March 2019 – Mom's Guide to the Galaxy

Spring is here.

Spring is here. Life is skittles and life is beer.*

Gardenzilla and wood paver tiles in the new garden bed, eagerly awaiting strawberry plants

It’s gardening season! It warmed up a bit, so I was out at the hardware store last weekend buying dirt for the new garden bed. This is by far my easiest garden bed setup since I moved in – I’m repurposing an existing area that had rocks and the occasional weed. I started working on it in the fall, piling leaves there instead of paying to have them removed, then weighing them down with free mulch from the city. Early last week, as it warmed up, I stopped for some more city mulch, and was thrilled to find pine trees mulched into the pile. After several buckets, I was ready to add dirt, followed by some paving tiles down the center. I’ll need another set of paving tiles, so I can reach all of the strawberry plants I intend to add to the bed, but it’s off to a good start.

Garden storage cabinet and a yard cart — New outdoor storage

Also on Saturday, with some fairly significant assistance, my garden storage cabinet was assembled. The shed that came with the house was in questionable condition when I moved in, and is getting progressively worse: the roof that shows wear and tear on the outside, leaks and is growing mushrooms on the inside. On top of that, somebody created a smaller, secondary door in the hidden side of the shed during the winter. One of my goals for this year is to remove that shed, but in order to do that, I need someplace for my gardening tools to live. With the storage cabinet assembled and populated, the project is off to a good start.

*No pigeons were harmed while writing this blog post. Also, I don’t like beer.

Little Bohemia Restaurant

Every so often, after visiting Brookfield Zoo, we find ourselves wandering through Riverside looking for lunch. After last fall’s ZooRunRun, I had a particular restaurant in mind to re-visit, only to find we had arrived before they opened. A quick Google search turned up a nearby Bohemian restaurant that was already open, so we walked that direction. And almost walked past it… the door is tucked in, so we got to the window and had to take a few steps back once we verified that it was the right door.

It would have been a shame to miss this delightful restaurant. I meant to write about it back then, but other things came up and kept me busy. Then this Sunday, after wandering around Brookfield Zoo again, we specifically headed to the Little Bohemia Restaurant again. The inside is small enough to feel cozy without feeling cramped, allowing staff to keep an eye on diners’ needs without feeling like they’re hovering.

Bread basket, beef noodle soup, corned beef dinner, and a custard-filled donut — A full meal at the Little Bohemia Restaurant

But what about the food? We are talking about a restaurant, after all. We each ordered a dinner plate, which included soup, the entree with sides, and a dessert, along with a bread basket for the table. The portion sizes seemed right, most of us had just enough room for dessert after finishing our entrees, and it was all delicious. It was also surprisingly cheap – all that food came out to about $14 each. We will certainly be back.

As winter ends…

gardening season begins. We’ve hit 60 degrees already – though it’s about to drop again – and you’d better believe that I’ve been outside tending to my garden. I started with the new solar path lanterns that I picked up at Costco with my annual rebate, a perk that comes with having a Costco-branded credit card. They were actually a filler, my big rebate purchase was an outside storage cabinet that still needs to be assembled. I think the box doesn’t do the lights justice; they are way cooler when lit than I expected.

Solar lights with a sun pattern — Check out the cool sun pattern.

Then I set up the long overdue rain barrel in my back yard. I could have placed it by a gutter and installed a rain diverter, but realistically, I need it by my back garden beds, which are the furthest from the hose. It would collect more water attached to a gutter, but it wouldn’t be as useful. I started it off with a bit of water from the hose to weigh it down, to prevent it from blowing into the neighbor’s yard before it rains again. Conveniently enough, it rained on and off for the rest of the day, so it has some additional water supplementing what I started with.

As long as I was out there, I found myself pulling a few weeds and some plant remnants from last year’s garden. Soon, I’ll be out there regularly, trimming off the old dry mint to let the new growth peek through, and getting seeds into the ground. Spring is just around the corner, and not too long after the start of gardening season, we get grilling season.

The City of Lost Fortunes by Bryan Camp

Near the end of 2017, I reviewed The City of Lost Fortunes by Bryan Camp. In my notes about the book, I wrote “Not expecting a sequel, but would like to read more in this world.” To my delight, I recently received the next Crescent City novel, Gather the Fortunes. That review isn’t ready to share… OK, I haven’t finished writing it. But the second book was as delightful as the first, so here is the review I wrote about The City of Lost Fortunes for the February 2018 issue of Booklist. I highly recommend keeping an eye out for more fabulous writing by Bryan Camp.

Bryan Camp’s debut novel, The City of Lost Fortunes, fashions a supernatural world that barely hides on the fringe of society, manipulating the city of New Orleans. Six years after Hurricane Katrina, Jude Dubuisson is still struggling to control his magical ability to find lost things; it went haywire when the hurricane hit. The ability was somehow inherited from his father who was more than human; unfortunately, that’s all Jude knows about him. Having worked with the supernatural crowd before the hurricane, Jude is dragged back into that world by a debt owed to Dodge, the Fortune god of New Orleans, where he finds himself playing a poker game with rules, stakes, and (tarot) cards he doesn’t understand. The situation is aggravated by Dodge’s murder, which Jude is forced to investigate to avoid becoming the primary suspect. He’s fairly sure he didn’t do it, and hopes that investigating will clue him in to the rules and stakes of the ongoing poker game, assuming the dark presence that’s stalking him doesn’t kill him first. There isn’t a dull page as Jude determines who his real friends are and the extent of his abilities. Anne Rice fans will enjoy this fresh view of supernatural life in New Orleans, while fans of Kim Harrison’s urban fantasy will have a new author to watch.

For a good cause.

Frances with hair in February 2018 — Frances with hair (February 2018)

There are two charity events I try to participate in each year: the Hustle Chicago and the Brookfield ZooRunRun (or ZooRunWalk, as I call it). The Chicago Hustle is a stair climb, walking up the building formerly known as the John Hancock Center to raise money for lung disease research. In our case, we opt for the half climb, which is only 52 floors.

The Brookfield ZooRunRun is, not surprisingly, an event that supports Brookfield Zoo, one of the two large zoos in the Chicagoland area. It’s a 5k within the zoo, including along some paths that are normally restricted to zoo vehicles, before normally opening time. Some people show up wearing animal headbands or hats, or even in animal costumes, so you never know what you’re going to see as you walk or run the route through the zoo. It’s a lovely way to spend an autumn Sunday morning.

Less frequently, but just as eagerly, I sometimes participate in a St. Baldrick’s event. No, there isn’t really a saint named Baldrick; the event name came from merging “bald” – for how people look after shaving off their hair – and St. Patrick, because the first event was held at a St. Patrick’s Day party. Participants raise money for childhood cancer research by shaving their heads. (You don’t have to shave all of your hair off… but I think it’s more fun that way.)

This year will be my third time participating in a St. Baldrick’s event. The second time I did it, I had been at my job for under a year and only warned a couple people in my office that I was doing it. I have learned not to freak people out like that.

There are an assortment of creative and fun ways to give to various charities. And, as the founders of St. Baldrick’s proved, if there isn’t one, you can create one. In my case, that means three more weeks of hair keeping my ears warm, and then hats until spring finally arrives.