Why I Oughta...

Back in 2011, we discovered the 'original' Pequod's Pizza up in Morton Grove.   I posted about it here on the blog . Nothing has changed at the place. But, plenty has changed on our side.  We went from a family of three to a family of five.  And we arrived in style in our minivan.  Yeah...that's right.  A van. I went with the usual sausage and pepperoni combo and it was delicious.  I have no idea what Nat and the kids ate because I was so focused on my part of the order and shoveling this tasty stuff into my piehole. Those of you who have been to the Pequod's in the city wouldn't be surprised by the pies dished out in Morton Grove.  They're basically the same.  But...for those of you who like to make pizza pilgrimages (like me!), the OG Pequod's is worth the trip.  Just to say you've been to the place where it all began. Look at that beautifully caramelized crust.  Burnt?  Not one bit. It wouldn't be a pizza post without the

I *think* this is the parking deck topping out over on Addison Street in the Elmhurst City Centre.  I was walking down Schiller across from the Jewel and took this photo as I walked up to the light. When I say topping out, I think this is the total height of the new structure.  But there's still plenty of work left to be done to finish the construction. Here's a post from June of this year showing a different angle .  And here is a post showing the beginnings of the construction back in early May 2015 .

For shame.  It wasn't until yesterday - July 21st - that I finally remembered to turn the wall calendars in my office over to July. On the left, the D23 Disney calendar is celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the opening of Disneyland.  On the right, the University of Illinois Alumni calendar has a photo of the plaza of Harker Hall.  ( Not too shabby for the #9 ranked public university in the country .  What what?!?! ) I - L - L... Anyway...back to the calendars. Here's the history so far this year: In June, I nailed it.   Turned on June 1st . Here's the post from May with the calendars . Took me until the 12th. March's post - where I turned them on the 11th. February post introducing the concept . On the 17th.

I tried to whip out my phone as fast as I could to try to snap a photo of these beautiful yellow and red Union Pacific passenger cars.  Those are them in the middle of the photo just behind the locomotive.  If you want to see them closer, click on the photo and I *think* a larger version will show up so you can zoom in a bit. These were in Berkeley and were sitting there north of the commuter tracks.  I haven't seen them before nor since, so it was a nice little treat to see! Based on snooping around the UP site, it appears that these might be part of the historical equipment program and based out of Lake Bluff.  There's a set of sleeper cars based there . From their site : No other railroad in this country has retained its historical equipment and honored its past like the Union Pacific. The preservation of its fleet speaks to the high value UP places on its heritage and its role in America's history. The fleet itself dates back to 1912, but most of the passe

Our little 'pear tree that could' is back this year with a plentiful bounty on it's limbs.  Here's a look at just some of the fruit that is hanging pretty low.  The branches are droopy with the weight of fruit clinging to them. Last year, I didn't post any shots of the tree or the pears because I *think* it didn't produce anything?  Do pear trees take the occasional year off?  Those of you who have been following along for a while might remember that this is the same tree that snapped in half back in a big storm in 2010.   Check out this photo showing how skinny it was and how it - at basically chest height - snapped the top off . And now it is this big, healthy, vibrant tree!  Pretty cool to see it come back to life.  Here's what the tree looks like today: Here's a post with a photo of the tree from 2013 .    Not sure how much it has grown, but it is filled out a bit.  Hopefully the tree will pay dividends for some new folks for years to co

One of the varieties that I planted this year (that I've never tried before) is this Indigo Rose.   I posted about it back in May when I put them in the ground .  The first fruits are starting to be produced it it shouldn't be long before they're harvestable.   The bottoms have to turn from green to red, but the tops are looking a beautiful purple!

Our little blueberry bush is starting to throw off fruit this summer.  Mind you...not A LOT of it, but a handful of berries are ripe now and more are coming in soon.   The plant isn't doing as well as it did last year - see the post here - but I think the birds have gotten to some of the fruit this year. This year has been bad for just about all of our garden.  I haven't been tending to it as close to other years, but I've noticed that while the pumpkin vines are going crazy, the tomatoes are struggling.  Anyone else feel like their tomatoes are lagging behind other years?  Is is the lack of heat?