A warm stove.
The fireplace in our parlor. And Snugglewood.
A temperature inside the house that stayed above 40 degrees even though it was much colder outside.
Robert's friends, who let him sleepover all weekend, so we could shut off his room and not have to worry about heat in there.
A heating pad, used to warm cold feet while watching TV, afghans for the rest of the body.
Hot tea.
An excellent experience with the Home Depot in Glenview - we went there on a Saturday afternoon and spoke with a really nice staff member, got a man to come give us an estimate at 5:00 that evening, got the new furnace installed Monday morning.

Finally the world has recalibrated itself, and we are warm and toasty, with humidifier working well. I sure hope my harp appreciates the trouble we went through!

Homemade VS. Store-Bought Ice Cream

2010-01-25T13:39:00.005-06:00

Paul and I have been working very hard to reduce expenditures, stop using credit cards, and to get out of debt. This is going well, but it is an adjustment. Now if there is only $40 in the checking account before payday on Thursday (our situation this week!) it is a lot easier and well, completely necessary, to be inventive for things that have to wait to be bought. We are already doing a lot of baking of bread and cookies, not going out to eat or getting take-out, and we have run out of coffee so have been going without it for a week (ah, tea, thank you for saving me!).

Anyway, we're all getting a little tired of chocolate-chip cookies, so, on Saturday night I realized we had ingredients for homemade ice cream. We already had an electric ice cream freezer tucked away on a shelf in the basement, and still had the freezer bowl in the downstairs freezer compartment of our old fridge, so we were all set. I used a very simple recipe:

2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups whipped cream or heavy cream
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla

Mix eggs and sugar in a mixer. Add whipped cream and milk, then vanilla and mix well. Pour into ice cream freezer. Let ice cream maker run for 20-30 minutes, until ice cream is frozen. Makes 1 ¼ quart.

But it all got me wondering - is it really a savings to make your own? I had my doubts, given that whipped cream is not all that cheap. However, being the fussy ice cream gourmets that we are (only Edy's or Oberweis ice cream is good in our books), I thought it just might be a savings. So I took a look at a grocery receipt and did some online price comparing. I won't bore you with all the details and math calculations I went through, except to note that I buy pure vanilla at Sam's Club in the 16 oz bottle which is gazillion dollars of savings over buying the little 2 oz. rip-offs at the grocery store (to the tune of 1/10 of the cost of grocery store vanilla), but I found that homemade ice cream is much cheaper than full-priced Edy's and only slightly cheaper than even buying Edy's on a Buy-One-Get-One-Free deal:

Total for Homemade Ice Cream Ingredients, for the recipe's yield of 1 ¼ quart: $2.53 per 1 ¼ quart. However, I needed to figure this based on the amount in an Edy's Ice Cream tub so it is $3 per 1 ½ quart
Edy’s regular price 1 ½ quart: $6.49 (or $3.24 if you find it for a buy-1-get-1-free)

The other advantage to homemade ice cream is the all-natural ingedients. So, I have decided to mainly do homemade, but in a pinch, I could get Edy's as long as it's on the Buy-1-Get-1. Can you tell I love ice cream?

Vintage Baking

2010-01-25T13:02:00.009-06:00

...well, sort of. I used the Bosch mixer with dough hook (from my previous post on Modern Baking) this year for some Christmas baking. I made two recipes that were taught to me by Paul's grandmother (Babi - pronounced Bubbee) around the time we were married. Paul absolutely loved Babi's cooking and baking. She had given me the recipes for Rohliky (crescent rolls) and for a Czechoslavakian bread that is so yummy. There's also a recipe for a coffee cake that Babi didn't teach me, but Paul had the wisdom to jot it down so we still have it today.

