The Invasive Trumpet Vine

Eleven years ago when we bought our house, there was a little vine planted in the yard.  We weren't quite sure what it was, but we just left it.  We thought it was a Trumpet Vine.  The next summer it grew a little, but it didn't bloom.  The next summer we went to a garden center to see for sure what it was.  It was a Trumpet Vine and the garden center said it can be at least three years before they start blooming.  At that point, we thought we should have something for it to climb on.  We bought some  pieces of rebar.  We had someone cut it in pieces and weld it into a trellis shaped like a obelisk.  We thought the trellis was big enough, but we were wrong.  The next summer the Trumpet Vine started to grow and grow fast.

It started growing around and through the rebar trellis.

If you look carefully, you can see the bark growing around the rebar.

It is now huge and looks like a Trumpet Vine Tree.  All these years it has been confined to the trellis and got bigger and fuller.  Last year we had an extreme drought.  We didn't have any rain for most of the summer.  The grass in our lawn died and most of it didn't come back this year.  A strange thing happened with the vine.  I think it was searching for moisture because it sent up hundreds of shoots.  They are coming up in the yard and in the flower garden.  If anyone wants a Trumpet Vine shoot, we have them. 

They are coming up everywhere.  This fall we will have to cut them or mow them off.  They are becoming invasive searching for moisture. We have shoots coming up at least 20 feet away from the original plant.

 

Early this summer we had plenty of rain, but the last few days have been very hot.  The blossoms are falling off the vine.  Here they are all over the ground.  You can also see there is no grass.

The blossoms are so pretty and the birds love them, especially the hummingbirds and orioles.   We hate to destroy the extra plants,  but we will have to. 

A Book That Hit Close to Home

Today I was having an off day.  It is hotter than hot here in Wisconsin on this 17th day of July.  There was no going out in the weather today.  It was a day for those chores that we can so easily put off.  I vacuumed the coils under the refrigerator.  I gave my husband and my dad a hair cut.  I washed the sheets and mostly sat around trying to keep cool.  My dad can't be out on his porch in this weather so he was sitting in his room listening to a new book.  I walked in with a bowl of grapes for him to snack on, and I could see he was kind of nervous or was having some sort of adrenaline rush.  I asked him if he was ok and he started telling me about the new book he was listening to.  It was called "No Less Than Victory" by Jeff Shaara.  He writes war novels.  This particular novel is part of a trilogy on
World War II.

The spring after my dad graduated from high school, he was drafted into the army.  It was 1943.  He had to show up at a certain time and place in a nearby town.  Then they were loaded on a bus and sent to Fort Sheridan Illinois.  They had their physicals and got inducted.  From that point they put the guys on a train, didn't tell anyone where they were going and headed south.  The train traveled without any lights on so they wouldn't be targets.  They ended up in Fort Jackson for training.  He was put into the 106th Infantry Division, Regiment 424.  He was in Platoon D which was the Heavy Weapon platoon.  At this time he had a friend who talked him into applying for Aviation Cadets because the word was out that the air force was looking for pilots.  He applied, was accepted and sent to Miami.  By the time he got there he found out they had enough pilots.  He transferred into the Army Air Corp and became a B-24 armorer/gunner assigned to the 319th Bomb Squadron of the 90th Bomb Group. He flew 44 combat missions in the Pacific Theater..  He did an interview about this which I blogged about a while ago.  http://cabincountess.blogspot.com/2013/03/timeless-voices.html

The reason I mention this is because the book dad is reading is how the 106th Division, Regiment 423 were sent in to replace the 102 Division in Europe during WW II.  It talks about all the terrible conditions and hardships the soldiers had to endure in battling the German army.  They were cold and muddy most of the time.  Dad told me that it could have been him in that situation.  It hit close to home and that was the reason he was seemed anxious.  He couldn't wait to get back to the book though, so he must find it interesting.  The friend who encouraged him to apply to aviation cadets stayed in the 106th and was taken prisoner.  My dad said that he was probably lucky to have only had to fly 44 bombing missions.  I thought that was an amazing statement and it turned my OFF day into a day to be grateful.

Danish Junket Dessert

Today is recipe Tuesday again.  Today I am sharing a recipe that I have made for the past forty years.  It is a favorite of the family.  It uses Danish Junket Pudding.  I like the Raspberry flavor because as I have said before, I don't really like the fake strawberry flavor in things.  For those not familiar with it, it can be found in most grocery stores.  I buy it in bulk at our local Mennonite store.

