Play Ball!!!

Ben and I are quite thrilled that baseball season is once again under way. We're just not into other sports and the six months when there is no baseball are arguably the coldest, dreariest months of the year, so baseball also signals that spring (and warmer weather) may soon be back. As for that warmer weather... it sure hasn't materialized here. The thermometer seems to be stuck in the 40s.

On Friday we attended our first ever opening day for baseball, being totally converted Brewers fans at this point (yes, I think I will root against my beloved Reds when they play the Brewers this week). We've had opportunities to go to opening day in the past, but knew that the crowd would be different than a regular game day, namely drunker. Not being fans of drunken fans, we hadn't gone. Plus we really don't get the hours of tailgating that they do beforehand in these parts and the thought of showing up hours in advance just to get a parking spot wasn't thrilling either. But we decided to give it a try and hoped that the weather would be decent enough to allow us to ride our bikes to the ballpark.

Well... the weather was clear. But it was cold. About 40 degrees and windy. I think that is probably the coldest day that I have ever been on a bike and willfully riding around outdoors (so cold at times that my eyes teared up). But it worked really well to ride the 5 miles or so to the park and pull right up to racks along Friday's, aside from drunken people yelling at us from cabs and Ben getting his tired kicked by someone post-game.

The good news was that opening day actually felt like a BREWERS game. We had tickets again yesterday (yes, Easter Sunday evening game, an ESPN Sunday night baseball game in Milwaukee, the first in 12 years), and at least half the crowd were Cubs fans. It's not fun to be buying coffee to warm up during the game, hearing screaming, and wondering whether that means something good for your team or the opponents. I don't so much dislike the Cubs so much as the fact that their fans are way too numerous in our stadium. You're supposed to have a home field advantage!

We've been present for some pretty notable (and rather dubious) highlights already:

1. The Hot Dog had a bit too much to drink before the game on Opening Day. How else do you explain falling down at the end of the race?



2. A come-from behind win on opening day, 4-3, final!

3. Reed Johnson robbed Prince Fielder of his first grand slam last night. (MLB needs to get with embeddable video. Really this was an amazing play, even if the difference would have meant a Brewers win.)

4. Brewers pitching walked in 4 straight runs to the Cubs last night. Apparently this has been done only 9 times since 1969; twice within the last five days (Braves vs. Atlanta last week and Brewers vs. Cubs last night). Not fun to watch. What the heck is up with Suppan? And who is going to step up? Hopefully Gallardo will get it going tonight!

I hope you all enjoyed your Easter and that you have time to enjoy a little baseball as well. Sewing updates to come later, I hope (time to go catch the game for an inning or two).

Fall Weekend, Birthday & Brew Crew

It's been a fun and exciting weekend here in Wisconsin. I'd purposefully scheduled some relaxing and fun activities, because when one turns another year older, I think it makes it a bit easier to forget that fact.

Yesterday, Ben and I started the day off by going to Barthel Fruit Farm to pick apples. We picked three bushels of Cortland in practically no time at all. I'm going to make some into sauce and perhaps a cranberry/apple crisp or two, but most are slated to be turned into "Apple Pie in a Jar," when Mom comes out in two weeks. While at Barthel's, we also picked up a few pears to eat, a package of Galas, a package of ginormous Pippins to turn into a fresh baked pie, plus four nice-sized pumpkins for seasonal decorating.

We headed from the orchard to Azana salon in Brookfield where I treated myself to a 50-minute massage with the gift certificate Ben gave me last Christmas. It was wonderful; I have some money left on the gift card and should schedule another soon before the holidays come around again. The two of us followed this up with lunch at Le Cakery in Elm Grove, where I had my favorite: BLT salad and we split a tasty Turtle Brownie.

