corner view:: staple foods, wisconsin

This week the corner view is "staple foods". For me, that means ingredients. We try to eat local or organic foods as much as we can, and eat with the seasons. I know that our kitchen and staple foods is by no means average American, but it is good!


Staples for me means local maple syrup, milk picked up weekly from a farm, and aged cheddar from Wisconsin (my 6 year old cannot live without 4 year aged cheddar, he said!). I also always have kombu, miso, vanilla beans, sea salt, coconut milk, rice, olive oil, turbinado sugar, oats (to make homemade granola to go with freshly made yogurt!!! yum!!!), good vinegars, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, whey and rennet to make our own soft cheeses. If we have these things around, I can make just about anything with the fresh produce, meat and dairy we get each week!


I used dried beans a lot in the winter, but now that summer has arrived and our garden and CSA are in full swing, we will eat what is freshly picked each week instead! :)


A sprouter is a must have too, of course.


We love that we can find local wheat berries we grind into flour to make bread.


And it is so great to be able to buy honey from a friend who keeps bees. Most of the year we pick up eggs from a friend too - the yolks are so golden - like the sun!


A staple for me is home made kombucha. Yum. Some in the fridge, and some on the counter bubbling away!


We know we are lucky to live in a place with so much available within just a few miles of our city - fruit, vegetables, grains, honey, maple syrup, eggs, meat, milk, cheese...and supporting those farmers who sustain us is important to us. Not only for our health, our local economy, and our environment, but also for our sons...and making a few friends and getting some fresh farm air along the way is an extra bonus.

The boys also took their own picture - they said that we definitely must have honey, cheese, maple syrup, flour, and all that good stuff to make things like pancakes, waffles, bread, grilled cheese sandwiches and ice cream...but they also have a few staples of their own:


It is a tad blurry - it is a challenge for two boys to take a picture with one camera at the same time!

To visit more staple foods from around the world::

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad, caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t., jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, virgina, april, b, kyndale samantha, karen, kristina, dorit, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, mcgillicutty, desiree, di, travelingmama, aimee, sunnymama, amanda, ali, jenell, guusje, britta, juanita, pamela, inna, daan, myrtille, cris, ibb, susi, jodi, lily, gillian, jeanette, athena, pienduzz, latisha, clairette, satsuki

Garden, Part 1.

If you truly love Nature, you will find beauty everywhere.
-Vincent Van Gogh

I feel like I'm so behind on garden posts! I take so many pictures - I love seeing the minute changes early followed by the crazy burst of growth that comes with the heat. The garden is becoming a living jungle. We haven't had much rain, so I am spending a bit of time out watering as well as weeding, checking, picking, and succession planting. It really is beautiful.


I love taking photos not only because it is beautiful, but also to remember next year when planning, planting, and re-thinking of what worked and what didn't. Since I expand the beds each year, and I work mostly with landscape plantings (limited "bed" space), it is important to remember where everything is to help with rotating...and realizing when things just don't do so well together, or noting areas where there is now more or less sun, and where I need to make changes.


Right now I am loving it - there is so much more being grown in our tiny yard this year. Wonderberries, ground cherries, currants, raspberries, strawberries - so much wondrous fruit. The golden raspberries are just starting to ripen - but they never make it in the house and are eaten right off the cane. The strawberries are about done and the wonderberries are just starting to turn purple.


We tied twine from stakes in the ground up through our gazebo frame to give ourselves 10' of vertical space to grow pole and runner beans - and it is working great.


I did the same with the rain barrel - planting flowers and vining flowers and beans to grow up twine staked from ground to the top. Soon the rain barrel will be a blooming masterpiece. I'm loving the beds we added this spring - nice to have some hotter/sunnier spots dedicated to beans, strawberries, peppers, flowers, tomatillos and more.


Even our front and back porches are full - in back we're growing many types of herbs in pots as well as several tomato and pepper plants. In front we have grow bags of potatoes, hanging tomato planters, pots of herbs, peppers, tomatoes, and flowers. It is all growing so beautifully!


