Friday update: stormy weather, long-time friends, a flimsy + reading

 

Wednesday:    Sophie hosted the online Block Lotto for many years.  I joined BL about 2009 and enjoyed the monthly block designs.  I won the Lotto several times. 

 Sophie is now traveling the country in an Airstream Sprinter van.  The last couple of weeks she's followed Route 66 but in reverse, meaning that she ended in Chicago.  She headed north and we met for lunch at a newly-renovated cafe in downtown Zion.   

I showed her Illinois Beach State Park where I take so many walks.   

Leftovers for two more dinners

We ended up at my house (a visit to my studio).  She had a reservation for that night  at a southern Wisconsin campground.  

 As she drove away the long-forecast storm darkened the western sky.  She hoped to outdrive it.  Instead, was almost to the I-94 the wind and rain were wild and all her weather-alert systems went off.   She called and asked, "Would you like an overnight guest?" and a half hour later she was back.   HOWEVER in the interim the power went off.  I brought out the two big flashlights.    (Neighbor Mike hoisted the garage door so I could get my car out.)  The outage was localized -- just our block and the next one.    When Sophie and I drove out for dinner lights were on  everywhere else.    We enjoyed pizza at the Quonset (a Waukegan landmark).   

When we got home Mike showed us his new lantern.  Rechargeable with a USB connection. No batteries, no smelly fuel.  An improvement over my D-cell jumbo flashlights.   I left Sophie to knit in the light of those flashlights while I went to Walmart and got two of the lanterns for myself.  They were great.

And then at 9:31 the power came back on!    

 If I don't have to use the lanterns any time soon that is just fine with me.  (And in the unlikely event that I go camping I'm set for illumination.)

Thursday morning we were up bright and early.  Sophie left for Wisconsin and I went to Rotary.

Late Thursday afternoon another big storm rolled through.   We got about 1" of rain, lots of wind.  There were tornadoes far to the south of the city.  

# # # # #  The lights flickered a couple of times during the storm but they never went off.  I had a productive Thursday evening in the studio.  

Farmyard Friends, the June top-along, is a flimsy.   2-5/8 yards, nearly all thrifted shirts.  (I found some shirting plaids in the homespun stash when I wanted a particular contrast.)  

This looks like a "disappearing" block but it isn't.  

If you've worked with thrifted shirts you know that it's hard to use 'em all up.  I'm perusing Bonnie Hunter's shirttails pattern books for renewed inspirations.

# # # # #   

I love words. I love colors.  And I love the way that Kory Stamper writes about both in her new book. 

In her engaging style (she has lexicographical cred and a terrific sense of humor) she tells how color names and descriptions were defined and refined for inclusion in the 1961 Webster's Third New International Dictionary.   The process was a whole lot more complicated that you'd expect.  I learned a lot about color standards. 

Put True Color on your list!   (Her previous book Word by Word is also well worth reading.) 

 

Linking up on this sunshiny morning (everything is so green after the rain!) with Finished or Not Friday

P.S.  Foxglove and white indigo at Illinois Beach.