'Twas Three Weeks Before Christmas

We didn't wander too far from Rick's home this past Saturday. The occasion was the 31st annual Monches Artisans Holiday Open House. Monches is an unincorporated community in Waukesha County not even 10 miles from where Rick lives in the midst of Wisconsin's Kettle Moraine.

The Kettle Moraine is really a beautiful area in southeast Wisconsin created some 20,000 years ago when two lobes of the glacier that covered this part of our state collided depositing sediment in between. Kettles (ponds) resulted when glacial ice broke off, got entirely or partly buried in glacial sediment, and subsequently melted. Some of those kettles are now filled with lakes - Elkhart Lake, Geneva Lake, and Little Cedar Lake. Hills of glacial deposits rise between the kettles and lakes giving much variety to the area's topography.

The Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians is located at
Holy Hill - one of the largest glacial deposit hills in the Kettle Moraine.
The Basilica should be on everyone's list of must-see places in Wisconsin.
It's only a couple of miles from Rick's home.

Our first stop on the Artisan Holiday Open House tour was Monches Farm. Lots of people there, including a few free range chickens that greeted us on the way from the parking lot to the store with its many holiday items for sale.

The chickens were not in the least bit afraid of all the
people who came by.

When not outside, the chickens stay in this old barn.

Several artists were also selling handcrafted wares for the holidays at the Farm. Of course, I couldn't resist and ended up with a beautifully painted Christmas tree ornament that I gave to Rick's daughter-in-law the next day when we visited the family in Sheboygan.

On our way to our next stop, we came upon the Christmas Cookie Walk at St. Paul's United Church of Christ Church on the western edge of Richfield. (Richfield is a former township whose residents voted to become a village so the area covered by the municipality is 36 square miles of beautiful countryside.) We thought $7.50 a pound for a great selection of delicious cookies baked by members of the congregation was a bargain.

St. Paul's claim is that it's the oldest church of its denomination in Wisconsin and will celebrate its 175th anniversary next year. 

What could be more typical of a country church than
St. Paul's?

The chancel was decorated nicely for Christmas.

One of the stained glass church windows - more art
in the rural area.

We discovered that Richfield has a winery. It's attached to the Cold Spring Inn, a bed & breakfast that's been written up in Chicago Magazine. One of the winery's white wines has been named for Griffin, one of the goats that lives on the property. Jerry Munley, who owns the Inn with his wife, Kari, let the bunch of them out of their shed so I could take pictures.

Griffin is the big guy eating out of the hand of his owner.

Our friend, Greg, who lives in Highland Park, Illinois came to visit and joined us on the tour. He had never been to the Mineshaft in Hartford so we went there for lunch just so he could experience the busiest restaurant in Wisconsin. One of the features of the restaurant is an incredible game room on the second floor. A great way to keep the kids busy when a family is waiting for a table on a busy weekend. 

Our last stop of the day was to celebrate Christmas at the Mill. This yearly event, sponsored by the Richfield Historical Society, was part of the Christmas in Richfield Day. We enjoyed hot cider, cookies, and Christmas carols at the mill house.

A real treat was listening to Kelly Thundercloud as she sang Christmas carols accompanied by Clara Birkel, one of the board members of the Richfield Historical Society.

Merry Christmas wishes for the holiday season. And good cheer for all . . . 

Sip, Sup, and Stroll

We didn't venture too far the weekend following Easter. Milwaukee was our destination. First stop - the  Westside Art Walk on Vliet Street on Friday night.

Even though Rick grew up in Milwaukee, he said he had never walked down this street. Actually our stroll was only about four or five blocks, so we only saw a small portion of Vliet Street.

The Art Walk is sponsored annually by the Vliet Street Business Association which has worked over the years to reinvent the street, attract destination businesses, and promote art and arts events. Vliet Street, on Milwaukee's west side between 43rd and 62nd Streets, is now the location of commercial clusters, meeting places, and unique shops, restaurants, and services. 

Some of the places we stopped included the Nomad Art Gallery where I took part in the creation of a "communal canvas." I'm not much of an artist, but it was a great deal of fun to try my hand at painting. And here's the result. . .

I call this "Cherry Tree." Anticipation of a future adventure this summer was my inspiration.

