winter blahs

Winter's beginning to seem endless here in Chicago, as it usually does toward the end of February.

Last weekend my hubby and I headed to the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago. It was a sunny day and the park is huge, warm and full of flowers. The first one was in the cactus room. The darker green riged plant is called "Fairy's Washboard" which I found totally delightful. It is most likely put to good use by all of the fairies that live in the mossy grottos in the nearby fern room.

The azalea show is going on and the show room was awash with color.

After we left the conservatory it was warm enough to have a picnic in the car (big salads full of spring greens).

Then we drove on to the nearby, much smaller but equally delightful, Oak Park Conservatory.


The Oak Park Conservatory greeted us with huge amaryllis plants in glorious bloom. Their middle room is home to some friendly birds (as long as fingers don't approach the cages too close!). I like to sit and visit with one who will sit and chat nicely with me. A parrot on the other side of the room gets stuck on "hello," which the visiting teens loved.

I haven't done much in the way of stitching--I've been recharging my batteries. Over the weekend I realized I was putting off stitching on Peter's sampler and decided that the top motifs, four squirrels, just seemed like too much counting for me. They're pretty spaced out. So I decided to be flexible (hah!) and I began with the second row, a row of double herringbone. That gives me a better basis for counting and working the squirrels.

I was home with the flu yesterday and when my brain finally woke up a bit, I spent some happy hours with the new issue of Fiber&Stitch. It's full of really interesting projects. Mostly I slept. Hopefully I'll have the gumption to stitch again soon.