I took a walk at the Chicago Botanic Garden today. Knowing the names of lots of plants makes me happy. A walk through the garden is like visiting old friends.  And I saw one more friend today. I noticed a big dragonfly on my rhubarb plant. I was surprised to see him since we don't…

Peas: Daffodils: Windowsill: French Macarons: Baby Globe Thistle: Easter candy: Living room: Storm windows out, screens in: Seedlings: Window restoration progress:

… and laughing. Bea got her driver's permit on Friday and then we went to a big parking lot so she could get behind the wheel for the first time. We got to laughing because she was stopping so abruptly.  Surreal moment. Good moment.

Time to get busy on my sad windows. My garage workshop is set up. Today I took out a set of windows from Claire's room. I removed all the old putty and glass. And I didn't break one piece of glass!

What are we up to? Not much. Mostly waiting for Spring. I peek around the yard looking for any bits of green popping out. I check on my tiny pea plants each time I walk to the car. I open the back door and stand there listening to the birds while it's still dark. It's…

Brian and I are going to a wedding soon and I so I decided to try making a dress.  Here's my inspiration: I had to keep it simple and doable so I hacked a pattern that I know fits well – the Bistro Dress. I just lengthened the skirt part and added a walking vent…

Ok here's my last batch of photos from our vacation. First up a couple photos from the place where we stayed – it's called Asilomar. It's a hotel/conference place that started out as a girls camp in 1913. Several of its building were built by the remarkable early woman-architect Julia Morgan. The buildings are beautiful…

For the next part of our vacation we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Monterey Bay is a special place because the ocean is super deep and full of life there. And the Aquarium is great because it's all about the amazing spot where it sits. It tells the story of the cannery industry that…