Why I Oughta...

Recently, I saw on Twitter that the folks at Walt Disney Imagineering awarded winners in their annual student competition called Imaginations .  You may have heard of Imagineering, but they're the team who designs and builds the experiences in Disney Parks and Resorts.  But, you are probably like me and have not likely heard of the "Imaginations" competition.  The themed design competition opens up an opportunity for college students across the country to showcase their skills and thinking to the amazing collection of creative talent at Walt Disney Imagineering (and hopefully learn some things along the way). They've done this for 29 years and it was started in 1991 by Disney Legend Marty Sklar.  From the release on the winners : For nearly three decades, Imaginations has served as a prestigious design competition with the purpose of discovering and nurturing the next generation of Disney Imagineers from a diverse array of disciplines and skillsets. Founded i

On Christmas Day, we visited Nat's folks house out in Naperville as we do every year.  And, as I do every year, I ended up taking a little walk to get out of the house.  The weather was quite nice, so I wandered around and took in the neighborhood.  I went out one way and then doubled back to end up in the front yard of the house.  (If you know the house and the orientation, this would all make sense.  Those of you who don't, just trust me that it makes sense.) And out front I noticed that they have a medium-sized Bald Cypress planted near the sideyard that was striking in it's winter beauty.  You can see it above.  Plenty of the needles have dropped.  And all of them have gone orange.  But, plenty of them remain on the limbs.  The reason for posting it here is because our little Bald Cypress - that we planted near our driveway late this Summer - looks similar.  I was concerned that the clinging of the needles to the tree was a bad sign, but based on this species ab

The last time I covered our fern and hosta(s) that have been fostered by Nat's Mom in her garden out in Naperville was October of 2017 when the hosta had ridden out the hot summer and the fern had died back for the year.  That post is here .  The photo above is one I took recently when we took a trip to Naperville.  You can see that both the hosta and the fern are HUGE.  They've been there for two full growing seasons - and this is their third.   The hosta again has some tip burn, which is disappointing, but it does get some decent sun due to the Bald Cypress that is located close leafs out later than most trees.  The size of those two are the good news.  The bad news?  The tiny Hosta Venusta that I planted back in 2016 doesn't look like it survived this harsh winter.  According to this post , one of the best times (besides early Spring) to transplant hostas is early fall - so I'll look to taking this one in September or so. My experience with transplanting

Nat's sister sent us this photo of our 'fostered' peony plant that is in Nat's Mom's garden out in Naperville that we planted in 2015.  As you can see, it has grown up quite a bit and seems to have recovered almost completely from the harsh transplant.  It is even blooming with two small blooms, but more importantly, the green foliage looks quite strong.   I posted a photo of this same peony emerging last Spring , but didn't followup with another post.  The peony struggled and didn't flower last year, but I knew it would take a few seasons to recover. That's the good news.  The bad news?  I'm going to take it back this September and restart that recovery cycle.   The foster care, has indeed, worked, but now that we're ready for this beauty, I'm eager to bring it home.  About a week ago, I posted about how the Sarah Bernhardt variety was starting to emerge this Summer (after planting this Spring), so I'm already thinking about

Sure, you can go out to Naper Settlement for the Christkindl market and get some searing hot chocolate and pick up a cuckoo clock and ornament from some booths.  And that'd be just fine.  In fact, that's what we did a few weekends ago.  It was a great time.  But, do yourself a favor and ask for the main building where the bathrooms are located.  (skip the porta-potties!) Inside that building, you'll see a setup of a 1950's home all trimmed out for Christmas morning.  Along with some display cases of decorations and toys from the period.  Above and below you can see one of the cases with little vintage Christmas figures (we have the lady on top!  And some "NOEL" angels that are similar but not exactly the same .) and some toys that kids in the 1950's were getting under the tree. In another corner, they have this little vignette set up that shows toys like Tiddly winks and a riding horse that are typical from the period. They also have some

There are plenty of Christmas traditions that we participate in (trains, advent calendars, elfs, tree day, Walnut Room, etc), but there's also a beer tradition that I've grown to look forward to:  the opening of the annual Anchor Steam Christmas Ale as done by my brother-in-laws in Naperville. I've chronicled this in the past here on the blog.  Here's a post from last year's version .  Here's the 2015 version .  And here's a post from 2010 with that year's bottle .  And based on those posts, I've been drinking a little bit of this stuff for 10 years now, despite this only being the fourth version that I've documented on the blog here. As for this year's brew, they once again picked a unique tree for the label.  From the Anchor Steam site : This year’s tree is the Santa Lucia fir. Extremely rare, it is native and limited to California’s Santa Lucia Range along the central coast of California. They bought some smaller bottles like nor