Babi had demonstrated the kneading and had given me explicit instructions on the procedure for making these. It was very labor-intensive. I had made these early on in our life together, but once we had all three of our children, I never tried it again. The thought of all that kneading/resting/rising was hard to imagine with little ones running about. However, with the new tool of the mixer and dough hook (which was not available, at least in a useful form for heavy doughs, back then), I felt emboldened to try again. However, I did do at least one thing that was vintage - I sifted the flour. Babi had specifically told me to sift the flour, even the pre-sifted kind. I had broken my sifter years ago, so needed to buy a new one. The best reviews (at least in my judgement) came for this type of sifter:

Hand-crank Flour Sifter

I set Paul and Tyler to the task of being my sifters, to Tyler's great delight, what fun! I had mixed success. The Rohliky: I think I over-mixed it, and, in spite of all the butter already in these, I needed to use more in the part where I brush the rolled out dough with butter! Here's a photo of some of them (I would have taken a photo of a whole pile of them, but by the time I thought of it, most of them had been eaten!):

The bread, which is a raisin-almond bread came out very nicely. The recipe makes three loaves. I brought one loaf to Christmas at my sister's house, and gave a loaf to my in-laws (Babi was my mother-in-law's mom, and she was very happy to have this again). The last loaf was for our house, and it went very quickly. Here's a not-too-in-focus photo of our loaf (and it is really terrible focus - don't click on this photo, unless you want to feel dizzy!):

I was very happy to do this again and in a simpler way.

Modern Baking

2010-01-01T16:12:00.006-06:00

I love homemade bread. I used to make bread by kneading it by hand, using two risings - Oi! It was an all-day affair. But after hearing about modern bread making techniques, the whole process is infinitely more simple. This has been especially advantageous in these troubled financial times; making one's own bread is not only more nutritious, it saves money, especially if the ingredients are bought in bulk.

I have finally gotten my breadmaking down to a system. I have made bread with this recipe long enough now that I have memorized the proportions. With the Bosch mixer and dough hook, I can whip up dough easily. The technique I use is identical each time too (There was an instructional DVD on using the dough hook that came with the mixer when I ordered it from Pleasant Hill Grain and I use their technique for the most part).

First, I take my 3/4 cup measuring cup and measure five scoops of wheat berries into the Nutrimill grain mill and grind them into flour. This results in about five 1 cup measures of flour. While that is grinding, I heat water in my electric tea kettle (I heat enough for my recipe plus enough for a cup of tea for me - I love to have a cup of tea to sip while I bake). I measure 10-12 ounces of cold water into a 20 oz (2 1/2 cup) measuring cup. Then I add the boiling water to the cool, and check the temperature with a candy thermometer so that it is somewhere between 110-120 degrees. I measure 1/2 cup of oil and 1/2 cup of honey and put it into the mixer, then I add the heated water to that and let the mixer stir it for a little bit. I then add two tbsp yeast and mix (I buy yeast in large packages from Sam's Club). Pleasant Hill Grain also recommended adding 2 tbsp gluten flour to help the bread rise, but I found out a few weeks ago, when I ran out, that the bread does fine without it.

Next is the flour adding technique. I add two cups of bread flour (also bought in huge bags from Sam's - tremendous savings if you bake bread a lot) and two cups of the freshly milled wheat flour. I mix it up for a bit until it looks like batter. Then I add one more cup of wheat flour and a heaping tbsp of salt. I let this mix for about a minute, and then it is time to gradually add the remaining flour. While the mixer is running, I add wheat flour, 1/2 cup at a time until it is gone. (Pleasant Hill Grain has you not worry about exact proportions, just add the flour just until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the mixer. However, I found that the total of two cups bread flour/five cups of wheat flour used in my recipe is the exact right measurement for this recipe.) Then I set a timer and let the dough hook knead it for 10 minutes.

The next step is a real time saver. Because this dough hook does such a good job, there is no need to do two risings. Once kneaded, I just dump the dough onto an oiled surface, divide into two halves, shape the loaves (flatten out, fold over in half, fold in the ends, than fold in half once again, and tuck the seam into the dough), and place into bread pans that have been greased with Crisco, seam down. The bread only needs a half hour, maybe a bit more. Then, into a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. I have not yet had a failure using this system, and since it is memorized, it is not a stress at all, the mixing up can be done very quickly.

