Green Gables & Dogs

Another short note. I shouldn’t start out with that comment as I have no idea what I am going to write about. But, I will try to keep this brief. Can’t have the editor slicing and dicing my blog or setting a word limit on me!

Had lunch today with a friend from high school. He was here from Chicago, visiting his mother – pulling weeds, painting the porch (in other words – working like a DOG). I don’t know about you but MOST dogs I know – don’t really work. They play, they eat, they potty, and they sleep. Why do dogs get all the credit for working? My daddy had dogs – now THEY worked – they were huntin’ dogs. But for the most part – dogs – and work???? I’m not seein’ it.

Anyway, when Jim called me at work to see if I could get away and go to lunch the only ‘rule’ was the restaurant couldn’t be a chain restaurant. AND he promised me he would leave the ‘bubble’. Now don’t be confused he doesn’t have a fiber bubble (therapy room). This reference to a bubble is entirely different than MY bubble. Jim was raised in Morningside (otherwise, generally, known as God’s Country). MOST people never leave Morningside and those who don’t – won’t even drive across the viaduct to shop or eat in Sioux City.

Morningside is an area of Sioux City. I guess they didn’t like the name East Side so they went with an uppity version of East Side…Morningside. Through high school I thought Morningside was a different city than Sioux City. I thought their mail was addressed: Morningside, IA. I actually remember the day I found out their mail came addressed Sioux City. If I hadn’t become friends with two kids in Morningside – who knows I might still, to this day, think Morningside was a city.

Back to lunch – we ate at Green Gables. Not a normal haunt for a Morningsider – but he did manage to find the place nonetheless. Green Gables is a Sioux City landmark – being in business since the 1920’s. Jim had a hot beef sandwich and gobbled it up before I had the salad dressing on my Custer Special! We had a great visit and evidently Jim had a great meal. The trademarks of the restaurant are matzo ball soup, hot fudge sundaes, slow service, and waitresses that worked there when my sisters were in high school. Weekday afternoons there are usually a couple of tables, in the back, filled with white haired Jewish ladies playing mahjongg.

Jim was on a mission to find Templeton Rye Whiskey. (Evidently very top shelf stuff) It is only sold in Iowa and Illinois. The distillery is in Templeton, IA and has been around since before prohibition. He told me he discovered it during a “brown liqueur taste testing party”. (don't ask) I would bet anything he will be driving through Templeton on his way back to Chi-Town!

I’m still working on the Mary Lee Fall Series – here is another one.
Mulberry Trees
~Base card – vanilla PaperTrey
~Layers of Orange then Brown card stocks then a layer of design paper
~The tree trunks are a tree stamp from the dollar bin at Michael’s. I stamped the trees, using brown ink, three times, then covered the leaves area with assorted mulberry papers. After the mulberry paper was dry and attached, I stamped over the top with the tree stamp using Versamark for a shadow of leaves.
~I stamped a ‘horizon’ under the tree trunks and tore the base card stock. This is attached to the card with dimensional – raising it up off the card – slightly.
~Assorted ribbon added last.
You can get up close with the card by clicking on the image.
All good wishes,
Nancy