Yes, I’ll wash it

The problem with getting the linens out early for a holiday is that the cats think I've given them a new place to rest.

Palm Sunday

My artsy Palm Sunday photo.

They had us march into church yesterday with our palms.

Not really my thing, but I do like how the sanctuary looks in these pictures.

What a game!

It didn't look great for the Illini in the first half against Iowa yesterday, but they won 71-59!! They're going to the Final Four in the NCAA tournament. I-L-L...

I blame Ruby

I grabbed my coat to go move my car during work yesterday and noticed a slit in the back. The stuffing was poking out!

Pretty easy to put the blame on Ruby who loves to sit on the backs of the dining room chairs. And look at those claws! Maybe I'll learn to hang my coat up? Probably not.

‘Loud cat’ is back

"Loud cat" loves to sit on our railing. He hasn't been around much during winter but with the temperatures warming up, he's back.

Another wedding

We're so excited to celebrate these two this summer!

Piper kept going after the wax seal so I had to put everything back in the envelope. Weirdo.

Yoga cats puzzle

This was one of the puzzles I picked up a week or so ago.

It's all there. It was still wrapped, new in the box, but with these cats you never know if a piece or two will go missing. Now, I get to clean off the table and start preparing for Easter so no puzzles for a while.

Day of bargain-hunting

Allison picked me up Monday morning and we met Julie at the Savers by her house. Mondays are 50 percent off of everything and this was my find - a luggage rack for $1.50. I had been looking for one for the guest room so how could I pass it by?

I was tempted to get this jewelry armoire for $8 (really) but upon closer inspection the top was loose ... and where would I put it? It also didn't have compartments in the various drawers so I left it behind. We had lunch at Taco Bell then went to one Goodwill.

For $3 how could I not buy this light-up car? There's a light underneath so the headlights and tail lights light up! Googling it at home I discovered it's a wax tart warmer. Apparently there's supposed to be a red tray that the truck sits on and holds the wax tarts.

And this light-up, snow-covered church was $7.

My theme for this Christmas will be peppermint/candy canes so when I found this bag of glass candy canes, I thought it could come in handy - either sitting on each napkin, hanging on the tree or just sitting around in this cute mug. The little Christmas tree is glass and lights up too. Must have been my day to find light-up Christmas decorations.

Allison bought this cute U of I shirt (she's a proud aunt.) I sent this picture to L and she replied that Allison needs a UCF shirt. That would be a lot harder to find here.

Blume & Ferris

Andy and I were out and about yesterday and popped into Blume & Ferris, a recently opened Irish pub-style brewery in Downers Grove. From the outside, it absolutely looked closed but there were lots if cars in the parking lot so I said we should at least try to see if the door were open. They were.

It was really cute inside. The bartender said they'd been open just eight weeks.

The bar was quite busy but bartender said it was the fewest people they've had on a Sunday.

This was the seating area as you walking in, looking from the bar. Not sure what they can change but it definitely needs a "we're open" look from the outside.

I need those

It's not often I'm in a thrift store and find something I actually need, but I did it. I found straight pins!

My other shopping adventure was two body sprays from Bath & Body Works. For some reason I had two coupons for free travel items and these new Disney sprays were within the price limit.

I'm not sure what's special about these lemons but they were huge! I need one for lemon tacos I'm going to make this week and the price was right.

The price ($4.49) is not so right here. This was the highest price oer gallon I saw while driving around. Glad I filled up when gas was $3.60.

First day of spring

Yesterday was the first day of spring and my crocuses were ready for it!

I filled the bird feeder before I went to work (so warm I walked outside barefoot) hoping my neighborhood cardinals would stop by. They did, along with lots of sparrows and a pesky squirrel. After work we met friends at Fitzgerld's - the outdoor patio was open! Yes, the patio was "open," but the band was playing inside and we were quite chilly.

Choices, choices

The boss asked me to sit in on a Zoom meeting yesterday to discuss design options for the museum's addition. These were the tile color choices for a decorative stripe on the walls in each of the two new restrooms. We requested several samples. The arrows point to the two colors I liked. We'll see how they look when the samples arrive. We also chose bathroom faucets. That was pretty easy since the board president and I agreed. To be fair, they were all pretty similar options.

Picking elevator colors was more challenging and we needed decisions so the project won't be delayed. I like this blue background. We didn't have a choice on the black between the color (unless we wanted to increase the budget). We also had to choose the color of the inside of the doors and the outside. The first- and second-floor elevator doors could have been different colors, but we kept them the same and neutral. We even had to choose the color for the light around the elevator buttons. Who knew? I never thought when I went to work Thursday I'd be helping to design an elevator.

New Yorker Impressionism puzzle

I like puzzles of New Yorker magazine covers (they remind me of my mother-in-law who appreciated the cover art) but this Impressionism painting one was hard. I tried to start with the border, then switched to the water and the title. The rest was piece by piece and a lot of luck.

This was a difficult puzzle but it's done ... and surprisingly, complete!

Piper chillin’

As much as I try to keep these cats off the counters, they insist. Piper looks like she's challenging me.

Grr.

And sitting pretty on the buffet.

Another Lenten night

My friend, M, asked over the weekend if Andy and I would be attending the next Lenten soup supper on Monday. I told her yes, if she has a good craft planned since Andy really enjoyed doing it a couple of weeks ago. She said she had a good one planned so we agreed to go.

And, as promised, he liked it.

The finished product. Mine is on the left, Andy's is on the right. I was having some issues trying to get the pompoms to stick to the cross.

I've been going through my cookbooks and magazines and getting rid of ones I know I'll never use. This book had one recipe marked - Pecan Turtle Bars - and since I had all of the ingredients, I made them and took about half of the pan along. They were a success. I came home with an empty dish.

Corned beef lunch

Andy and I were invited to our friends M and T's house after church Sunday for a corned beef, early St. Pat's Day lunch. Our assignment was to bring Irish beer and Irish soda bread. We also grabbed a bottle of Green River - because it's green, of course - and some daffodils for the hostess.

A lovely table and my daffodils. We had corned beef, rye bread for sandwiches, shepherd's pie, potatoes, carrots and sauerkraut.

Dessert was delicious - mint chocolate chip ice cream and whiskey-soaked cake with a cream cheese layer.

A bit of a bonus, when Andy bought the beer, he received a free Guiness "I (harp) Chi" pint glass.

Snow in Issaquah

E sent this picture of her parking lot Friday morning. They're used to snow in the nearby mountains, not so much in Seattle and its suburbs. People were being bad drivers, she said. At first glance, I thought she had sent a black-and-white picture but then I noticed the yellow fire hydrant.

Pizza party

Friday night the ladies got together at C's house. I thought it was a belated birthday dinner, but apparently it was just a get-together. Whatever the reason, it was a fun night of conversation.

Museum Gala

The museum gala was last night and it was fabulous. We had about 275 people there!

A full house.

Andy and I grabbed some food and drinks before the lines got long so we could take pictures as the room filled up.

We were among the first to dig into this.

My annual picture with my friend, Nancy.

All dressed up. This was a fun gala for Andy because he went to high school with one of the honoree's sons and they're old friends of Andy's dad. I talked to the man who was village president when I was covering the village so that was nice too. It's been awhile and it was nice to catch up.

An employee bonus - taking flowers home after the party.