Cross Country Track Meet

Saturday I went to see my nephew Sam, run in a cross-country track meet, where they run a 5K. It was great to be out in the sunshine and in all the excitement. This is a photo of him just before the finish line.

Phoebe, the Cute

I thought I would share a cute picture of my cat Phoebe that I took this morning. It took awhile for her to look at the camera, but it was worth the wait.

State Fair Part 3: Giant Vegetables and Preserves

Some homemade vinegars.

There was a vast number of giant pumpkins. This one weighed over a thousand pounds!

These are beautiful bottles of maple syrup with light coming in from behind.

I hope you've enjoyed my trip to the state fair. Next post I'm gonna move onto something else!

More State Fair

Spam anyone?

Blue Ribbon Sugar Beet

Why does every homeade beer have a ribbon???

State Fair

I went to the Minnesota State Fair on Monday and have some great photos to share. I spent most of my time looking at the handmade items, cakes, jams, beer and textiles. Then we saw the giant vegetable specimens and lastly, while we could still walk, the animals. I'll share a few photos each day.

I have always loved the look of Swedish Ring Cakes.

Below are an amazing selection of quick breads

and a case of cakes.

MMMMMM MMMMMMM MMMMMM!

Giant Cabbage

The local county fair was two weeks ago and I spent some time looking at all of the 4-H entries. I wandered through the Home Economics building, the cows, pigs, chickens, rabbits and some llamas. But my favorite thing was a giant cabbage.

Girls Getaway

Last weekend I met a dear friend, also named Susan, in Madison, WI for a girls getaway. We walked through shops, had nice food and some wine and pondered the question "What is a supper club?"

The main event was catching up on each others lives, something we haven't been able to do for a very long time. Soooo, there were no husbands, no children, no relatives....just the two of us. We laughed, cried, commiserated and were happy to be together. BTW, the children killing each other behind us belong to the nice man that took our photo by the big chair at UW-Madison's student union.

A Garden Only a Mother Could Love

When we first moved to Wisconsin we planted a garden with my brother and sister-in-law. It is located at some friends of theirs, the Buckley's who have a farm and lots of land for planting. Well, that was almost six weeks ago and we hadn't set eyes on it since and needless to say it was engulfed in weeds. But the four of us got to it and weeded and weeded and weeded. The good thing about large weeds is they give you a lot to grab onto so you can pull. Just one weeder/waterer

Now two



Then three (I'm taking the photos)
BTW, they don't let us use the big equipment!

Can you believe it, under all those weeds were tomatoes, radishes, a few peas and some peppers.

Oh, the Stockholm Art Fair, we went and you can read all about it and see some pics on my other blog Threads of Inspiration.

Stockholm Art Fair

Tomorrow we are going to the Stockholm Art Fair in Stockholm, Wisconsin. The village is along the Mississippi River and beautiful. It is juried and will feature about 100 artists. I'm looking forward to it. I'll take my camera and share what I find.

Free Designs

One of my favorite free things on the web is Dover Publishing's weekly free, downloadable designs. They send you an e-mail with a large selection of copyright free images. They can be anything from astrological symbols to dinosaurs to victorian holiday vignettes. Go here to sign up for them. As you can see some are in full color and some are black and white.

S'mores

The other night we had an old fashioned, childhood treat...s'mores! We couldn't find the marshmallow roasting forks or any long sticks in the yard so I improvised...with these forks for lifting turkey out of the roasting pan. The handles are a little short but marshmallows roast fast. They were splendiferous! (the s'mores and the turkey lifters)

Poppies

Poppies are beautiful when they are blooming, but I think I like the seed heads as much, if not more. The composition they create seems very skeletal and spare. I would like to make some drawings of them (I'm posting the drawing idea as a challenge to myself!).

Relaxing

I celebrated the holiday with visiting family. With the cooperation of the weather (sunny and about 78 degrees) we had a picnic. The food was great, the conversation lively and all was well.

Strawberries Again!

We moved to Wisconsin about two months ago from Virginia and because of the timing of our move, we have been experiencing a second spring. One of the major advantages of that is two strawberry seasons!!! They are locally grown too. This time I mostly ate them as strawberry shortcake with cream and a little whipped topping. Mmmmmm, Mmmmmmm, Mmmmmmm!

Rhubarb Custard Pie Update

Just wanted to let you know, the Rhubarb Custard Pie, which I hadn't tried when I posted the recipe, was GREAT!!!!!!