Here are the ingredients in traditional format:

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

5 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour (or all-purpose)
2 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
2 tbsps yeast (or two packages)
1 heaping tbsp salt

Christmas Morning

2009-12-28T19:56:00.005-06:00

Christmas morning began with a very dark day. We were all "snug in our beds", none of us heard Tyler open his door and go downstairs. What awoke me was a loud "ripppp", the sound of wrapping paper being torn off a gift. I quickly ran to the top of the stairs and looked down. There was Tyler, sitting on the couch with a present. He held it up and cried, "Look-it!" very excitedly. I woke Julie up, and she stumbled downstairs, barely awake to watch Tyler open the rest of the gifts. He was quick and efficient.

He had lots of fun playing, got into his stocking chocolate. By mid-morning he and Julie were exhausted, curled up in front of the fire on this dark yet cozy Christmas morn:

Bathroom Remodel, Part IV - Finished!

2009-12-25T15:46:00.010-06:00

We actually finished the bathroom completely several months ago, but I only today got around to taking photos:

The new towel bar/shelf, and a view of one of two "Toilet Boys" we have in our bathrooms - cute craft items my mom made long ago.

A view of both the medicine chest and the towel bar/shelf.

Messiah!

2009-12-13T21:59:00.003-06:00

Last night I had the awesome and totally fun experience of singing The Messiah with the combined choirs from my church (St. Joseph's) and another one in a suburb just north of us. The other church (Faith, Hope, and Charity Catholic Church) hosted the concert and arranged the orchestra (including a harpsichord!). With two church choirs combined we had a very large ensemble. We presented highlights from Handel's work (the whole work in its entirety is around 3 hours, so ours was trimmed *a bit*). I had sung the Hallelujah Chorus before, but nothing else, so needed to learn several more pieces.

It was so much fun, and so moving.
Best parts:

Singing newer music with only a few mistakes.
Working with our two fabulous choir directors: Christian from FHC, who conducted, and Jill from St. Joe's, who played the organ.
Realizing that people actually do stand up, in the manner of King George II, when the Hallelujah Chorus is performed (If I had known, I would have warned Paul and Kristin, who came to see us and were a little confused when everyone stood up!).
Singing as a gathering of Christians, as one voice in praise of God.
The end, when all was done, and I was trembling from effort and holding back tears of joy at being a part of this.

What a wonderful way to experience Advent.

Resuscitating A Wooly Blankie

2009-11-22T14:58:00.006-06:00

This is a tale about my grandson's blanket:

It is a well-loved blanket that he has been devoted to since he was a baby. We tried to replace it with a similar one, but he still prefers "Old Ooo-Ooo" (his name for the blanket - he used to make this ooo-ooo-ooo monkey noise while hugging it, so we began calling it Ooo-Ooo, which is now its rightful name!).

However, Ooo-Ooo was in a pitiful state, near death really. His (and Ooo-Ooo is a he, according to Tyler) backing had completely separated from the seam joining it to the soft wooly top. The edges were ravelled, so the backing was now smaller than the top. Julie had safety pinned it back together, which wasn't working too well and caused some holes to form. So as a nurse, I decided to do some emergency surgery and resuscitation to see if I could bring poor Ooo-Ooo back from the brink. After scrubbing in (a gentle washing of the two parts of him in the Delicate cycle), I began.

First, in Ooo-Ooo's first of several surgical procedures, I excised (trimed off) the ravelled edges and sutured (patched) the holes. I didn't want the patches to be on the outside, because Tyler loves the soft backing. So I patched from the back, and then zig-zagged the openings of the holes so they would no longer ravel, leaving as much of the backing intact as possible in spite of the odd shapes this produced:

Next, I surgically removed (cut with scissors) the old seam off, in order to make the top and bottom the same size and not be bulky at the edges:

I basted the top to the backing, then sewed white satin blanket binding to the edges to finish them off nicely (plus Julie, his mommy, loved the the satin edging on her blankets when she was his age).