Danish Junket Dessert

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Crust:

1 Cup Flour

1 Cup Butter

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Mix together like pie crust and pat into a 9 x 13 pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes.

Cooled crust.

Let the crust cool completely.

Then put 2 packages of Raspberry Danish dessert ( or 1 cup of powdered mix) into 3 1/2 cups of cold water.  Mix together and bring to a boil.  Boil for 1 minute and let cool completely. Then stir in two or three cups of sliced Strawberries.  You can use frozen berries that have thawed.  Drain them well and use the liquid for part of the liquid needed to cook the pudding.

Next take one 8 oz. package of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of Powdered Sugar and 2 Tablespoons of Milk.  Mix it all together until smooth.  Spread this over the cooled crust.

Then slice 2 or 3 bananas and place in a single layer over the cream cheese mixture.

Crust topped with cream cheese mixture and bananas.

When that is finished top off with the sliced strawberries and cooled pudding mixture. 

Layer of junket pudding and sliced strawberries.

Put it in the refrigerator until it has set.  Sometimes it takes quite a while.  I like to make it and let it set overnight.  When it is set, then top with Cool Whip.  Mine isn't quite set so I can't show the final product, so just picture cool whip over the whole thing.  This makes a nice summer dessert.

The Green Lake Conference Center

About a month ago my sister came for a visit.  One day we took a ride to show her the area.  We drove into the Green Lake Conference Center off of Hwy 23.  It used to be owned by the Baptist Assembly and wasn't open to the public.  Now it is.  A lot of people are familiar with the conference center because it has hosted many events throughout the years.  My husband went to a conference when he was in high school and also went there to a math conference when he was a teacher.  We didn't know our way around so we just explored the various roads.  We saw how big this complex is and noticed that there was a lot of history in this area, but didn't know the depth of it until today. 

Apparently,  in 1880, a couple named Victor Lawson and Jessie Strong Bradley were married.  They were from Chicago and came to Green Lake for their honeymoon.  He was the founder of the Associated Press and later became the publisher of the Chicago Daily News.  By the time he was 38 years old he was the owner of the newspaper.  In order to escape city life in Chicago, they purchased their first parcel of land in 1888,   Eventually they owned the 1100 acre farm they called Lone Tree Farm.  Jessie was a go getter woman, and she designed and developed roads, stone walls, bridges and many buildings.

Mike searching for the cache.

Today we went back.  There are several geocaches placed in the conference center, and we decided to see if we could find a few.  Geocaching As One of Our Hobbies  It was pretty quiet without many people around so we were able to find some.  Then as we got deeper into the center, we discovered a lot of people doing all kinds of things.  Some were swimming, some were kayaking and boating, some were biking and some were just exploring the place like we were.  While looking for one geocache we came upon an old log cabin.  I got out to take some photos and a lady invited us over.  She showed us around the cabin and gave us a little history lesson.  The cabin was built in 1847.  It was the only building on the grounds that was there when the Lawson's bought the land.

This small one room cabin was the home to seven people.

Backside of the cabin

She showed us inside.  This small little cabin was the home to a couple and their five children. 

The only heat source, but they were living in just one room.

Writing desk in the front room

 The cabin was eventually sold and the new owner put on an addition with the original cabin as the parlor and sleeping rooms, a kitchen and dining area, and a wood shed.

This quilt is set up and everyone who visits is asked to quilt a few stitches.

The lady we spoke with was a volunteer and knew a lot about the area.  She told us how Mrs. Lawson had roads built throughout and had workers build walls along the edge from stones they found on the property.  Soon farmers from the area would pile rocks along the perimeter of the property and Mr. Lawson would buy them.

Roads are lined with rock walls.

They even built a suspension bridge that is solid and standing to this day.  I don't know how it is supported because it spans quite a distance.

The stone suspension bridge.

The photos above are taken from under the bridge.  Here is the road that goes over the top.

Road over the suspension bridge.

There are tons of things I learned today.  The conference center has a big golf course called Lawsonia which many people are familiar with.  It has hotels, cabins to stay in, campsites, boat rentals and access to beautiful Green Lake.  It also has secluded areas as well with lots of woods and prairies.

The prairie was blooming today.

