...of wines and vintage cars

When I buy wine, I nearly always buy whites and nearly always from the same regions of the world -- ones that I know and love. Ed thinks I should be more adventurous and he is convinced that somewhere in Wisconsin there may be a vintner who has made a bottle of white that I will like. And so not surprisingly, when he read about a special event taking place at Bothom Vineyards today (just 35 minutes to the west of us!), he asked if I may be interested in checking it out.  

I am interested. The event is their annual vintage car display. I think the deal is that if you have a vintage car, you can register it and display it. A lot of people come to see them. And I mean a lot! Like hundreds and hundreds. In addition, there is the wine. You could go to their tasting room and sample wines, or you could just buy a glass from their selection and walk around looking at cars with a plastic cup of wine in your hand.

Okay, that sounds like it could be fun. Not so much the cars, but the whole set up: a vineyard that has (if you read their website) gained some recognition for their wines, beautiful countryside, and people obsessing about cars. You'd go, right?

But first there are the farmette fields to clean up a little...

And a very very late breakfast to eat outside...

Shortly after noon, we set out. 

I always enjoy these local escapades with Ed. We learn a little more about the people who practice their trade here and we see some more of south central Wisconsin. I was just a little curious though why he would flag this particular event since he does not like wine and isn't much into cars either. Turns out he may not like driving cars, but design fascinates him! Too, his father used to love learning about old cars and that interest sort of trickled down.

In other words, at this particular event, Ed was really into the cars!

And I was really into the grapes in the vineyards!

And neither of us was really into the wine, but that's because we bought one cup from the cart and it was just okay -- neither of us could finish it and we sampled nothing more. The tasting barn was packed and Ed and I do not go into crowded public places.

I have to say, the demographic at the car show was rather defined: white old men. With some women tagging along. I felt a little like being at a retirement home. (Not to gripe here -- we are, after all, ourselves members of that demographic, but still...)

We may go back to the vineyards on a day that's not devoted to a vintage car display. I feel we ought to give their wines a proper sampling. I mean, they really do have a fine reputation. Another time.

In the evening the young family comes for dinner... 

 

 

 

...and it is just perfect weather for an outside meal.

And here's another thing to be said about the evening: everyone was in a great mood. Well, I suppose Sparrow had a momentary disappointment when his sister ate everything and with alacrity. "She beat me!" -- he kept saying rather sadly. It's not a competition, Sparrow. "Yes, but she beat me!" 

My wee substitute camera died at this point and so I stopped taking pictures. I did manage a smart phone shot of Sandpiper while I was holding him, so I suppose you could view it as one of our selfie moments...

Too, my phone picked up a couch shot of those three...

And the evening rolled in and the moon rolled out and life felt so good...

With love...

 

new routines

Saturday is a day when new routines are often formed. Farmhouse family visits, market forays, pool splash -- summer staples all -- are now being replaced by "breakfast with the girls." The kids are following new schedules and one includes a weekend morning class for Snowdrop. Following this, she and her mom head for a nearby coffee shop for a breakfast meetup with gogs.

Thus my morning yard work is sprightly! No dallying today. Well, a pause for just a few pics...

(Happy has taken to resting in the morning in the tub. Don't know why!)

And I wave to Ed and head out. 

Hi, girls!

It's another brilliant day -- perfect for a croissant outside.Well, for me. Snowdrop already had her breakfast. She settles for a cookie.

With an occasional snatch of pieces of my croissant.

 

 

 

A rainbow kind of a morning! 

Unfortunately, this particular cafe is very close to Snowdrop's very favorite cupcake store... She'd already downed a bit of a cookie. Can she handle a cupcake? No, she can never do more than a few bites. But those few bites are just so good

And it's only natural for her to come back with me to the farmhouse. I have some newish books, a new Lego set to build, and of course, there are her standby favorite story telling set ups...

When it's time to head home, we pick some flowers for mommy's dinner table...

And in the late afternoon, Ed and I do a tiny adventure: we head out to a place that's just a half hour drive from us, but we've never been there, possibly because you have to take the super highway to get to it and we both will choose a rural road journey over the super highways any day (it would take too long to go the rural way for this trip).

It's called the Goose Pond Sanctuary and it is under the stewardship of the Madison Audubon Society (read about it here). Wetlands, prairies, and a large pond. More like a lake really.

With migratory swans (or snowy egerts?)...

Sandhills...

And fields of prairie and trails cutting through them...

At the edges, the prairie abruptly ends and the landscape turns into one with vast swaths of densely planed corn.

So Wisconsin!

Though perhaps Goose Pond should be called Swan Lake? Just a thought...

At home again, Ed says -- you know, maybe in September we should hike a trail just a little bit closer to home. To cut back on that six hour drive...

No! You mean we are back to square one?? That cannot be! But I already found us a cottage!

(insert dramatic Swan Lake music here...)

Travel with Ed is never without surprises.

zinnias and sunflowers

I grow neither zinnias nor sunflowers here. I can imagine a beautiful patch of sunflowers, but the fact is, there are others who do this in the area and we can always head out to look at their fields. Occasionally I'll plant some sunflower seeds in my mixed meadows, but our resident groundhog family loves that plant to death so it's usually chomped off before we even see the beginnings of a bud.

August is the month for zinnias and sunflowers. (And other blooms too, but I have those on my mind at the moment.) And this day is so very beautiful! Wouldn't you choose to go to a farm with zinnias and sunflowers if they were a mere 20 minute drive from your house? Sure you would do.

