Weekly update: getting closer

As we were returning from one of our forest preserve walks we saw the crane family enjoying the summer afternoon.  (I think it's two parents and their young.)

We, too, took advantage of the sunshine and visited three forest preserves (Old School  Van Patten Woods Des Plaines River canoe launch (the latter has a trail along the river)) and Hosah Park (Zion's piece of the lakefront, wedged between the north and south units of Illinois Beach State Park).   

Purple coneflower, lady fern, common reed.   Sumac, woodland sunflower. Purple loosestrife with a bumble bee, burdock in flower (a little purple thistle), more Queen Anne's lace. 

Black raspberries, water lilies, a small harvest, woodland glory. Bottom right:  virgin's bower (clematis) -- first time I've seen this one. 

Southeast winds kicked up the waves on Lake Michigan!

Dogwood, red willow.   

Spurge and purple clover.  

A sand castle creation.  

Looking north.

Bottom center:  sea rocket -- left finished blooming, right in bloom.

I was two weeks late to get the mullein at its peak when the blossoms (on sturdy stalks) are corn-yellow.   Now it's gone to seed. 

# # # # # # # 

PROGRESS!  I ripped out the erroneous sashings and replaced them. Blocks reassembled.  Now I'm working on the borders.  I hope to have this to the flimsy stage in a day or two.

# # # # # #

I read a lot this week!  

1860's, in Brooklyn:   Libertie's mother is a homeopathic physician in a free Black community. Her patients include Black women but also white women with "problems" they want to keep secret. Mama and her network help escaped slaves evade the authorities. Libertie witnesses their anxiety--what is now called post-traumatic stress. As the years go on, Mama determines that Libertie will go to college, become a physician, and return to Brooklyn so they can practice together. Libertie rebels, seeking her own version of freedom, by marrying a Black man whose family are American missionaries to Haiti (seeking to impose their norms on the Haitians). Libertie finds this new milieu to be even more constraining. Eventually she sets her sights on returning to Brooklyn.

Freedom is more nuanced than we think.   

~~~~~

Malcolm Kershaw is co-owner of Old Devils, a mystery bookstore in Boston. An FBI agent comes to call about a series of murders. They seem to be connected to a blog post he wrote years earlier about eight mysteries with "the perfect" (unsolvable) crime. In classic unreliable-narrator fashion Mal has to deal with the old devils of his past.  

 I enjoyed both the literary references and the Boston and Maine setting.   ~~~~~~

Raised in rural Connecticut, Anthony Comstock moved to New York after the Civil War. He joined the YMCA movement that sought to provide a wholesome outlet for young men with athletics, lending libraries, and lectures to distract them from the allure of gambling dens and brothels. With his work in the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice he lobbied successfully for what is known as the Comstock Act -- federal legislation that made it illegal to distribute or even talk publicly about sex and sexuality, from pornographic novels, titillating photographs, and belly dancing to contraceptives and sex education books.

Sohn profiles eight women who were targets of Comstock's witch hunts. Though they were quite different from one another, they all advocated for women's autonomy and the ability (and authority) to make their own choices about marriage and childbearing. Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin were sisters, suffragists, and successful financiers. Madam Restell was an abortionist. Ida Craddock, Angela Heywood, and Sara Chase provided information in publications and public lectures. Emma Goldman and Marjorie Sanger advocated for family planning and birth control.

This is an informative and lively addition to women's history.

~~~~~~~~~~

I thank Grace for alerting to this one!   Textile history, some Native American needlework, bedcoverings and quilted petticoats -- and bed quilts spanning three centuries.  

Kaffe's 2021 collection is showcased in Lavenham, Suffolk. The colo(u)rful half-timbered buildings, gone wonky with age, are a wonderful backdrop.   

 P.S. We watched the Olympics every evening -- what NBC decided we should watch. There are so many events that don't make it to prime time.  The performances were spectacular. I had my iPad at hand and frequently looked up the sports to find out more about them--history, equipment, and the specifics of the competition.   

Linking up with Oh Scrap!  Monday Making  Design Wall Monday