If anyone wants to take an interesting trip, I would recommend the Green Lake Conference Center.  I went to the gift shop and bought a book of the history of the whole area.  Some day I may tell about other things I learned from the volunteer and this book.

Be Careful Who You Trust

We had two rings that needed some repair.  One of them was my husband's turquoise ring.  It was too big and the stone was loose.  This was a replacement ring to one his mother gave him in the early 1970's.  He wore it everyday for thirty five years.  Then one day we were bringing the boat into the landing and as he reached out to grab the rope, off came the ring into Green Lake.  We searched and searched.  Our daughter even went early the next morning and dove into the water to look with a mask and wetsuit.  Of course, it was never found, at least by us.  He didn't want that to happen again to this ring.  The second ring was mine.  I received it after my mother in law passed away.  I wore it for a while but the band was hinged and it broke off.  All I needed was to have it sized and a new band put on.  So just after Christmas, I decided to take them to a jewelry store in Berlin Wisconsin.   They are a store that has been in business for many many years.  The ladies were very nice but said they couldn't repair them in the store, but they would send them to whoever they use for an estimate.  They told me that my ring had two little diamonds missing.  I said I couldn't even see where they were missing, so I didn't need to buy any replacement diamonds.  A few weeks later, I got a phone call.  They said they couldn't make my husband's ring smaller because the turquoise stone would be compromised.  They said they could fix mine and it would cost $600.  I told them I would think about it.  Then the end of January 2013, we attended a children's theater performance that our granddaughter was in.  When we were leaving, we saw there was a store across the street that said Goldsmith.  The store was open and I had the rings in my purse, so we went in.  He was an older gentleman who owned the store.  The store smelled like pipe tobacco.  He put his little eye piece on and said he could easily fix my husband's ring.  Then he sized the ring.  Next he looked at my ring.  He said that there were NOT any diamonds missing, and he could replace the band.  He said he was sorry that it would cost $200 because the price of gold was so high.  I told him to do the work.  Now months have passed and I kind of forgot about the rings.  In June,  we got a call.  The goldsmith asked why we hadn't picked up our rings.  I told him that I had not gotten a call that they were done, and we would come right over.  The store was in Green Lake Wisconsin and was about twelve miles away.  He fixed the turquoise ring for $30 and it fit perfectly.  He told me that mine was a lovely ring, and the band would last for the rest of my life.  He saw I was old so I guess it was a pretty safe statement.  He was old too, so any guarantee he would give wouldn't mean much.  Anyway, the point of my story is that you have to be careful even with well established businesses and that it is good to get a second opinion.  Now we can wear the rings everyday and not worry about losing stones or having them fall off.

Our First and Last Garage Sale in Princeton

I realize I have been missing for the last couple days.  I have been working.  Yes, working at my own garage sale.  I have never enjoyed having garage sales.  My mother used to have gigantic ones.  She would merchandise by putting tables with lamps and knick knacks on them.  She would set up dining tables with place settings.  She would stay up into the wee hours refinishing furniture to sell.  My dad would rewire lamps.  All I can say is UGG!  That's not for me.  I don't mind the actual sales days, but preparing is a ton of work.  It's hard to decided what to sell and then decide what to charge.  If you ask too much, then it doesn't sell.  If you sell it right away, then you think you could have gotten more.  It's a guessing game. Then there is the problem of putting up signs.  My husband made fantastic sandwich board signs with our address painted in big letters, but we weren't sure where to put them.  We didn't know if it was legal to put them in certain places.  The police never came so I guess we chose wisely.  Here is our sale just before we opened up.

7:00 AM, first day of the garage sale.

Even though the preparation was awful, the sale was fun.  The weather was perfect with nice temperatures, a light breeze and no rain.  As you know, we live kind of hidden away in the woods.  Therefore, the number of people who found us was down quite a bit.  Almost everyone who came bought something, and we sold the big stuff we wanted to sell.  We sold our built in oven and cook top that we took out during our kitchen remodel.  That was a big relief.   Our daughter Heather came over this morning with our grandson Dylan.  He had some of his stuff in the sale and his mother told him if he wanted the money, he had to work for it.  He had to make change without the benefit of a cash register.  He did a great job.  Some of the clerks we encounter in stores couldn't make change without the machine.  Some of them have trouble with a cash register.

