Weekly update: wildflowers, saying goodbye, music, the payoff+ quilts + reading

Wildflowers at Lyons Woods:  trillium, yellow rocket, garlic mustard. Bristly buttercup, forget-me-not, cow parsnip, white and purple violets. (It's a great year for violets -- there are a lot in our yard, too.)

Apple ("eating apple," the app called it), crabapple, brand-new oak leaves. 

 The memorial service for our good friend Bob was Saturday morning.   Such a wonderful tribute to a long life, well-lived!   (Here is his obituary.)  There were many people -- his widow, four daughters, most of the 17 grandchildren, and many of the great-grandchildren -- and so many friends.  Bob and Liz hosted more than 30 exchange students through AFS and Rotary and one of them (1983) came from Germany.  There was a full luncheon in the fellowship hall -- just like pre-Covid days.

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In November, 2020, I got a notice that a class action lawsuit was being filed with Facebook, claiming that FB had violated the Illinois biometric information privacy act. Any Illinoisian who had a FB account prior to a specific date could fill out a form to qualify for the settlement.  I filed. And waited. And waited.  The check has arrived!   ($397)

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We enjoyed an early-evening performance on Saturday -- wonderful renditions of Broadway hits sung by a quartet of local professional musicians. 

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In the studio:

Six more mug rugs for the ongoing P.E.O. project.  

I've been making 3-1/2" 9ps out of Civil War repros, mostly blue + light.  I put them on the design wall to consider how I might set them.  A recent photo on Jo Kramer's blog provided an idea.  You'll have to stay tuned!

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Spike Carlsen explores the infrastructure of our modern world. He begins locally, in his neighborhood in Stillwater, Minnesota, with a history of front porches.. That leads to electricity and how it gets from generation station to our houses; the municipal water supply; the mail; the telephone. The next chapters are "outgoing" -- recycling, sewers, trash, and roadkill. What about surfaces? Yep: bike lanes, asphalt, alleys, concrete, parking, walking. Nature: pigeons, parks, lawns, trees, squirresl, snow. Signalling: red lights and green lights; road signs; street names; graffiti.

Each chapter is engaging and enlightening. "I've learned knowledge is power and when you know more about how the world works, you make better decisions as you walk through it. I've realized this is *our* block, *our* world, and *our* time to leave a few footprints in the concrete.' (p. 302)

Linking up with Oh Scrap!    Monday Making   Design Wall Monday