Christkindl Markt Chicago

Arianna, her class and the 8th graders ventured down to Daley Plaza to the Christkindl Market. Since Sharon is currently not teaching, she volunteered to chaperon. 

Unlike last year when I accompanied the kids, the weather was decidedly Spring-like. Hardly worthy of a mug of gluhwein or cocoa.

Black Forest Cuckoo Clocks . . .

Weihnachtsbaum . . .

Arianna and the coveted "boot" . . .

Sharon's charges: Peyton, Candy, and Arianna . . .

21.11.25

Henry August Herman Rudorf
geb. November 25, 1921

Make hay while the sun shines

Off work for the Thanksgiving holiday. Since the weather is warmer than one might expect for November - temps in the low 50's - I've been able to complete year end tasks and work with Arianna to string Christmas lights at the front of the house. Although she had wanted to string the lights, she quickly discovered that additional height is required. Maybe next year, I'll be discerning bulb placement and taking snapshots.

Invitation

Arianna recently received an invitation to be my Goddaughter's prayer partner. Lorelei is in second grade and will be making her First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion in the Spring.

Dance of victory

St. Catherine's GVB team won third place this evening, by beating St. Mary's Elgin. 

The consolation round need not have been the teams bracket, but St. Peter's edged them out of championship contention last night. Despite healthy leads in both games last night, mistakes undermined the girls' confidence, which led to . . . more errors. St. Peter's fought back in both games, eventually winning 2-0.

Last night's game seemed to have a lasting effect on the team as they began very tentatively tonight. At one point they were down by 7 points. In time the girls warmed up and won both games by very small margins, game one was 25 to 22 and game two was 25 to 23. It could've gone either way. Some exciting play by both teams.

But only one team can win . . .

The seventh grade contributors . . . Peyton, Arianna, and Bridget.

Bruno "cuts a rug" with Coach M. after the game.

First snow

Working from home because I caught a cold. And an apple a day is supposed to achieve what?!?

Put up the bird feeders (yes, I take them down to prevent the raccoons from feeding from and fighting for them throughout the night) and then grabbed the camera to take a few snap shoots. Not a lot of snow, really. But, enough to make us aware of what's coming, right?

Mouse ear coreopsis. A bit of late blooming gold peeks out from beneath a snow covered leaf . . .

The wind storms over the weekend caught pieces of the hickory bark.

Frozen . . .

Holly . . .

Shasta daisy . . .

On cold morning like today, you'd think Arianna would "bulk up" -- enjoy a bowl of oatmeal, perhaps. But no. How does Arianna spell Break of Champions?

N U T E L L A . . .

With banana and on French bread . . . .

Upset!

The seventh place St. Catherine of Siena Girl's Volley Ball team beat the second place St. Lawrence Tigers tonight, two games to three. The Spartans advance to the next round of play in the single-game elimination, end-of-year tournament, hosted at St. Thomas More.

On a snowy night in the Fox River Valley, tears flowed from the Tiger girls as an unbelieving Spartan team quickly exited the gym and met with their coach. Coach M. noted that the lackluster season could've been more like Sunday's win against the St. Peter Rockets and tonight's win against the Tigers.

Whether the girls' focus and attitude prevail on Wednesday night is anybody's guess. But, the surprising turn of events has everybody excited.

Happy Birthday, Sharon!

 Grrr . . .

After dinner, cake!

Silliness . . .

and invariably at bedtime.

Dumbfounded

Incomprehensible. 

Roman Catholics voting for Obama? 

Millions of unemployed voting for Obama?

Really?

From Alexis de Toqueville . . .

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.”

“I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run.”

“Americans are so enamored of equality; they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.”

“Democracy extends the sphere of individual freedom, socialism restricts it. Democracy attaches all possible value to each man; socialism makes each man a mere agent, a mere number. Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.”

Hope you can swim . . .

Election Day 2012

Although I haven't been to take advantage of my ability to work from home two days a week, with the weather predicted to be wet, I decided to do so today. This is the first time the entire family went to the voting booth together.

Thumb's up from Arianna: A Romney victory to send the anti-Catholic, anti-Christian, campaigner in chief back to Hyde Park. 

What's this? Arianna voted twice?!? Well, Mr. Obama would approve of the ol' Chicago machine approach wouldn't he?

Proof positive . . . our 2012 access code . . .

Wall

A strategy to deter deer from the new fruit trees has been a preoccupation of mine for nearly a year. My approach is mixed. The new berm on the east side of "the orchard" with its cotoneasters is one deterrent  as is field stone wall I started building yesterday and worked on more today.

Although a dry-stack limestone wall to match the retaining wall would be ideal, I can't afford it. So, why not use the resources available to me? For three or four years now I've been piling the rocks I pull from the garden. These "cairns" are points of interest in the perennials beds that I would prefer to not be completely without, but they just might do the intended job. 

Time will tell.

The goal is to be able to remove the fencing around the fruit trees. After hauling rocks from various points in the yard, I recognize that it'll take work to get to the wall to a suitable height and depth.