Forest, field trip, and a flimsy before flying

 Monday afternoon we returned to Lyons Woods, a forest preserve we've often visited.  

I was intent on trying to see the blue jay that flew across the path and nearly stepped on this little guy.  He slithered away fast. (Young garter snake.)  

This color combination of purple aster, yellow sunflower, and yellow-green leaves against the blue sky -- what a great idea for a quilt!  (It has been hot and sunny most of the month. We need rain.)

Yesterday the AAUW Exploring Culture interest group enjoyed a tour of the Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home in Mettawa.

From the website:  An influential figure in the political history of the United States, Adlai Stevenson II was born into an already prominent Illinois political family. His grandfather and namesake, Adlai E. Stevenson (1835-1914), was Vice President to Grover Cleveland (1893-1897), and his maternal great-grandfather, Jesse Fell, was a close friend of Abraham Lincoln. 

Stevenson II was Governor of Illinois from 1949 to 1953, ran twice for President as the Democratic National Candidate in 1952 and 1956, and served as Ambassador to the United Nations during the Kennedy administration from 1961 to 1965. 

Though he lost both presidential campaigns to Dwight D. Eisenhower, it was Stevenson's ideas that are his real lasting legacy. His importance lay in his efforts to raise the level of the public's awareness about the nature of the world, America's place in it, and what the future was likely to hold.

Top: an assortment of campaign buttons.  Bottom: our guide showing us the memorabilia in the study.

The house has many windows and I couldn't avoid the reflection.  This is a campaign textile (a bandanna?) when Adlai I was Cleveland's running mate.  (And tariffs are still a campaign issue.)

 

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In the studio:  it's a flimsy!  32 6" asterisk blocks for a wheelchair quilt.  The setting triangles are one of my purchases from Barb M's estate sale. ("Pablo's Puzzles" by Hoffman -- late 1990's?)

It wills stay on the design wall for a while.  I leave for my long-awaited Road Scholar trip to London and Paris.   The caregiver came for orientation yesterday. She's very capable and understands dementia clients well.  Wish us all luck!