does this mean we're famous???

http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/node/1601

you might have to search a little...

right underneath 'lava lady.' right above 'mr. kill greedy'... guess whose blog the daily page featured in their article about blogging about brat fest... oh, you'll just have to look and find out...

what do you think? is this something i should be proud of: mentioned for taking nearly 20 pictures at the world's largest brat fest... and were there really 20 pictures??? i really don't think i took that many... and did someone at the daily page actually count them to get that number??? hmm... i'm going to have to mull over this new discovery.

hey! don't stop reading here. there's another new post right below this:

buses, bugs, and beatrices

blue sky at the capitol. me: waiting and waiting around for the bus when i finally realize that i have seen no buses for the 20 minutes that i have sat there. the capitol square is always filled with buses. i cannot believe i didn't notice their absence sooner!

so, instead, i start walking. i will ignore the 30 pound backpack i am carrying.

abandoned transportation...

leisure time at the park...

***

next: garden update.
we were last at the garden two days ago (i think) and in that time, so much has changed (well, grown... and... appeared)


the biggest news: little green beanlets!

cute huh?! two days ago, they were invisible. today, they are inches tall!

the cilantro. looking healthy as ever...

these are the "three beatrices"...

they are flower beds. currently only the last one contains flowers (flax from seed). the middle one contained melon plants which were destroyed in the last big storm. well, maybe they're growing under there, who knows, but they certainly don't act like it on this side of the soil. which is currently the main problem with the three beatrices: the soil. the soil is not soil at all, but mud. which is why the melon plants went nowhere after it rained, and why the flax's growth is stunted and why the three beatrices remain virtually weed free. this is something we need to work on.




our potato plants. the same ones i was sure would never make it: (i suppose we still have to wait for the finished product. that is... blight is still a possibility!)

also, a closer look at the leaves tells us that something is getting a lot of its potato nutrients from our potato plants...

bite marks.

we knew this was happening the last time we were out so it was not a surprise. still though... we had to hunt for the little buggers and remove them from the premises.

so friendly looking... why must he make things difficult?


on a less buggy note (though, you might see a little black bug if you look closely), the soybeans are doing incredibly well. just look at the size of that leaf!

and our lettuces also continue to grow and grow. which, yes... should not be a big surprise... but i'm honestly sort of amazed each time i go there and see the stuff growing because we really have no clue what we're doing.

the end!

memorial day weekend part 3

sunday evening at the essen haus. the tradition: boots of beer. the rules: pass it around, don't set it on the table, flick it before and after you drink, toe up.

i should note that everyone at the table (including author) partook in drinking from the glass boot. however the pictures of all but two have been omitted. (some of us have pride!)

greg and boot...

nick and boot...

greg cleaning up...

monday: to the garden to water our plants and pick weeds. on our potato plants we find potato bugs and potato buglets-to-be.

potato bugs are very organized... they just have to arrange their eggs "just so" (although it's not a great picture to show it)...

like caviar

next: a wisconsin winery... though wine is not a staple of wisconsin (unlike beer, brats, and cheese), those in wisconsin make an honest attempt now and again at refined living.

on the way to the winery... green hills...

farm houses...

at the winery. advertising the new port...

the house.

the front yard...

the grape growers...

bottles of grapes...

onto lake wingra...

sailing machines...

fixing the boat (or attempting to)...

memorial day weekend part 2

memorial day weekend, day 2:

a walk into town. always people fishing...

at the farmer's market...

morris: apparently a form of english folk dance (according to wikipedia.org)

a young morris dancer...

a flowery purchase: an outdoor carpet for our balcony... and for the cats sensitive little toes...

next: a bike-ride through the arboretum. after about a mile... what else... rain.

we stopped at the arboretum's visitor center. closed. but, we stayed dry under the building's cover for awhile. eventually though a wedding party stood with us. we were not properly dressed for the occasion and still wearing our bike helmets (mine, a purple turtle shell look-alike) so we headed down to explore...

the wedding party:

our findings in the arboretum:

azaleas...

white ones...

pink ones...

orange-yellow ones...

roses...

wild turkeys...

crossing the road...

a baby deer (hopefully quickly reunited with his mother)...

caterpillars...

and benches with familiar names...

once the rain passed over, the bike trip was back on, for three of us.

chatting about gears...

the final destination...

(the world's largest) brat fest is held twice a year here: memorial day weekend and labor day weekend. they are always trying to get into the guiness book of world records for most brats eaten at one brat fest (or something to that effect). this year there were debates about whether veggie brats should count towards the record, which raises the old, familiar question: what exactly is a brat... or more specifically, what really makes a brat?

inside the festival grounds:

madison... a bike happy town...
for those rich bikers...

looking for the car, we came upon the other event going on this weekend near the convention center: a horse show...
back to brat fest:

veggie brats... like playing make-believe.

these were boca brats and i must say, they were very convincing. of course, i have not had a 'real' brat in probably a couple of years, but i have had other brands of 'unreal' brats which have no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

run in an orderly fashion...

of course, no brat can do without...

and yellow-shirted festival-goers and volunteers


if you're so inclined...

too full at the end of a long brat-filled evening? never fear...

there exist a steady stream of shuttles to usher you back out into the world...

the only sign not bordered with smiling brats...

for your listening enjoyment...

uh-oh, looks like someone got caught by the...

in case you over-brat:

look who just had to show up:

some non-brat goings-on at the fest:

chopper auctions...

art forms...

the dangerous world of a spray paint artist...

before heading back to the arboreteum to pick up the other car... eyeglasses and badges...

serious fun

to end the evening: in the spirit of nuclear chemistry and physics: chocolate radiation cake. quite unlike yellowcake uranium, in flavor.

close-up...