I WILL... ACT

 I will Act on Climate bus...

OK I have to admit that I was a bit surprised when the I WILL ACT bus to promote awareness re: Obama's initiative to limit carbon fuel usage rolled into the La Crosse's new ECO PARK.  Why you may ask...  Because it was this ginormous bus and I don't think it was a hybrid. If you are talking carbon footprint perhaps someone could have chosen a vehicle with a smaller one.

About 50 local residents, a Senator, city council members along with the mayor were present to  applaud the President's efforts to create awareness regarding limiting coal production with the I WILL ACT.   Heck to be honest they should totally stop fossil fuel usage  to make an impact on saving the environment.

The history of this act is that on Feb 2013 in the State of the Union message our Commander in Chief stated "For the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change. If Congress won't act soon to protect future generations, I will." So educate the masses.

Mayor of La Crosse

Senator Schilling

Words spoken by the newly elected Mayor, Senator and a 3rd generation dairy farmer spoke of efforts to make our area's environmental impact better. Of course those in attendance reflect the saying 'like preaching to the choir,' people who are already active in the cause.

There were many familiar faces from Citizen Energy Task Force among others...

Just say NO.

People who rode their bicycles over...

Doesn't that guy in the red shirt look familiar? Oh my, it's Natureman from the End of the Rainbow Valley?

And the event organizers were worried that these grey haired ANTI Power Line seniors would create a stir.

Hey they were lucky to have the extra support  to make it look like there was a crowd. I wonder it was planned to not have a question and answer time.

Nobody said it would be just a media event but it did give me the opportunity to let you all know.
AND hey, I was already in town so I didn't add more to the carbon footprint like that huge bus...

Alternative energy sources are the key . I Will Act, how 'bout you?

Gettin' Naked...

I know I am really milking the book club's field trip but we really did have some unusual experiences.

Our  groups's last organized activity on our get away was travelling down the road 10 miles from Mineral Point right off the interstate to partake in some spa treatments.

Spa services were limited due to a wedding party's presence and shortage of staff so while others had massages, I treated myself to a natural herbal wrap.  Well of course ' natural.'  If you have never had the opportunity to have a wrap, it is a very unique 'mummifying' experience.  Imagine these layers on top of a massage table: a large insulated silver foil like blanket covered with a large piece of plastic and a blanket. After removing your clothing, you slide under the top blanket face down with your face looking downward through a doughnut  hole like pillow. You cover yourself up with the blanket with the plastic and insulated cover underneath. And the massage therapist reenters the room.

Calming music plays in the background in the low lit room while oil is massaged on and herbal salts sprinkled one appendage at a time and recovered with the blanket. After the back side is finished, you flip over and the procedure is repeated. The blanket layers are then swaddled around you and tucked in tight like a mummy.  The foil wrap and plastic starts you cooking.  The masseuse leaves the room to let you baste." While the herbal salts penetrate the skin's pores and help cleanse the underlying tissues. Amino acids help repair damaged tissues on a cellular level which lead to more healthy, glowing skin and increased elasticity.  The selected herbs were also chosen for their other healing properties. " You can just call me "GUMBY"now.

It was very refreshing indeed and different than just sweating swatting away the bugs in the End of the Rainbow Valley...

Squash It...

Even if my feet are small, you get the idea.

It's that time when you have to get out to the garden quickly before the squash take on a life of their own and become gigantic monsters.

Hence a new recipe was found as there would be no problem coming up with the required 6 cups of summer squash as I used both summer squashes, the yellow and zucchini.

So if someone offers you some of their squash, you will have a new recipe to try out...

What's  not to like about the following recipe even if you swear you don't like squash! I promise you can't even tell this is squash with these dairy products added.

You might even find this hard to believe but we had this Squash Casserole dish polished off before I remembered that I didn't have a pic of the final product... It's simple to make and tasty.

ENJOY!

Ingredients:


6 c lg diced yellow squash /zucchini
Vegetable oil
1 lg onion, chopped
4 T butter
1/2 c sour cream ( I used Greek yogurt)
1 t House seasoning, recipe follows
1 c grated cheddar cheese
1 c crushed butter crackers (recommended: Ritz but I used salad croutons)

House Seasoning:

1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Directions:

Preheat oven  350 degrees F.

Saute the squash in a little vegetable oil over medium-low heat until  completely broken down, ( 15 to 20 min) Line colander with clean tea towel. (OK I admit I used paper towel)

Place the cooked squash in the lined colander.

Squeeze excess moisture from squash.

Set aside.

In a medium size skillet, saute  onion in butter ( 5 min). 

Remove from pan and mix all ingredients together except cracker crumbs. 

Pour mixture into  buttered casserole dish.

Top with cracker crumbs.

 Bake  25 to 30 minutes.

Historical Overnight Becomes Hysterical...

I really appreciate someone else planning my getaways and that includes our book group's getaway to southern Wisconsin's Mineral Point.

The planners did an outstanding job in the lodging department too as we were booked in side by side townhomes.  What a delight to stay in a historical abode called Mousehole Lodging on Shake Rag Street in the appropriately named Townside and Shakerag suites!
Centrally located and walking distance to downtown .

The road trip's destination must have needed a memorable occurrence and as a car was moved seeking shade, a nice crunch like a branch being rolled over was heard.  Somebody's prescription glasses must have been on their lap when they stepped out of the car. I swear I have never seen anyone take the news so well that her new glasses had been rolled over.  Thank heavens the eyeglasses at Gundersen Lutheran Hospital have a warranty to be replaced should anything happen to them. Holy Toledo...

