Why I Oughta...

Born this morning at 9:38 am, our little girl joined her big sister The Babe and her amazing Momma in our new family of four.  Nat did an amazing job and seeing new life enter this world NEVER gets old. Can't wait to get to know her.

A week or so ago, Nat scored us some flower box holders from one of her friends in the neighborhood.    We've been focused - mostly - on our landscape beds and the perennials the past few years and have for the most part ignored any sort of pots with annuals.  Sure, we have a few annuals in our front porch box, but those are usually an afterthought.  In fact, in years past, I've planted a few perennials in there only to rip them out after they bloom and plant them in the landscape somewhere. But, with the flower box holders on hand, it is time to get some annuals up and running on our back deck.  I jammed them with petunias, spikes, asparagus ferns, ageratums, and one other annual that didn't have sticks in them.  See those redish flowers?  Know what they are?  Maybe reverse Google Image search will help?

Out on an early morning walk yesterday, I came across this plaque in front of a house on York Street.  Turns out, the parents of Carl Sandburg's wife lived here after it was used as first a Rectory then a private school. Here's the house below.  I've driven by it countless times and never gave it much thought, but now I have a new-found respect for the pretty blue house at 145 S. York Street in Elmhurst.

For the better part of the past year in our house, we've been having a discussion about how Abed Nadir, played by Danny Pudi, is the star of the show 'Community'.  In this week's Sci-Fi-themed New Yorker, author Emily Nussbaum agrees with me - as you can see above.  She points out how Abed has "drifted closer to the show's center, replacing its ostensible hero, the smart-ass Jeff..." I think we have the definitive answer now, don't we?  If we can't trust the New Yorker, who can we trust, eh Nat?

Each of these sprouts should create a pound or two of potatoes in a few months.  Now that these green shoots have sprung up, I'll cover them with mulch to keep the potatoes cool and moist.  The potatoes aren't ready to be harvested until all the greens have died back. Here's how I prepared the seed potatoes .

I planted a few of these cucumber plants under a trellis and in a pretty short time, we've gotten a few flowers to spring to life.  At some point, I hope these will spring up and grab a hold of the trellis and grow vertically.

Just a few months ago, I posted about 151 N. York Street and what a terrific opportunity existed for a retail spot right in the heart of downtown Elmhurst.  Just last week, I was walking by and saw that some signage had sprung up for a new place called "Cocomero" which looks to be selling frozen yogurt and bubble tea.  It looks like this is the second location for Cocomer o as they have a spot right on the corner of Wright and Green Streets in Champaign, right across the street from the Alma Mater statue in the heart of the University of Illinois. But, they won't be alone in the froyo business for long as it appears that we're also getting a Yogen Fruz right up York Street in the old Caribou Coffee location.   Is Elmhurst big enough for two of these places?  And a Coldstone and Brain Freeze?  I'm not so sure.

Nat scored us a set of 3 of these from one of her friends in town here.  They work perfectly on our deck.  Off to the Home Depot to pick up some annuals we go!

We hosted more than 800 businesses who walked away with a free website over the past 48 hours.   Mayor Rahm Emanuel even stopped by for a quick visit.

Nice story in Auto News featuring a Texas-based auto dealer who's betting big on the web and specifically with Google AdWords.