ARTS - N -CRAFTS

I found these metal frames at a Barn Sale. They were shiny silver, which in my eyes were hideous and they had very unattractive black and white flower photos in them. What I liked about them was the textured glass and that you sandwich a photo between the pieces allowing the wall to show through as a mat. After spray painting the frames with a bronze/black metallic finish and scraping the glued down pictures off the glass I searched my photos and found these. I took these last fall at Schmeeckle Reserve. They may look like the same photo but in the one on the left, the focal point is the bottom of the tree trunk and the one on the right the focal point is at the top of the tree trunk. I'm going to use these frames as my "Art Gallery" and change the photos whenever the whim strikes me.

 

 

Can you guess what this is? I bought 2 of these at Goodwill for a couple bucks. It's the decorative part of a wrought iron curtain tie-back. It's a spherical shape but as you can see, when you look straight down at it, it looks like a Black-eyed Susan. I taped the center of them and then dipped them into a can of yellow paint I had. I attached them to a stick from a tree I trimmed and stuck them in my perennial garden to add a bit of color until things start to bloom.

WE'RE MOVING

We're moving ... both kids that is. For two weeks I've been hauling boxes home. I've created towering piles of them hoping it will be enough. Andy and his fiancé Leah will be moving (locally) into their first house. Their moving process will be a few weeks long so we will be able to help clean and paint walls before the furniture moving has to begin. I already have my paintbrush and ladder ready to go. I'm looking forward to helping them make their first house a home. May 9th is the magical date of the house signing and also Prairie's college graduation. We'll be packing her up from Winona, MN and hauling 4 years of accumulation home before regrouping and moving her to the Chicago area. How can this be? Just the other day I was dressing them in coordinating outfits. Which by the way, I got away with for quite a long time before they realized what I was doing. When our kids were young I wondered ...  "What will it be like when they are grown up and on their own?" Now that I no longer have to wonder, I want them to be young again, wiping their noses, tucking them into bed ... and coordinating their outfits. But because time waits for no one, I must except this point in my life and be proud of the adults they have become.

By the end of the month, which I refer to as "Moving May", I'll be an expert in the relocation business. Don't think about hiring me though. The next month is June and I'll be busy with "Julie's June" ... and then after that I have "Julie's July" and "Julie's August".

BIRTHDAY BLOG

It's been 1 year since the birth of this blog and my Dad's 80th Birthday. Happy Birthday Grin & Beer It and Happy 81st to my Dad. Thanks everyone for letting me share in the growth of this little baby of mine. May the next year bring as much fun as the last.

SNAPSHOT

 

Holy Smokes, imagine my excitement in finding a beer called "Snapshot". Obviously it combines two of my favorite things and exemplifies the title of my blog space ... and it's delicious too. I'll be adding Snapshot to my list of summer beverages. The best part of blogging about beer is the taste testing. After pouring this hazy wheat beer I discovered a wonderful sweet citrus taste that turned tart past the palette. I wasn't very familiar with New Belgium beer which is brewed in Colorado so I did some investigating. (I might be moving to Colorado to work at this brewery.) This company is big on social media, riding bicycles, playing on slides and capturing beer drinking memories. Check out this video.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNrWlDDkp_0#t=50  Although I don't access my social media through my phone, since I'm still flipping my phone, I enjoy Facebook and Instagram on my laptop. If there ever was a reason to get a smart phone it would be to download New Belgium's Beer Mode App. You can go offline for a beer without anyone realizing you're gone. Activate Beer Mode and the app will automatically post preselected messages to your social networks so you can give beer your undivided attention. Put down your phone, pick up a beer and your friends are none the wiser. My friends would be wiser ... since they'd be sitting beside me enjoying a Snapshot. 

IMPATIENTLY WAITING ... FOR SPRING

DREAMING



We all do it. Some are more vivid than others. What is it? Dreaming. Many mornings I wake up knowing I had a dream, but I don't remember a thing. Then there are the morning I'm saying to myself, "What the heck was that all about." This morning was one of those days. The dream involved a Texas airport, tent camping in the snow at the airport and 3 little dogs that had really, I mean really, really, pointed noses and short legs. I did a little research on the meaning of these symbols.

 

Airplane

The airplane in dreams represents a trip to another level of knowledge. When you see in a dream that you are traveling by plane, this means that you are reaching a higher level of knowledge and comprehension.
 