We have been enjoying a TON of greens and spring veggies - lettuces, arugula, mustard, chives, radishes, herbs, kohlrabi and peas. As those finish off, the tomatoes and peppers are showing off their bounty to come - can't wait for those to ripen over the next month or so. We can tell we are at the cusp of the summer harvest - I'm ready with my dehydrator, canning equipment, and seeds for more!

a day of goodbyes.

Today didn't go as planned. Our sweet kitty Dax (aka: Poopalicious) hasn't been eating for several days, and while she is 17 years old, we hoped there was something we could do. We found out that she had a whole set of big problems, including a large mass in her belly. She was having a hard time moving, couldn't eat, wouldn't drink, and her heart was racing.


We lost her today. We were all with her to the end, and said our goodbyes. It is so hard to go through these things with small kids (we went through this with Monkey almost exactly one year ago). I don't believe in lying, hiding it, making cute stories about kitty heaven, or going behind their backs and telling them later. We stick together as a family, and so while it was a rough day for all of us, we grieved together, supported each other, and are also relieved that she is no longer suffering. She was very loved.


We will miss her, our sweet kitty.

corner view:: music

I spent many years where music, performance, and art were "my life". Years of singing and playing in bands, recording studios, going to school for audio engineering and music business, exhibiting my paintings when I could, working with bands, going to see friends shows, performing in shows (twirling fire). I have an awesome back stage pass collection and tons of crazy stories. I even had some famous rock star roommates a bazillion years ago.


But these days I march to the beat of a different drummer. Well, WE do. In fact, we are the drummer. While our iPod is a permanent fixture with us at home or in the car and we are often singing along at the top of our lungs together as we travel down the highway, we prefer making our own music.


And that is the best music of all!

To visit the corner view around the world, visit Jane at Spain Daily.

Heat it up.

It hasn't felt like summer is almost here. We have had such a cold and gray spring - but over the past few days it finally started to heat up. We also started getting the crazy thunderstorms that make me feel that warm weather is finally here to stay.


When it gets HOT the boys want to get out to the beach. A favorite spot has a good amount of shade and is across the street from an ice cream shop. Perfect! Thursday afternoon we hit the beach a bit to watch the boats go by, get our toes in the sand and eat some popcicles before the storms hit (of course many beaches closed the very next day due to algae - go figure!).


Last night we had another round of storms - but of course wanted to go out for ice cream. We are lucky to be able to take a short drive out into the farmland and have ice cream right at a local creamery. The view was amazing - farms and storms as far as the eye could see.

And today? HOT! The boys wanted to get out in the yard and get wet! They dragged out a pool which has been in the darkest corner of the garage all winter, filled it up and let it warm up a bit before jumping in.


They splashed and played...ahhh, yes, it does feel like summer. The weekend is not over - we have friends coming for a solstice bbq tomorrow, and even more heat is on its way.


Summer, here we come!

corner view:: street fashion??

I must admit I giggled when I saw the corner view for this week was 'street fashion'. While there are several people in Wisconsin who are fashionable, well...lets just say that every time I turned the camera out to take photos of people on the street this week I stopped myself. Really. No need to be sharin' any of that. ;) Now, cycling fashion runs the gamut here, but I sadly didn't get the chance to roam the rural roads looking for bands of riders with their serious riding duds!

So maybe I should just take pictures down into the car instead.


G modeled a special outfit just for me with his green goggles. Or better yet...


To visit parts of the world with a bit more 'street fashion', visit:

jane, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,caitlin, joyce, ani, couturecoucou, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage,trinsch, c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana,denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, ruth, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e,janis, kari, jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa,britta, virgina, april, rebecca, b, kyndalesamantha, karen, kristina, angelina, dorit, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, nicki, ruth, mcgillicutty,desiree, di, travelingmama, aimee, sunnymamaamanda, ali, jenell, guusje, britta, juanita, pamela, inna, daan, myrtille

photos of the day - garden helpers

Tonight while I did my squat and weed and my husband filled the potato bags with yet MORE soil, my boys happily helped. This is their garden too, after all. Of course their favorite thing to do on a warm evening is fill buckets with water from the rain barrel (and run sprinting through the yard to pour into our potted plants and raised beds), and squirt fruit and veggies with the hose. They both ended up thoroughly drenched, but very happy.


