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June, 2014

  1. The Secret Garden

    June 29, 2014 by admin

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    As much as we love finding new places to go on our jaunts, we frequently find ourselves returning to a spot we have already visited.  It’s a great opportunity to explore further— to follow that hallway you didn’t investigate, to climb that hilltop to see the view from up there.

    IMG_6507We recently returned to Delaney’s Surplus.  It’s a cluttered shop of various spare parts, abandoned equipment, and such.  We had a great time there on our first trip, but our visit was in the middle of winter and quite cold.  So we hadn’t explored the big back open lot with large items, too numerous, or too dirty to bring into the shop.  This time, we went in early summer in order to peruse the outdoor area.

    And were we glad we did!

    We found lots of cool things outside:  huge bins of door knobs, candleholders, giant crystal plastic lampshades for street lights, strange wired pieces that would make great trelises for our garden, and much much more.  Not only that, we stumbled upon the secret entrance to Dr. Evermor’s Garden.

    Dr. Evermor is legend in these parts.  His metal sculptures made from repurposed scraps are found all throughout the Wisconsin area.  Driving up to Devil’s Lake or Baraboo brings many people past the front of Dr. Evermor’s garden, with it’s giant birds and other odd creatures guarding the gates.  The gates which are IMG_6534always  closed.

    We have long wanted to visit Dr. Evermor, but we never found the garden open.  Until we found the back door.

    Around the back of Delaney’s is a short path connecting it to the sculpture garden.  Follow the path and you will find yourself surrounded by small metal insects, gigantic birds, dinosaurs and, of course, The Forevertron.  The Forevertron is a massive piece, the center focus of the garden.  It is amazing.  Can it launch you to the heavens using magnetism?  We’re not sure, but it is awesome to see.

    Our inventive, artsy, tinkering family loved walking around the many sculptures and finding the hidden treasures tucked here and there.  We’re sure we’ll go back and attempt to see the things we may have missed.

    And this trip to Delaney’s will remind us to really look around each time we go somewhere , whether we’ve been there before or not, and to explore and discover the hidden bits that we might not otherwise see.

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  2. All Around The Mulberry Bush

    June 27, 2014 by admin

    It’s mulberry season again!  Yay!IMG_0070

    We love this time of year- searching out old trees to forage from, and testing our stamina against the mosquitoes who always seem ready to thwart our mulberry picking plans.  But we persevere!

    We have brought home several pints of these little berries in just a few days.   Of course, we eat most of them straight, but what are you going to do with all those mulberries?

    You can use them almost anywhere you’d use another berry- pancakes and muffins, for instance.

    This year, we started making mulberry cobbler!  This simple recipe takes only a few minutes to whip together and bakes in just about half an hour.

    Ingredients:

    1 Cup Flour

    1 Cup Sugar

    3/4 Cup Milk

    2 t Vanilla

    1 Stick Butter

    2 Cups Mulberries

    1/3 Cup Sugar

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    Process:

    1.  Melt butter in the bottom of a baking dish.

    2.  While butter is melting, warm berries and 1/3 cup sugar on the stove to melt the sugar.

    3.  Mix the flour, sugar milk, vanilla and milk together, and pour into dish over melted butted.  Mix this a bit.

    4.  Pour sugared mulberries on top, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350.

     

    Let cool for about 1/2 hour as it will be super hot.  Enjoy!!

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  3. Naming The Animals

    June 25, 2014 by admin

    Stumpy

    Stumpy

    “Oh look! There’s Twinkletoes!”

    “Hi there, Dr. Bunnington!”

    “I saw Stumpy today”

    You’ll hear conversations like this on a daily basis at our house. Many of the wild animals that roam our yard and neighborhood have names we’ve given them based on behaviors or physical characteristics.

    This tradition evolved entirely by accident, as we noticed that the same critters were visiting our yard repeatedly. As our kids named the animals, we were all able to more easily create an emotional connection to their well- being.

    We became friends with a red squirrel that we named Jasper- a loud, playful critter who came several times daily to see what treats we might have tossed his way. Shimmer, his larger grey squirrel friend, came as well. Every day.  We now know Stumpy, our neighborhood squirrel friend that has somehow lost his tail.  And we enjoy our visits with a lovely bunny that we’ve named, Dr. Bunnington.

    Jasper

    Jasper

    Our conversations with the kiddoes about ecology and habitat destruction caused by nearby developments aren’t affecting abstract random wildlife. These discussions concern and affect Our Squirrels! Our Bunnies!  Cars speeding down the road aren’t just driving too fast- they might hurt our animal friends.  We have learned that Stumpy, the Tailless Squirrel, has to cross the street to get to our yard as we’ve seen where he nests.  So road safety became a bigger deal to our kids.