Rhubarb Custard Pie

Well, we are now officially living back in the midwest. One of my first midwestern things to do was make a rhubarb custard pie with my mom. Haven't tried it yet, but we made one last year from the same recipe and it was delish! Here it is:

Rhubarb Custard Pie

Double Pie Crust from your favorite recipe

3 eggs

3 Tbsp milk

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup flour

3/4 tsp. nutmeg

4 cups rhubarb, cut up

1 Tbsp butter

Beat eggs slightly and add the milk. Mix sugar, flour, nutmeg and stir into the egg mixture. Mix in the rhubarb. Pour into an unbaked pastry lined pan. Dot with butter. Top with second pie crust. Brush milk and dust sugar on top of crust. Bake at 400 for 50 to 60 minutes.

From St Joe's Parrish Cookbook

Menomonie, Wisconsin

There was a wind a few days ago and while on a walk we found these sweet little bird's nests on the ground. On the same walk we went down a path

and found wisteria in full bloom everywhere. There were lots of bees too, you could hear them from quite a ways away.

Really Fresh Asparagus

Two days ago it was finally ready!

We have had wild asparagus come up in the field behind our house before and we have been scanning it for a few weeks hoping to find a spear or two poking out of the grass. We found some old dried stalks from last year (the ones we didn't find) and at the base of one it looked purplish green, so I carefully broke off the top in sections. Inside was the beginning of a new spear only about two inches long. We have been watching it grow an inch or two a day and finally it was ready to eat. We decided to just eat it raw. My husband and I took turns taking bites off the top and after about four total bites, it was gone. Mmmmmmmmmm, it was tasty.

Cookbooks

I really like to cook and having a nice selection of cookbooks is a real treat. We are moving soon and I plan on marking the cookbook boxes with a big red mark so I can open them first and get to it! That might not be on the first night though!

Photoshop Play

I spent some time last night teaching myself a bit more Photoshop. This image was created playing with layers. I really like this collage...all of the photos I used you've seen on this blog in the past, but now they have been combined and layered and colored differently. It was a lot of fun.

Violets

Is there anything lovelier than a bunch of violets? They are all over my yard.

Goats

There is a field near my home that has always had goats and once in awhile sheep, a llama and a calf or two. But always goats and usually baby goats. A few months ago all of the animals were gone and didn't come back. We were sad because if we were ever feeling down we would go park our car by the goat field and watch the babies romp around. You couldn't leave without feeling a lot better.

This morning my friend Connie called to tell me the goats were back! I immediately went by the field to see them and take some photos. Here are the cute little goats.

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Strawberry Season

There are strawberries everywhere. I made these chocolate covered jewels to take to some friends for dinner last night...accompanied by ice cream. What a tasty treat and as easy as pie.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

8 washed and dried strawberries

1 ounce semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 Tbsp cream

dash of almond extract

Combine chocolate and cream in a microwave proof dish. Microwave at 50% for about a minute. Watch closely so it doesn't burn. Remove from microwave and stir in almond extract. Let cool for about a minute. Dip strawberries in chocolate and place on parchment or wax paper to cool and harden. Ready to eat in about 10 minutes. Yum!!!

More Spring

Hi! I was wondering what I might blog about today and my eyes lighted on these cheerful little egg bunnies I made quite a few years ago. There is really nothing like having fun little handmade things around your house. I hope you find time in your day to make something with your hands today...maybe it will be a quilt, a new garden or lunch. Whatever it is, remember to delight in the act of creating.

Signs of Spring

I was out for a walk this morning and decided the flowers around my yard needed to find themselves in a spring photo montage. Enjoy!

Another fun thing I've been doing is making a doll from a pattern from a book dated 1938. Go here to see the full story.

Elizabeth Berg

Well, hello there. It is spring and I am finally back to blogging. The daffodils are covering the hillside near my home and the redbuds have just started drawing their purple lines through the forests. This is all fine and dandy, but one of the best things that has happened is I've found a new great author, Elizabeth Berg. I discovered a shelf of her books in my local library. The first book I read was "The Art of Mending" then went to "A Year of Pleasures." She seems to speak so well about emotions in tough situations and how the characters work their way through them with grace. I'm happy to say, that she is a prolific writer so I will have many fine hours of reading. You can go to her website here.

The Ocean

A few weeks ago John and I sold one of our businesses and people kept asking us what we had done to celebrate. Our answer was generally a blank stare. So, I woke up on a Saturday and said "Let's go to the beach." It is a ways away, but there is nothing like the beach, so we went. Maybe the sound of the surf or maybe looking out into the vast expanse of water, I always feel renewed.