Ooo-Ooo had a quick recovery from the trauma his surgeries inflicted. Here he is, resting on the couch, regaining his strength (and it is impossible in this house to recover from anything without a cat):

Of course, it wasn't long before he was pressed into service again with the blessing of his surgeon. No rest for the weary. But I think Ooo-Ooo is happy to have not been given up on. His owner is surely happy!

London Final Day - Going Home

2009-11-02T16:22:00.003-06:00

To sum it all up, this was one of the nicest trips ever. I am so glad I could share this experience with Kristin. We both had a marvelous time, saw amazing sights, met new friends, and enjoyed each other's company. I would love to go to London again, and this time with my whole family. I know Paul would simply love it, the gardens the palaces and the museums - he would be in heaven. My dream now is for our family to save up enough so that we can all go together, including little Tyler of course! I am so grateful to Jennie Chancey of Sense & Sensibility Patterns for making this trip possible for Kristin and me.

The View From The Plane - Homeward We Go

London Wednesday - Greenwich

2009-11-02T15:59:00.006-06:00

Wednesday, our last full day in London, found us traveling to Greenwich. There we toured the tiny but beautiful Fan Museum, home to some of the most gorgeous historic fans you will ever see:

Here is a little cat that we made friends with after the tour (he and his buddy, the big, orange cat, tried to sneak into our tea later on):

Here is a view of Greenwich, taken from the top of the hill where the Royal Astronomical Observatory and the zero degree longitude mark is:

Here is Kristin, with one foot in the eastern hemisphere and one foot in the western hemisphere:

After touring the Observatory, we ambled down the huge hill to The Queen's House, which once was a royal residence but now houses nautical paintings. To be honest, we found this to be a little ho-hum, but the view back up the hill was very nice from the veranda:

After a few hours of touring Greenwich, we returned to the Fan Museum to have tea in their Orangery. This was one of the most beautiful tea houses I have ever had the privilege to be in. The walls were covered in trompe l'oeil paintings, so it was as if we were out on an open veranda:

I am over to the far left, wearing my Romantic Gown

The ceiling - breathtaking

The view to the outside

The garden

London Tuesday Evening - London Museum, Fabric Shopping, and Dinner

2009-10-28T12:28:00.007-05:00

After our lunch, we went to the London Museum. This was primarily to see their costume collection, but we had time to explore the museum as well while we waited for our group's turn. Then we went downstairs to a special room where Hilary showed us an array authentic historic clothing from various eras. I cannot post photos of these beautiful garments, however, because this is against museum policy. To sum up the highlights in a few words though, we saw some divine creations, awesome embroidery, a bonnet actually owned and worn by Queen Victoria herself, and an Edwardian gown that was so beautiful and intricate, I don't think it could be duplicated.

After this, a small group of us decided to go fabric shopping at MacCulloch and Wallis. This was fun. It is very old-fashioned and it is housed in three stories of the building. There were some lovely muslins there that I was tempted to buy, but instead settled on some charming bias binding that was so unique and pretty, I couldn't resist:

Here is a part of a hanging basket outside the shop:

And here I am, belatedly mailing postcards home from a charming mailbox:

To end our evening, our group went to dinner at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Pub. It was great food at a cheap price, but seating is limited. However, two nice gentlemen took pity on us and let us borrow their booth so we could eat. It was a nice dinner and a good chance to get to know our fellow travelers better.

London Tuesday Afternoon - Tea At The Orangery

2009-10-28T12:17:00.005-05:00

After touring Kensington Palace, we went to The Orangery for lunch. We had a beautiful space in a rotunda, all white with orange trees on the table:

Then Catherine Hay from Your Wardrobe Unlockd, came and gave a talk about making one's "Holy Grail" costume. She dispalyed her Holy Grail gown, a copy of a Worth gown that she worked on for a monumental number of hours. One lucky young lady in our group, who had followed the construction and progress of this gown online, got to model the gown for us.

