gloomy out, sunny in

 This is what our weather has been like every day for days on end: gray, damp

and gloomy. No snow. Doesn't look like we'll have a white Christmas here in

northern Illinois. I took a walk yesterday morning and snapped this photo by my 

house. It's untouched. I wanted to show you all just how dark it is here during

the day. I'm sending a SOS to those of you in sunny climates.

 So if we don't have sunshine outside, we find it in little ways indoors, right?

 One of my best friends babysits her granddaughter on Saturdays. My friend invited me

 over this past Saturday and I got to play with this little darling and get my baby fix.

 Look at those big, beautiful eyes! She seriously is one of the sweetest babies I have
 ever encountered. She will go to anyone...lets me hold her, feed her a  bottle, diaper her 

(though that was comical...it's been about 16 years since I've diapered a baby and my

 friend had to help me!), play with her ~ and she doesn't even "know" me. 

I maybe see her once every six weeks or so. She is always so smiley and content.

Another bit of happiness...I'm in the middle of reading this phenomenal book. I think

it might be my favorite book of 2014. Hard to put down, though I'm trying to savor it

because I don't want it to end!

 

Best of all, my Bearded Boy came home from school yesterday! I made a lovely dinner:

Crockpot Italian Pork Chops and roasted potatoes and carrots. I'm normally not a fan

of pork chops, but I will eat one made this way. The meat just falls off the bones and is

so flavorful. Brian and Tim went back for seconds and kept claiming how delicious

the chops were. So easy to make, too. After dinner, we hung out downstairs in the family

room, watching Christmas programs on TV and drinking Moscow Mules. 

 And more little bits of cheer...the last of my Christmas decor around my house.

This table is at the end of the hallway. The family photo is from Thanksgiving 2008.

The last one where it was all four of us. (For those of you who don't know, my oldest

son, Philip - in the blue coat in the photo - passed away in September 2009.) The

frame was given to me by a dear friend from Boston. We started out as pen pals

way back when our boys were babies...before we had computers in our homes

and email and social media were the way of life.

I found this little bunny in a Hallmark store years ago. I had to buy it since the scarf said

Joy Phil - though Phil never was particularly amused by it. I have it sitting on top of the

bookcase under his memory shelf. 

A few Santa Claus tchotchkes on a wooden cigar box - all Goodwill finds - 

in Tim's room.

 

The only Christmas decorations I put in the main bath were the few angels that

I've collected over the years. The wooden angel by the "t" in the bath sign is hand

carved and from a European country, though I can't remember which one. I used to

belong to a woman's group called, "Circle of Gems". One Christmas we had to bring

something from our home that had special meaning to us, but that we were willing

to part with as a gift to another woman in the group. The angel was one of the gifts

 that was brought to the Christmas party and laid out on the table. It immediately caught

my eye and I hoped no one else would choose it. No one did! It was meant to come

home with me.

Thanks for visiting...and don't forget to send me some sunshine!

 

a cottage, farms, and a baby

 So there's been a lot going on since I've last talked to you all. Don't worry, it's all good.

 Just a long, busy extended weekend. I'll warn you ahead of time - this post will probably
 be quite lengthy and photo heavy, so grab your favorite drink and make yourself
 comfortable. 

Last Thursday, my former yoga-teacher- turned-friend invited me out to her new house for

 a visit. She and her husband recently downsized into an old cottage that they're
 completely rehabbing. I have a pretty good feel for what someone's house is going to
 be like, just from knowing the person. My friend is beautiful, charming, artsy, and mindful
 - and her house reflects the same. I was so busy taking in every detail of her gorgeous
 cottage, that I didn't even think to ask her if I could take pictures. So I took a few of hers
 from her online album. This is the cottage's one and only bathroom...

This huge upstairs loft became their bedroom. I wish I had a picture of it with all

her furnishings and decorations in it. The room is so beautiful that I told my friend,

"I would never leave this room!"

 

This is her kitchen before everything was moved in, too. She painted all the cabinets

a light creamy brown (has a tint of green), then painted the insides of the top cabinets

and left them open.

 

 

The kitchen boasts the 1960's stove which still works just fine! There's a vintage

fridge, too, but I don't have a photo of that.

 

 

On Friday, we were 2-1/2 hours north in Wisconsin at our church's annual Bible

Camp. We don't go anymore, but we like to head up there on the last day to visit

with some people - most especially, one of my dearest friends who lives in Canada

but yet makes the trek to Wisconsin every year to attend this camp. It's really the only

time I ever see her. And did I take any photos of her? Or have someone else take a

photo of the two of us? Of course not. 

Tim came home for the long weekend and on Sunday, the two of us went on a

photography adventure. The weekend before when I had driven out to my best

friend's new house to help her unpack from her move, I passed an abandoned

barn "out in the middle of nowhere". I made a mental note when I passed it, that

I would love to go back and photograph it one day. And I knew Tim would love

to take pictures, too. I still only have my point-and-shoot, but I do the best I can with

 what I have. We started off by taking pictures of the outside of the barn and
 surrounding property. I wish I knew the story behind this barn and land...it looks like
 there might've been a tornado or a fire.

 There was obviously once a house on the property, too. We found the crumbling

remains filled with water.

 The inside of the barn was really creepy. There were a lot of stuffed animals and

dolls lying around in piles of garbage.

 There were old license plates hung on the walls...

and even a Christmas wreath still in place.

 

 On the drive back home, we stopped at another farm to take photos. Look at

all this beautiful, wide-open farm land. It's so beautiful in the summer. You can tell

how hazy and humid it was that day though.

 And then my wonderful, long weekend was completed today by a visit from this

cutie patootie. His mom, Rachel is like my niece. Rachel's mom and I were best

friends from our last year in high school until our late 30's. Rachel and my oldest

son, Phil (who passed away almost five years ago, for those of you who don't know)

were born only two weeks apart. Me and Rachel's mom spent a lot of time together 

back in those days, plus I babysat Rachel while her mom worked. Anyway, Rachel

got married five years ago and moved to Canada, so I hardly get to see her anymore.

And now she has a baby! Rachel, her husband and the baby are in town right now,

so I finally got to hold and kiss this little guy. I wonder how Phil would've felt that his

best childhood friend was already a mom. I think he would've gotten a kick out of 

being "Uncle Phil".