    From a very young age, Plum and Bluey have spoken out for the animals.  And we think their passion is due, in part, to the relationships that have developed by giving their backyard animal friends names.  This deeper connection to nature helps Plum and Bluey understand how human actions can change the whole environment.

    And we think that this is a very important lesson.

    Category Rambler Ramblings | Tags: ,,,,, | Comments Off on Naming The Animals

  4. Destination: Neenah

    June 22, 2014 by admin

    IMG_6438We recently discovered the wonderful city of Neenah, Wisconsin.  We’d never even really heard of Neenah before, although we’ve been many times to other cities in the Fox Valley.  We recommend you check out this destination.

    We headed up there to visit the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass.  The museum is located in the former Bergstrom residence in a very swanky neighborhood of Neenah, along the Lake Winnebago shoreline.  After a brief review in the car about ‘looking but not touching once inside,’ we went into the museum.  We were enthusiastically greeted by a docent on the front steps, who made sure to remind us to check out the upper level.

    Tip:  Admission is free with a note about a suggested donation.  There are restrooms but no other services.

    We were impressed right away to find that in the lobby there was a hands-on display!  The kiddoes played with colorful glass triangles on a light table, creating their own little art works, before we headed into the main museum.  And there we found another hands-on display inviting us to use paintbrushes to manipulate glass sand into designs of our own making.  What fun!  We hadn’t expected to be able to touch anything in this museum, but we were pleasantly surprised.  IMG_1953

    After viewing dozens of glass paperweights and beautiful artworks, we were surprised again to find that the museum gift shop had small glass items for sale that were very suitable for young patrons.

    You won’t spend a lot of time at this museum, but it is well worth incorporating into your day trip!

    IMG_6418Directly across the street from the museum, we discovered a fabulous park and playground.  Located right on the waterfront, Riverside Park features a rocket-ship themed play area with a giant rocket climbing structure, moon cars, and more!  The kids tired themselves out before we headed for lunch.

    Downtown Neenah hosts a lively farmers market and has numerous fun shops and cafes along Wisconsin Avenue.   We had a quick lunch and grabbed some ice cream before heading home with the whole family asking when we’d come back to Neenah.

    We look forward to our next trip to this city- what unexplored treasures await us?  The lighthouse? Another cool park?  We’ll let you know what we find.

    Category Jaunts | Tags: ,,,, | Comments Off on Destination: Neenah

  5. Tweet For A Track

    June 20, 2014 by admin

    get-it-for-a-tweet

    You know we love pointing out sources for free and legal mp3s.  Here’s a new one we discovered recently, thanks to Righteous Babe Records.

    How about a simple way to combine supporting artists while you spread the word about them, and then they give you free music?

    Could it be simpler than sending a tweet?

    At Tweet For A Track, you find a song you like and send out an auto-composed tweet about it.  Then the service sends a download code to your email for the track.

    It’s free,  It’s simple. We’ve picked up tracks from Joan Jett and Ingrid Michaelson, as well as tons of new artists, all for a simple tweet.

    Give it a go!

    Category Thrifty Tips | Tags: ,, | Comments Off on Tweet For A Track

  6. Inventing Is Contagious

    June 18, 2014 by admin

    A ride for our local squirrels

    A ride for our local squirrels

    Our Bluey will tell anyone he meets that he’s an inventor. He loves to tinker with old appliances and regularly builds new things with his Legos, or any other bits he can get in his hands.

    When he’s with his friends, he tells them all about his inventions. Guess what? Now the friends want to be inventors, too! Often Bluey will lead these friends to one of his invention piles and they’ll all just start building stuff.  It’s delightful and amazing to watch what these kids can create, once they get going.

    You can trigger this same effect with the kiddoes in your life.   If you talk with them often enough about letting go and being creative, and following their bliss, soon your kiddoes will believe they can do it. And once they start feeling it, there will be no stopping them!

    Window Art

    Window Art

    So much about being inventive is believing that you have strength and wonderful uniqueness within yourself. Help your kids foster their creativity and see how it blossoms, and how it inspires others!

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  7. Someone’s Trash Is Someone Else’s Treasure

    June 15, 2014 by admin

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    Garage sale season is in full swing.  One of our favorite things is when an entire neighborhood chooses to hold a sale.  Then we can just park our bikes, or our cars, and walk from house to house as we search for goodies.

    Recently, we rode our bicycles down to nearby Marquette.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and lots of items called out to us from driveways and grassy lawns.  AndIMG_6374 then we found it!  A waffle maker.  Plum had been asking for a waffle maker for quite some time but the we just couldn’t justify the expense.  At $1 and a reassurance from the seller that it worked perfectly (not always a guaranty), we picked up a Toastmaster Belgian Waffler – directions included!

