Fitzgerald’s patio

We were at Fitzgerald's this afternoon to hear the Rachel Drew Band play on the patio. We've seen her perform quite few times.

We had some onion rings.

It was a chilly day for summer. Glad we both brought jackets.

Swallowtail visit

I don't have any plants in my yard that attract Swallowtails, yet here one is.

So pretty. It's a girl.

Muffles’ turn at the vet

This picture is from October 2020. Andy took Muffles to the vet yesterday. He has arthritis (which we figured) and possible kidney problems. The vet is supposed to call today with blood test results. He hasn't been eating much so let's hope they can prescribe something to get his strength back. If he won't eat he's not going to get better. Poor kitty. We've been having more issues with these cats lately, but they're sadly getting old. Probably was the reason he's been hiding from us.

Lego fun

It's a fun day at work when you get to play with Legos ...

and pose them for pictures. Recognize these famous Oak Parkers?

Of course, our firehouse museum has to have firefighters.

Muffles’ new spots

I've texted Andy a few times lately to see if he saw Muffles in the morning when I don't see him for hours. The answer is always (so far) yes, but I couldn't figure out where he was hiding. Then, the other night, I saw him sitting on the bench where we hang coats on the back porch.

Then, about a half-hour later he was sitting in Andy's desk chair. Guess I should check the back porch since that seems to be his new "spot."

We've also found him hiding in our messy bedroom closet.

BBQ puzzle

This was a pretty quick, 1,000-piece puzzle of all kinds of BBQ sauces and signs.

B finished this while we were at the Holocaust Museum on Monday and he saved me the last piece. L, though, beat me to it. At least all the pieces are there.

Holocaust Museum

I saw that the Holocaust Museum in Skokie had a few free days scheduled this summer so Allison and I and L drove up there Monday morning. My teacher friend in Pekin has visted several times on field trips but we're relatively close and it was a first visit for all of us. Such an industrial-looking building.

Fountain of the Righteous on the way into the museum.

I really wanted to see this "Kindertransport" exhibit about how Jewish children were sent out of Germany, away from their families, to survive the war.

Pretty interesting with all of the artifacts.

This woman is actually a hologram who spoke about her experience in a concentration camp. She was part of the camp's orchestra and could intereact when the audience asked questions.

This was the main part of the museum that told the story of the Holocust.

So much to read as we wandered through the exhibit.

This was their Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) display. This temple is burned out, glass is broken and the floor looks like broken glass.

A real box car from Germany that transported Jews. L said it felt emotionally "heavy" inside and she got sad going in.

A prisoner's uniform.

More Nazi artifacts.

Many Jews who came to the Chicago area settled in Skokie, where the museum is.

Shopping in Skokie after the museum.

Church picnic

After a week of 90-plus temps we had an absolutely beautiful day yesterday for the church picnic, another 150th anniversary event. We had a great turnout.

This was Andy's plate. I made the taco salad. My friends, Leslie and Maureen, were the picnic organizers. Leslie bought hotdogs, chips and drinks while members brought desserts and sides to share; Maureen set up the tables and planned all-ages games. They did a great job.

We celebrated one of our members, June's, 98th birthday. I ordered the cake from Costco - delicious.

A very dramatic presentation of flowers for her.

Just for fun, I also made "cicada cookies," which I thought was pretty fitting seeing how they're everywhere. Most of them have red eyes but some "special" ones with blue eyes have been found this summer and I had two blue M&Ms so it was meant to be.

I made this small sign so everyone knew what was in them ... and that no real cicadas were used.

Happy 25th, B!

B turned 25 yesterday and I baked him some brownies.

Make a wish!

He chose Maggiano's for his birthdy dinner so we went to Oak Brook. It took a while for our food to come out so the waiter gave us a free spaghetti and marinara to take home and took our soft drinks off the tab.

B had a lot of food to carry to the car.

Lots of lilies

I picked up these red canna lily bulbs from work a couple weeks ago. This pot is doing great...

this pot is trying to catch up. After reading this I think I'll need to plant them in the ground next spring.

And these affectionately called "ditch lilies" are blooming.

Our day lilies.

Puzzle or play?

August certainly knows how to get my attention.

This was a fun food puzzle.

I saved the last piece for B.

An award for E

E received an award at work today for "impact" which we agreed meant that she's doing a good job. She said about 100 awards were given out but on a "team" of a few thousand employees. It seems like kind a big deal (to me at least. I was also excited when work sent B a Starbucks gift card). She knew she won the award about a month ago when they had a big meeting and her name was mentioned in a PowerPoint presentation. She has no idea who nominated her and she didn't realize she'd get a physical award. She said the sides of the award are the four colors of Microsoft (can't see that in the picture she sent) and it's engraved on the top. The bottom is black so the engraving shows up. And it came in a velvet-lined box. Fancy, she said. She's not sure if there's a monetary award attached but so far she hasn't seen anything. "That would be nice to have," she said. It is recorded in her employee portal so maybe it will help monetarily down the road. Anyway, good job, E!

Monarch butterfly

I was pulling weeds around our air-conditioner on June 4 when I saw my first Monarch caterpillar of the summer. I thought about leaving him be since he was already pretty big but didn't want a bird to eat him so I made a nice environment for him and set it on the back porch. I read that bringing them inside isn't ideal.

This is its new home. I put two fresh milkweed leaves in on the morning of Thursday, June 6, went to work and came home to find that he had eaten them both. Hungry caterpillar indeed!

By the next evening the caterpillar had climbed to the top of the enclosure.

By Sunday, June 9, it has been hanging in the "J" shape for two days.

Just a couple hours later it made an amazing transformation into a chrysalis. I read it can take eight to 15 days for a butterfly to emerge.

Success! As I was leaving for work yesterday, June 19, I glanced at the container and I had a butterfly! I took the screen off so it could fly away when it was ready ... and it was gone by time I got home from work.