But first, there is the usual tending to your own back yard. I'm still snipping Autumn Minaret lilies (three dozen spent heads today!)...

(the last of the July lilies...)

... And I'm picking out clumps of weeds here and there. Nothing systematic, nothing noteworthy, but still, I do care about the flower fields and each morning something does get a quick brush up from me.

 

 

 

Breakfast on mornings like this is just the best meal you could have! This scene which I replay for you every day belongs here because it is such a favorite of mine! If I could drink endless coffee without worry and munch on morning pastries with fruits on the side with total abandon, you'd find me right here for hours on end, every summer morning that has the glorious sunshine, the comfy breezes and the air that tickles your soul from every angle.

The rest of the morning I spend looking (online) at cottages in Wisconsin. Do you know how many rentals there are in this state (in various price categories, sizes, locations, dates of availability, states of cleanliness and tastefulness)? Perhaps a million. Perhaps more. For every night Ed and I are to camp on our forthcoming adventure, I get to have a cottage night as well. And because getting Ed to do this happens once in a blue moon, I am oh so careful in where I land us! So I search. For the second (third?) day now I search the internet making sure that I have something for us that we will both like.

 

In the later afternoon, we finally make our way to Schusters farm -- the one with zinnias and sunflowers. We were to go with the kids, but at the last minute we all flipped that plan on its backside. A trip to a farm with flowers, in the hot sun, and with lots of bees buzzing about did not seem like a stellar idea for at least the youngest of the kids. So Ed and I went alone and it was very lovely...

 

 

 

And we picked some zinnias because we had paid for this and damn it, we're going to bring those zinnias home or else!

Zinnias are very short lived in your vase. Honestly, why you'd grow zinnias instead of, say, dahlias or glads is beyond me. I mean, they are a stunning flower in the field. 

 

 

 

...  but less perfect (in my view) after a couple of days on your kitchen table. Dahlias age more gracefully and glads just shed their spent blooms leaving you always with something fresh on top. Total winners. Poor zinnias just turn wrinkly and brown. But oh, in the fields! The colors are magnificent!

Then there are the sunflowers. 

 

 

 

The farm has a sort of sunflower maze. Again, beautiful on this gorgeous August day.

(The farm also has goats, but then so do our corn farmers. And every time I see one here or there, I think -- I wonder if I should have gotten a pair of goats...)

And yes, there is a selfie. And with it, I'm posting a link to a very very funny New Yorker article/cartoon about taking selfies. Funny because it's true: we used to just take pictures and hope for a good outcome a few weeks later when they were developed. You got what you got. Now, we are able to inspect, criticize, reject. We look critically at every photo and trash ones that actually show us how we really are. Read the article. It's funny.

In the evening I make some more corn soup while Ed goes off to do his Wednesday night bike ride. I know, it's Friday. But hey, were you here for our weather event last Wednesday? Just compare it to this day and you'll see why biking got moved.

And so ends another summer week. There are so very few of them left... Savor them. Savor all that outdoor time. And take a few photos to carry you over during the month of November or March, when there's a lot less color out there!

 

Late, very late we eat corn soup and watch Modern Love. The new season came on today. All that and sunflowers in a vase too.

With love...

going local

The storms passed. And the uncertainty about what comes next has been pushed aside for now. It's hot, it's summertime, it's lovely outside. These last days of summer cannot slip by unappreciated.

But first let's bake some muffins. We have buckets and buckets of peaches from our tree and something needs to be done with them. Peach muffins?

The kids will be here this morning, so let's hurry this project along. Easy enough to do. I've been baking so many batches of fruit muffins this summer that I can do it with hands tied, eyes closed and head in the clouds. Which is where it is at the early baking hour.

A quick garden trim. 

Breakfast.

And then the kids arrive. Not too many pics for you. It's toasty out there and they want to go indoors pretty quickly. Still, they're always good for a couple of photos.

Outside and inside too.

I'm to take them home in time for lunch. Great: we have time to stop by Stoneman farms for their freshly harvested corn. It's Sparrow's first visit there this year. And yes, they both like to pick out the corn...

... but Snowdrop (and therefore Sparrow too) really loves playing with the kittens. And with the Stoneman kids who often hang out here and who love to chase the little dynamos around the Stoneman yard.

(Sparrow  can also be cajoled into walking over to the goats. Can I go inside the fence? -- he asks. The little guy has no fear of animals. He likes them all. I can see him asking the same question in front of a lion's den...)

(Back at their home, I spend a while with Sandpiper...)

And now, at the farmhouse, Ed and I are again tossing around dates and ideas for a local adventures. Well, not super local: we need to force ourselves to move beyond the perimeter of the immediate parks, trails, and nature preserves. In other words, we need to be willing to sit in the car some. We've done all that's really local many many times. So we have to expanded our reach. I've agreed to do wilderness camping (some), though I've taken to grumbling about doing hikes where we have to carry supplies and a tent with us (and because I am difficult, I also grumble about bears), but he has convinced me we do not have to be ambitious in our hiking goals. 

Like, how short can our distance be in a day? -- I ask.

Ten feet. If you want to stop after ten feet, we can stop.

That's what I call being agreeable! I think we can do better than ten feet, though we both could use a little pre-hike training. It's been a while since we've done distance walking with stuff on our backs.

Okay. So we have some goals. We have some plans. And we have beautiful weather in the meantime, reminding us that summer is really the perfect season for indulging your whimsey and adventure craving. We've got two little adventures coming up! Solo and safe. Well, unless we encounter a bear...