A Sunny Sunflower Day

My back door is open....now that may not seem like a big deal, but what it really means is that the heat has dissipated (for now anyway) and the humidity has lowered.  And I even snuck in a nap on the back porch this afternoon.  I do believe the heat is returning by Monday, but while it's gone I am relishing in the freshness of an open door with breezes blowing.

This morning, prior to Catherine picking me up to go sunflower hunting and to check out the DuPage County Fair, I sat on the backporch, enjoying my coffee....

About 7:45 AM Catherine and I headed down to Wilmington, IL to find the sunflower fields.  Never knew these existed around here, but after driving awhile (actually a long while) we found them.  Unfortunately they were behind a locked NO TRESPASSING fence and many of them were pretty droopy, which I am sure was due to the lack of rain and all the heat.  We did the best we could behind the fence snapping away and marveling at the fact that there really is a field of sunflowers right here in Illinois.

Heading back, the sky began to clear (it had looked like rain earlier) and off we went to the fair.  Great day to go, not too crowded and seniors (which I am) got in FREE.  There are definitely some advantages to being old...the ticket lady actually asked to see my driver's license which is always a day brightener.  Shortly after arriving I spotted this little girl with her sunflower hat on.  I asked her Mom if I could take her picture and she said..."sure"...what a charmer.

If I had my life to live over again, I just might want to become a child photographer.  I so enjoy capturing the naturalness of children.  It was a good day, filled with sunshine and sunflowers.  More pics of the fair later...rides and food and pigs and cows and goats and chickens...fun day.  Thus the nap on the back porch, I was exhausted.  Hope your day was filled with sunshine....

"Friends feed each other's spirits and dreams and hopes; they feed each other with the things a soul needs to live."  ~  Glen Harrington-Hall


Please hop on over to my collaborative blog, Focusing on Life, and read my post on "other ways to express your love."

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Until next time....

And It Ended with a Bang

What a fun filled weekend I had beginning with Friday Foto Fun with Catherine.  Friday was another super-duper day and a ride to the country was definitely in order.  As I was driving I spotted a beautiful yellow leafed tree in the middle of a corn-field that I just needed to stop and take a picture of for my Composition Class with Tracey Clark and while we were there we watched a Coopers Hawk land and sit atop some old fencing.  I kept walking closer and closer and closer until I was able to get some really nice shots. 

 Composition image - Negative Space

Just barely out past all the subdivisions that seem to go on forever, we decided to take a side road, best decision I made that day.  Right on the corner was a farm that had a market attached, beautiful gardens (but the flowers were definitely on their way out) and a large tent for receptions.  A further drive down the same road revealed a horse barn with several horses, and while out snapping one of the volunteers drove by and invited us in to get really good pictures.  After introductions we discovered this was a horse rescue stable where you could also board your horses as well.  We meet all kinds of people on our travels.  We inquired if there was anything we definitely should see along this route and we were told to go right next door to an old abandon house & barn.  She said "haunted" but I didn't see any ghosts or goblins while we trapsed all over the property, but I admit we did not attempt to go inside the house or the barn just in case there were some left-over ghosts still roaming the halls.  (more pics later of the horses & "haunted house")

The road.....

My only purchase at the farmer's market....

After a full day, Friday nite I had a date with my good friend, Marti.  She had called earlier in the week and invited me to be her date since her husband would be out of town for the weekend to a "wine & cheese" party with a group called "the empty nesters" from her church.  It was held at the home of a super nice couple named Jill & Robert, wonderful host & hostess.  There was a plenty of thrilling ferment on the tongue wine to drink and many tantalizing cheeses to taste and a whole lotta yumptious nibbles.  A total gastric delight. 

What do you suppose the garbage men say when they empty the can holding all these empty bottles?? And this was just "some" of the many that were opened and enjoyed. 

While at the party the discussion of fashion and what's the latest that the fashionistas will be wearing this fall & winter was a topic of conversation.  According to Nate Burkus (love him) the scarf fashion this year is higher on the neck.  Carolyn was the fashionista of the evening with her "higher" on the neck scarf.  She enlightened us on how to wrap your scarf to get the "look".  All of us that had scarves on that evening decided we needed to be part of the "new trend". 

Carolyn (our instructor) is on the right, Marti (my date) and Jill (the Hostess with the Mostess).  And me (oh, excuse me I was taking the picture).  Great fun!!  Great fashion!!

Saturday dawned and with it another beautiful day.  Not to be wasted Catherine and I decided to just do a little more Friday Foto Fun on Saturday.  We stopped at the hospital to visit our poor Elaine (the broken pelvis lady).  She is headed off to rehab shortly so prayers are welcomed for a speedy recovery for Elaine.

The Sumac bushes in front of the hospital are outrageously brilliant orange!!



After the visit we headed down to the Riverwalk. 

All God's colors.....

This is the spot where we came upon the family trying to take their Christmas Card pictures and we jumped in and volunteered (see previous post)

Sunday came and with it clouds and prediction for rain.  Oh no, it's the Sycamore 50th Anniversary Pumpkin Parade.  And my granddaughter, Brie was home from Iowa State for the first time since she left in August.  I was not going to miss it.  Dressed warm, added scarf, gloves, and hat and I was ready.  Met my grandson Brandon, Hilary (his wife), and the "new" boyfriend, Colton in downtown Sycamore for the big day.  I can almost tell you what is going to be in the parade, I have attended so many of these.  Always begins with the big wide motorcycles ridden by "senior citizens", various and sundry marching bands, pet rescues marching the dressed up dogs, Cub Scout Troops, Brownie Troops, Financial Institutions trying to get your money, politicians trying to get your vote, the Shriners driving those ridiculous small cars, etc etc.  My daughter always marches with the Northern Illinois University Pom/Dance Squad since she is the coach, and also with a group of her dance students (which includes my 2 granddaughters) from her dance studio, Studio M. 

Group of Latino Dancers, all had on these colorful skirts (wouldn't you have loved having one of these costumes as a little girl?)

Best Band of the day....a group called "The Fossils".  A bunch of ex-band marchers getting together with various costumes (mostly jeans & sweat shirts) to play and march in the parade.  Fun group, they even had cheerleaders and baton twillers, all way past high-school age.

These were quite original.  A Bakery that placed "real" carved pumpkins on their heads and played cooking pans with kitchen utensils.  Very entertaining. 

And ofcourse there is a pic of my daughter, (she is the quiet one in front)  and her girls from NIU.

And my "growing up too fast" Brie with her new main squeeze, Colton.  They left right after dinner to drive back to Iowa State, a good 5 hour drive.  Won't see her again until Christmas since I will be in California for Thanksgiving. 

So, after a wonderful dinner and a piece of warm pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert it was time for me to head home.  I stopped at their local Walgreens on the way back and guess what??  this is where the "it ended with a bang" enters the picture.  It was dark, the pavement was wet with rain, I got confused and missed a stop sign and ran right into another car.  Thank God neither of us were hurt, but boy are the cars hurtin'.  Both had to be towed and both were 2011 cars.  I felt really, really bad because the driver of the other car was a sweet young highschool girl, not hurt but really shaken up.  Her parents were there within 5 minutes, thank goodness I had not driven very far, so my daughter, son-in-law, grandson & granddaughter-in-law were there within 10 minutes.  Everyone was so nice, from the parents of the young girl to the police officer that handled the accident.  But, my gosh, Deanna, 2
accidents in less than 6 months.  I am starting to worry about myself.  I went for many, many years without having an accident and now 2 in 6.  YIKES!!  But all in all a wonderful weekend, too bad it had to end with a bang. 

"Life is a rollercoaster.  Try to eat a light lunch."  ~  David A. Schmaltz

Until next time......

Friday Foto Fun - The Blue Skies Edition

Another Friday, another day with Catherine and our cameras.  All week the weathermen predicted rain for Friday, Saturday & Sunday.  And then....at the last minute, it was a very slight chance of rain on Friday...so plans whirled in our little photography minds, what to do??  We attempted Starved Rock in the springtime but stopped so many times to take one photo-op after another we simply ran out of time and never made it.  The decision made to try again, we started early.  Well, early in our world, maybe not in yours.  I picked Catherine up at 8:30 AM and off we went, but first a stop at McDonald's for a cup of coffee since I left mine sitting on the kitchen counter.  I do that so many times, fix and leave behind, I get so annoyed with myself.  McDonald's now ask if you want cream & sugar, and it comes to you exactly how you requested.....wrong, no sweet 'n low even tho I specifically requested it.  Me and the voice from the speaker were having little language issues, I couldn't understand her, and perhaps she could not understand me.  Soooo, another stop at another McDonald's, thank goodness there is a McDonald's every few blocks. I get cranky when I don't have enough coffee with cream & sweet 'n low in the morning, just ask Catherine.   Now, off we go to Starved Rock, 45 miles of back road driving with expectations of new discoveries.  Starved Rock is a state park located on the Illinois River and near Utica, IL. southwest of the Chicago area and eventho I have lived in this area for over 30 years, I have never been. 

Driving along at a pretty good clip we spotted these large birds flying fairly close and circling above.  Rounding a curve we spotted the attraction, a dead animal obviously hit by a passing car.  Upon closer observation we decided these were Condor's.  Scavengers of road kill, and fairly ugly birds, their heads being red and unattractive.  They were skittish so my shots were taken from inside the car behind the windshield, not very good ones, but OK.  I DID NOT take a picture of the road kill which was probably the best angle.

We arrived at Starved Rock and began the walk to the top, finding treasures along the way.  I don't know if we were stopping to find the treasures or stopping to catch our breath.  It was a fairly steep climb, so having a camera we didn't look like were struggling, merely hesitating to take a photo.  Think we fooled anyone??

There were so many cobwebs and with the sun shining thru the thick canopy of trees it just illuminated their delicate webs.

Many of the trees were changing from their lovely summer greens to brilliant bright yellows.  

I love berries and these yellow ones stole my heart.....

Love these pinks and greens.....

After walking to the top of Starved Rock and winding our way around to the other side to take the "after" image we decided to drive around in hopes of spotting some camera worthy images.

We drove into the small town of Utica and couldn't help but notice the church steeple rising above the village.  The sky, along with the clouds provided the perfect back-drop for this beautiful church.  St. Mary's Catholic Church had been established in 1858, but after a fire destroyed the original wooden church it was re-built in 1888.  This area dates back to the 1600's when Fr. Marquette celebrated mass with the local Indians.  The inside of this church was as lovely as the outside, I couldn't help but notice the red from the stained glass windows casting a shadow over the heart of Jesus. 

Back in the car, back on the road we stopped at almost every barn along the way.  The hues of Fall are stand-up-and-applaud awesome. 

Can you believe this sky??? 

Even the weeds look good in the countryside......

`

Little birds have found their home....

The morning glories are still lending their beauty to this rusty fence.

After a trip to what seemed like happy valley where all your troubles seem to vaporize, we ended our day with a vow to return in the winter, when the snow changes everything to a white filled wonderland. 

"Good old days start with good new days like today."  ~  Denise Settle

Until next time.......

Friday Foto Fun - A Kind of a Yawn....

Another Friday rolled around, way too fast I might add, and Catherine and I were off for another Friday adventure.  It was a grey, cool, and breezy day so Catherine suggested we stay close by buildings in case it started raining.  Good idea.  We travelled to a suburb fairly close-by, but one we rarely ever visit.  The last time I was there was the morning of 9/11.  My husband had an appointment with an audiologist (fancy name for an ear specialist) because he was pretty darn near deaf.  I know many of you say your husbands are deaf because they never seem to hear anything they don't want to hear....right?  But, trust me, Gary was deaf!!  The kinda deaf that when he turned the blinker's on in his truck to turn right or left, they are still blinking blocks later.  Or the kinda deaf when the salesman at the Sporting Goods store where Gary bought his golf clubs, asks if he would like to try a sand wedge, Gary replies, "no thanks, my wife is fixing sandwiches at home."  That's the kinda deaf I am talking about.  Anyway, that is the last time I was there until yesterday.

We parked right next to their local farmer's market and picked up some fresh corn and pretzel bread.  Have you ever had pretzel bread?  Not sure why they call it that, but it is a bit salty and really tasty.  The corn we purchased is famous around here.  It is a special hybrid that is immediately after picking gets dipped in cold water and then off to refrig it.  It stops the starchiness from developing thus resulting in a lip-smacking-butter-dripping  best corn-on-the-cob you have EVER eaten.  You only cook it for 1 1/2 - 3 minutes in the microwave, you can even eat it raw, it is that good. 

After the Farmer's Market we began wandering thru the streets and shops.  It happened to be "early dismissal" day at the local school, so the town was swarming with young teens.  The shop owners would cringe when a bevy of young things would pile in with their huge book bags and back packs just ready to destroy a display at any moment with one quick swing around. 

The shop-keepers were busy decorating and preparing for the next big holiday...."HALLOWEEN".  I think these little characters are just too funny.  They have these winsome little faces and skinny legs.  I have a small collection myself and it was really hard to resist buying more.  But...since I purchased a Vera Bradley lap-top bag in this same shop, I resisted the temptation.  (PS I did get it on sale) 

As we walked there was definitely signs that Fall is settling in quickly.  Mother Nature has already begun painting the leaves those glorious fall colors.  After walking awhile longer, we stopped for a hearty lunch and then decided it was time to end our visit.  It was such a grey day, that I think it put us both in kinda of a grey mood.  Catherine wanted to stop at Dick Blick's, an art store,  to check out some canvas papers so off we went.

Art stores are so full of color....

This was the young thing that helped Catherine with her ideas for painting over a photograph printed on canvas.  She sure did know her stuff...knew exactly what products to use, what papers to use....right helpful she was.   And what an interesting face.  She obliged me by letting me take her picture, in fact she was quite a willing model even tho I told her I was just an amateur photographer.  Doesn't that thing hanging on her lip look like it hurts?? 

Even-tho it was sort of a yawn day, nothing too exciting, it was pleasant.  We need pleasant days to balance out the "out-of-this-world" kinda days with "boy, am I glad this day is over" kinda days. 

"It is more important to know where you are going than to get there quickly.  Never mistake activity for achievement."  ~  Mabel Newcomber

Until next time.......