Staying at monasteries is becoming something of a habit. First in France, then in Indiana.   Now in Chicago. It is definitely not in a touristy area of Chicago, but in an interesting neighborhood with good restaurants and coffee shops nearby.

The apartment we stayed in is actually a part of the church. Would you like a tour?

The little square windows (beneath the edge of the roof/gutter) are one of the bedrooms and the small dining area

 and the living room window is part of the fire escape.

Through the locked gate and the HUGE wood door on the right,

up a steep set of stairs, passing a reminder not to go into unauthorized areas, 

up another set of stairs, past the table on the landing where breakfast is placed each morning, 

and into an apartment that has 3 comfortable bedrooms,

a dining area,

a kitchenette,

a cozy living room,

and a large bathroom with a shower and many little amenities, like wonderfully soft towels,

iron and ironing board, and make-up remover towelettes.

But the best thing about this B&B? The breakfasts. OMG, THE BREAKFASTS!

This, and the free parking, make this B&B one of the best deals in Chicago. I can't wait to go back.

Wanna Play Post Office?

Apparently the Post Office took postal crimes seriously in the early '90s. I found this booklet at work.

I didn't realize postal inspectors packed that kind of heat.

Your best caption for this picture would be...?

Old Dog, New Trick

Have you heard of the Russian Join? I recently learned it in order to join 2 very different colors. Works like a charm.

I also think this may be a good way to join the fibers like cotton, silk, linen, etc., that one can't spit-splice.

This was my effort.

How do you join yarns when the yarn is not made with animal fiber?

Summary

Did you use CliffNotes in high school? I have to admit that I did, especially when the assignment was either a Steinbeck or a Hemingway book. (One day, I shall make up for all the books I didn't read in high school.) I specifically remember purchasing the CliffNotes for The Old Man and The Sea. (Kids now-a-days have it so easy! Now many CliffNotes are free, come with apps and/or have audio summaries! Magical thing, the internet.)

In law school, we used similar types of products. Especially helpful when you had 100+ pages of reading for preparation for each class was a product that distilled the main cases into easy, one-page summaries.

The next couple of posts are going to be like those summaries. There's much to share with you, but much of it happened awhile ago. So rather than an in-depth commentary, it will just be a summary. Hopefully an interesting summary.

So I'll start back in January when our knitting guild hosted the SavvyGirls, Deborah and Melanie. We went shopping at a number of St. Vinny's Stores, then to Monty's Blue Plate Diner for lunch before heading out of town to Blackberry Ridge Woolen Mill for a tour, then stopping for more fiber-liciousness at The Cat and Crow. It was a joy to be their tour guide for the day. Melanie performed her knitting musical, "More Power to Your Knitting, Nell" and they jointly spoke at our Guild meeting. Hopefully, they'll come back to the Madison area again - even though they weren't sure where the heck WI, much less Madison, was located. Holey moley!

If you haven't heard their podcast - go listen...I'll wait.