Party!

Getting ready for a party tomorrow. Just family, looking at some old pictures, reminiscing about the dearly departed , eating and drinking. Should be fun. Lots of stories to tell. Since I am the matriarch of this group, I  hope my memory doesn't fail me.

Football Season

Since football season is fast approaching I remembered a Chicago Bear that I carved and gave to my nephew. I did not have any pictures of it so when I was there the other day, I asked that he bring it down so I can take a picture of it and add to my portfolio. So here he is carved in 2004 and as I look at him I can again see the improvement  I've made since I started taking lessons from Keith.  Go Bears!

The Weather

We have had beautiful weather for the last three days and today the heat is back along with the humidity. It was great to have the windows open and get some fresh air. But I think this afternoon the air conditioner will go on.I pulled some weeds this morning and planted a black eyed susan. My neighbor has them in her yard and I envy them every year at this time. I only planted one plant and wonder if I should have bought two.

Quilting

Had another good turnout for "Quilt and Sew" We had 3 sewers and 8 cutters and tyers or tiers. One twin size quilt is almost ready for completion, all three layers are pinned and some already tied. The sewers have started on 2 more quilts. And again I forgot to take pictures,

Saturday

Today is payroll day and then I went to the church garage sale. I did find some material and batting for quilting. Funny one of the women quilters donated the batting. I'll bring it in this Tuesday when "Cut and Sew" meets again.
Tonight the Praise team is singing so I won't be going to Church tomorrow. Pastor is on vacation so we will have a substitute, one we've never had before.

Bottle Stopper

My nephew, Brad gave me a caricature wine stopper carving book for my birthday and some corks to use. This is my first attempt, and I see many areas where I can improve. Anyway I will be giving this to him for his birthday even though he doesn't drink wine.So if you talk to him, don't tell him that this will be part of his gift.

Shingle Shot

Today I'm going to Walgreen's to get a shingle shot. Insurance doesn't cover it so it will cost me $230. I think its worth it if they guarantee that I don't get the shingles. I know two people that are suffering with them now. I did call my doctor and he recommends it. I guess they recommend that any one over 60 get one.

Wedding Shower

Yesterday I went to a wedding shower in a home in Downers Grove. The future bride and groom are Randy and Amy; Amy is a friend of Karrie's. It was a beautiful home with a man made river running through the back yard. And now for you animal lovers out there you might want to quit reading. The owner of the house is a big game hunter and I know that you will not appreciate the next pictures I post, but I just had to take the pictures. Sorry.

I don't know what this was, but it matched my outfit, grey and black.

The whole cheetah(I think)

Zebra overlooking the dining area and the jacuzzi.

The area where the wall of  animals hung overlooked a huge indoor jacuzzi. In the downstairs room they had a bar, old fashioned juke box and a dance floor with a disco ball.

Saturday

No air conditioning yesterday and today starts out as a no a/c day. So good to open windows and let the fresh air in. But it won't last long tomorrow and the week after, back in to the 90's.
Tomorrow is the first praise team singing in a long time. Sort of took the summer off, so no rehearsals.
Also tomorrow is a bridal shower for Amy S. It is at some one's home, I sure hope they have a/c. Karrie and Katie are coming in to do a few outside chores and then we all will go to the shower. Since I will be at Church when they come, I am going to tie a ribbon around the tree branches I want cut off. Neighbors probably will think I've gone nuts.

Quilting

We started a quilting group called "Cut and Sew" that meets once a month at church. Today five of us went on a field trip to St. John in Darien to see their quilting operation. Wow! That was something to see and unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. They have about six sewing machines set up and their store room was overwhelming. They have a wall of individual plastic containers that hold yarn and squares, on the other side of the room they have bolts of material lined up. They meet every week and make 200 quilts a year that they send to missions and local charities. Unbelievable, the trip was well worthwhile.

Sunday At the River

Yesterday was our annual outing at Mary and Rich's on the Kankakee River in Wilmington. A good group of people, good food , cold beer and a great day. Rich had to make two trips down the river on his pontoon boat because he can only take 15 people at a time. Lots of boats on the river, although there were a lot of them just parked on sandbars or islands. At one party island[sandbar] , the water is waist high and there was one group that somehow had a little weber cooking food. Strange sight seeing smoke coming up from the water. 
The weather is heating up, time to put the a/c on again. It was nice being able to open the windows the last couple of days.