The garden is starting to look like summer and we spent a bit of time this afternoon just soaking it up. We put up a mini kids volleyball net and the boys learned how to bump, dig, block and spike. They both love playing sports in our thin strip of lawn...and they also love harvesting with me each morning. This morning?


Lots of greens...mesclun greens, mustard greens, tah tsi mustard, spinach, sorrel, red leaf lettuce, kale and more. We also snipped a bunch of herbs - basil, savory, shisho and chives. Yum.

I took a lot of photos of what is happening in our garden...can't wait to share!

corner view :: wisconsin

This week the corner view is "out your back door or window"

We live in a 'green' neighborhood, which is designed to have small yard spaces with houses close together to minimize the stereotypical American wasteland of chemically induced water sucking unnaturally green untouched lawnscapes ;) and promote community. The plus is we get to know our neighbors -  people naturally congregate and children play in the carriage lane every evening during decent weather -  and we know just about everyone on our block.

Sooooo, out the back we have a small hill to a carriage lane (with garages)...and our small yard is on the side in between the houses. We have torn out a good percentage of our limited grass to grow flowers, vegetables, fruit, and provide habitat for our urban wildlife friends.

The top image is of our deck with a gazebo to give us some shade. We spend a lot of time there...and grow many herbs and veggies in pots. From the deck we have a square garden plot, tiered down to lemon balm and spearmint bushes, and a raised bed full of strawberries and raspberry canes next to a mini rain garden.



An up close view of what we see out our back door? So much is blooming right now - lilacs, mock orange bushes, viburnum. Raspberries are starting to fruit, strawberries are ripening, tiny tomatoes and peppers adorn the small late spring plants which will expand to take over all available space, garlic and shallots are getting so big, carrots are looking ferny, and birds bathe and eat and sing all day long.




The robins love our strawberries as much as we do, so every morning we go out to see if we can pick the ripe ones before they do!

Too see all of the other backdoor views around the world this week, visit:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad, caitlin, joyce, ani, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t., jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana,denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, ruth, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa,britta, virgina, april, rebecca, b, kyndale samantha, karen, kristina, angelina, dorit, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, mcgillicutty, desiree, di, travelingmama, aimee, sunnymama amanda, ali, jenell, guusje, britta, juanita, pamela, inna, daan, myrtille, cris, ibb, susi, jodi, lily, gillian, doobleh-vay

15 minutes.

You see, that is supposed to be my computer limit per sitting! 15 minutes. When I hurt my back at the end of March I couldn't sit at the computer for more than a few minutes (and needed help getting up). Once I started physical therapy, I was doing much better, but my PT told me 15 minutes max at a time. Then get up and walk around 15 minutes. It seemed kind of impossible...I have design projects, volunteer for a few local groups, have a website for local families, moderate a few groups, blog, & am starting an Earth Scouts group, blah blah blah. I had every single excuse (and TONS in my inbox). And of course other than checking email here and there, I am with my boys all day every day! My 'work' time is at night after they go to sleep. I would marathon sit at this computer from 8PM - 1+AM sometimes 7 nights per week to get all my work done (wonder how I hurt my back, hmmm?).

The funny thing is that my PT is right. I can't sit for too much longer than that - or I can't stand up from the chair! But I don't know about you, I can't get much done in 15 minutes. I'm just getting started! And it takes me 15 minutes to get back into whatever I stopped doing earlier! I spent weeks freaking out/stressing about this. Then I started doing only the 'important' must be done emergency stuff. And then I started doing ... well, I realized that if I wasn't at this computer as much my back didn't hurt as bad and I'm not so stiff or sore at the end of the day and could feel more improvement with the PT exercises. Ahem.

So the good from all this? I started re-learning to knit. Amazing how my carpal tunnel isn't so bad when I have less computer time and I can KNIT again! Woo hoo! I started organizing some ideas for writing projects. I started sketching again. Oh, and yes, I started spending more eves with my husband who also needed to not be working so late into the night. Much good from not so much sitting in this particular spot!