London Tuesday Morning - Kensington Palace

2009-10-26T12:40:00.009-05:00

Our Tuesday started with Kensington Palace. The gardens were spectacular:

Inside, we saw gorgeous gowns, including many of Princess Diana's. Here are some gowns formerly worn by 1950's debutantes:

There was also an "Etiquette Room", where there were interactive displays to learn how to behave properly in the Queen's presence. For example, we learned how to walk a straight line balancing a book on our heads, how to waltz, how to set a proper table, and there was even a short video on how to correctly curtsy to the Queen (and I practiced with the video, but alas, did not meet the Queen!). There was this sign too, on how to tie a bow tie:

Here are some interior shots of the palace:

And here I am!

London Monday Night - As You Like It

2009-10-20T08:27:00.006-05:00

On Monday night we had the great privilege of seeing As You Like It performed at Shakespeare's Globe Theater. In spite of tired and wounded feet, we did go through with our plan to be "groundlings" and view the play standing in front of the stage. What fun! We were back against the wall for the seat, so could lean, and many of the actors walked right past us as they left the stage.

The acting was marvelous. We especially liked Jacques and Touchstone, who played their characters with such interesting interpretations and humor. Did we laugh! It was such a joyful time.

Afterwards, elated by our awesome Shakespeare experience, we walked home past the Thames and over the bridge to return to our hotel. Here was the view:

(I want to go back...please let me go back!)

Day 6 - Monday at V&A and Suzi's!

2009-10-11T18:29:00.009-05:00

Monday was our first big historical fashion day, plus our planned night out at The Globe for As You Like It. We were concerned because the previous night Kristin's ankle was seriously hurting her. I was afraid she'd be laid up for the day or worse. So I ran out to a pharmacy and got an ankle brace, some Arnica (an herbal ointment for brusing and swelling), and some little blister pads (we both also had blisters). We called room service at the hotel for ice. This was amazing: the ice arrive within five minutes, carried on a tray in one hand by a uniformed hotel employee, and the rooms in our hotel had doorbells (how neat!). So he rang the bell and presented us with our elegant ice delivery! We did the whole RICE routine (rest, ice, compression, and elevation) for the ankle, and I gave Kristin some Motrin for the pain and swelling. So we stayed in, ordered room service, and watched a movie. In spite of the calamity, it was fun.

By Monday morning, with the treatment we had done and plenty of rest, Kristin was doing much better. Aylwen (one of the two charming Australian ladies that made the trip very enjoyable) offered Kristin her ankle brace, which was much easier to move in, so we were all set to go.

We started at the Victoria and Albert Museum with our guide, Suzi Clarke. What a beautiful museum. We saw historical art, sculpture, furnishings, plateware, and jewelery, along with some Beatrix Potter original drawings. We also got to look at their study table collections - textiles preserved in glasss frames and catalogued. We were able to take whichever frames out we wanted and view them close up. I would have been happy to spend even more time there. There was just so much to see.

Here are some photos:

An actual foyer of a house, transported to the museum. Look at that inlaid wood.

The fireplace

The ceiling

Here is the photo of the house it was taken from. Silly me, I can't remember the name. But I love the picture and the foyer. It reminds me of the house in the movie The Others.

An example of the embroidery that can be viewed in the textile section. There were lambs (above), hedgehogs, and mice. So cute!

The entire display frame. Gorgeous, simply gorgeous embroidery.

After V&A, half of our group went over to Suzi's house. Suzi is Suzi Clarke , a London historical costumier and historical expert that we were incredibly lucky to meet. I have known Suzi through the Sense & Sensibility sewing forum, but never met or talked to her in real life. She graciously opened her home to us and shared garments from her collection for us to see and examine. Then she treated us to a "proper English tea", with delicious scones (that I am going to attempt to make myself tomorrow). Suzi gave us all sorts of pointers on costume construction and history.

It was a most educational day!

London Day 5 - Kew Gardens

2009-10-07T14:04:00.013-05:00

A Sunday in the park - Kew Gardens. How completely lovely. We are avid Botanical Garden admirers, having the Chicago Botanical Garden 20 minutes from our home. I must admit that in spite of how gorgeous our Botanical Gardens are here at home, the British are one up on us in that regard. See below:

The conservatory - stunning

Inside the conservatory, on the spiral staircase

Awesome

An English Rose

Cedar of Lebanon

Kew Palace

Kristin on the grounds of the palace

Me at the Wishing Well

Kristin in the gazebo

A Wheeping Beech Tree

Inside the Wheeping Beech - it was a completely sheltered and enclosed space. Oh, to be a child again and play in there, what fun we would have!