    We’d never made waffles from scratch.  We searched out a recipe for the batter and then greased and warmed up our waffler.  Around 3 minutes after pouring in the batter, our first waffle was ready. Delicious!

    A simple garage sale find has allowed us to expand our breakfast offerings, to the particular delight of our Plum.  We can’t wait to experiment with all sorts of waffle variations.

     

    Category Garage/ Rummage/ Book Sales | Tags: , | Comments Off on Someone’s Trash Is Someone Else’s Treasure

  8. Map App

    June 13, 2014 by admin

    chicago-days-inn-melrose-park-mapIn our transition to smart phones, we find the mapping apps to be real lifesavers, especially when only one parent is in the car.

    We will always be big fans of traditional paper maps. We love how they show a wide and detailed perspective of part of the world. We love their old school simplicity. We love their tactile nature.

    But we have found that our phone app maps are indispensable when traveling solo, as recently happened in our family when only one parent could take the kids in and out of Chicago.

    Google-maps-iconWhether encountering construction delays or making a wrong turn, the mapping apps we use (GoogleMaps and AppleMaps) help us avoid having to pull over, locate ourselves on paper, and determine a new course.  It’s much simpler to find our position through satellite on the phone app and automatically get a new route, or see our options. And thanks to street views and 3D images, it’s also relatively easy to determine exactly where we are and what direction we are facing.iOS6-AppleMaps-icon

    With two parents in the car, we typically run a standard driver/ navigator dichotomy that works very well for us.  In that situation, we lean towards paper maps with a mapping app as our back up.  But when solo on the road, we can’t express enough thanks for our mapping apps! 

    Category Road Trippin' | Tags: , | Comments Off on Map App

  9. Little Saver

    June 11, 2014 by admin

    We’ve been teaching our young Bluey the value of saving his money.

    We recently got a bank account for Bluey and Plum when our bank opened a branch within walking distance of our home. So we periodically take a walk to the bank and deposit a few dollars that we hope will pile up into something big in their future.IMG_6330

    But we’ve also been tackling the other end of the saving spectrum: purchasing. We’re trying to help our Bluey learn not to blow through all of his spending money every time he has a few beans in his pocket.

    What if, instead of buying a thing you don’t really want so much, you saved your money until another time? Then you could buy yourself one of the bigger ticket items that has caught your eye.

    So far, the process is working pretty well. Bluey has a piggy bank allocated for short-term savings goals.  When he skips buying a small toy, he puts his money in there. He’s starting to see that if he foregoes a few purchases, he can later afford something really, really cool.

    It’s a start. We know Bluey will still be attracted to nifty little things at various gift shops and stores we visit.  But our hope is that with each purchase deferred, he’ll learn more clearly the value of saving up for the things that really matter to him.

    Category Money and Finance | Tags: ,, | Comments Off on Little Saver

  10. Madison Vegan Fest

    June 8, 2014 by admin

    IMG_6306We had a fun visit this past weekend to the Mad City Vegan Fest– an small scale trade show of vegan foods, vegan businesses, and vegan products that is held annually at the Goodman Community Center .

    As a vegetarian family, we have always been sympathetic to the vegan lifestyle, so we enjoy attending the festival and sampling the many vegan treats available while learning new tips and recipes.

    This year’s event was a particularly good time for us.  Our young Bluey was very excited and eager to try out new foods.  He eagerly filled up on free samples of everything from vegan cookies, vegan pizza, and vegan snacks.  We had a nice chat with the operators of a vegan food truck from Milwaukee.  We look forward to tracking down The Next Level Vegans when we need to find lunch in their town.

    Bluey was especially happy to try out the vegan candy and snacks he found in the main exhibition hall.  Comfort Candy gave out little nuggets of candy that Bluey adored.  Lucky for him that we met up with these candy makers the next day, and they generously gave us a small bag for Bluey.  Another snack that you might not realize isn’t vegan, or even vegetarian is marshmallows!  Bluey downed a few sample cups of Dandies before racing on to the next vendor.

    Seeing all these food options, and watching our youngest sample them with such vigor, has us reconsidering our stance on veganism.  Is it the right choice for us?  We’ve been leaning further and further in that direction lately.  It seems like a healthier diet that meshes even better with our thoughts on animal welfare and food safety than our decades of devoted vegetarianism.IMG_6303

    For now it will continue to be an ongoing home debate, as we consider if and how to bring this change into our family.  We eagerly await the next Madison Vegan Fest next June.  And we encourage you to explore vegan choices within your family.

    Category Advice & Reviews | Tags: ,,,, | Comments Off on Madison Vegan Fest

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