Good Morning From Galena Illinois!

Yesterday, we drove 2 1/2 hours west of where we live in McHenry, Illinois to Galena, Illinois for the weekend.  We always come to Galena for Labor Day weekend.  Unfortunately, it rained all day yesterday so walking up and down Main street was not quite as much fun as it usually is.

We spent some time at the Antique Mall which is on Route 20 (Grant Highway) just east of town.  I found some really great goodies there!

I found some pretty ruffled lace and an old hat with velvet millinery flowers which I'll take off and use for my crazy quilting and other crafting projects:

 I also found a little bit of old lace which will be wonderful on my crazy quilting:

Next, I found some vintage embroidery patterns.  It's fun to fine some that I don't have since my collection is now quite extensive:

Next, I found some gorgeous vintage hankies!  I love vintage hankies!

Last but not least, I found this pair of embroidered pieces.  I thought perhaps mom could make something pretty out of them.  The stitching is very nice!

Thankfully, it will be sunny all day today so we can walk up and down Main street and enjoy all the wonderful little shops and boutiques!

Before we head out for today, I thought I'd share photos of this pretty Praying Mantis that we found outside by the hotel door:

I was afraid he would get stepped on so I picked him up and moved him to a safer place.  He didn't want to let go of me though!  He has little barbs on his front feet for hanging on to things.  Scott had to carefully pry his little feet off my finger!

These are beautiful, harmless creatures.  We usually only see them in late Summer and early Fall.

If you would like to see some photos of downtown Galena, you can find them in my blog post from last year when we were here.