For the first time in a while, we spent an afternoon out in Naperville with Nat's parents.  And that means that I took some time to wander in Nat's Mom's garden where I marveled at the size and span of her hydrangeas but also was able to peek at the plants that she is fostering for us.  Above you see both the giant hosta on the left and the dried out ostrich fern laying on it's side on the right.  The fern ran it's course and dried out.  That is normal.  The hosta is nearing the end of it's season, too, so that's why you're seeing some dried spots.  Critters are the likely cause for some of the missing pieces of leaves.  The last time that I checked in on these plants was early this Spring.  Here's a photo of the hosta emerging from the mulch .  Here's what this hosta plant looks like when it is a bit further out of the ground but not unfurled quite yet .  Love this time of year.  So much to look forward to and so many gardening expectations

This past weekend was Oath Day Five out at Solemn Oath Brewery in Naperville.  We weren't able to make it because the Bird's birthday was the same day and we were, ummm, tied up with cake and presents and rainbows.  Yeah...rainbows.  Lots of them.  That's what she wanted, so Nat delivered!  Anyway, I've posted about Oath Day in the past.   Here's a post from 2015 showing off a cool van sticker I scored from the festivities .   If you're wondering what happens at Oath Day, check out this post from Solemn Oath  that details everything or tune into their Instagram feed for a post-event roundup showing some of the sights from the weekend.  It covers all the what-have-yous that go on including how they created a new deck of cards for the event .  But, just because we didn't get to go to Oath Day this year, doesn't mean we aren't fans.  And, we even showed off a little bit of our own craft beer nerd chops by introducing Dr. Jeff - our resident c

Last month, I posted about a few of our 'foster' plants out at Nat's folks' place in Naperville including the giant hosta that had emerged this Spring and Nat's Great Aunt's peonies and the miniature variety of Hosta Venusta that came back to my surprise.  But, there was also a big bunch of Ostrich Ferns that we transplanted into foster care.  Just about a month ago, on May 2nd, 2016, I posted this photo showing the ferns emerging from the ground  and in June, I posted this photo showing the giant Hosta and the Ostrich Fern all unfurled in their full glory.  They were doing so well last year, so I never thought for a minute that they wouldn't come back this year. That photo above is what they look like now:  they've not only sprung up ahead of last year's pace, they're also big, vibrant and strong.  How nice to see them doing so well.  I'm not surprised, because a few years back, we divided some of our ferns and gave them to Nat'

This is the third in a series of posts showing off the foster-care plants that we planted in Nat's Mom's garden over the past few years that she has helped care for while we've been without a yard of our own.  First was the post and photo of the giant hosta that came up for the second year .  Then, yesterday, I posted about the peonies that look to be re-established after a rough first year. Today, you'll have to look hard at the photo above, but the green shoots sticking out amongst the scattered, dried Bald Cypress leaves/needles, are from our Hosta Venusta .   Last year, at the Elmhurst Garden Club Plant Sale, I picked up a fern and this miniature hosta .  It is billed as being one of the very few miniature hosta varieties that can actually be planted directly in the ground and come back each year.  I've had other miniature hostas before and they've never survived year-over-year - either in the ground or even in a pot that I brought inside our (unheated

Yesterday, I posted a photo of our foster-care hosta out in Naperville , but it isn't the only plant we have in my in-laws yard.  There are a few others including an Ostrich Fern, a miniature hosta and this peony plant above.  This peony plant was given to Nat by her Aunt from Tennessee, I believe and has it's roots in one of their Great Aunt's gardens from years ago.  Back in 2010, I posted this piece about these very ferns and their origin story . I've covered Nat's peonies over the years here on the blog.   You can see the full peony archive here . These are being fostered by Nat's mom and after being transplanted late in the summer in 2015, had a pretty rough year last year. Nat's mom is a pretty good gardener and thanks to her, we had these beauties survive.  We brought them over in the middle-of-summer heat (that's when we moved out!), and she got them in the ground and kept them wet as they tried to establish themselves.  I wasn't that

Spring time always brings some anticipation of watching our perennials breaking through the ground and beginning to show themselves.  Starting last year, that was occurring both at Equation Boy/Man's house (where we are living) and Nat's folk's house (where we had placed our orphan'd plants). I chronicled our orphaned hosta last year starting with their emergence and then followed up with a full glory photo later in the season. Recently, we were out in Naperville and I went to check out the fosters.  Sure enough:  they're coming back in year two.  Above, you can see the buds of the giant hosta emerging in the middle of the photo.   The smaller hostas as well as the ferns and peony plants are all coming up and I'll post about those soon. But, now the question becomes:  when do we move them?   This post indicates that there's 2 shots per year: early Spring and later in the Fall.  It looks like we'll miss the Spring window, but should we try in

Saw these at the taproom of the Solemn Oath Brewery out in Naperville on a recent visit.  Added to the Coaster Collection here on the blog.  By my reckoning, this marks the 14th coaster in the collection that you can see here . This isn't the first time I've written about the fine folks at Solemn Oath Brewery.   You can see all the posts here on the SOB tag page .