Holly boughs and berries - and it's not even Christmas yet!

We weren't sure what this plant was; there was no label, but it looked neat.

Swans, swans I tell you, right there in the garden

I have no idea what this bird is. Does anyone know? We loved his fern-like feet.

Kristin by the flowers. At this point, after walking miles and miles in the garden (and actually getting semi-lost - HELP!), our feet were killing us.

Me with sore feet

We thought the town was charming.

In spite of sore feet, we enjoyed our day at the garden and would recommend it to anyone travelling to London. I would love to go there in the spring because they have rhododendron plants there that are enormous. I can just imagine how beautiful they look in bloom.

London Day 5 - Sunday Morning Mass

2009-10-07T09:57:00.004-05:00

On Sunday morning, Kristin and I went to Mass at Westminster Cathedral (which gets confusing; Westminster Cathedral is the Catholic Cathedral in London, Westminster Abbey is the famous Anglican church where coronations of English monarchs takes place). We made sure to go to the Mass where their choir was singing (the Solemn Mass, or sung Mass, where portions of the liturgy as sung rather than spoken). It was beautiful.

Westminster Cathedral

The tower of the Cathedral

Above the doorway

After Mass, we walked back to the train so we could head over to Kew Gardens. We spotted "Baby Ben" on the way:

London - Madame Tussauds Wax Museum

2009-10-05T12:50:00.011-05:00

Loads of fun! On Saturday afternoon, Kristin and I finished with the Sherlock Holmes Museum, then walked over to Madame Tussauds. There was a bit of a "queue" as they say in England, but it was only 20 minutes or so. It was well worth the wait. I was under the impression that the exhibits would be roped off, for viewing from afar only. Not so! The wax figures are standing about, ready to be examined closely and posed with. Sometimes it got a little creepy, as when a "person" I thought was a fellow tourist standing next to me was actually a wax figure!

Anyway, we had a blast. Besides the figures in the various rooms (each room had a different theme, such as political figures, movie stars, historical figures, etc.), there was also a ride (sort of like a tame roller coaster) where one got to go through a big display on some of England's history. We also purchased three formal photographs that the staff took; one was of me with the Queen! It looked so convincing that I played a joke on my friends when I showed them the picture, and told them "Look, I got to meet the Queen!" (I admitted the truth immediately after, but they all said they couldn't tell at first that it was a wax figure.)

Me with Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart). I took this one for Paul, since he is a "Trekkie".

Kristin with Brad and Angelina. We all think Kristin resembles Angelina a bit.

Kristin with Orlando Bloom. We loved him in The Lord of the Rings.

Kristin with Nicole Kidman (Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp to the sides).
Nicole looked so real.

Kristin in High School Musical

Me with Spiderman. I took this one for Tyler, who loves Spiderman.

Kristin and Prince Harry. We were surprised by how tall the princes are.

With Prince William

Kristin and her hero, The Bard himself, William Shakespeare

We had the honor of "meeting" Pope John Paul II!

I recommend a visit to the Wax Museum to anyone travelling to London. It was so much fun, especially with a teenager along. The artistry is just amazing.

London Day 4 - Sherlock!

2009-10-03T13:28:00.008-05:00

One of the places Kristin and I agreed to not miss on our trip was the Sherlock Holmes Museum. Although we are not Sherlock aficionados, we have each read some of his stories and enjoyed them. (My sister, however, is a true Sherlock devotee, and had suggested this museum to us.)

Here it is:

221B Baker Street!

A beautiful fireplace in one of the rooms

Kristin and me as Holmes and Watson

In the gift shop - Sherlock memorabilia, including among other things, a Sherlock chess set, books, and these darling Sherlock teddy bears

Just because they are so cute - a close up!

