Rae Loren

@aspwriter85

Home cook, data engineer, transit geek, Chicagoan, and mom x2

450 Folgt1.092 Follower2.215 Posts

YouTube Bluesky

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Rae Loren@aspwriter85· 16d

I found a tomato hornworm today! I feel like a real gardener now!

A photo of a vibrant green caterpillar. It has a huge head and a vivid green body with light white stripes, and a sharp yellow spike on its "tail". Its not very big, and is clinging to a small tomato stalk.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· 19d

The neighbor dog is inside, the smoke is gone, and King George is enjoying his morning walkies.

A photo of a dapper black and white tuxedo cat. His pale aquamarine eyes are in slots snd hes sitting on my lap. We are outside and theres kids chairs and a patio in the background of the photo.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jul 12

My ramp is blooooming!

A photo of a ramp bloom. Its a group of tiny yellowish white flowers on a single stem.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jul 12

Big mad cat staring me down.

A cat stares out a glass door onto a brick landing. He is a black and white tuxedo and is quite dapper. Hes annoyed at beinf stuck inside.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jul 11

"Paint me like one of your French girls"

A photo of a dapper tuxedo cat laying on red and white papers in the sun. Hes looking over his shoulder and is a handsome boy.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jul 11

Big mistake. Cat now ONLY wants to go outside. Hes sitting by the back door crying to go out

A photo of a handsome tuxedo cat. His underside is white and his top side is black. His nose is mostly black with a shard of white. He's sitting on brick stairs and wearing a leash.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jul 9

These grocery stores are playing. Small shampoo/conditioner -both 13.5ozs, on sale for .40 cents an Oz. ($5.49 for 13.5 ozs) Big size- about the same price, $13.99 for 32.8 ozs - 41c an Oz. Two pack marked - BUY 2 AND SAVE - 2 13.5 Oz containers for 17.99 - 66.6 cents an Oz!

A photo of a variety of Herbal Essence Shanpoos and conditioners with digital pricing. Some are labeled "NEW" and "price drop!". They are different sizes and have a variety of prices.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jul 9

Also very coop light pole!

A photo of a light pole. The pole has a highly decorative ornate floral design. Its dark black iron and beautiful.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jul 8

A Chicago Y in the wild!

A photo of the Chicago Y on a light post. The picture is zoomed in. The traffic post is glossy black. As defined by city code, it consists of a Y shape inscribed inside of a circle. The symbol represents the north, south, and main branches of the Chicago River, and their confluence at Wolf Point. It was designed by Danish-born architect and civil engineer Alfred J. Råvad (Roewad). Its earliest known appearance was in 1892 for a contest to design the city's flag held by the Chicago Tribune. While this was ultimately not used for the flag, in 1917 it was officially adopted along with the flag and seal as symbols of the city of Chicago. [Additional info from Wikipedia!]

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jun 26

Most of its im boxes now but I need a bigger box for my Bayeaux Tapestry book. Halley's Comet!

A photo of a book yhats a high detailed picture of the Bayeaux Tapestry. The page shows an embroidered Halleys Comet in thr top panel and a tower and some people in the middle. There are boats In the lowest panel.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jun 23

Kiddo made a house around the cat using a box the way cats use them.

A photo of a black and white cat coming out of a box on its side. A sign hangs covering most of the opening of the box with childish handwriting, the sign says 'KING GUSSY' IN HEAVY Blue marker. The teat of the sheet of paper is filled with hearts and stars. In front of thr box is a pile of stuffies - minnie squashmallows, trolls, and peppa pig.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jun 21

Here it is pre packing.

A photo of a table nicely set with a beautiful blue tablecloth and matching napkins with a colorful boquet of flowers in a purple vase. Behind it is a big, ornate china cabinent. The front has 4 panels of windows tall, narrow windows and the outer two have a pretty gold pattern. The top of the cabinent is ornate and curvy Wood.

A photo of two ceramic tea sets. One set is turquoise cups with a squat matching tea pot. The other is red with yellow sun colored detaol. The red tea pot is tall and narrow.

Another photo of a red ceramic tea pot and cups and saucers. The cups are displayed leaning against the back of the china cabinent and they look like 4 yellow and red suns.

A photo of prettily displayed blue willow. The dinner plates are upright leaning against the back of the cabinent and the saucers and cups are side by side so the pattern is visible.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jun 21

Packing the china cabinent today while the kids are out.

A photo of a stack of boxes. There are about 6 packed up and two are open and filled with packing paper. Theres a few bookshelves in the background.