Then it was off to the farmer's market in West Allis where I snapped up two huge and beautiful mums before they were gone. We also bought some Roma tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, basil, lettuce, mixed sweet peppers, potatoes, two more bunches of Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena) for drying, and I think probably some other things that I've forgotten. I have to admit that I love the farmer's market and am sad that it will soon be dying down. I'll definitely be heading there next weekend and every weekend I can because I know the end is near. I was seriously tempted by the beautiful squashes but am waiting another week or two because I know they'll have a deal soon where I can mix/match in a basket for a really good price.

We came home and I took a few minutes to arrange the decorating purchases in front of the house. Here's a photo taken this morning. The straw came from the farmer's market last week. Good thing I got it then: I didn't see any this week. And it won't totally go to waste; I figure I can put it on the garden before the first snow (which I won't even want to think about).

Then it was off to the Brewers game at Miller Park. They made it to the postseason for the first time since 1982 and everyone here was really pumped up about it. The atmosphere in the park was electric and I am very glad to have had the opportunity to experience it. We had amazing seats in the Terrace Box level, pretty much right at third base. (Unfortunately, my camera died so I got only a few few photos - including the one above of the lineup for both teams.) I was crossing my fingers for a Brewers win because it would mean another game - one on my birthday - and I've always wanted to go to one on my birthday (the only way for this to happen, however, is for the team I follow to make it to the postseason). Yesterday's game was nerve-wracking, but they pulled it off, and it was just amazing to be a part of the crowd afterwards. People were making tons of noise, waving the free towels they provided at the door, high-fiving, chanting, etc. all the way to the parking lots.

Tam and Steve came to the ball game with us today (here I am with Tam). We got pastries on the way to the stadium from Cranky Al's (and a hazelnut latte that will beat Starbucks any day). It was great to go with our friends and spend time catching up with them. While the end result was unfortunate (the Brewers lost 6-2 and have been eliminated), it was awesome to be able to go and to experience the crowd and baseball again for one more day. And I can now say I've gone to a baseball game on my birthday!

Post-game, I opened some generous gifts from family members. Ben and I played a game of cribbage (he didn't even let me win on my birthday!) and finished reading the Sunday paper that we couldn't read this morning because we left for the ballpark so early to get parking (it's also raining outside, so no more outdoor activities today).

Tonight holds in store some pasta with fresh sauce and, I believe, just a wee bit of sewing.

What a wonderful weekend!

Four Seasons Quilt Swap - Sneak Peak

Yes, I finally began the process of moving from idea to reality for my Four Seasons Quilt Swap. Time is running out and I still have a good amount to go, but I am also showing this picture of the quilt where it stood somewhat earlier in the course of the day than when I left off last evening. Betcha can't guess what my main topic might be? I'm not sure I'll give many more sneak peaks because anything more will give a lot away. Gotta have this done and in the mail by two weeks from Thursday. I do think this will be doable, although I will be putting in some significant hours very soon.

Haven't done a whole lot of sewing over the past week because we had to take care of all of the cherries that we picked while we were in Ohio. Free cherries off my Grandma's tree. How perfect! Cherry jam is my favorite - second only to raspberry! But I have learned the important lesson that 5 gallons of unpitted cherries is a LOT of cherries. A one gallon tub stuffed to the top with the lid on is enough - pretty much exactly - to make a double batch of jam. Three double-batches and 39 jars of cherry jam later, and we were pooped. And still had 2 gallons of cherries to deal with! We opted to pit them, add sugar, and bag them for the freezer so we can enjoy them over the course of the winter. If anyone has any good recipes for sour cherries, I'd love to hear about them!

Probably not too much quilting this week as we're hosting a small All-Star Game party tomorrow night. My favorite player - Corey Hart - was voted in as the final player. Don't ask how many times I voted (I couldn't actually tell you, but it was a lot!). We also had fun this past weekend going to two games between the Brewers and the Reds. It's getting really tough for me to go to those games - I can't root against the Reds, but I want to root for the Brewers because they need to keep up with the evil Cubs and Cardinals. Unfortunately, the Brewers lost both of the games we went to and I still didn't see Ken Griffey, Jr. hit a home run (although I did see Adam Dunn hit two in one game).