Along side Ariel and Flounder, that orange and white fish on the left is our new pet: Lucky.  Well...his name *might* be Lovie because the Savage calls her that, but everyone else calls her Lucky.  She's been living in this two gallon bowl for the past few weeks after being 'won' (can we call it that?) at the Naperville Rib Fest. This new 'pet' has, ummmm, been a source of disagreement around the family.  I've taken on the bulk of the burden of keeping her tank clean - which hasn't been super easy - but getting her at a carnival is a sort of 'loophole' that was exploited that I don't think was appreciated by senior leadership.  Add the fact that we've been out of our temporary home for five weeks and the burden has been shared across generations. Over the next few days, we'll transition her back to Elmhurst and if she survives the multiple water changes, the car ride and the change of locations, then she's far hardier that I exp

Earlier this Spring, I posted about our 'fostered' Ostrich Fern and giant Hosta that are currently being housed at my in-law's side/front/back yard (I don't know what to call it.  It is kinda all of those things:  the front, the side and the back.   Weird, I know, but if I showed you the area, it *might* make sense.)   Here's the post on the ferns .  And here's the post on the hostas . The good news is in that photo above.  I took that over recently when I checked in on them and gave them a little bit of water.  They look to be THRIVING, which has me excited.  We transplanted them late last year in late July/early August and they looked terrible.  The fern, in particular looked awfully wilted and I wasn't thinking it was going to come back.  But, these are hardy plants it seems.  And that means that I'm thinking if we're in a spot to transplant them as early as next Spring, they'll be ready to go.  And after they arrive, it won't take lon

That's a shot of Nat's Mom's backyard where she has a - now - pretty sizable stand of ferns.   They look really great.  But, what *exactly* are they?  Take a close look at the fern fronds below: They look A LOT like these that are called Ostrich Ferns, don't they? But, what about these ? They're labeled as Cinnamon Ferns.  They look pretty right on, too, don't they? I'm starting to think that we do, indeed, have Cinnamon Ferns after all.   This map shows where Ostrich Ferns are present in Illinois .  I think this indicates wild versions, but my hunch is that if they're that 'rare' in terms of presence, we don't have them.  But, at the same time, when I look at the photos of Cinnamon Ferns as they grow , they don't look like what we have.  Weird, right? And over at Dave's Garden, it sure seems like we have Ostrich Ferns after all?  Might need to bring one in to the University of Illinois Extension office for clarification?

Over the weekend, we stopped by the Crestview Garden Club Annual Plant Sale on St. Charles Road by York High School and despite the weather (it was cold!) we wandered through the selection and picked out a few plants. I wrote about the same plant sale three years ago here on the blog . This time, shopping was a little different because we don't have our own house right now.  So...we were there to buy some plants, but with a mind of either planting them to add something to my sister's yard or something that we can plant in Nat's Mom's garden with the hope of being able to transplant them next year or beyond. I went there seeking out a fern that I could plant here in Elmhurst and came away with two ferns:  one for my sister's yard (the one on the right) and one that we'll plant in Naperville (on the left).  The one on the right is listed as a ' Cinnamon Fern '.  Which...I think I've confused with Ostrich Ferns !  This is a pretty profound mom

Earlier this year, I came across this story in Full-Service Restaurant Magazine (yes...I occasionally read pizza trade outlets!) that spoke about how Sanfratello's was expanding in the Chicago area .  What struck me was that that this place that calls themselves the 'original Southside pizza' was crowing about how they were expanding to the 'Northside'.  The problem?  The new location is in Naperville.  Not *exactly* what I'd call the 'Northside', right?  Anyway...from the story: Sanfratello's Pizza, Chicago's original Southside pizza since 1969, announces its first north side location. The fifth location is company-owned and is celebrating its grand opening on March 30 at 1299 S. Naper Blvd. in Naperville. To celebrate the company's venture to the north, Sanfratello's is giving away two styles of Southside pizza—tavern style thin crust and pan. From 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on March 30, all carryout guests will receive a free small cheese t

Last week, I posted about the giant hostas that we transplanted over at Nat's parents' house during our move and mentioned that we also moved a few other items at the same time.  One of them is pictured above peeking out of the mulch:  my ostrich ferns. I dug up a few of these clumps of ferns and brought them over late last summer and Nat's mom found a nice shady spot for them to hang out.  I've split up these ferns in the past and had given a few to Nat's mom in the past, so having these come back and survive wasn't our top priority because I knew that we could always split up some of hers. But...when we were over there recently, I spotted the little green parts starting to poke through.   Here's a bunch of the posts about these same ferns over the years here on the blog and you can see how they kind of un-curl as they grow.   These things spread out and multiplied like crazy for me at 274, but how we got them is an interesting story.  Either the ol

...And thanks for all the fish. And - frankly - for the hospitality for my family on and off over the past few weeks.  We're glad to get resettled, but I'll admit, I'm a bit sad about leaving this place. At our current place, we rarely walk Maisy, rather, we just let her out into the back yard to 'do her business'.  But on Hamilton Lane, I put her on a leash and walked her down the block a few times a day.  And the best time was always at night when it was quiet and we could take in the lights of the neighborhood. Thanks to the Inn Keepers at Hamilton Lane for welcoming my nomadic tribe with welcome arms.