Back in my garden again

A riot of color
A little haphazard perhaps
It's survival of the fittest out here.

I've ignored my garden for so long
flowers long forgotten stretch to the sunshine and nod their heads at me
'yes, I'm still here'
the weeds have taken over
but at least they're green.

Honeysuckle mingles with the surviving climbing roses and fills the evening and morning air with it's heady fragrance.

I once had 17 climbing roses and too many shrub roses to count. The blooms are perfection, the scent heavenly, filling bouquets. But black spot won out, only a handful of roses left - I refused to spray and our wet springs did them in. But those that survived fill my cup every spring.

Rosa Rubia naturally resistant to disease. The flowers are tiny, but I love this climber for its red stems, grey green leaves and large rose hips that feed birds all winter.

Scenes of the farm

Green crops stretch to the sky, barn swallows swoop and dart across fields and in and out of the barns, shush shush shush of giant sprinkler guns break the silence. So peaceful and serene on the farm, can't help but be in touch with nature and acutely aware of the path of the sun.

The old barns, rotting beams, floors of straw, swallows nests, dust swirling in the shafts of light that seep between cracks in the boards. Broken windows frame the daylight, we squint out of eyes accustomed to darkness.

We raced down to Oregon this weekend to celebrate our daughter-in-law's graduation from the University of Oregon (a Masters in Psychology!) and to spend time with Jerry's family. His mother lives on one edge of the 500 acre farm, two of his four brothers her closest neighbors. Randal has always had farming in his blood and now lives in Grandpa Gilbert's old farm house.

Farmers work around the clock at this time of the year, but are always within sight of home, huge meals together around the kitchen table or out in the field. So much to do - everything needs water, water, water.

The younger cousins are rebuilding a lawnmower with the goal of converting it into a remote control... an older cousin blows glass in his studio after a long day working in the fields. My boys alternate between fascination with the various projects, and just playing - swinging from the rope in the barn, driving Uncle Tim's new amphibious 6-wheeler and skateboarding in Grandma's driveway. Dirt, grass pollen and bonfire smoke blend into their suntanned faces.

We slept past 7:00 am this morning - the latest in years as the pace of the country seeps in and readjusts our hurried, over-scheduled lives of school, jobs, book writing, show prep, house building. Farmers aren't sleeping much right now, but we relaxed and took in the scenes of the farm.

Recharging

So good to be home and with my boys. I wasn't just gone for the 10 days in Milwaukee but mentally gone for much longer - the last few months (year!) have been packed with deadlines, shows etc. and I'm exhausted. Longing for a rest and time with my family.

For so many years - in my zeal to expose my kids to all of the wonderful activities out there - I over-scheduled them. Finally, a few summers ago I realized that what my kids really needed was down time, less structure, less organized activities and more spontaneity, more time to be kids, to let their imaginations flourish. So last summer we had music lessons and swim lessons when we felt like it – some weeks we squeezed activities in each day other weeks went by without any. We spontaneously signed up for 1 week of tennis and 1 week of soccer. But mostly our time was open. We relished the days-on-end when the car stayed in the driveway and we ate when we were hungry, went to bed when we were tired. Screen time is very little in our house - we don’t watch TV and whenever my kids ask to play on the Wii or computer games, I tell them to play outside first. They usually forget all about coming in to 'watch other people live their lives' as my oldest likes to say. There are so many things to do. And my kids play outside – A LOT. They build forts and grottoes and castles out of paper, or sticks or logs. They perform skits complete with tickets and programs, they ride bikes, fall off logs at the park, read tons of books, draw and write stories. There is so much to do and so little time before they will launch into summer jobs and college and adulthood.

Production of 'Morgan The Explorer and Brandon The Barbarian' last night in our garden

Summer vacation starts in 1 week and we are going to hang onto the spontaneity – have even more down time, less structure. And not just the kids. I need to recharge my batteries too. I don't seem to have as much energy as I did a decade or two ago. I'm going to slow down, relax, play with the kids, explore with our cameras, get more sleep, stop working weekends, just say no to outside pressure for awhile. My Daddy used to tell me that the most precious commodity in life is time - so spend it well. I'm going to spend it with me and my family...


...so pardon me if I don't answer you in a timely manner - it isn't you. I'm just recharging.

Goodbye Milwaukee and Bead & Button

Beaded beads by 'The Bead Goes On'

Glass beads by Harold Williams Cooney

So much color and energy electrify the entire city during the Bead & Button Show...

even the bridge towers wear baubles.

Winding down after class with Tonia Davenport, Jeanette Cook and Marsha DeCoster

One last walk along the river and into the Third Ward.

How could I resist this fabulous window display? ( Anthropologie )

Another whirlwind week and the Bead & Button Show is over for a year. Fun, colorful, creative, exhausting, exhilarating...

I'll miss you, Milwaukee - see you next year!

"Our bodies are built to walk 10 miles a day"

according to the bellman at the Hilton. And I did my share today! I strolled along the river walk 3 times today in between setting up my classroom for tomorrow - I'm sure I racked up over 10 miles and hopefully worked off all of the yummy food I ate.

It's Milwaukee's annual Downtown Dining Week - 40 of the city's restaurants offering 3-course lunch meals for $10 and 3-course gourmet dinners for $20. So for those of you in town for the Bead & Button Show, might I suggest...

Palms Bistro and Bar is in the heart of the Historic Third Ward district in a converted factory with very tall ceilings, local art hanging on the brick walls, and lots of window seating which spills out onto the street. I jotted down notes for my classes while I ate, and all the while took pictures of everything around me, including my food. I think the waitress and some of the other patrons at the Palms Bistro thought I was a food critic... note their poised smiles.

My 3 course lunch was a tomato basil mozzarella (sans the mozzarella) salad, Thai coleslaw with peanut sauce (which I can only eat when I am away from home because of my son's horribly serious allergy), 2 bite size Kobe beef burgers, and a freshly made, full-of-summer mixed berry sorbet - no dairy and so scrumptious. Better get walking.


Dinner was outside along the river at Water Buffalo (so named because it is at the corner of Water Street and Buffalo Street). Again tomatoes sounded good and their bruschetta is one of the best I've ever had - I order it every year and this time complemented it with some firey buffalo wings! 3 more miles.

Oooo - can you see how long and skinny my legs are already becoming? And that lump on my side is my camera bag - NOT a lopsided hip!

By the way, wandering in a city by yourself can be lonely, unless you have a camera. Dining by yourself can also be lonely, unless you have a good book! Luckily I had both! On my dinner trip, however, I forgot my book at the hotel, so popped into Borders and picked up one of the first books I happened upon - Proust was a Neuroscientist. All about the links between art and science of the brain... love his writing, witty and fascinating - I can't put it down.

Milwaukee

Eclectic mix of old and new; friendly people, fabulous food - so fun to be here again!

A morning stroll along the River Walk took me into the Historic Third Ward - old brick factories converted into a thriving art scene with scrumptious restaurants, eclectic stores and a busy Public Market.

and if, by chance, you happen to stay up WAY too late drinking wine and chocolate martinis with Tracy and Janice and Chad, then a fabulously restorative hand crafted juice from The Green Cafe is a must. I chose Carrot Cake (carrot, orange, ginger, cinnamon).

A bit of humor to start the day!