Friday, October 30th, Project day, a little early

November 14th is our fall quilt group project day. We are having a bag day with an assortment of bags being made. Stay tuned for the results. I was going to make the bag pictured above on that day, but instead I am going to make a "Big Bag" for Tracy, my neighbor. That will take the entire day as I have to quilt the fabric before actually cutting it out and sewing it. Therefore, I was itchy to make this ruler bag. I have had the materials for about two weeks. It was a snap and only took about 2 hours to make. I love the fact that I can carry my rulers and a mat safely to retreats, sew-ins, etc. The 24 inch ruler retails for about 20-25.00 and breaking one would put a total stop to any sewing.
On to more UFO's!! (unfinished objects for the uninformed!!)

Thursday, October 29th, The life of a social butterfly

So we have been anticipating the opening of our new WalMart for about 2 years. We made a date of it this afternoon and spent about 1 1/2 hours perusing the joint. Chuck and I are once a week (if not more), WalMart shoppers and we figured instead of the 4 stores where I shop, it would now be a one stop shop.
In an effort to be an informed consumer, I came with three of my last Aldi receipts and a Sam's receipt. I am so sorry to say that I can do much better for the items I buy most frequently at Aldi. Almost everything that I purchase regularly, Aldi beat WalMart's prices by .50-1.00. That means that instead of shopping at Aldi, Sam's, Jewel and WalMart, I will eliminate only Jewel for the groceries that I can't get at Aldi. I will probably still get meat at Sam's as their prices and quality are the best. Most of my friends are encouraging me to go to Woodman's in Kenosha, and if we had a big family to feed that would be an option, but with just the two of us most of the time, it would actually be a bigger expense to drive the 40 minutes.
I rarely used to check prices, but just automatically put things in my cart. This economy is changing me.....

Wednesday, October 28th, Soup's on!

It hasn't been very cold this week, but the leaves are mostly down in the backyard and the wind is blowing and the sky is overcast. Therefore, I am in the mood for soup or chili. Chuck came home from work this afternoon feeling lousy, so the food choice was obvious!
I purchased a butternut squash this week for only $1.50, so I made a pot of squash soup at the same time the chili was simmering.
I have made this chili recipe for the 27 years of our marriage plus a couple of years before that. It is easy and oh so spicy. There has been a bit of tweaking as it calls for 4 tablespoons of chili powder (I use 2), a full teaspoon of red pepper (I use 1/4) and canned tomatoes (I used V8 juice). Also, in the past 5 years or so, Chuck rebelled against green pepper in it. I can never remember if it is green pepper that he hates or celery, so I have to ask him every time. He gets pretty irritated by my asking, so today when I pulled out the recipe, I noticed that he made an editorial comment on the recipe. (click on the picture to get the delicious recipe and to see what he did)
Thanks, Chuck for the reminder!

Tuesday, October 27th, The reds of October

The burning bushes along Butterfield Road in Libertyville are really gorgeous this year. It looks like someone came along with a can of spray paint and colored them in. The one in front of our house has never really "burned" like these. Celia and I were discussing it last week and I think it is because it faces North and is sheltered by the house.

Monday, October 26th, Ghosts of visitors

Tonight Candice came home with 3 gals from school for their internship interviews in the city tomorrow. I worked for a good part of the day straightening up the house and making dinner for tonight, but never actually saw them as I worked tonight.
One of the girl's birthday was today, so I made her a cake.

I imagine that it was good to be in a home instead of in a dorm just for a night.

Sunday, October 25th, New study

Tonight was my first time attending a new women's small group Bible study. I found out about it from Celia and several of the women from Curves are members. It is the first time I have been in a small group when I am only casually acquainted with most of the people. Of course I know Celia well and have been in many small groups with her over the years, but the rest of the ladies are virtual strangers to me.
It will be good to be a participant and not a leader for a season. We are studying 52 women of the Bible. Very short and sweet lessons, but I am looking forward to what God will teach me through them.
Tonight's woman was Sarah, wife of Abraham and mother to Isaac. You know, we tend to chastise Sarah for the compromises she made in her life, but the writer of Hebrews still mentions her in the "Hall of Faith". She had to be a woman of great faith to bear a son at the age of 90!!

Saturday, October 24th, Fall fun with the girls

Candice will be leaving Hope at the end of this semester to do her internship in Chicago. I knew with the schedule I have in the coming month or two that today was the only chance I had to see where she is living and to visit her on campus. So, Celia and I drove up and Beryl drove down for a girls day.
Celia and I took a little detour on the way up and this was the signage when we pulled off of the Interstate. I don't know how you would ever find what you were looking for in all of this visual noise!

