Spring seems to be coming early this year. I heard from the Lurie Garden people that they are doing spring cleanup tasks 2 weeks earlier than normal. I did some winter sowing On February 12th and I'm worried that those plants won't get their required cold conditions. I guess I better get out in my…

Bea turned 16 last week. Hard to believe. She hasn't gotten her drivers license yet because we're waiting for a form from the driving school and the secretary of state. She was disappointed but it will happen soon.  I'm increasingly aware of the time we have left before Bea heads off to college. I can…

I am so pleased to have my dining room painted! For a very long time I've wanted to make it a beautiful pop of color that could be glimpsed from other parts of the house. This room started out as a screened porch but it was enclosed soon after the house was built. The room…

This week we had Valentine's Day. Claire has been doing lots of yummy baking and she make some heart shaped brownies for her friends. I went for a walk at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Saw some interesting shapes and textures. Brian went to New York for work. After a very long wait our new car…

This week Brian traveled to Minneapolis and Boston. And I have been spending all my time in my dining room. I finished all the annoying little paint touch-ups around the house as I promised myself. And so now I can work on this dining room project that I've been wanting to do for so long.…

Over the weekend we went up to the Milwaukee Art Museum. I wanted to go see their exhibit on the Ashcan School but I was pleasantly surprised at the wonderful architecture of the museum itself. It was designed by Santiago Calatrava – we used to travel through a Zurich train station that was designed by…

I'm working on two knitting projects right now. A sweater that I'm really enjoying – feels like a confidence builder. I bought some pretty light blue buttons for it and I'm ready to start the sleeves. I'm learning to make socks! I've finished the easy part now I'm waiting to do the heel with my…

I got to go for another crafty weekend trip with a bunch of fun ladies. This group has been getting together to do scrapbooking for years and years and I feel grateful for being inviting to join them.  Here's our setup It's so nice to have a house set up with a space for each…

We're finally getting a bit of snow. And I made myself a head scarf to keep cozy. The pattern is from Spaghetti Western Sewing. Here's their tag line: At home sewing patterns for 1940's spaghetti western prairie disco goatheard-ess nonno-core alpine ski lodge kinda people. Sounds about right.   I am, of course, trying to emulate…

We're having such a warm winter so far but we were still able to go skating at the ribbon in Maggie Daley Park. A fun afternoon.