Weekly update: hikes, waves, some quilt making -- and this week's reading

 We still have a few forest preserves to visit!  On Thursday we went to Nippersink .  

The gravity-defying tree has another outstretched limb pointing straight ahead.

A front came through and it rained Friday afternoon and all day Saturday.  The weather forecast said waves would be high on the lake and I went to see for myself.  

In the upper photo: the seawall (on the left) used to be at the water's edge. The round thing in the middle is a concrete storm drain that used to be covered by sand and gravel and a good 10' from the water.  Erosion is so severe that now it's in the water. 

Just two years ago the sand that you see was at least six feet above and twenty feet behind the water line.

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The Zion Woman's Club's holiday service project was a "reverse advent calendar" food collection -- 24 food items to represent December 1 to 24.  Those who participated took selfies at home with their contributions. On Friday we met at the two food pantries in our community to deliver the bounty. (We were close for the photos but for just a couple of minutes, and we all wore masks.)   Abiding Love Food Pantry has gone from serving 200 people a week in 2019 to more than 325 a week in 2020.  Giving Point Food Pantry distributed 500K lbs of food in 2019 and will exceed 1M lbs in 2020. 

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In the studio:  I finished Code Name Welcome Home.  It's a surprise so I will only give you a sneak peek.  A set of black-on-white cotton sheets [actually: twin flat and fitted and queen flat -- all the same print] will be ideal for the backing.  Because it is 84 x 84 and has big pieces I will have it professionally quilted.  I'm on the long-armer's schedule for the end of January.    [The flimsy used 8-1/4 yards.]

I have a bag of left over  black and gray cutaway triangles to play with.  I am thinking about pairing them with RSC colors in 2021.  

Here's Clue 3 for the Grassy Creek mystery.  

This is the next installment of the CWRSRP (Civil War Reproduction Stash Reduction Project).  The blocks are 10".  I'm aiming for 20 checkerboards and 12 baskets.   As I look at the photo I wonder if I should make all the checkerboards dark/medium (not dark/light) so the baskets will stand out. 

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I followed last week's book about the Florida land boom with another on that topic.  As its title clearly conveys, this one concentrates on the development of Palm Beach.   It began with Henry Flagler and ends with Donald Trump -- with a lot in between about the "industrial wealthy" (as opposed to old money wealthy) who built mansions and established exclusive clubs on the narrow island between the Atlantic and Lake Worth.    I learned a lot about Marjorie Merriweather Post.  She was the wealthiest woman in America and could well afford to build the fabulous Mar-a-Lago.     

I finished Julie Kibler's novel in a day and a half.  The Home was a real place in Arlington, Texas, in the early 20th century that pledged, "we will not give away your child."  That was counter to the norm of putting illegitimate babies up for adoption.  Kibler bases the early characters on women who lived at the home. That story alternates with the contemporary story of Cate, a librarian and archivist at the university that is on the land where the Home had been. When a new student assistant comes to work for Cate she has to come to grips with issues from her past.  It's a good story!

Linking up with Oh Scrap!     Monday Making

 Design Wall Monday

P.S.  The parking lot guardian on duty at Nippersink.   

P.S. 2   Christmas Medley made $360 for the AAUW Greatest Needs Fund.  This post explains the genesis of the quilt.