One of the highlights of the sale was when a man showed up and told us that he had built our house 35 years ago.  He told us things we didn't know about the house.  He told us that he had happy times in the house but after he sold it, his wife got breast cancer at age 37 and struggled for thirteen years before she died.  He told us that the pond we have has a name on the county plat.  It is called Lake Lourrina, named after his wife.  I will have to go to the courthouse to see exactly how to spell it.  He brought a photo taken from the deck back then and gave it to us.  Things haven't changed that much, just that the trees have gotten larger.  Now I can say we have lake property instead of swamp property.

Photo taken with a 35mm camera over 30 years ago.

 

Photo taken today, July 13, 2013.

All in all, I am glad we had the sale.  I am glad we got rid of several things that we didn't need, but I doubt if I will ever do it again in my life. 

More Than A Storage Chest, It's a Family Heirloom

We have been going through our garages looking for things to put in our garage sale.  We found some scraps of wood and pieces from some projects that haven't been finished.  In fact, we moved them to Princeton, stashed them in the workshop and forgot about them.  Finding some of these things, reminded me of another woodworking project that did get finished.  Many years ago, when my youngest daughter started college, she asked her dad to make her a chest to store all of her important belongings.  He really hadn't made anything like that before, but thought that he could give it a try.  He looked through magazines and finally designed a simple chest.  She loved it and over the years has moved it to wherever she lived.  This last weekend she moved it into her son's room.  It still looks great, in fact the patina of the wood is getting even better.  I have blogged about many things that my talented husband has made, and this is another treasure.

Storage chest made by Mike almost 20 years ago.

Front view of cabinet

Freezing Browned Ground Beef or Meatballs

It is recipe Tuesday, but I haven't been cooking a lot lately and so I have no new recipes to share.  I do have a small helpful tip.  Whenever we see a good buy on ground beef, we buy a big family pack.  When we get home or the next day, we fry out the whole package with some onion.  After it has drained and is cooled, we package the fried hamburger in containers.  Then when we need a meal in a hurry, we can make barbeque or anything that requires browned hamburger.  How many times have you wanted to make a hamburger dish but all you have is a frozen chunk of ground beef.  I even make vegetable beef soup with browned ground beef.  Sometimes instead of frying it all,  we make a batch of meatballs or meat loaves.  Everyone has their favorite meatball or meat loaf recipe, so I won't include that.  I make the meatballs and put them on a baking sheet.  I use a broiler pan with the insert.  I put them into the oven at 350 degrees and bake them for about 20 minutes.  The fat from the hamburger drains into the bottom pan.  When they have cooled on a rack, I put them into a ziplock bag and freeze.  When you need a meal, you can take out as many as you need.  There is no need to thaw,  just put into a pan or microwave.  Sometimes I put Cream of Chicken soup on them or spaghetti sauce.

Sorry, but that's all I have for today.  It's blueberry season so I did make a bowl of blueberries and fresh peaches.  Hopefully I will have something better next Tuesday.

Operation Migration Class of 2013

The other day we were traveling home from Berlin, WI on the back roads.  We noticed that Operation Migration was beginning to set up their base camp for the class of 2013.  I wrote a blog about last years cranes Operation Migration.  This year they have eight young ones that they are going to raise in the White River Marsh.  Last week I thought I saw a big white bird fly over our marsh.  I don't think it was a whooping crane, but it could have been from this report I got today.   Apparently two of the people out setting up the pens for the young ones went into our town for lunch.  When they returned they noticed two big white birds.  They stopped immediately and took photos.  It turned out that they were two of the birds who were raised there last year.  They had migrated back from Florida and found their way back to this area.  Here is the journal entry describing what the men saw.  If anyone wants to follow Operation Migration and like their facebook page, it is fascinating. 

http://operationmigration.org/InTheField/2013/07/08/whooping-cranes-4-12-5-12-stop-by/ 

I think this is an Egret, I don't see any black tips on the wings.

I'm looking forward to seeing the progress of the new Whooping Crane Class of 2013, and maybe the one year olds will show up at my house some time this summer.  Stay tuned.

Flowers in our Yard

I don't have time or energy to write much today.  Getting ready for a garage sale in this heat and humidity is NOT fun.  We need more room with all the stuff we have to sell.  Today I am just posting some of the flowers that are blooming in the yard.

Michigan Lily

Coreopsis

Yellow Lily

Stella d'oro

Columbine

Hosta

Icelandic Poppy