London Day 4 - Morning

2009-10-02T19:56:00.009-05:00

On Saturday morning we went for our tour of the Shakespeare Globe theater. This was especially exciting for Kristin, who had spent three years in a wonderful homeschool Shakespeare class, saw many, many Shakespeare plays in Chicago and Milwaukee, and loves his works.

The Globe from the outside

A view looking down onto the stage

One of the roof peaks

Another view of the stage, showing the area where the "Groundlings" would stand. You can just barely see Elizabeth in the foreground. The Groundlings were the peasants of Shakespeare's time, who could not afford seats, so stood to watch the play. Kristin and I would do this as well on Monday night, when we were scheduled to see As You Like It.

After this we toured backstage, saw lots of costume and set exhibits, and swordplay practice. We also got to see the costumers dress up Courtney as Ophelia. She looked awesome. After this tour we were looking even more forward to the play the following Monday night.

London Day 3 - Afternoon

2009-09-28T22:05:00.008-05:00

In the afternoon on Friday, we went to the Tower of London. We were tempted to take a nap beforehand, but one of our fellow travellers cautioned against it - we might never want to get up until very late! So we went ahead to do some more sightseeing, and were glad of it.

Kristin and I had read a book about The Tower prior to our journey, so had a frame of reference to draw on which made it much more interesting. Here are Scenes From The Tower:

Castle bedroom - how lovely!

Kristin by the guard

Tower raven - we got thisclose

Kristin tries her hand at archery

Kristin and me - goofing off in very heavy helmets!

London Trip Day 3 - Our First Day In London - Morning

2009-09-24T10:46:00.010-05:00

We arrived in London very early in the morning (their time). We had much difficulty trying to sleep on the plane. Kristin didn't even bother trying. We found out after we landed the the seats have these little drop-down thingys on the seat back so you can lean your head on them to sleep. Oh well. British Airways is a very accomodating airline. We loved their service.

We boarded our "coach" (don't you dare call it a bus!) with Nigel (Nigel - can you get a more English name?!). He was wonderful, a former policeman and now a totally fun guide. Here are some of the sights we saw:

The Classic Double-Decker Bus

Prince Albert Memorial

Buckingham Palace with Amy in the Foreground

Buckingham Fountain, with some of the others on our tour

Kristin took these shots of British phone booths. She found them charming, plus they reminded us both of the police box in the Doctor Who series (with David Tennant - we just love the episodes with him as the Doctor, but alas, did not run into him in London!):

London Trip Day One and Two - Stopover in New York

2009-09-23T10:53:00.009-05:00

We arrived in New York on a Wednesday, having flown from O'Hare airport in Chicago that morning. We were travelling with Amy, who was to share a hotel room with us before we all travelled the next day to England.

We met up with Kelly and Sarah for a wonderful dinner at an Italian restaurant. Lots of talk of fashions, sewing and movies. It was so nice to get to know friends from the sewing forum, especially since Kelly was not going to London with us (She is a native New Yorker who acted as our hostess and guide in our stopover in New York). Then we walked around Times Square.

Kelly and me in Times Square

The next day we went fabric shopping at Mood Fabrics. On the way, we saw this interesting sculpture:

I felt positively Lilliputian! Like I was ready to sew buttons on Gulliver's vest!

After our shopping trip (Mood Fabrics has tons of black and white striped linen for those searching for fabric for a Titanic Boarding Suit. I would have bought some, but already have a stash of black and white stripe Boarding Suit fabrics in boxes in my basement, waiting in vain to be made up), we went to Central Park. How lovely, in all the noise and cacophony that is New York City, to find this oasis of beauty.

Kristin and me, standing on a bridge in Central Park

(Note: I have more photos, but am waiting for approval of the ladies pictured before posting them.)

London!

2009-09-20T13:53:00.002-05:00

Kristin and I have returned from our trip to London with the 2009 Sense & Sensibility Costume Tour. We are a bit jet-lagged and both of us are still on London time - going to bed very early, waking at the crack o' dawn. I will be posting our photos in chronological order during the next few days (can't do it all at once, too overwhelming!). So keep watching over the next few days to see the photos of our fabulous trip!