Laowai

I took a quick walk at the Chicago Botanic Garden this week. Things are pretty blah this time of year but I did enjoy the plants. The structure of the plants stood out against the snow almost like black and white sketches.

The only bit of color was from the dogwood or willow stems. Bright yellow, red and orange lines reaching out of the ground. My photos don't show the colors as vivid as they are in person.

I'm looking forward to the day when I see a little snowdrop poking out of the snow or a hellebore nodding it's head.

… soon.

This week Brian went to Germany for work. Almost like old times except he was a little anxious about passing his covid tests and he feels out of practice with the whole travel routine. Well thankfully he passed his covid test and he was allowed back in the US. I picked him up from the airport yesterday. He had a good trip. 

With Brian gone for the week (and not needing the basement for working out) I was able to tackle a project. The utility side of our basement needed a refresh. Its floor paint has been peeling for a long time – it looked horrible and the little bits of peeled paint were getting tracked all around the house. Yuck.

So I scraped and cleaned and primed and then I rolled on a fresh coat of paint. And while it's still a scary basement, it looks much better. Also, I have to say – rolling paint on a floor is really fun. How can I get a job where I just roll roll roll paint onto floors?

Here's the finished floor.

Also this week the Olympics started. Bea and Claire and I made some pretzels and watched the opening ceremony. Making pretzels with my girls has always been a fun little treat but I was struck with how different it is now. Years ago it felt like a huge process – helping them with each step and showing their little hands how to shape the dough. It used to feel like a a big long undertaking, but now we crank those pretzels out super quick and easy. I guess I have them well-trained.

They humored me with a photo.

We got a nice dose of fluffy snow on Friday so I spent the day shoveling.  

I started a sleeve on my sweater. I'm using the magic loop method – that's when you use a circular needle instead of multiple double pointed needles. It's all new to me.

I made two scone/biscuit recipes. The first is Smitten KItchen's Very Blueberry Scone recipe.

And then I tried Erin Jeanne McDowell's Drop Biscuits with chocolate chunks. I think I like the drop biscuits better but I want to try them with blueberries or some other addition.

I made a third Bistro Dress that I'm really happy with. Brian and I are going to a wedding in May and I think I can wear this to the welcome dinner. I used a medium weight canvas fabric. Actually it's from the same line of fabric as the curtains that I made for my bedroom (is that strange?). It's a great pattern and I'm still super pleased every time I put in an invisible zipper.

We went for a quick cold walk at the Chicago Botanic Garden over the weekend.

And I made panna cotta with mango curd for dessert.

Also, how can it still be January. This month is dragging along.

I made another shirt – my second Geneva V-Neck Blouse from Liesl and Co. This time, I'm more in love with my fabric choice. I chose a Liberty of London lawn fabric. It's always a splurge getting Liberty fabric but the feel of their lawn is the best. It's light and silky but also strong and easy to sew. And I won't apologize for using this fabric that is probably meant for children. I just love bright cheery patterns! 

I made one big change to the sewing pattern. The lantern sleeve in the original pattern just felt funny on me so I used a sleeve with a button cuff from the Gallery Tunic pattern. Also, since I can fit this shirt over my head I made all the buttons and buttonholes fake. I just sewed a line of close zigzag stitch to look like neat buttonholes.

The neckline on this pattern is flattering but I can't stand to have my neck exposed this time of year – brrrrrr. The cows and cats and spiders will have to wait 'til summer to be worn very often.

And in other news…

I am ready to bind off my sweater!!! I shouldn't get so excited because I still have the sleeves to do but it's getting there. Yay.

Brian was all packed and ready for a work trip but it was cancelled at the last minute because a bunch of the people that were going to attend got Covid. 

And so it goes.

We spent the weekend at Starved Rock State Park. It's a couple hours southeast of our home. I think in the summer this park is overrun with people and that would probably be a big turn off. But there weren't too many people this time of year and I really enjoyed our weekend.

The park runs along the Illinois River. The river is much bigger than I imagined and there is a lot of history about its importance as a trade route for native Americans and European explorers that I was totally unaware of.

We stayed at the old lodge that was built by the CCC in the 1930s. I love seeing the lodge architecture and the special details that remain today.

On our first day of hiking it was cold and cloudy but that didn't slow us down. There was a nice dusting of snow from the night before that made the woods really pretty. The park is full of sandstone formations and canyons with frozen waterfalls.

On the second day I was so happy that the sun came out. We hiked to one last big canyon before we headed home. 

I appreciate any bit of sunshine this time of year.

Things are quiet, I've been puttering.

I mended a wool sweater that I've had since high school. First time trying this. Should have used finer yarn but I chose to match the color instead.

I sealed my kitchen/hallway/bathroom floor. 

And I splurged on some Liberty fabric. Getting ready to sew a shirt next week.

We're going to get away for the weekend – going to drive to a State Park not too far away. I'm a sucker for park lodges built in the 1930s so that's where we'll be sleeping. Hope we can banish the stir crazy – cabin fever- zombie feeling that the family has been feeling on the weekends. Also, hope we don't come back with Covid. Stay tuned…

I just spent a really fun weekend away – a girls crafty weekend in Michigan City, Indiana. I had the best time! Most of the five ladies are big into scrapbooking but I decided to do a few different paper crafts. The rental house was all set up with work stations for each of us. It was great to work on crafty techniques that I've been meaning to try while I hung out laughing and chatting with a group of lovely women. 

I also got to go on some nice walks since the rental house was really close to Lake Michigan and we had some sunny days.

Here are the projects I made. First, I've wanted to try paper cutting – like the folk style Scherenschnitte.

Then I wanted to do some collage work in the style of an artist I admire named Clover Robin. I first made a little calendar to hang in my kitchen.

And then I made some collages based on photos that I took in Switzerland.

I had so much fun and I'm so grateful that I was invited!

This is my first sweater and sometimes when I look at it and I see all my mistakes I want to unravel and start again. But I also want to finish it and I look forward to my next sweater. Sigh.