I had been missing getting out in nature with my family. So we took a short walk at Fort Sheridan on Sunday and it felt nice. 

Here are some photos from the first part of our trip to Italy. We flew into Milan and spent one night in Modena. And then we drove on to Sienna to spend a few days. 20 years ago – for our honeymoon – we traveled to four Italian cities (Verona, Bolzano, Venice and Sienna). It…

In 2019, when we were still living in Switzerland, Brian and I were invited to the wedding of a friend and work colleague. But that never happened, the pandemic happened instead. The wedding was delayed multiple times and in the meantime the couple got married in a courthouse and had a baby. When we found…

Here's my last batch of photos from our trip to Italy. These places were all new to us.  Between Siena and the wedding venue we stopped in the city of Arezzo. Another pretty hilltop city with astonishingly old buildings and artwork. All over Tuscany we saw swallows flying around. The Italian swallows have white bellies…

or just checking his emails? From the military academy in Modena.

Brian and I are back from Italy and full of gelato. We made some great memories and took lots of photos. I'll report soon.

I made two pairs of shorts for Claire's Birthday – summer will be here someday right (?). And for myself I tried a new pattern called the Marcel Dress/Top. I think this dress would make a nice beach coverup. To try the pattern out I used an old sheet for a muslin and since I'm…

Hard to believe but Claire turned twelve this week. I find it difficult to get nice natural photos of my girls now that they are older. But here are a few recent shots of Claire – returning from a school party, doing some baking and goofing around with Brian. For her birthday she took a…

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: