Matt's Stay at Silver Cross Hospital

Morning! So nice to see you. Guess you were wondering where I was this month~ I'm afraid I sort of disappeared and left all of you hanging. I do apologize.
Actually I had a family emergency with my son, Matthew. His appendix burst and he was hospitalized for six days!
Initially the visit went well. He had an excellent surgeon, Dr. Vera. A surgery that should have lasted 1- 1 1/2 hours took 3 because "it was the worst I've ever seen", as Dr. Vera put it!
Matt came through it well, but with a lot of pain and is almost fully recovered.
I do not want to discuss the care provided by the hospital.
We are very greatful to Dr. Vera for his expertise and caring!

Spread 7 Bags of Mulch!

Hi! Nice of you to stop by! I've been cleaning up the front parkway. I spread seven bags of mulch and planted 49 bulbs! Neither seemed to go nearly as far as it should have. The bulbs barely planted the small area north of the drive~ roughly 2x3 ft. It's basically a rock garden with mulch, but I hope the flowers spred fast!
As I'm planning to relandscape closer to the fence, I'm only mulching near the streeT. The mulch gives the lot such a finished look, helps to cut watering and adds to the cabin atmosphere we're going for!

A Great Waitress

A week ago we ate at Anthony's in Lockport, IL. The food, of course, was good. It always is.
What was exceptional was the service from our waitress, Kelly! It was so nice to have my coffee kept full and the table kept clear of empty dishes. Kelly didn't even mind the high chair which partially blocked the aisle or the baby spoon waving.
Today I am wishing all waitresses were as conscientious as Kelly!

Excellent Service

Last week we went to The Old Fashioned Pancake House on Jefferson Street in Joliet for dinner. We know we always get great service at this restaurant and this particular night was no exception!

We were promptly seated in a booth as we requested and greeted by Margaret, our server. She immediately brought waters for each of us with out us having to ask and my coffee was served quickly after!

Margaret was exceptionally friendly, remembering us even though we had not been in in over a month! She even noticed how much my grandson had grown and sat and chatted with us for a bit.

The service of the food was, of course, excellent and my coffee cup was kept full. More importantly, was Margaret's personality and that she honestly cares for her customers.

When you stop into The Old Fashioned Pancake House ask for Margaret's section for warm service with a smile!

Shampoo Buffet

Hi! I wanted to share how over-run we've become with shampoo! Well, okay, with the future so uncertain we know we can't turn down any decent products offered. So, when my boss offers all the mini bottles he gets at hotels, we say 'thank you' and sort out our favorites!
Then there are the shampoos that are tried and trusted and the news ones we just had to try. All total you can see we have an abundance.
Yes, I could leave a few out and stash the rest in a closet~ ultimately to be forgotten. And we'd end up buying more.
Instead I put all of it in this clean basket. A veritable 'Shampoo Buffet' for friends and family!

A Typical Weekday...

Well, hello there! Sorry I've been away for a while, but Matt had an emergency appendectomy and has kept me very busy. Come around back and we can chat while I hang more laundry!
Today was a busy day at work with books to balance and messages from prospective employees to retrieve from the answering machine. Of course there were also tenants and employees who needed attention.
Around 2:00pm Matt and I headed home. I set him up out back at the table to study. Then I threw a load of laundry in the washer and joined him. I worked on sorting job applications and set 2 interviews in between hanging out 3 loads of laundry. Matt got a lot of school work done.
After we picked Candi & Aiden up at work, I gave Matt a shower, treated Matt's staples (where the surgery was) and we all ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Aiden was quite impressed with the bites of sandwich I gave him. Then it was back to laundry. Seven loads hung and three ready to be hung tomorrow!
For a little extra fun I made a new batch of laundry soap and started knitting another hat.
Whatever your day brings you, make it happy and don't forget to speak kindly without criticism and to do something nice for yourself.

Hiking for Our Future!

Well, hello! Check out the medals we earned through the 'Will County Woods Walk Challenge'! We started the official hiking because Matt joined Cub Scouts. We had been hiking/ exploring previously.
It was so nice to get out into the woods in our community and truly learn our area. Based on my theory that we should be completely familiar with our area in increasing circumferences from our home, the walk encouraged us to look beyond where we normally hiked. We also were able to test and improve our own personal ability to walk long distances. God forbid we are ever forced to flee on foot, but the increased endurance and indepth knowledge of the surrounding woods will help us to survive.
How far could you get on foot? Have you mapped out and walked backwoods paths to get out?
Planning = Surviving!!!

So Close to Finished!

Well, we had the posts and railing put in between the kitchen and family room. The posts are 'white wood' and the spondles, shoe and hand rails are hemlock.
The house feels much larger and more coherent. The wood adds much needed warmth so we feel cozier.

Brunson's Gravesite...

Puddy Tat's New Home

Well, today has been a typical day. Worked~ heating issues to deal with. Puddy Tat will go to Miss Norma's for a forever home tomorrow morning... I'll miss him, but I know he'll be loved...

Road Trip to Toledo

Well, we left Joliet at about 7:00pm last night and arrived in Maumee, OH at about 11:36pm (both central time). We stopped there because I was tired and didn't want to drive the 16 additional miles to Toledo.
The Comfort Inn here is nice. Comfortable peaceful rooms. We're always satisfied when we stay at Comfort Inn.
Now we are taking turns at the shower, then we'll call my Mom and let her know we're in town to see her new house!
She'll be so surprised to see us!

Tenant Library

Hi! Heading up to check more apartments!
Don't you just love our library? It's nice for the tenants that are 'shut-ins'... This way they can borrow books without ever leaving the building!

If Bridges Collapse

Waiting on a train and wondering how long the supports for these railroad tracks will hold before it collapses?!
And...
Whom is it going to collapse on?

Checking Apartments...

Well, I checked one unit, a small studio. He keeps it in good shape. Just a bathroom sink to unplug! Love when tenants are clean, orderly and respectful!
Now I'm off to get Matt at school...

What's Up

And so today begins... Matt has Saturday school until 11:30am to prepare for ISAT testing... Took Puddy Tat up to Miss Norma's apartment this morning... Coffee's finally in my cup... Foggy day... Good thing I like fog! Fire burned nicely most of the night & when I added more wood to hot coals, it kicked right back up and the fan kicked on... Love that wood stove! For now, though, I am at work... Have to check some occuppied apartments for any maintenance issues, cleanliness, and so on...

The Pencil Tower!

Well, hello again! Welcome back to our humble homestead! Pull a chair up to the fire and let's chat.
this is a pencil tower Matthew built with his SASS worker during home therapy. Matt had So much fun with it and did not seem to realize it was a test. He was being tested for his ability to focus and his fine motor skills. Of course he did well! And he had a blast!

Yogurt Chips!

Hi! Welcome back! Hope the incessant rain and freezing drizzle isn't keeping yoou down!
Would you like to try the yogurt chips I just made? They are so yummy!
A tenant brought me a case of 'Trader Joe's Greek Style Vanilla Nonfat Yogurt' When she came back from food pantry.
At First I wasn't sure what to Do with all that vanilla yogurt and even gave four containers away! Then it dawned on me that I could make yogurt chips.
I spread the yogurt on the velum and sprinkled with chile-sugar. After drying in my Excalibur Dehydrator overnight, I had the most delicious yogurt chips, crunchy and ready to bag up!

2 Car Loads Later...

Well, two trunk loads later, Matt and I were feeling very productive and worn out!
We had to stop hauling wood from Miss LaKesia's yard to pick Candi up at work.
There was still so much wood to haul!

They said take half!

Hi! The response to my request for firewood was astounding~ this photo doesn't even show half the wood offered!
Matthew and I showed up at their house and were floored and overwhelmed by the amount of wood. The home owner wanted half of it gone as a woodchuck had decided to move in and she was tired of chasing it away!

An All-Night Burn?

Hi! Welcome to our evening routine! Sit down and put up your feet.

We're home from work, so the first thing I do is start the fire back up. Once we have a good bed of coals, around eight or nine pm, I can add a big log.

This log barely fit through the door! It caught right away and burned steady until about 3:00 am!It was so nice to have the fire self-sufficient. I was able to spend a little extra time talking with Matt and got a couple extra hours of much-needed sleep.