Candice gave us the grand tour of her very old house and then we went to one of her favorite eateries, which has a soup bar.
Then we drove to Saugatuk, which has a ton of cute little boutiques and art galleries.
In the Christmas shop, we played with the cute little clip on birds.
My camera was on a funky setting so the one of Beryl didn't turn out at all!
We had coffee to help battle our mid afternoon sleepies and I could swear I saw the former CEO from my hospital there. He wouldn't know who I was, but I just know it was him. Can you believe the size of that green gourd?
We had dinner at a Holland Italian restaurant, which was delicious!
Beryl had a huge salad.
Candice had one of her favorites, spinach artichoke dip.
Celia and I shared "The Tour if Italy", which is portioned for one, but I have no idea how just one person could eat it!
This was the pen that the waitress gave me to sign my receipt. It was so cool and the arms punched out and the jaw opened and shut. We had so much fun playing with it!

Friday, October 23rd, Udderly ridiculous

October Bunco generally means a few, if not most of us dress up. I had the idea for my costume forever and just had to make it come together today. I stopped at the party store on the way home this morning and was going to purchase my costume, but $50.00 was a daunting price. What you really can't see in the picture is my 1977 Farm Bureau Dairy Princess sash. See, I'm not just a cow, but an ambassador of good will for the dairy industry!
Oh, and by the way, I won the costume prize, because I was the only one that dressed up!!

Thursday, October 22nd, Soft new socks

When at the beast cancer walk on Sunday, I purchased these awesome new, soft socks. Perfect for work and working out.

Wednesday, October 21st, An annual treat

In addition to the apples from Royal Oak Orchard, a must buy is their Apple Cider Cinnamon donuts. They fly out of the store by the dozens. When you get out of your car in front of the store, you can smell the delicious aroma in the air! I spoke to a lady behind the counter and she told me that they purchased a new machine this year, which makes 140 dozen donuts per hour and on the weekends they can barely keep up. As you can see, there are only 2 left and yes, I did have one.

Tuesday, October 20th, Learning about protecting our quilts.

Sandy Schweitzer was our speaker at guild tonight. She is a certified quilt appraiser and talked about the importance of taking pictures of our quilts, even if we think the workmanship isn't worth protecting. This is more for insurance replacement costs rather than for selling them. I learned so much and am so glad that I have taken pictures of everything that I have ever made in the past 5 years. If we ever had a fire or anything was stolen, we could submit it to insurance.
I loved this top that she showed from her private collection. The front wasn't really that awesome to look at, but it was foundation pieced on authentic sugar sacks. If you click on the picture you can see "Domino" and other brands showing.

Monday, October 19th, Back to the Orchard

Right after all the guest left the shower on Saturday, we headed back to the apple orchard in Hebron with Candice. Even though we had a hard frost last weekend and the leaves on many of the trees were brown and falling, there was still tons of fruit left on many of the trees.
We picked in a different area than when we were with Catie and found these enormous Goldens. Right after Candice and found this one, I found the big Mama:I can hardly get my hand around it!!
Look at that pretty gal in the middle of the orchard!
I took this pic with Chuck's awesome camera. Love how the berries are so focused and the background is really blurred.Of course, we went to see the animals again and the geese were in rare form, honking and begging. What a great day!

Sunday, October 18th, Gathering for a cure!

I was a member of Grayslake Curves Breast Friends team in the American Cancer Society Making Strides walk today.
It was a beautiful day but started out very cold at 36 degrees!
Two of our Curves coaches, Colleen and Laurie. Laurie was our team captain.
Independence Grove was showing off her fall colors.
A few of our team members trying to get warm and waiting for instructions.
I checked in at the survivor tent.
We had a 10 minute Zumba warm up.
I concentrated on taking pictures instead of actually doing it, but it was so fun! I know now that I will probably never be on "Dancing with the Stars"! I have two left feet and no sense of rhythm.
The survivors gathered at the front of the stage for a photo op. A club which no woman wants to join!
What a bunch of beauties!
Our team, which raised about $3000!
We also led a warm up. Hyacynth, the club owner in the front.
And we're off!

We carried the banner for the first lap and then it became a little unwieldy!
There were about 2000 walkers and Lake County raised over $100,000!
A sentinel right next to the path.
I was proud to participate in this event which provides care for less fortunate and funding for continued research.

Saturday, October 17th, Showers of Blessings

Candice and I hosted a bridal shower for Allison Searle today. We have known her just about her whole life and it's hard to believe that she is getting married in December.
Instead of obsessing over the menu, Candice asked Allison what food she really liked and we based our food on that. All of the food was brought in, so I just had to come up with decor, games, coffee and prizes. We had breakfast casserole, with some Filipino food also brought in.
Heather Bernau's punch was a big hit and we had some fall treats like apples and caramel dip and peanut and candy corn.
Julie Dickson's cakes are mouth watering and this was no exception. Banana with sour cream icing!
The bride pictured with 3 of the 4 bridesmaids.
Candice was the mistress of ceremonies and ran the games. We laughed so much!!
A few of the 30 or so ladies in attendance.
Nancy gave the inspirational devotion and prayed for Allison and the upcoming nuptials.
Allison soaking up the Godly advice.
The main reason that we gathered!
The main color in her kitchen will be red.
Mary Jane gave this great set.
A great day and an enjoyable, stress free party.