The not so good? I am not able to visit all of my favorite blogs as often! Many (most) days communicating even via comments is like a lifeline to inspiring and/or like minded mamas, and I miss that so much!! I do still visit and read blogs as much as I can, but I am not there at every post, commenting.  And I find I'm also skipping some of my own posts that have been brewing in my  head for days just because it is too much. So, not much garden chat  (although I have a TON of photos!), not many crafting posts, and not much rambling on here. But that is OK. I'm getting stronger and stronger every week and and just need to find a good balance for it all. I'll play catch up as I go along. But for now, its all good. Just pass the yarn. :)

sunday, sunday.

Today we headed to our favorite science museum to see their new exhibits. The boys always love seeing the familiar, but definitely love exploring the new. The water cycle exhibit was pretty cool. They could see where rain goes - from your roof to the water treatment plant.


We saw how much water weighed, and how far many people on the planet must carry their water every day. We read how much water people use in this country daily (ouch). We compared showerheads for water usage. We saw how plants and fish work together in aquaponics to filter and grow in a beneficial dependency.


We walked through a green built house and compared different types of insulation, paints, flooring, and windows. We looked at different light bulbs, read about fiber optic solar, and saw how much electricity a live eel was generating in a tank (cool!). The boys even got to run and produce kinetic energy...by running in what really was a gigantic hamster (uh, human) wheel. They lit up light bulbs running and running.


We explored wind turbines, hydrogen cells, nuclear power, solar power...they felt good about how much they already knew, and excited to find out more about a few new interesting things (electric eels).


A nice break from our intensive gardening efforts of the past month or so. Tomorrow more rain - the boys won't mind though, as we have a new fun game...Earthopoly...and we have some research to do on those electric eels!

view from the top.

Today was cold, gray and wet. Before the weekend cold front we got out to enjoy a warm summery day. We were coming home from a garden center with a flat of prairie plants for our new mini rain garden behind our house. From a distance we saw the ferris wheel and knew we had to stop for a bit to wander the fair. It was the perfect day to be outside.


I'm afraid of heights, but hey, part of living and growing is confronting your fears, right? If I can chant my way through an MRI in a tiny tube, I can take pictures hands free while at the top of a spinning rocking metal contraption! ;)



Of course the boys were oblivious to my sweaty palms. They just thought it was fun and that there was a great view from the top. Oh, and that sign down there says 'cotton candy'...can we get some??

corner view wisconsin:: beach

This weeks Corner View is Beach. While we do have beaches here in Madison, Wisconsin, they are of the small lake variety! We are surrounded by lakes, and so do often visit beaches - mostly in fall, winter and spring, though, as we like the cooler weather and no crowds.


In the summer if we head to a beach we like the spring fed lake variety outside of the city - the cool water and clean beaches are lovely. A few things we watch out for in our inland beaches is bacterial counts, algae blooms, swimmers itch...we read the beach reports before visiting to be sure it is safe for swimming! There are many great swimming lakes within an hour or two of us...we could visit a new beach every week all year and not make it through the list!


About 80 miles away is Lake Michigan. I lived in Chicago for many years right on the lake front, and miss that never ending horizon of water. 

The Great Lakes -- Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario -- and their connecting channels form the largest fresh surface water system on earth.


They are a treasure, and we love to visit.

I will admit that none of these photos are from this week - but from my iPhoto archives. We have had a week of cool cloudy days and wind - but perhaps next week we will be back to the beach, throwing rocks, digging with sticks, and looking for fish!

To visit the other corner views (full of lovely beaches!!!!) visit:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,caitlin, joyce, ani, couturecoucou, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage,trinsch, c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana,denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, ruth, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e,janis, kari, jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa,britta, virgina, april, rebecca, b, kyndale, desiree, di, travelingmama, aimee, sunnymamaamanda, ali, jenell, guusje, britta, juanita, pamela, inna, daan, myrtille, cris, samantha, karen, kristina, angelina, dorit, goldensunfamily, sophie, janet, nicki, ruth, mcgillicutty,