At Salvaged Studio & Gallery I learned that the owner, Rachel Winkley,  used to live in Madison. Her studio is also a member of Local First Milwaukee. The cake she served to celebrate her first anniversary was delicious - from Simma's Bakery, one of the places we stopped at during a holiday Milwaukee Food Tour the year before last.

I like to look for the "Local First" logo in Milwaukee-area shops.
It's as good as seeing the Dane Buy Local decal in establishments in Dane County and the seven counties that surround it.

Along with the art came live music at the West End Conservatory. 

We were treated to performances by guitar students of Neil Davis.

We also stopped in at Four Corners of the World, where handmade home decor items from global artisans are available. Four Corners guarantees that all of the merchandise sold there is created by people who are paid a fair wage and have safe working conditions.

Fortunately for us, the weather cooperated and it was a sunny evening - a
perfect time for strolling down the street.

On Saturday is was on to State Fair Park where the Shepherd Express sponsored its annual "Stein & Dine" event - a beer, cheese, and sausage festival.

It took a while to get into the Expo Hall, but once we
were in, there was no waiting to get samples of beer,
cheese, sausage, and other goodies.

3 Sheeps Brewing Company is from Sheboygan. The name is a play on
"three sheets to the wind" (an expression to say that one has indulged just a
bit too much) with a Wisconsin agricultural edge thrown in.

One of my favorites at the festival was a Bloody Mary made with Jimmy Luv's mix from Milwaukee. We appreciate bars that use the mix to make their Bloody Marys. It's flavorful and the Bloody Mary is so much better than one made with just tomato juice and the various seasonings.

Lots of breweries were represented at "Stein & Dine" and we sampled from just about every one of them.

Titletown from Green Bay is a favorite. We like to stop
at the brew pub for burgers and a beer when we're in the Green Bay area.

I liked the fudge cheese that is made by Scott's of Wisconsin right here outside of Madison in Sun Prairie. What's not to like about a combination of chocolate and cheese?

Another favorite is the cheese made by the Weyauwega Cheese Company. We have been known to drive nearly 100 miles to buy their cheese. Rick especially likes the packs with assorted cheese and sausage bites. We learned that the packs are only sold at the store in Weyauwega.

Even close to home Wisconsin wanderers can usually find something fun to do on the weekend and we are glad that Milwaukee has much to offer. 

Museum of Wisconsin Art

A beautiful new museum in West Bend opened this past weekend. The Museum of Wisconsin Art was established by the Pick family more than 40 years ago as a way to collect and exhibit the work of their ancestor and Milwaukee-born artist, Carl von Marr. Today the Museum shows many contemporary Wisconsin artists as well as maintains a vast archive and collection of historic Wisconsin art. Its new home is stunning.

The building sits on a parcel where an outlet mall was located in years past.
The design fits the slice of land perfectly. Landscaping on the long
street side of the Museum includes native Wisconsin grasses planted in long
narrow patches that mimic the walls of the permanent galleries on the second floor.

My favorite exhibit was "Antifragile: Contemporary Glass" that will be up until July 28. Many beautiful examples of studio glass were part of the exhibit. This art form is relatively new. Harvey Littleton, an art professor at UW-Madison, is credited with starting the movement. He began the first academic glass program in the country in 1962. 

This cast bronze and blown glass piece is "Husk-a-Ruckus"
from Michael Meilahn of Pickett.

The staircase at the pointed end of the Museum houses a beautiful glass sculpture.

We learned that the artists brought along a few extra pieces for their creation in case anything
was broken during the installation. The trickiest part was taking down the scaffolding that was built
to install these hanging multi-colored glass balls. Apparently the workers were very careful because
nothing was broken.

A close-up shot underneath the sculpture.

The Museum of Wisconsin Art does not have any art glass sculptures of Dale Chihuly, one of Littleton's most famous students. However, other glass artists from around Wisconsin are showing works from their independent studios, many of which are located in rural areas.  

Truman Lowe, another art professor from UW-Madison, has a sculpture from his collection at the Museum.

This piece sculpted from willow is called "Thunder."

Rick liked this chest of drawers, a piece from the Museum's permanent collection.

Sculpture, painting, mixed media - a lot of variety was evident at the Museum.

"Tunnel Vision" displayed on the gently curving outside
wall of the Museum was one of my favorites.

I'm thinking about becoming a member of the Museum. It's a great deal at only $12/year. Besides unlimited FREE entry, a member can participate in classes. "Baby Loves Art" (for kids 1-3) looks like a lot of fun and I'd love to "borrow" one of Rick's grandsons for a day at the Museum.

