Yearly Archives: 2007

Lots of family time this week…a kiddie Halloween parade in downtown Oak Park, following a firetruck into the heart of one of the merchant districts…Sunday School…then loads of cooking…cheese blintzes with strawberry raspberry preserves, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, Halloween sugar cookies, Cajun seasoned pumpkin seeds from our Jack-O-Lanterns. (This is the first year the kidsContinue reading “A Taste of Life”

So I was listening to some Gillian Welch on iTunes and wanted to get a visual, so I found this on YouTube. But while I was searching, I also found this little treasure. So I’m totally torn between the versions, especially since the Kanye West version on YouTube comes with a great Air Jordan montage.Continue reading “Americana to Urban Remix”

The latest from urban So.Cal. sis is that the smoke and ash is worse. Rumors — so far false — are flying that evacuations may begin for San Diego proper. Whole sections of the freeway near her were shut down today. Up north a few miles where mom is in Carlsbad, the smoke and ashContinue reading “Coming Together”

I had my first moment of panic today when I tried to call my sister and all I got was “network busy” on her land line. I’ve been careful not to call her on her cell phone, but even the land lines are maxing out, I’m sure with calls from concerned relatives and friends…in additionContinue reading “Fire Update: Moment of Panic”

The family in Southern Cal. is staying up late tonight monitoring the raging wildfires. I can’t believe these fires are so out of control. Reports are that Santa Ana winds aren’t going to let up for a couple more days. No rain in sight. My sister says her car was covered in ash this morning.Continue reading “Ring of Fire Closes In”

Got news today that the hens at the farm are finally laying enough to feed the family and to take a dozen on to neighbors. It’s a bit of an egg hunt because they aren’t in their nesting boxes yet. Dad’s still making room for them in the barn. But I’m looking forward to farm-freshContinue reading “Going Out (Back) For Breakfast”

Homemade pumpkin pie, cooling on a rack, is all the air freshener we need in this house. That with all the Halloween decorations and leaves yellowing in the tree and crunching under foot make it look and sound like fall…but the hot, humid weather the past few days feels like summer. I’m not in aContinue reading “Fall. Summer. Which is it?”

We had an absolute downpour yesterday, starting with a brief shower of hail. Surreal. I could see sun on the horizon out my window through the rain. Then I got an email from my husband who was heading into the Windy City to pick me up. This photo of the rainbow reaching for the SearsContinue reading “Rainbow in the City”

Illinois Farmgirl Virginia A. Juenger may lose her farm because of a $38 tax bill? That’s what the headline says in the Belleville News-Democrat. The 89-year-old blind widow apparently never got notice that she was in arrears by $38. Nor did she get notice that her $100,000 property – 35 acres farmed by a tenantContinue reading “Blind Widow Could Lose Land Over $38 Tax Bill”

Thanks much to the Indianapolis Star for this story about Indiana farmer Tom Prince and how his goat slaughter biz is booming because he caters to the cultural diversity that increasingly surrounds him. Prince operates a self-service slaughterhouse in Hazelwood, Ind. His word-of-mouth operation draws Hoosiers who have come to the U.S. from Islamic countriesContinue reading “Getting Your Goat From Hoosier Farmer”