Laowai

Last week felt like almost summer. When I looked out the window it was green and sunny but when I went outside – oooh – still chilly.

I finished one sock – discovered this pattern designer who lives in Zurich and of course she has a swan sock pattern.

We found a squirrel in our driveway. He looks so peaceful like he's sleeping – but he's not. 

I think all my planting is done in my garden. Including the green beans.

A few photos from my walk at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Windows are moving along. Here they are after their coating of boiled linseed oil which gives the wood some of it's moisture back. It also smells really nice (bonus).

We took a weekend field trip way down south of the city to a park called Steelworkers Park. It's built on the site of the one-time biggest steel mill in the country. The mill is long gone but these huge concrete walls remain. Barges would pull up beside the walls and cranes would unload iron ore into the concrete holding areas.

Now a section of one wall is used for rock climbing. Bea tried it out and it got a thumbs up – an interesting place.

The park is right on Lake Michigan so we walked a bit and had a picnic. And we saw some artifacts from the steel mill – including this huge bell shaped thing below that I think topped a blast furnace.

Back at home I spent a chunk of my weekend sewing a new pattern – The Lisboa Walking Shorts from Liesl and Co. I used leftover linen from that dress I recently made. I had just enough fabric to make the shorts but I had to skip the back pockets. Then I used a little scrap of Liberty fabric to make a belt tie. They turned out great – comfy but a little dressy since they are black. Looking forward to making another pair.

Now we just need some shorts weather here in the Midwest.

We had our first outside diner of the year. It was chilly.

I took some photos at the Chicago Botanic Garden – it was so sunny and colorful!

We're beginning to have some shade.

I've started working on another of our windows. Got all the glass out and all the scraping done in two days (not two whole days – usually I work for a few hours in the morning.)

Here's a project that I've been slowly working on for some time. It's a paper mache frame for a picture in our basement. I was inspired by Corrie Beth Hogg and the beautiful things she makes. I wanted to make the decorations in sort of a folk style. And I used black because I thought some contrast around the picture would be good in our dark basement. 

Before, I always had this picture just leaning on the mantle and while that is "a look"  – I wanted something a little less informal – a little more special. I really wanted to elevate this picture (which is, sadly, just a copy of a painting on canvas).

I'm pretty happy with it. It adds more character to the picture. Plus, I just love the idea of making something out of nothing. Or at least making something pretty out of cardboard and flour paste and paint. Here it is in the basement – it's so hard to take photos here.

And here's something else that is making me happy lately. I made a new bird bath fountain. I was reminded how the sound of water attracts birds and so I bought a little pump and a big plant saucer and I set it up with lots of rocks. And it really works! 

I see so many more birds than I did with my simple saucer of water bird bath. I put it on the ground and I added a stick so they can perch before they decide to get in the water. I'm embarrassed to admit how much time I spend gazing at the birds. Our pachysandra was trampled this winter when we had a tree removed. Hopefully it will fill in soon and look a little more natural and green around the bird bath.

One more photo from a little hike – a very big fungus growing on a tree.

Here's a recap of how we celebrated Claire's 13th birthday. Starting with birthday pancakes.

Family dinner with cake and presents.

A trip to the city with friends – had to visit The Museum of Ice Cream and the Bean

About the cake – Claire had mille feuille a long time ago and remembered it as yummy. So I tried to recreate it. It was good but the pastry puffed up too much (even though I weighed it down). I like the pastry cream recipe (from Ina Garten). And it's an easy dessert because I used store-bought puff pastry. I'll try it again.

I'm still taller for a few more days…

And one last photo – sigh – from around her first birthday. 

Time flies.

I've enjoyed some lovely spring walks lately. These photos are of the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Morton Arboretum.

I've been wanting to make a comfortable black dress for a while. Something that I could wear when Brian takes me into the city to see an opera. It can be so bitter cold going in the winter! I just wanted something that I could wear over cozy under – layers and tights. But also, something that didn't seem too casual.

I had a shirt dress like this that I liked so I decided to copy its form.

I used the Liesl and Co. Fitzroy Blouse for the top part and I just added a simple gathered rectangle for the skirt. The Fitzroy blouse has lovely pleated sleeve detail that makes it special. I used a fairly stiff linen so it has a nice bulk and crispness.

Pockets!

I wore it to a funeral over the weekend and it was indeed cozy and appropriate for a cold and gloomy day. Oh and I did NOT wear those questionable blue tights to the funeral. Ha.

Last week Brian went to Boston and sent this photo.

Last week it was so warm I sat outside and knitted for hours.

We had 80 degree days and the leaves popped sprouted so fast. That's my sweet Serviceberry below. I learned that it's called serviceberry because it was a good indicator that the ground was thawed so graves could be dug… and services held.

And then Monday we woke up to below zero temps and snow.

It was sort of pretty to see the pastel flowers against the white of snow. 

My peas are tough – a little snow doesn't bother them.

Tuesday I went for my walk at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The snow had melted and the sun was out.

I'm a once a week volunteer lunch lady at Claire's school. We unpacked the perfect orange this week.

I'm working on a new dress.

The wood poppy that mom gave me last spring is doing really well.

I like this view on my way to the lake.

Hello lake.

We've had a very unusual week of 80 degree weather in April.

Suddenly I felt like I needed some more short sleeve shirts. I got out my trusty Verdun Woven T-shirt pattern – and I was able to use fabric that I had leftover from other projects. 

Three shirts finished over two days – zero money spent. Yay.