Tent

A tent in a dream symbolizes that the dreamer is traveling and do not settle. Wherever she wants to come to rest, it will be only temporary. Tent represents a lifetime building, which is built on shaky foundations, and it provides no security. This may also explain a desire for adventure and recklessness. Sometimes dreaming of the tent, suggest to get rid of all that hinders the self-development, satisfaction and joy.

 

Dog

To see a dog in your dream symbolizes intuition, loyalty, generosity, protection, and fidelity. The dream suggests that your strong values and good intentions will enable you to go forward in the world and bring you success. The dream dog may also represent someone in your life who exhibits these qualities. Alternatively, to see a dog in your dream indicates a skill that you may have ignored or forgotten.

 

After doing this research I still have a feeling of "what the heck was that all about." Maybe it means I'm going to travel and buy a dog. I did see a commercial on TV last night with an adorable puppy and thought I needed one. Although the dogs in my dream were not appealing to me at all. Help me readers. Can you interpret this dream ... or ... share your most vivid or strangest dream?

IRISH DICTIONARY AND BIRTHDAY WISHES

 

First things first ... Happy Birthday to my very own leprechaun. Happy 22nd Birthday Prairie!

Like the warmth of the sun

And the light of the day,

May the Luck of the Irish

Shine bright on your day.

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

Here are a few words you can incorporate into your Irish vocabulary. See if you can use them today. Here is my feeble attempt at using my vocabulary list ... Go out and plan some SHENANIGANS but don't get ARSEWAYS and end up CIRCLING OVER SHANNON unable to find a JACKS after to many BLACK STUFFS.

 

ARSEWAYS (adj) Mishmash. Complete disarray. Total mess. (usage) "Me car has been arseways since I ran over that pedestrian."

AWAY IN THE HEAD (expression) Insane. Not all there. (usage) Many Americans are away in the head. Disclaimer: I used American because today we are all Irish.

BANG ON (adj) Correct. Perfectly accurate. (usage) "That shot ye took at the ref's groin was bang on."

BLACK STUFF (n) Stout. (usage) "Nine pints of the black stuff and a gin and tonic for me mot, please.

MOT (n) Girlfriend. (usage) "Me mot drinks Black Stuff like there's no tomorrow."

BLARNEY (n) Nonsense talk used to charm foreigners. (usage) "They say the ghost of Finn MacCumhall still stalks the Grand Canal. Buy another round and I'll tell you all about it, my American friend."

CIRCLING OVER SHANNON (expression) Drunk. (usage) She stopped for a few pints after work and she ended up circling over Shannon.

DRAWERS (n) Knickers. Panties. (usage) "You could fit a hurling team into me wife's drawers. In fact I think she does on a regular basis.

GAMMY (adj) Damaged. Crooked. Useless. (usage) The entire government is gammy.

GARGLE (n) (v) Drink (alcohol). (usage) The staff single-handedly prevented the closure of the brewery by retiring to the pub for a gargle or two.

HOP (v) Play truant from school. (usage) "Let's go on the hop and get pissed. I'm fed up with teaching those bleedin' kids anyway.

JACKS (n) Toilet. Restroom. (usage) "Ye tink dat's bad? Wait 'til ye see de state of de jacks in de pub."

OUL' FELLA (N) Father. (usage) "Me oul' fella hasn't been seen since six o'clock last night when he went to the pub."

OUL' WAN (n) Mother. (usage) "Me oul' wan had me when she was sixteen."

ROUGH AS A BEARS ARSE (expression) Extremely hungover. Unwell. (usage) I don't think I need to use this in a sentence. You all understand.

SHENANIGANS (n) Mischievous, suspicious, underhand, devious goings-on. (usage) "Next item on today's agenda: planning shenanigans."

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day to All.

"The Feckin' Book Of Everything Irish" by Colin Murphy and Donal O'Dea helped me expand my Irish vocabulary.



STILL COLD



I've (mostly) refrained from talking about and complaining about the cold and snow this winter, but come on .... it's MARCH! I quit looking at the thermometer weeks ago. I dress warm and always have my scarf and mittens. For the fun of it, I looked ahead at projected forecasts. It looks like it will be reaching the 30's by July. Until then, here's a riddle for you ... If it's zero degrees outside today and it's supposed to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold is it going to be?

NEW ORLEANS





With temperatures in Wisconsin making a habit of remaining below zero, it seemed like a good time to take a little vacation to the south. New Orleans, or as the locals call it, Nawlin’s was our city of choice. We arrived Wednesday evening in time to take a stroll down Bourbon Street. Crude, crass, yet entertaining is how I would describe the Street. I noticed that the local beggars roamed the streets with beer in a brown paper bag. Wanting to fit in, I did the same. $2.99 will get you a 24 oz. PBR and a brown paper bag. $11 will get you a Crown and Coke in a plastic cup. Yeah ... I'm a cheap date.  We didn't stay out late and retired to Dauphine Orleans Hotel in the French Quarter where we called home for 4 nights.

                                                                                        Day One found us wandering the streets of the French Quarter. We took in some of the tourist attractions but learned more about the people and culture by getting off the beaten path. Finding a local bartender was always a plethora of information. We meet a young artist that has only been living there for 3 months. He moved there from California and is interning with a local artist and living out his dream. We were entertained by musician friends playing for tips. As 1 of the friends switched from playing the wash tub to having a PBR, he stated, "I love my friends." I have no doubt that he does. The more we absorbed the local culture the more I appreciated the diversity and an individuals definition of a "quality lifestyle". We had plenty of locals beg for money or offer to give us directions for a price. We learned quickly to ignore them and focused on the artists that had something to offer for a few dollars in donations. I was more anxious to try the local cuisine than Bruce was so we started out slowly with Po-Boys at Johnny's and  baguettes and coffee at Café Du Monde. A stroll through Jackson Square was rich in history and entertainment. Flanked by St. Louis Cathedral, antebellum buildings and the Mississippi River it is the hub of the city. Artist, musicians and fortune-tellers crowd the plaza. An occasional beer stop had me abiding in Abita Amber, the local beer and doing a little research with my travel guide book and the bartender.

                               

 
                               

 

As the sun began to set, it was time to head back to Bourbon Street. I indulged in Garlic BBQ Shrimp at Embers Bourbon House before our evening stroll. We never set foot in  a bar along the street but would get a drink from a convenience store bar front window and cruise up and down doing people watching. Tonight's entertainment included a Flame Swallower and a Dead Dog. Now don't get all upset, it was just a dog playing dead. Anything for a buck.

 

 

 

Day Two found the Polar Vortex reaching all the way to us. A little cold weather didn't slow us down. I was thankful for packing my gloves at the last minute. Today we checked out the Riverwalk along the Mississippi and rode the trolley system to the Garden District. The trolley proved to be a great way to see the city ... especially since we didn't understand transferring to a different trolley to reach our destination. Along the way we explored Lafayette Cemetery. The cemetery was built in the early 1800's to accommodate the immigration of Italians, Germans, Irish and Americans from the North. Many who had played a role in the Civil War have plots here. There is also 2000 yellow fever victims buried here from an epidemic in 1852. By midafternoon we reached our destination of the NOLA Brewery. (New Orleans Lager and Ale) The Brewery features a tour and free beer from 2:00 - 4:00. What a great way to make new friends. While Bruce enjoyed the tour, I enjoyed the taproom. As the 4:00 hour was approaching we realized it had started to rain and it was a 1 1/2 mile walk back to the trolley. No Problem ... we have all these new (beer drinking) friends. A retired couple from Detroit came to our rescue and took us back to the French Quarter with tips on the best places to eat and hear Cajun music. They winter near New Orleans and partake in the Mardi Gras festivities. They sent us on our way with the official Mardi Gras magazine, beads and parade knowledge. Their suggestion of supper at Mulate's was spot on. I completely enjoyed my Crawfish Etouffee and Mulate's Jambalaya accompanied with an Abita Amber. Bruce was adventurous and had gravy with his burger instead of catsup. :) A brisk rainy walk back to our hotel had us ducking through Harrah's Casino for a shortcut. I put some coin to a slot machine and cashed in with a profit of $10.50. That came in handy for a cab when we became a wee bit lost on the way back to the hotel.

 

 

 

Day Three ... after breakfast at the hotel we headed to the corner convenience store for a cappuccino. Along the way we got to witness what Bourbon Street looks like the "morning after." Because the street is barricaded when the sun goes down for foot traffic only, the area becomes one big sidewalk. A better description would be a gutter. Lets say if you drank to much and feel the need to "blow chow", go ahead and just do it in the street. Therefore, it takes a mighty pressure washer to rid the remains of the "night before."  At noon we got picked up by an adventure bus and headed out of town for a airboat ride in the bayous. We headed to the bayous off of Lake Salvador. Along the way we saw rebuilt homes and new levees all resulted because of Hurricane Katrina. (Our cab driver that returned us to the airport was a survivor of Katrina and he shared some of his story. His family went to Houston but he was stuck in his car for 3 days with 2 bottles of water. He told us details that we never heard on news reports.) Fortunately, Saturdays weather was warm(er) and the sun was shining. Our airboat driver was Captain TickTock and was born and raised in the bayous. Think "Swamp People."  We took a 2 hour tour and covered a lot of ground. Unfortunately alligators are hibernating this time of year so we didn't see any in the wild. We did see a large variety of birds and got to hold a small 'gator they surprised us with. It's amazing how different a body of water can be compared to what we are use to. Back at the French Quarter we spent our last evening wandering past bars and restaurants catching notes from a large variety of music wafting to the sidewalks. With a beer in hand I absorbed as much visual and sound culture I could. We found a treasure in Pat O'Briens Bar. They have an open air bar with a cool fountain and atmosphere. It was a great place to relax and reflect on our wonderful trip.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a few sights around town.

 

 

 

 



LAKE WAZEECHA

 

Growing up, I didn’t appreciate Lake Wazeecha as I do now. I took advantage of growing up next to the lake but never realized what a gem it really was. Back in the 60’s my girlfriend and I couldn’t go to Red Sands unless one of our older siblings would go too.  I’m not sure of the significance having them take us, they never kept an eye on us. Now that I think of it, I don’t remember seeing them at the beach … where could they have been? I think their biggest responsibility was to get us across 80^th Street. Once we crossed the (not so) busy highway, we were on our own. We pedaled our bikes down South Park Road, turned into the woods between 2 trees and proceeded to Red Sands. As we approached the beach, in one smooth move, we leaped off our bikes, dropped our towels and plunged into the lake. We spend the afternoon rolling down the hill, building sand castles and … wondering where our older siblings disappeared to. By 4:00 our peanut butter and jelly sandwich was wore off and it was time to head home for supper and hose the red sand from our … well, everything.

We "matured" into the age that we became the regular kids hanging out on the raft executing our Olympic dives. When I say “Olympic dives” I mean playing “King of The Raft”.  We would hang on the buoys surrounding the swimming area and would reluctantly get off after the lifeguard would blow their whistle at us. From a distance we admired the “cool kids” swinging from the rope around the corner out of view from the lifeguards. On slow “cool kid” days, we made feeble attempts to swing from the rope and usually ended up in about 6” of water or slamming back onto land.

When our teen years began, we discovered the other end of the lake … White Sands. Traveling to White Sands took us through the woods on a dirt path and across the dam to a place that was mystical. Who were these other kids we had never seen before? By now, I had my first job. I was babysitting every morning. I would tuck those hard earned quarters into the front pocket of my cutoff jeans and head to White Sands Miniature Golf. The days of building sandcastles had crumbled and lying in the sun, playing miniature golf and riding our bikes was how the afternoon was spent. When we left our little country school and attended school in Rapids, we saw some of the kids we thought of as strangers. Wow, there is life outside of Kellner.

 

Entering high school and obtaining our drivers license opened up new opportunities at the lake. The beach scene was for taking naps and drinking “Jolly Good” after spending an evening at Willow Run. We became brave enough to take a dip in the forbidden territory of the dam. When the lake froze over and the snow began to fall, we could be found skating, sledding and warming up in an ice fishing shack or by a campfire on the lake. By our senior year, we owned the lake. The campground was full of campers and coolers. The lifeguards and rafts were long gone. 

We left the lake for the next generation. It wasn’t as in good of shape as when we used it. Years passed and the lake and its surrounding began to show its age. The creeks were silting into the lake, the weeds began taking over and the buoys for the swimming areas were gone. The lakeside picnic areas had missing seats on the swings. There were rusted charcoal grills and picnic tables floating in the lake.

Life happens and years passed before I started using Lake Wazeecha again. During my time away, the lake was dredged. The campground was given a family friendly atmosphere and the picnic areas starting swinging again. All of this was completed in time to start taking my family camping, swimming and boating. To this day, although we only live a few miles from the lake, we camp there every summer. A 4 mile walking/biking trail will have you crossing paths with all ages and some of those friends from way back when ... when I saw you at Red Beach, first met you at White Beach or shared a bottle of TJ Swann with.

If you haven’t done so lately, go catch a fish or a sunset on the lake.