Plein Aire

The carvers were invited to the plein aire gathering at Dan and Sonya's place. We carved while the artists drew and painted whatever they chose. Then a pot luck lunch and a critique of the artists work by Lois. It was a nice morning and afternoon. I took a picture of the women painting but neglected to get a picture of the guys carving. The first picture is of some of the women drawing or painting and consulting with Lois, the other is of the lunch part. It seems my last 5 or six posts are about food, whats with that? Ruth was there writing an article for the local newspaper.

BLT

I had my first bacon, lettuce and tomato of the summer season. It was the small tomato on the patio plant. Although small it still was tasty. Can't wait for others to get ripe. Yesterday I also had my first taste of mirai sweet corn from Twin Garden Farms in Harvard. It was the sweetest I've ever tasted. I didn't cook it for very long so it still had a snap to it. They are now selling it at our local farmer's market.

Sonic

I went to the super Wal-mart again today and just had to stop at the Sonic Drive-in for a burger. I think this is the first one in our area. You pull in to a spot and order via a speaker-phone and then a car hop brings you your food. The burger was ok, very thin. Almost thinner than a White Castle. They specialize in milk shakes, maybe next time.

Secret Pal

My Ladies Aid secret pal put flowers on the altar in my name and I get to take them home after church services. The colors are really vivid and usually the flowers last for at least a week.

Yesterday we had a leadership council meeting at noon and Kathy supplied lunch from Jimmie Johns. One of our members used her lunch period to attend. So it was a nice treat for us. And the sandwiches were good.

Yesterday's Dinner

We went to Jameson's Chop House, a new restaurant on 75th in Woodridge yesterday. The food was quite good. I had a rack of lamb encrusted with a mustard sauce, Karrie had a fillet and Ryan had the huge porterhouse of which he ate every bit. I brought a few ribs of the rack home and gave it to Brad who loves rack of lamb. The prices were fairly reasonable, but of course I wasn't paying.

July 25th

Its my birthday, another year older. I can't believe I'm so old. Karrie and Ryan are coming in and we will be going out to dinner.

Oh, look an orange tomato. This is from the patio tomato plant. A few more warm days and it should be ready to pick and eat.

A Nice Day

So far it looks like a nice day. We need the warmth and sun to ripen the tomatoes. The crop doesn't look too promising. One plant has few tomatoes, but the other one looks good. The patio tomato has tomatoes, but they are small. It might be the farmstand to get my fix on home grown tomatoes.

No Camera

I went to Church yesterday to pay bills and saw Pastor Mike who was on vacation last week. He shaved his head and I didn't have my camera. He is on a retreat with the high schoolers for a few days so when he gets back his hair will probably be grown in. So the picture above represents what his head looks like.

Maggiano's

I went to Maggianos with my sister and her family to celebrate Samantha's [7/21] and my birthday. The food there is really good and plentiful. We ordered family style, so you got to taste a bunch of different things. The carousel horse and flowers are part of my birthday gift. I also received a pound of Fannie May dark chocolate vanilla creams.

Good Friends, Good Food, Good Fun

We had lots of laughs yesterday, just sitting around talking and eating. I need to post a few recipes that were requested by some. That's Keith the carving instructor in the dark blue shirt.

Beer Dip

2 -8oz. cream cheese( I use the 1/3 less fat)

1 - 8 oz. bag of shredded cheddar

1/2 cup beer

1/2 packet dry ranch dressing

Mix all together well and serve with pretzels. I just made 1/2 recipe yesterday.

Corn and Jicama Salad

5 ears of fresh corn cut off the cob

1 Cup diced jicama

1/2 Cup diced red onion

1/2 Cup diced red bell pepper

1 TBS chopped cilantro

1 Lime

Vegetable oil

Salt & pepper to taste

Juice one large lime or 2 small ones and stir in enough oil to equal 1/2 cup. Mix all together.

Oh and the brand of the mini corn dogs is Foster Farms. I bought them at Jewel from the frozen food section. Ruth loved them!

Brats in Beer

The brats are grilled and now they are swimming in beer. Just a few more things to take care of and I'm ready for guests. I checked the radar weather map and it looks like we will be outside unless a thunderboomer pops up. It is 72 degrees right now.
I went to the youth car wash this morning; it was good to see all of the teenagers working so hard. Of course there were some of the parents there helping and even some older folks that don't have any teenage kids anymore, but they are on the board of Youth and Christian Education.
Karrie and Ryan are on their way back from their trip to the boundary waters where they camped out without running water or electricity. I asked Karrie how she liked it as this was her first time roughing it and her response was "not so much".
Hope I remember to take a few pictures so I can post tomorrow.

Naperville Art Show

I went to the Naperville Fine Arts Show in the Naper Settlement on Sunday and didn't buy one thing. Yeah! This would be a great place for the plein air group with all of its old buildings and beautiful old trees. I did see some nice paintings but just wasn't moved enough to open my check book

A Thank You Note

I received this thank you note today and with it came the sunshine. It says,"I love the bunny you made for me. Love, Danielle. I named him balloon.

It's on my fridge.

Friday

Yesterday was a very nice day, got some weeding done. Today its again gloomy and a chance of rain. Still haven't had an inspiration of my next carving. There are many things I could carve, but none move me right now.

Another Gloomy Day

The entire midwest is going to be in a state of depression due to the lack of sunshine. The rain is dripping enough to keep one from doing yard work. The gloom outside does not even inspire the woodcarver in me. I am between pieces at the moment and no ideas.

A Glorious Day

A great day to sit out on the deck and commune with nature.

Here is a carving I did of Gizmo from VBS. I gave him to the couple that built the original one that was used in VBS. They loved it. The young man, Alec that played Gizmo is taking his show on the road. His grandfather's church in Bourbonnais is doing Gadget's Garage and Alec will take the costume and participate in their VBS. Pastor told a story that his wife called him this morning and that his son(2 yr. old) had a question. He wanted to know if Gizmo would be at Church this morning. He was very disappointed that he would not be there.

Happy Independence Day

A drizzly day that will dampen many fourth cookouts. These firecrackers don't make a boom and are not dangerous. They are also called bee balm. The bees love them and so do hummingbirds. Note to Elena: see me in the spring and you can have some of these.

I was going to post a picture of the American Flag blowing in the breezes, but there is no breeze and the flag is a little damp.

Where is Summer?

Summer is gone, but when will it return? I was gone for 5 days and the weeds have overtaken the flower beds. So I guess God is giving me this cool weather to go out in the yard and get something done. No excuse that it's too hot. This morning I paid Church bills and then went looking for Oxi-clean for outdoors. I didn't find it at Jewel or Menard's, but I did find Krud Kutter for mold, mildew and stains. The deck is stained from being under a tree and I sprayed some of this stuff on the railing and used a brush and hosed it off and the rail is clean. I now have to do the deck floor. I had tried a product called Wet and Forget that you are supposed to spray it on and the rain and the sun is supposed to clean the surface, forget it. It was very expensive and even after 2 applications the deck is still stained, Although the container said it might take 6 months for it to work. I don't have that kind of time to sit and look at the dirt. Well, back outdoors I go.