Things like this make me wonder if we as a society are truly falling apart. In Costco, somebody (or maybe 3 people) opened a box of oatmeal, pulling one of the inside packets halfway out then leaving it like that. Nearby was something that had been taken from the freezer and left on a shelf, as well as a used spoon and paper cup, discarded after eating the sample. Apologies for the poor quality photo. My phone doesn’t have a very good camera.

We’ve had a fun visit with Mom and Dad this weekend. Here they are sitting in the backyard during cocktail hour We have some new yard art. Comments so far include “I would have thrown that away,” “You’re going to make the place look like Sanford and Son,” and an encouraging “That looks really good there.” The junk collector / garden artist extraordinaire’s reply: Throwing it away would have been a mistake. And Sanford and Son may just be the look I’m going for! After dinner tonight we went to Millenium Park. Even after dark and by the lake it…

We didn’t have a lot of cherry tomatoes, so our first crop this summer is the beefsteak tomato variety, and the heirloom variety. We’re having tomatoes for dinner! Check out this crazy heirloom tomato, with lines in the skin and an almost purple color. We already had one of these, it was really delicious. Very tender flesh with very little seedy / watery part.

I thought we’d start out on a new blog address with a picture of Liam’s new haircut. He even got some gel called “hair glue” for the front!

Liam and Miles had their last day at LPCC last Friday, and the day finished with performances by each of the groups. Here’s Liam’s group pushing him in the parade float, and Liam dancing with the other junior counselors. I filmed most of Miles’s show and a very small bit of Liam’s before the flip camera batteries gave up. Enjoy! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF_f_isSZN4] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuzgtqsNOE0]

This is the second in an unlimited photo series of animals relaxing around our house. (The carpenter’s dog Iggy asleep on our couch was the first.) What is this squirrel thinking, that it’s part cat or something? Speaking of cats, there is a cat who likes to sleep on our table in the back yard. I’ll try to get a picture for the series 🙂

One interesting thing I saw at UIUC was the Morrow Plot. This plot of corn has been continuously studied for over 100 years, and is right on campus. A few years ago when they wanted to build a new undergraduate library next door to the plot, they couldn’t because the building would cast a shadow over the corn. So they built the entire library UNDERGROUND! So now it’s the underground undergraduate library!

Here’s a view of the garden at the end of July. See the little flashes of red on the left side? I thought those were weeds and pulled some out earlier this summer, which I now regret because they’re really nice. I’ll know next year!

Back by popular demand! For some reason our basement picture disappeared, here it is back again

Liam had a chill birthday weekend, will plays, sleepovers, and a move with a friend.  We ended it up with a lovely evening out in the backyard playing his gift from Miles (Heist) and his gift from us (Pandemic)