RAIN, HOCKS, AND NEW NEIGHBORS

Storms.

We are having a daily dose of such.  Enough already.

Yesterday, amidst the tornado siren going off and a torrential downpour, my son and his fiancee moved into our 'rental house'.  Nice having them in the neighborhood!  I promise, Ally, NOT to be a nosey mother in law and watch everything you are doing...

well, not everything.... just, a couple things... okay, I won't even look,  I'd say the trees will block it, but, mother nature wants me to look, obviously...

On another yard note, you might wonder if you drive by why I have holly hocks coming up wherever they so desire.  Well, if you are an old Hinckley-ite, you might recall the holly hocks of the alley behind the funeral home. It was lined with holly hocks, and they were planted originally by my grandmother. Years ago, and I mean like 15-20, I 'harvested' some seeds and sowed them along my fence where I thought would be a delightful place for my crop of of hocks...

guess not.

They don't like the fence, they like wherever the birds drop their seeds, so each year, it's a crapshoot... I love how they look, even though they come up in the damnedest places...

Now, excuse me, I must go out in the yard, and fire up the chainsaw... a woman's work is never done...

ONCE AGAIN, I AM A SLACKER...

Let's see, where did we leave off... we'd just gotten Bijou. And she is just a little doll face. Still a teensy little girl, who has wormed her way into all hearts. Except for heart of stone Clementine.

  She is not so excited by her, and often gives me that 'what WERE you thinking look'.  

What else has happened...

Hosted the March birthday dinners.... Scarlett, Mark, Mom, and Jessica...
OMG... it has been a LONG time....

(didn't take many pics)

We went back to my home away from home.. Houston; love that place.

not my photo

 Sadly, Mark's consulting job there is over... (seriously, it could have been in the Guiness Book of Records longest consultation on record - lol).  We went to some of our favorite places - kind of bittersweet, although he does have some work there still, just not every week, so I WILL return.

We went to Milwaukee for the weekend.

not my photo

Can I just say, that is a really nice city? When Dan and Scarlett got married, they gave us a night in a darling 'boutique' hotel, (that reminded me of the Palmer house); 

not my photo

dinner at a yummy restaurant, and tickets to the art museum there.  We totally enjoyed ourselves.  The museum, although small, had some great works,

 and I was so inspired by the folk art gallery. LOVED it. My kind of quirkiness.

While in Milwaukee we also saw 'One Night With Janis Joplin'.  I'm a bit young for her, but do certainly remember her, and some of her music. It was awesome... we really enjoyed it. And the audience had quite an interesting mix; complete with old hippies acting a wee bit odd. NO, it wasn't me....

The next day we sailed the boat down from Waukegan. It was COLD.   We are a month late, but frankly, we've been just too busy to do it.  It's there, in it's harbor, waiting for us to enjoy it... when is gets warm...

We went to Ravinia with the family ... saw Sting. If you've been around for a bit, you know I love him.  He didn't fail me, the man looks gorgeous and sings just as well as always.  It was a lovely night... in spite of the cold.

And, mostly, we've been working on the house we bought.  We took down the fence and meshed the yard- squaring off our yard, as it once was, creating a BIG YARD for two old people and two tiny doglets.  I've been moving hostas, bulbs, plants, trying to erase evidence of the fence line.  And check out my roses....

Please, just call me Martha.....

We FINALLY got a new roof on the barn- went with metal- I think it's quite charming.  And it'll last a lifetime, since I'm already well into mine, it should be all good!

Change of plans with the house, and now we are going to rent it, so if you are looking for a cute 3 bedroom, 2 full bathroom house is Hinckley... have I got a deal for you!!  Here's a couple crummy cell phone shots...

Oh, and saving the best for last.... my baby got engaged!!! Totally caught me off guard- we are SO happy for them both, and for us... we are getting the sweetest daughter-in-law.  They are such a darling couple, and only deserve the best of all life has to offer!  I think they are thinking  about having the wedding in a year or so, and I KNOW I'm mother of the groom, and it's not my event to put on ... but STILL, I'm so excited.

I know, I know, shut up and wear beige....

CONGRATULATIONS CORBIN AND ALLY!!!!