Last February sunset

Warm day today, around 50 degrees, that ended with a beautiful sunset.

Interesting cat hug

Just recently August has begun sitting on my chest, putting his face close to mine and placing his hands on either side of my neck. He's either trying to give me a big hug or he's going for my jugular. He's a sweetie.

My new toy

At E's urging, Andy and I bought an Aerogarden at Costco yesterday. We gave E one for Christmas and she loves it. We'll see how it goes. I am looking forward to fresh cherry tomatoes and basil.

Now we wait.

Latest puzzle

My latest puzzle is of St. Louis. It's only 500 pieces so it's coming together pretty quickly. I'm definitely passing it along to Darla when I'm done. I think her hubby will appreciate the Cardinals fans, Busch Stadium and the Anheuser-Busch Brewery.

August slows our progress. Good thing Darla has cats. She'll be used to finding cat hair in odd places.

B likes to finish the puzzles when I'm not looking so I finished this one but saved the last piece for him to put in.

A treat for L

L got this at work the other day. She needs to know what they taste like in case a guest asks. They're one of the treats given out on the fireworks boat tours. L isn't sure if she'll ever get to work the fireworks boat tours but now she knows what the Mickey krispie treat tastes like if she does ... like she's never had those before!

New wall hanging

We have quite a collection of fabric squares (towels? handerchiefs?) from the Japanese students we've hosted. Rather than have them sit in a cabinet I asked E if she could make us a wall hanging above our stairs. She's started the project!

And in less than a week she has it all pieced together:

Throwback Thursday

My cousin's daughter is moving into a new house and found this picture frame while she was packing for the move. That's my high school senior picture.

‘The Simon & Garfunkel Story’

Andy and I went downtown to the CIBC Theater tonight to see "The Simon & Garfunkel Story." I won the Broadway in Chicago yesterday (again!) so we got our tickets for $25 each. The only catch is that you can't choose your seats though I've been pretty lucky with good seats.

We were orchestra (floor) level left, row E, so fifth row from the stage. We were sitting right in front of huge speakers but it never got as loud as I thought it would.

This was the backdop at intermission depicting the late '60s. The show was a little slow at times. Both Andy and I thought they'd tell more of their stories. Several songs we didn't know but they sang a lot that were familiar too. The singers were very good.

And when we came out of the theater it was snowing. This was on Wabash taken under the El tracks.

Crocheting?

My friend Darla got a crochet afghan kit around Christmastime and decided it was too advanced for a beginner. She's ordered some beginner kits and will try the afghan later. I said all I knew how to crochet was a bookworm from the '70s. I found one of E's crochet hooks and made two. They're kind of a mess. I'll have to watch some YouTube videos. Darla suggested pausing them until I get it right lol.

Ready for Disney!

Andy and I are going to Disney in April to vacation for a few days and to see L!

I couldn't resist buying this 50th anniversary castle magic band. Look at the cute charm thing. And when I wanted one, Andy had to get one too. He got one with a Star Wars design.

And my Minnie Mouse bracelet arrived. I'm set for Disney!

My jungle cat

August hiding in my houseplants.

Thin Mints

So happy to see a Brownie troop selling Girl Scout cookies at the Jewel. I showed restraint and only bought one box.

Pretty sunset

It's so nice that the sun is setting later. We had a pretty sunset last night. I took this pic from E's room. I guess have to remove the screen.

This was taken from the back porch.

More snow?

This was the back yard Thursday morning. All the snow we got from the last storm has almost melted. So ...

it was time for more snow. It started snowing around 1:30 p.m. and I took this photo at 6 p.m. It was still snowing. Andy thinks we got at least 4 inches.

Meanwhile L is in sunny Florida going to Typhoon Lagoon with her roommate ... and Epcot ... and Magic Kingdom. It was her day off.

Cloudy Disney day

L had a slow day at the pool yesterday so she made a Minnie Mouse out of wristbands. We plan on making a shadowbox with all her mementos from the program so I told her to save it.

After work she went shopping with her roommate. She sent this picture of Epcot from Disney Springs.

February surprise

It's going ro be a warm day and Schubert was out early roaming the neighborhood. It's been two months since we've seen him. It was 46 degrees when he stopped by and should get up to mid 50s today.

Finally finished!

This was a hard puzzle. It took forever, two weeks, I think. B worked on it for about two hours last night and ...

it's done. It was new (not a Goodwill or garage sale find) and we're missing three pieces. B blames the cats. We've decided puzzles need to have more colors, not big patches of brown, blue and green.

On the buffet

August has found yet another new place to sit - the buffet.

Church treasurer

Andy was accepted as the church treasurer during worship today along with the other new council members. It's a one-year term.

After church we went to Goldyburgers for a quick lunch (and cheeseballs!) before he had an appointment to talk with the church bookkeeper via phone.

Early b-day present

L's Apple watch, a hand-me-down from E, hasn't been holding a charge so she wanted a new one. We decided it would be a nice early b-day present on two conditions - she has to come home at the end of the program to return to U of I and she can't bring home more stuffed animals than she took down there. She agreed.

Sweet discovery

I was going through some old file folders the other day and came across this book Cousin C made for E. It was dated Nov. 8, 1998.

It's so cute. I'm sure it was done under Grandma Barbara's supervision.

Just the three pages stapled together.

L at Disney Springs

L had a day off of work Thursday and ended her day with her roomie and a friend at Disney Springs.

Oh, Muffles

Muffles was laying in the sun and "accidentally" knocked the box of puzzle pieces on the floor. Or he thinks we're taking too long to finish it.

And Epcot

L is torturing me with pictures (although I ask for them) of her spending her nights in the oarks. Here she is with Monday night friends on Test Track at Epcot.

Slooow puzzle

I started this puzzle a week ago Monday. It's slow going. B is helping a little, but not as much as I'd like.

Muffles and August (usually August) are intent on slowing down my progress.

Sunday fun day

L and her roommate, N, went to Magic Kingdom after work yesterday. Must be nice to be in the parks whenever you want.

L said they split this ice cream treat from the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor. Looks delicious and L said it was.

Sunday sunrise