A photo of a tavle filled with flat sheets of paper and aome chockys, includ8ng a dr. Who dalt shaker and a snowman neating doll and a santa neating doll. In The background is a china cabinent. Thr doors are open and two thirds of the shelves are empty. One of the empty shelves has some crocheted lace on it.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jun 13

Saw this pretty building at a park!

A pretty park house. Its a squat brick building with two windows and a door. Each window and the doorway have a patterned brick archway. In the upper left of the building theres a bigger block that says, "Boys"

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jun 12

I am super excited because I planted some Ramps from the super market a month ago and one is alive and has a flower bud.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jun 11

Got a better close up look this morning. I think maybe it was rotted out - not lightening.

A picture of a tree with a giant limb broken off. The wood is twisted and bent. Some of the wood is blackened but there are visible roots of other plants that may have been growing in the hollow.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jun 11

Lots of trees down this morning. I hope things get cleaned up. Theres another big storm expected today.

A photo of a tree ripped off of its roots, nestled on top of two cars. The branch has fallen in such a way that it crosses the hood of 1 car and the trunk of another. It also fully crosses and blocks the street. The base and roots of the tree remain in the ground.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jun 10

Pic of it.

A slightly blurry photo of a tree. The tree has been split st onr if itd core branches. New wood is visible directly next to black wood and then moss covered wood.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jun 10

Thanks to bluesky I have newly learned about the lovely Catalpa - only to find one just around the bend!

A photo of a huge mature catalpa. Its blooms have already fallen but the leaves are a vivid green and magnificent. It stands tall and proud.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jun 9

I can't stop thinking about how pretty this little patch is.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· Jun 4

Tree from very low angle. Chicago 2024.

A photo of the underside of the canopy of a tree with very green leaves. A few powerless cross the frame and the sky is milky blue.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· May 31

Does anyone know anything about this building or its history? It caught my eye and looks so cool! #Chicago #ChicagoArchitecture

A photo of a building where the door is at the corner. The facade is tile - buttery yellow with a minty green trim and gold highlights. It looks very in the style of art deco.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· May 28

Love this City What a perfect (if a bit chilly) day today !

A picture of downtown Chicago, taken from the north end of a lagoon. Downtown is far enough away that the skyscrapers from the loop are the same height as the trees along the edge of the lagoon. There are high wispy clouds but the sky is mostly blue. The lagoon is deep greens and browns, reflecting clearly the trees and skyline.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· May 25

Endless lake today

A picture of Lake Michigan from the shore. A smattering of beach toys are in the foreground and a life guard bost is rowing in the water midway out from the shore. The sky is powder blue and endless and the water is a deeper shade of beachy blue.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· May 12

Can't find a trend but this map SURE LOOKS LIKE SOME OTHER MAPS I HAVE SEEN A LOT OF. constructioncoverage.com/research/cit...

A map of where the most new homes are being built. Idaho is the darkest. Florida, Texas, new Mexico, the Carolinas, Nevada and Arizona are darkly colored - indicating a high rate of construction.

Illinois, California, and New York are all lightly colored.

Idaho leads - building at 2x the rate of the use average.

Source: Construction Coverage analysis of U.S. Census Bureau’s Building Permit Survey and Population and Housing Unit Estimates data | Image Credit: Construction Coverage
While housing construction has slowed in much of the country, some states and metropolitan areas continue to permit new homes at a significantly faster pace than others. In 2024, the national rate of new housing authorization stood at 10.1 units per 1,000 existing homes—down from 11.7 in 2022. Only 13 states saw an increase in the number of new housing units authorized compared to two years prior.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· May 12

They cut down a tree at the local park. I suspect it was diseased based on what was left behind - but it looks really cool.

Cut off wood stump fills the frame. There are a lot of cracks and inconsistent patterns in the wood. The central core looks like a wobbly sliced pizza. The wood is very pale.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· May 12

Said rock, that he now wants to take to bed.

A photo of a smooth, round, flat rock about the size of my open hand. Its painted a very dark green and thetes texture on the rock from clumsily applied paint.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· May 10

Got a Pope cookie at Bennison's!

A photo of a sugar cookie with a photo transfer of Pope Leo on it. There are red, gold, and white cookie sprinkles around the edge.

In the photo, the Pope has a decorative embroidered scarf and a red cloak.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· May 10

Saw this cool @chicagocta.bsky.social retro sign while out an about the other day. I love the speed streaks on the CTA text. I had a shirt from the cta store with this logo on it and it was my favorite shirt.

Rae Loren@aspwriter85· May 9

Have a whole slew of these beauties in the yard.