'bye, 'bye futta-flies!

I was beginning to feel guilty that these painted ladies were going to spend all of their short lives in a cage eating sugar syrup. I had planned to release them on the 4th, but stormy weather nixed that and rain and winds have continued. Today offered brief relief and even a few peaks of sun, the best I could hope for until Friday. I had been warning Boogie that the butterflies would have to go bye bye since they hatched and I was hoping that he wouldn't be too upset when his friends flew off. He took it very well, just chasing them through the garden for a few minutes, but no tears.

































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The rainy weather also necessitated a trip to use a dryer at the laundry or we would have been out of clean diapers shortly. We spent some time at the park while the dryer worked its magic.

I will not complain too much about the weather here given the temperatures out east, but I am hoping for it to dry up a bit before the garden becomes too much of a jungle!

Parades, bar-b-que, fireworks and a street dance! Happy 4th!

Most of the small towns around here had their celebrations on Saturday the 3rd. This worked out well as today is looking to be overcast, muggy and rainy with a chance of thunderstorms. Boogie and I finished chores and headed out to a parade in the river town of Bagley, WI. These parades consist mostly of local politicians, antique cars and tractors and volunteer fire and rescue squads. The vehicles alone are enough to keep the little guys attention. Boogie handled all the walking really well and was still running and skipping on the way back to the car.

Local business toss lots of candy to the children, though Boogie hasn't learned to be grabby just yet. The older kids were very nice and shared their haul with him and I'm sure by next year he will be a candy shark in his own right. We hit a few garage sales on the way home and searched in vain for a rasp to work on Brighty the donkeys feet, most of the hardware stores had closed early.
At home we had grilled brats that I simmered in apple juice along with cole slaw, home made with cabbage from the garden and Sunchips. There was home made blackberry or blueberry cheesecake ice cream for dessert.










Then we headed back to Bagley for fireworks and a street dance. Boog and I got there about a half an hour before dusk and he was able to play on the slides. They have a climbing apparatus that is about 12 feet high and probably wouldn't even be considered safe in a third world country so the little monkey had to climb to the very top, making Mommie very nervous and himself very proud. Fortunately there was another mommie spotter on the inside to help out.
He really liked the fireworks display, saying BOOM! crackle crackle after nearly each explosion. Then we headed over a few blocks to the street dance with a live band. Boogie danced his little tushie off right in front of the bandstand until 10:30 when I figured it was time to get the little Casanova home to bed. He danced with lots of pretty young girls and they kept giving him glow bracelets and necklaces, what a charmer. I hope he keeps this 'joi de virve' as he matures. It is a pleasure to watch. When we finally got him to bed he took his glow sticks with him and fell asleep with them around his head! Probably dreaming of the brunette in the tight jeans!

Hope everyone enjoys their 4th of July
HAPPY BIRTHDAY U.S.A.

Time to make the pesto!

The basil is doing VERY well so far this year, it is loving the wet and warm weather. I took me years to realize this, but I cannot stress enough, PICK AND USE YOUR BASIL! You will be rewarded with more and more and more basil. I used to hate the idea of cutting off my pretty plants, but once they show signs of flowering, give them a good trim and and you will be amazed at how quickly they rebound. On the other hand, if you don't harvest the plants flower and become leggy and woody with reduced production.

So I picked this HUGE colander full of leaves from my many plants.

I removed the leaves from the stems and put them in the blender with a good amount of extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Pine nuts are a traditional ingredient, but I'm not fond of them so I leave them out. Then I puree, adding more EVOO until I get a nice thick milkshake consistency. I like to freeze mine in old fashioned pyrex glass containers with plastic lids or half pint mason jars. Delicious on pasta, warm or cold, and I use it as a 'rub' on pork roasts. Very versatile and tasty stuff!

Made a chiffonade with the rest of the leaves and added them to fresh pasta sauce for dinner. You can also dry bunches then store the dried leaves in an airtight container away from direct light and heat where they keep their potency about six months.

A Visit to Midway Village

Midway Village is a living history museum in Rockford, Illinois. On Saturday Boogie and I joined a dear friend from Chicago and got to meet her family at this lovely little facility. Our original plans were to get together at Old World Wisconsin, but as in many best laid plans, they sustained tornado damage a week ago and are closed for repairs. After some Internet searching, I found this place as an alternative. It turned out to be the perfect place for a visit, roughly half way between our respective residences. To say it was not crowded is an understatement, we practically had the place to ourselves. The museum covers the history of the Rockford area, which has quite and industrial past with mills playing a big part. The exhibit area is small, but well done with some 'hands on' displays and the biggest Sock Monkey I have ever seen!

The grounds are beautiful, with well tended buildings and gardens. Since we had three young children, we declined the 40 minute tour, which is included in the $6 adult admission fee, and explored on our own. Certainly a great place for a picnic lunch! While I wouldn't consider this to be a destination attraction, it is well worth the visit if you are in the area, particularly if you are a history buff. This would also be a wonderful place for a wedding and reception.

Debs children are awesome, so well behaved next to my little tyrant who couldn't keep out of the puddles from last nights rain. She, and her husband of course, do such a great job with them. We had wonderful weather sandwiched between early morning thunderstorms and rain again at night. Boogie was able to run to his hearts content

The aftermath, a quite drive home!

Futterflies!

Boogies butterflies emerged from their cocoons early this morning. Unfortunately we did not get to see the process :(. I had checked them late last night after we got home from our outing to Midway Village and there had been no change but this morning after chores nine of the ten chrysalis had become Painted Lady butterflies!












Per the instructions, we are feeding them sugar water on tissue and flower blossoms, elderberry in this case.

The little guy finds them fascinating and has been remarkably gentle with his 'futterflies' and I hope he's not too upset when we release them later in the week.