Miscellaneous Musings While Winter Lingers

We're getting antsy to get on the road again. Especially when winter will not loose its chilly grip on us here in Wisconsin. Rain at the beginning of the week. The next day - snow. The day after - below zero wind chills. Weather-related warnings for our vacation destination - high surf and rip tide. We just won't go swimming.

For this last post before vacation, I was perusing pictures I’d taken over the years that represented some of the unusual.

The Airstream Ranch consists of eight full-sized vintage Airstream camper trailers buried in line off I-4 near Tampa, Florida. The owner, Frank Bates, maintained that his creation, which represents the history of the Airstream line of campers, was art. The county disagreed and took Bates to court. Eventually appellate judges heard the case. While they did not state that the campers were art, the judges did say that Bates' creation wasn’t junk, wasn’t a sign, nor illegal storage of RVs.

Art or something else?

“White Collar Woods” was an installation near Woodruff in the north woods of Wisconsin a few years ago. It was part of “Forest Art Wisconsin,” a project that tapped into a cutting-edge trend in the art community. The forest was the source of artistic inspiration and the trail area functioned as the gallery, a display area for works of art that normally would not be found there. The artist was commenting on the gentrification of the north woods. The French cuffs symbolized an invasive species which also brings jobs and livelihood through tourism. But the artist was asserting that at some point, making a trip to the woods similar to a trip to the opera could be as absurd as the cuffs of the installation.

We were on our way to the Amana Colonies in Iowa two years ago when this "horse" caught my eye. Perhaps it was an advertisement for a museum, maybe it was folk art out there for the public's enjoyment. I can't remember. Nonetheless, something unusual and fun.

We’re looking forward to finding more of the interesting and unusual as we wander south. Stay tuned.

Driveway Camping

This past weekend we were camping in the most private of campgrounds – the driveway of Rick’s son, Jon, and daughter-in-law, Kari, in Sheboygan. Driveway camping is a great way to overnight at a friend’s or relative’s home when they need a bit more space to host out-of-town guests. Rick came prepared with his inverter that takes power from his 12-volt truck battery and converts it to 110-amp service so we had lights inside the camping trailer. 

The occasion of our trip to Sheboygan was a “meet and greet” – an introduction of the latest addition to the family, Rick’s second grandson, to his great aunts and uncles. It was a beautiful summer day. The kind we’ve been waiting for since June!

The James Tellen Woodland Sculpture Garden is across the street from Jon and Kari’s home (see an earlier post for more pictures). The gang wandered over there on Saturday afternoon. 

Tellen's earliest sculptures were these bear cubs. The works
in the garden were created between 1942 - 1957.

This sculpture, one of several tavern scenes created by Tellen,  looks like
 a falling-down drunk being scolded by his wife.

We were treated to a tour of the inside of Tellen’s cabin, where he spent his summers, that we’d only seen through the windows in the past. 

A chandelier in the dining room.

Another of Tellen's metal sculptures inside the cabin.

A small building that houses a brat fryer stands next to the cabin. Apparently when the Tellens had company, the women stayed in the cabin and the men went over to what could be deemed a “man cave.”

A man cave isn't complete without a fish mounted on the wall!

Since we were camping, we thought it would be a good time to make a batch of monkey bread in the Dutch oven for Sunday morning breakfast. I’m still learning. I need to keep a chart handy so I know exactly how many charcoal briquettes to put under the oven and on its lid to achieve the proper temperature. Even though the monkey bread was a bit dark on the bottom, it was still tasty.

Labor Day is just around the corner and the end of summer is approaching, but good fall camping days are still ahead. 

Toadally Artful

Last weekend I paid a quick visit to my sister and brother-in-law in Sheldon. I arrived on Friday night and that meant fish fry so we went to the Tee-A-Way Golf Club in Ladysmith. The next day we spent some time at the Rusk County Farmers' Market. Lots of summer vegetables – zucchini, tomatoes, beans – were for sale as well as sheep milk cheese. I bought Dante Lamb for gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. The milk for the cheese is produced by the Wisconsin Sheep Dairy Cooperative. Sheep milk is shipped to cheese factories all over the U.S. I can even buy the co-op's artisanal cheeses here in Madison at Fromagination on the Capitol Square.

