Laowai

It had been a while since we spent much time in Chicago.

Brian wanted to take us all to the Lyric Opera’s annual free outdoor concert last Saturday. It’s held at Millenium Park which has an outdoor theatre and fountains and sculptures and a garden and it’s all built on top of a big parking garage. We staked out our spot on the grass and then Brian took the girls over to see the Bean sculpture and I took a turn looking around the garden.

That’s the Bean below – it’s like a huge reflective jelly bean. Everyone walks around and cranes their neck looking at themselves. Bea was excited to see the bean again and she wanted to take some photos. The bean makes everyone smile.

I’ve been reading a book about the garden at Millenium Park so I was eager to see it again. It’s not a very big spot, but it’s remarkable to see the plants with their backdrop of tall buildings. It was designed by a Dutch landscape designer who embraced the midwest prairie plants. There are lots of grasses and tall flowers. The designer said something like he has no use for a plant that doesn’t look good when it’s dead – meaning he chose flowers that are hardworking and look interesting even after their flowers have faded. I’d loooove a yard full of the perennials that I saw.

Here’s a photo of the outdoor concert area. The girls were so excited – they remembered going last year and having a good time. Plus, we all love a picnic and Brian is always happy to share some quality opera with his girls.

On Sunday we didn’t have any plans so Bea and I went to the Art Institute of Chicago. We had a great time just the two of us. She loves the miniatures gallery and they had a special weaving exhibit that I got all excited about. Bea says, lately, that she wants to be an illustrator when she grows up. We are lucky to be so close to all that inspiring art.

I got inspired to make some cardboard houses for the girls the other day. They both wanted balconies and stairs – that was a challenge – but fun too. Now I think they need some wallpaper.

Claire and I have a free day on Thursdays. No pre-school, no classes, no nothin’. So today, being Thursday, we decided to drive up to Wisconsin to pick raspberries. I’ve never picked raspberries before. Well that’s not true. In high school Brian and I used to wander along the old train track in Midland. That was before it was turned into the rail trail. It ran in front of his parents old house and it was lined with wild raspberries. I remember walking down there at dusk and picking raspberries and talking, talking, talking. Anyway – Claire and I got to do some picking and it was fantastic. I revel in those perfect ephemeral fragile fruits. A delicious morning.

Oh and my new favorite word, right behind meadow and prairie, is brambles.

Today I ordered the tile for Bea and Claire’s bathroom and the work should be scheduled soon. While we were at he hardware store we picked up a new toilet seat. After wrestling off the old toilet seat I put the new one on and did a little dance because it looked so white and new and clean. A new toilet seat – a small victory. The girls rolled their eyes and told me again how they wished we had gotten the light up toilet seat. Then I took some before photos so when the bathroom is finally done I can better revel in my accomplishment. For years I was interested in old dishes and trinkets to put on a shelf. These days, now that I have a house to renovate, I think about light fixtures and faucets, coutertops and grout colors, cabinet knobs and window hardware, shrubs and wallpaper removal methods. And then I do some more thinking about light fixtures – do you know how much time you can spend looking at and lusting after light fixtures online?

Here’s the suitably horrifying before photo. I think we’ve decided to go ahead and get new sinks and a countertop now too. See the gleaming white toilet seat? It’s a sign of things to come.

I’ve had my eye on these two prints for a long time and finally ordered them the other day. Aren’t they nice for a girls bathroom. I’ll remove the wallpaper and repaint the cabinets – everything will get a bright white coat of paint. I had a thought to do some pale peach knobs on the cabinet doors and maybe the ceiling should be a pale peach too.

Here’s an updated picture of the tile – this section has all the paint removed and just needs a good scrub.

I can’t wait for this to all come together. And then I can move on to sanding my 44 remaining stairway spindles. I hope to have that project done by Christmas.

I can’t stop taking photos of meadows this summer. I love ’em. A long walk in a windy meadow sounds like heaven.

And sittin’

School started today and Bea did a good job. She can be really frightened by things like the first day of school, but she was strong and she made us proud. Claire doesn’t start preschool ’til next Wednesday so we had some time together. 

And now the silly part. In an effort to either get Claire excited about some hand-me-down shoes or to make myself feel less guilty for not buying her new shoes I did this:

Before

 

After

I let her choose the buttons and then she found some ribbon that she just loved. I spent the morning creating these really strange looking shoes. Maybe I just needed a soothing hand sewing project after the stress of the first day of school. This is important work I’m doing here people.

 

Look at her – she is always striking a pose. And at some point she always feels inspired to dance and sing in the sand. I laugh and shake my head. Where does that spirit come from?

We fit in a couple more trips to the beach before the the first day of school. I feel so lucky to live just a few minutes away from beautiful Lake Michigan. We’ve been stuck in a weather pattern of scattered storms so the second trip to the beach was just for a walk between storms. The girls collected beach glass. They ran around in sand that had been flattened by heavy rain and had fun making the first footprints. I gazed at the big beautiful houses that line the beach on one side and the stormy colored lake and clouds on the other.

I’m so glad we are finally getting some beach worthy weather. 

Summer is winding down. My garden is full of overgrown herbs, tomatoes and green beans. I’ve been enjoying that smell – the one that is left on my hands after I pick tomatoes. It’s a greenish, bitter, fuzzy smell. The girls have been playing outside at dusk on most nights and I can tell it’s sort of enchanting to them. The feeling of darkness and the thrill of staying up late – they get a little spurt of energy from it.

I made scones with the blueberries that we picked in Michigan. And we finally went to our town’s farmers market. Brian will make a pie with the raspberries we bought.

School starts next Thursday.

Sigh.