Why I Oughta...

Just a bit less than a month ago, I posted this photo of our radish seedlings popping up in our center vegetable bed.  Yesterday, I started to pull them up and we got a mixed bag.  Some really nice, plump, beautiful pink/round beauties.  And some skinny-minnies that are the result of bolting (I think?). This was the first year I grew radishes and they were VERY easy from seed.  They are an early crop, so can be replaced by things like Pumpkins and lettuces I would think.  I'm not sure I'm going to put anything in the space these were in this year, though.

News this morning that the City of Elmhurst has approved a program that will start to share the cost of the installation of check valves in resident's homes to help stem the tide of flooding and sewage backups that seem to be pretty common with any sort of heavy rain that comes to town. There are some stipulations to the assistance including a mandatory detaching of any rainwater systems with the sanitary sewer, but that is a small price to pay to have your basement free of sewage, I suppose. Residents of Elmhurst who want to keep sewage out of their homes during large storms can apply to have the city share the cost of a flood-improvement device called a check valve.   The program, which city officials hope will help ease flooding and prevent sewage overflow into homes, was approved July 1.   Building Commissioner Bruce Dubiel said residents can apply for the check-valve program, which will pay up to half the cost of the valve up to $3,000 per homeowner. Kudos to the M

We couldn't have had a better time over the weekend at Ravinia for David Byrne.  We went up there with Nat's family and if every trip to Ravinia was like this one, I would LOVE going there to see shows.   We parked right near the main gate (we didn't arrive to a bit after six pm, so we weren't super early birds), the weather was just right (not too hot), there wasn't an opener (David Byrne went on really close to 7:30) and he didn't play forever (we were home by 10:30). From the looks of the place, I wasn't the only one enjoying myself.  There were more people standing up to dance at this show than most of the other ones I've been too.  I guess the CSO doesn't give you much to dance too (and the susher's wouldn't have it anyway, right?!). I took this photo above (click on it to get the full feel) and while it is doing some weird things (like cutting Ryan's head off - guy in red in foreground), it gives you a feel for the night. Lo

Found via this DudePerfect punting video is this gem of a shirt . "I want to see some punting footage!  Punting XO!  He's not a punter.  He's a weapon!" Here's the story of my punting career - as a player with the Illinois Fighting Illini in the late 1990's and then as a coach with the Elmhurst Bluejays in Division III .  

Part of our typical weekend routine during the Spring/Summer is to try to stop at a few garage sales.  Sometimes, Nat and the girls are with me, sometimes not.  Usually, there's nothing to be had at them as we either arrived too late or there is nothing but junk, but on a rare occasion, I find something that I like and is priced right.  This weekend was one of those times.  I found two pieces of Milk Glass: this bud vase and a weird circular hobnail pattern taper candle holder.  The bud vase was marked $0.25 and the other piece was $4.00.  We went home with this pretty little vase, but I couldn't decide on the other one, so I left it behind. She's a real beaut!

It was just two weeks ago that I planted the Dahlia Tubers in one of our planters and when I peeked at them yesterday morning, I saw that some of them are already popping up.  They're hanging on one of the low sections of our fence and are getting a ton of sun.  With all the rains that have come down lately, they've been getting well feed too, it seems. We gave a set of Dahlia tubers to my mother-in-law about the same time so I'm hoping that her's are popping up as quickly as ours have.

Back in June of 2010, our little pear tree snapped in half during a big storm.   Here's the sad photo of it being cracked off at about 4 feet tall.  I didn't have much hope for it to survive, but we left it in the ground. By September of 2010, the tree showed some life and started to have shoots coming off the cracked trunk.   Photos of that growth here . This year?  Well...it hasn't stopped and now is in the running for the tallest tree in our backyard.  Here is how it looked this morning. And the pears?  They're starting to come in. Come September, I'm thinking we'll have some fruit to pick.