early september slice of life

September is a beautiful month weather-wise, here in northeast Illinois. The coneflowers and Black-eyed Susan in my butterfly garden are still prolific, which makes my summer heart happy. Beautiful wildflowers dot the roadside. The evening Golden hour casts amazing light on the trees. Sunsets at the neighborhood lake are stunning.

I harvested the last of our rhubarb, cut it into chunks, and put it in the freezer to use later in baked goods. The last of the cherry tomatoes were gathered; plus, I picked up more at the local farm stand. I then slow-roasted the tomatoes with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper until soft and caramelized. Those were packed into freezer bags to use all fall and winter in soups and chili. 

My cousin and her daughter (I call her my Little Nugget) were in town on Labor Day weekend from Tacoma, Washington. I've always dreamed about having a ladies generational family photo taken, as we have every decade through the 80's represented, except for a teen. I finally got my wish! The only decade missing in our family photo is someone in their 20's. I have two nieces in their 20's, but neither were at this gathering. Sooo...we have in the front, my Little Nugget portraying the childhood years, then from left to right...my second cousin representing 30, my cousin from Tacoma revealing 40, another cousin symbolizing 50, me defining 60, my aunt presenting 70, and my mom reflecting 80. 

More Labor Day weekend family fun...spent the day in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin with my Tacoma sweeties. The area is rather touristy and filled with shops, but we didn't go into a single one. We played on a playground, had lunch, played in the water, and had ice cream.  Everywhere we walked, my Little Nugget held my hand. And wanted us to run ahead of everyone so we'd be first to get to our destination. By the time we took a boat ride around the lake, my Little Nugget was passed out. In the evening when we got back to my house, she spent her time building a playhouse for Clementine. Isn't that precious? It's been so long since I've had a little one in my house, or had a child's hand in mine, or got to stroke the silky hair of a sweet child...I ate it all up. 

Have a beautiful week!

💖

a quiet birthday celebration and fun with cousins

(me, NC cousin, local cousin, sister)

A low-key and lovely birthday last week for moi...

The perfect new shoes for this Crazy Cat Lady - Bobs by Skechers and Pad Kee Mao at my favorite Thai restaurant. That was followed by a weekend of family togetherness...

Family from North Carolina were in town for a few days and we had a get-together at my sister's house. Is there anything cuter than a little girl (my second cousin) in a summer dress and cowboy boots playing cornhole? 

The next morning, I headed to downtown Chicago with my sister, our cousin who lives locally, and our cousin from NC. I hadn't seen my NC cousin in almost 19 years! The four of us sat at a table by the beach and talked and laughed for two hours. NC cousin couldn't get over the fact that buildings were right there at the beach. We had a perfect view of the John Hancock building from our table. After lunch and drinks and people watching (side note: thongs on middle aged women are not pretty), we walked around and made our way to Water Tower Place, which is basically a seven-story shopping mall. We eventually wound up on the seventh floor and found Garrett Popcorn - a Chicago must that I've never had! My sister warned me that it was very rich. I got the cheese-caramel mix and she wasn't kidding. A couple of handfuls and I was done. More walking around where we spotted Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago and were awed by its outside beauty amongst the highrises. We crossed the street to take a look and lucky us, the doors were open so we were able to go inside. Of course, my phone camera couldn't do the interior any justice, but wow. I was immediately struck by its reverence and beauty. 

I wish I could bottle up these long days and brilliant sunshine and family memories.

one of those perfect sunny, warm fall weekends

 On Saturday, we traveled a couple of hours south to my cousin's house for an extended family get-together. I always enjoy driving up to my cousin's beautiful house ~ it has such lovely curb appeal. I admire the tall windows on the front and side of the house, as well as the beautiful landscaping.

Another feature of her house I have a soft spot for is on the other side where you walk under a leafy arbor to enter the house through the side door.

 

 We really lucked out with a warm, sunny October day, so we all sat around a bonfire in the middle of the extended driveway and talked and visited with one another. Although I don't think there was too much talking going on when I took this photo because everyone was busy stuffing their faces from the food buffet. Most of the menfolk disappeared indoors shortly after dinner to watch the Cubs baseball game. (And hooray, they won! Just for them to be in the playoffs is amazing. Ahem. And my Cubs-loving hubby is thrilled.)

 When the sun started going down though, boy, did it get cold quickly! Another cousin showed us the proper way to keep warm. ;-)

Speaking of the sun going down, my cousin's house is surrounded by farmland and we were graced with the most beautiful sunset.

 As the evening grew darker, the sky became more vivid...

 to the point where it looked like the sky was on fire.

And then it went back to pinkish tones before going completely dark. 

 Sunday was another one of those perfect warm, sunny fall days where it makes you wish fall would never end. I took a little drive to a farm called Ginger Blossom. The owner travels the world and brings back all kinds of goods...rugs, bedding, sweaters, blouses, scarves, antiques and home decor.

There's several little cottages on the property, each one filled with ethnic goods and materials.

 

 The barn is filled to the rafters with antiques, glassware, decor and furniture from all over the world.

Not sure if this outdoor elephant sculpture was for sale, but I thought the grasses behind it were so beautiful. Don't you just love that white plumage - it looks like bird feathers!

There was a wonderful variety of pumpkins and gourds for sale, too though I didn't bring any home with me. I did bring home locally-made cheese and raw honey.

 

Hope you had a good weekend, too!