Say Cheese.

Last night, Gene and I went to our local artisan cheese shop for a class called "Cheese 101". An interesting evening. We listened, tasted, asked and enjoyed our way through the basic types of cheese.

Gourmet Group is this Sunday, we have to bring salad and dessert. I'm sure that there will be some cheeses included.

I'm moving up the Ravelry list. Here is today's status. Impatient? Me? Impatient??

"If you've added your name to the invite request list on our front page then you can use this form to check your place in line.

You signed up on July 31, 2007
You are #22093 on the list.
4285 people are ahead of you in line.
14063 people are behind you in line.
49% of the list has been invited so far"

The line is moving. If they started at zero, that would mean that over 36,000 knitters have signed up so far. Wow, that is a lot of yarn.

Summertime and the Livin' is...

This has been a busy summer, with lots of small activities instead of a major occasion.

My brother came to town and we spent a lovely day seeing sights and going to a Drum and Bugle contest. My cousin Ric came to town and we spent several evenings with Ric and Carol and assorted relatives. The annual trip to Loda with the gourmet Group was peaceful, pleasant, tasty and relaxing. What could not be great about a day at a house on a lake with abundant good food and great friends and no pressure? The usual two birthdays, 8/15 for Abe and 8/19 for me. A new to us car, thanks to Harold's mother-in-law. It is a 1999 Saturn SL1 , silver gray with an astonishing 24,000 miles. I'm continuing to make and sell jewelry.

The biggest thing on our agenda is organizing the apartment so that it is showable and looking for a new condo. We are being picky because we don't want to move again, once every 30+ years is enough.

For my birthday, Gene and Abe got together and got a Magellan GPS unit. Love it. Now we have to go on a road trip to use it. Thanks guys.

Yesterday, some monster storms came through Chicago and caused a lot of damage. Many, many trees came down, power was (and in some cases, still is) out, roads flooded and general mayhem prevailed. The lovely russian olive tree that the garden group planted on Grace street was totally destroyed. Very sad, we had planted it as a sapling at least 15 years ago and it had grown to be a beautiful tree that always reminded me of my friends Tom & Peter. It was planted on the parkway outside their apartment, where they could enjoy it. They moved to Washington DC many years ago and I always thought of it as a permanent link to them.

Cruising, Visiting, Enjoying

I found the coolest soon-to-be site yesterday while reading Franklin's blog. It is called Ravelry and it is (will be) the internet equivalent of being in a knitting shop, in a library, in a chat room, where you can track your stash and get patterns, ideas and/or help or encouragement. They are still in beta testing but are accepting wanna joins. As of today, I am number 22,093 with 14,299 knitters in front of me and 239 behind me. No cutting please, one third of those wanting to join have been issued invitations. Hey, one in 22,332 is better than one in a million!

Last Friday my brother came to Chicago. Fred, Gene and I took the Chicago Architecture Foundation's Architecture River Cruise. A wonderful hour and a half on the Chicago river, viewing the beautiful buildings, learning their history and the history of Chicago. I recommend it to everyone. After the cruise, we strolled down to Millennium Park and took in the Bean and the spewing fountains. Photos to follow. We feasted on Chicago-style hot dogs and enjoyed a lovely day in the park.

Another snap of under the Bean.

Gene & Fred Under the Bean

We retreived the car, picked up Abe and drove to Naperville for the Cavalcade of Brass, a Drum Corps contest sponsored by The Rosemont Cavaliers. In fact, that is why Fred was in town. It was the 50th reunion of the 1957 Chicago Cavaliers. A good time was had by all.

As an added benefit, I delivered eight pair of earrings to the fellow in charge of the Cavaliers souvenir booth. They sold two pair that evening. A good thing for all involved.

An Evening at Ravinia

Last night we had a delightful (a word I seldom use) evening at Ravinia. (Ravinia?? think Tanglewood, but outside Chicago.)

The weather was perfect, the music beautiful, the company inspiring and the food delicious. What more does a girl need?

This was the monthly gathering of our Mensa Gourmet Group. We brought the appetizers and the dessert. Sir James Galway and Lady Galway and the CSO provided the music. The cicadas were thankfully silent. (But just you wait another 17 years.)

Another Bird Photo

A week or so ago, we were having dinner outdoors at Moody's Pub. The patio is tree-shaded, a pleasant place for a burger. There are house sparrows who drop by to see what they can get from co-operative diners. We always co-operate.

We were seated near the fence, beyond which is old ivy. I put some scraps on the top of the fence and a few sparrows gathered there. One even landed on my arm. We both startled each other!

My camera has a long lag time, especially when the batteries are getting old. I was trying to get a snap of the birds checking out the food, instead I got what I call "An In-Flight Meal".

The Saga of the Pigeon

Saturday night, late, the phone rang, starting an avian adventure.

I am apparently known as the bird lady in our condo, so when a beautiful banded pigeon was found in the front yard a neighbor called me. The bird had no interest in flying away and was almost caught by a curious BIG dog.

It is a lovely bird and has a bright green band on its right leg that only seems to say "1 11".

My brother is a former vet and suggested that I let it rest for the night with plenty of food and water and try to release it in the morning.

Sunday morning I tried to release the pigeon, but it does not seem to want to leave. I took a picture of it standing in one of my flower boxes, enjoying the view.

There does seem to be an injury at the vent. Fred said to check if she is egg bound. Did not seem to be.

The band is the sort that a breeder would use to identify his own birds, not a registration. No help there. I had reached someone from the racing pigeon assoc. but because it was not a racer, he could offer no assistance.

On Monday the pigeon was released. We kept it one more day for rest and recuperation.

Before going to work we put the cage and a dish of food in the bathtub and the bird on the window sill. We watched for a while while it looked out the open window. We closed the door and let it decide. When we came home from work, it had "flown the coop" so to say.


It was a strong flyer and had a few days of gentle care.

The sweet bird cheered our world for a few days and it left in better shape than it arrived.

Newsy News

A lot has been happening, so I don't know where to begin.

The biggest news is that I am planning to retire at the end of the year. February, 1981 through December, 2007, is not a bad run.

But that will not be the only big change. We are planning on moving. We're just getting started on that. We have 35 years of accumulated lives in our condo, so sorting it out is a major job. We plan to stay in Chicago and maybe even (with his blessing) move into Abraham's building.

On the more day-to-day front, knitting continues. I need to put a few more inches onto another recycled sari silk scarf. Jewelry continues. I am building up a good stock and keep selling it. I have to spend more time getting a real web-site up and running. I have had several people ask if they can buy something off my web-site and i cringe and say "not yet, but soon." Soon is now.