Later in the day we stopped at Toad House.  Toad House is a combination museum, gallery, classroom, workshop, soon-to-be bakery and coffee shop, and eventually, a place where people can stay over a few nights and make art. Just before we arrived, children had finished making delightful sun catchers using material they found on the grounds.

I can't remember the original house that was on
this site and underneath what we see today.
However, in two short years, Eileen and Tony Ziesler
have transformed the place into something special
 in the Ladysmith community.

This sun catcher's base is a paper plate.
The design in the center is covered with
clear contact paper on both sides to let
the light through. It's a very clever art
project that children can do at home, too.

One never knows what might be encountered while strolling the
paths in the woods behind Toad House. It's magical.

Flowers and vegetables are growing in the Toad House
gardens.

Patty pan squash ready for a delicious dish.

Sunday was one of those perfect Wisconsin summer days – the temperature had dropped to the 50s overnight, the morning was cool, and the daytime temperature rose appropriately to the high 70s. So what did we do? Cut, split, and stacked wood for my brother-in-law's wood furnace. This furnace provides the main heat source for the house.  Propane from a supplementary tank kicks in when needed, but my sister figures it won't be empty for another two more years.

Northern Wisconsin has received much more rain than we
have here in the southern part of the state. My sister's
flowers have filled in nicely around the house.

My brother-in-law cut and split 1 1/2 face cords. My sister
and I hauled and stacked it. Good exercise, for sure.

Later we took a ride down to the Jump River and through the woods. When I was still in Sheldon, cows used to pasture in those woods surrounding the house and the area was like a park – no tall weeds or underbrush, cow paths on which to take a walk. A very different sight today. My father retired from dairy farming 20 years ago and cows haven't been in that woods since.

Even with all the rain, the river is still low. The water must have
evaporated because of all the unseasonable heat we've had
in the past several weeks.

A lone small sunflower amidst the lush vegetation down at the river bank. 

I took a less-traveled route back to Madison on Sunday for about half of the way. It was undeniably one of the best days for top-down driving that we've had all summer. (Top-down on my car, of course!)

Baubles and Baseball

The jewelry artists’ booths are the ones I never fail to peruse at art fairs. So the baubles that caught my eye at Art on the Mill – the art fair sponsored by the Richfield Historical Society last Saturday – were the earrings. It was a perfect summer day – not too hot and a nice breeze was blowing. But this art fair was more. There were tours of historic buildings, music, and plein air (in the open air) painting. As one of the artists told me, “This is a destination art fair.”

The Messer/Mayer Mill is on the State and National Registers
of Historic Places and is a designated Washington County
landmark. The original equipment in the mill is still intact.

The plein air painters worked for about three hours and then displayed their final works – mostly oils and watercolors – in frames. Many different scenes of and around the mill were painted.

Liz Carr from Milwaukee used oils to paint one
of the buildings in the Richfield Historical Park.

 Later in the day we attended the Milwaukee Brewer game at Miller Park. We were guests of Rick’s boss, Dean Meier, who owns Applied Tooling Technologies. Our seats were on the field – in the ATI Club – with a player’s view of the action. I have to admit that I’m not very knowledgeable about baseball. So it’s a mystery to me that if we were on the right field, why was the left fielder on the team in front of us? 

Some of the old has been preserved in the new.

 It was tribute night to the Negro Leagues. Major League Baseball teams, like the Brewers, began to honor Negro League players for their contributions to our nation’s pastime 15 years ago on the 50^th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s breaking the color barrier. One of the players honored was Mamie (Peanut) Johnson who played in the 1950s. She was the only woman to ever pitch in a men’s professional league. Her specialty was the curveball perfected with help from Satchel Paige.

 

As part of the tribute to the Negro Leagues, the Brewers wore replica uniforms first worn by the Milwaukee Bears, the city’s representative in the 1923 Negro National League. This team played only one season before disbanding. The opposing team, the Washington Nationals, wore uniforms of the Homestead Grays who eventually moved to Washington and were known as the Washington Grays. 

These stands were across the ball park from where we sat.

I managed to get one shot of Ryan Braun - running in at the end of the inning.

A Wisconsin player in a Bears uniform - not exactly what one would expect.
Norichika Aoki, who plays left fielder for the Brewers, was the player
closest to where we were sitting.

The Brewers lost 4-1 but Rick managed to snag two practice balls for his grandsons – to be held until they’re old enough to play baseball.