Why I Oughta...

A few weeks ago, I took the girls to the local "My Favorite Toy Store" in the Elmhurst City Centre where we picked up a few things including a butterfly project.  For twenty-ish bucks, you get a mesh cage and a coupon that you send away for caterpillars.  This was going to be a project for me and the Babe, my oldest daughter. We dutifully filled out the coupon and send it away.  This weekend, the Babe received a box in the mail and when she opened it, she found a sealed cup with five or six tiny caterpillars in it with some peanut-butter-looking stuff at the bottom. Once we opened up the box, the instructions said to set the cup upright in a place that is 68 to 75 degrees out of direct sunlight.  At first, these little guys didn't move at all.  They seemed to be stuck in place.  They must be kept in some setting that keeps in a place close to hibernation which ends after the box arrives, I would think.  A few hours of sitting on our counter, they started to move.

I have news for you folks:  We're 100ish days until Halloween and that means it is time to get your pumpkin/gourd seeds into the ground.  Based on the package, I'm actually a bit late, but with some care, I think I can get these guys up to speed.  Since we're not eating any of the pumpkins/gourds I'm growing, I have no problem giving them a feeding or two of fertilizer to get the fruits nice and big. I have planted these in a totally different part of our yard.  Totally separate from our vegetable garden both because of the above mentioned fertilizer, but also because of the bugs that these things draw.  I want to be able to use some Seven on them if I need to and (although it says it is safe for vegetables that are being eaten), I prefer to not do that on the rest of our plants/fruits. Having not grown this type of swan-neck gourd in the past, I have no idea how successful we'll be, but I figured it would be nice to have a few of these around come fall.

That is all.

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 .