Anyhow, take a look at our cute historical abode. I don't mind selling it as a getaway as it was spotless inside with a basket of goodies and bottle of wine awaiting its inhabitants. US. Our stone walled modern applianced kitchen even had an expresso machine besides the drip coffee maker. I was super impressed.

Here is the description of the side I stayed on.

Shake Rag
: Fully-furnished with cozy living room and fully-equipped eat-in kitchen on first floor. Two bedrooms and bathroom on second floor. One bedroom has a queen bed and the other has two twin beds. Lovely linens and organic bath amenities. Central air conditioning and heating. Cable tv in master bedroom and living room. WiFi. No Pets/smoking. Not handicapped accessible


The decor was tasteful to say the least.

WE were happy that the AC existed and even if it worked overtime, worked.  as the downstairs zone's thermostat was stuck on 64 degrees. Thank goodness we had sweaters/light jackets with us although there were those plush Oprah robes in the bathroom.

The living room's chair's ingenous movable arm book holder intrigued us and I have a feeling a web search might help one find its way into some of  our homes.

A roll of the di would determine who got the kingsized beds and can I say ecstatic at being one of the high rollers since Lady Luck never seems to be on my side. (They weren't lying about the nice linens.)

But bedtime was a ways off as there were exploring to do, dinner to be had, an unplanned musical to attend and a rip roaring evening full of laughter of Catchphrase to be played.  Memorable lines such as " Maybe we should change seats " met with the response " Like What? You don't want me on your team anymore?" / arms making a wing flapping motion followed by the word home as a clue gave us lots to laugh about. Guess you just had to be there.

So if I had to venture south of End of the Rainbow Valley for an overnighter staying at 14 Shakerag in Mineral Point with at least 5 of the Happy Bookers is the way to go.

Looking forward to more field trips...

Pop, Pop, no not Sugarpop... More Serendipity

Sometimes locals are the best source of go to for tourist info so when our Book Group inquired at Spurgeon's Winery for places we shouldn't miss en route to our Mineral Point destination,  we were told to head to the Popcorn store. I wondered if this was going to be like the first winery, not quite worth our while but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 Off we went with directions on a country road recently graveled due to the past week's heavy rain and washout. I was quite relieved when it became black top again and I could increase traveling speed a bit.  As I accelerated on an incline, a stop sign appeared out of nowhere necessitating a quick brake application before the T intersection. Gee, I hope I don't get sued for whiplash. ( It would be my luck to find another vehicle had I not stopped! )

As long as we were at a complete stop and uncertain whether to turn left/ right, we opted for the wrong direction for a couple of miles and  back tracked to the small town of Highland en route.  We were back on track heading south another 10 miles before our turn off to find Rural Route 1 Popcorn. It wasn't quite Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, but a great stop.

The history of this gourmet popcorn was really interesting since in the 80's, farmers were compensated to let lands go fallow and with a decrease need for seed corn,  the owners opted to experiment with 25 acres of their seed corn land for gourmet corn since it used the same equipment. Hence a new cottage industry began and now several hundred of their 3000 acres are used for this purpose. Quality rather than quantity ( high yielding corn) is used. Besides yellow and white popping corn, various flavors are mixed up in nearby Montford.

One could sample / request other flavors

It was quite a sight to the see the popcorn bins besides the nice sized gift shop. It was time for testing a wide variety of flavors, cheddar cheese, sour cream... among others with our group's favorite being jalapeño.   Natureman lucked out that I picked out the SS Dunkle, 'out of this world' popcorn that is dipped in fudge and then sprinkled with sea salt.

SS Dunkle to die for...

OK it was worth the unplanned stop...Ah serendipity again.  I had found the perfect thing to take back home to End of the Rainbow Valley... 

And I know how to get more. Here's the link in case you are interested:http://www.ruralroute1.com

Delinquent in So Many Ways...

So you may have noticed some delinquency on my part with no blog entries for 2 days last week... Well,  I played hooky with the girls last Wednesday as our book group, The Happy Bookers, with a field trip to the south western part of the state. En route we had our first stops in the town of Fennimore  at a local diner, Frederick's, where a piece of homemade pie is just $2.50 (just one reason to love small towns) and a place I had intended to stop at before which was the museum home of the Railroad Historical Society and the docent was thrilled to have our company... After beginning our photo journal off we went down the street...

One ringy dingy

to Carr's Cheese Shoppe for a variety of cheeses for our evening game, wine & cheese soiree.  SO we had the game and the cheese only  only one thing missing... Yes,

some wine purchases.  A trusty GPS made sure it was as the sign said:

Our first winery stop was Whispering Winds where maybe fate had us finding a locked door ???
We obviously interrupted the day's one man bottling operation of a wine ironically named 'Autumn Breeze' as it was a 90 degree day and I think the owner really would have appreciated an autumn breeze, don't you?

 Downstairs in the bottling area didn't appear to be much cooler from the looks of things...

The girls gave me the empathy award for making a purchase at this stop but if they really think about it, there weren't many stops that I didn't buy something... My motto is to support local businesses but I have to admit  we all enjoyed our next stop better. 

We learned more about the different wines and I left with 2 award winners,  Spurgeon's Grand Raspberry and their Cranberry.

We also enjoyed their gift shop and everybody left with at least one souvenir of our visit, wine coasters to use for the rest of our stay in Mineral Point.  What's a girl without her own personal drink coaster.

 It doesn't take much to make us Happy Bookers...

A girl's day is always special even if one lives in the End of the Rainbow Valley... But you know I am thinking we do grow grapes.  Nah, I'll leave those for jelly and juice and leave the winemaking to the wineries.

Serendipitous

The planners of our book group club's Mineral Point overnighter did a great job of planning stops, lodging and eateries.  So don't get me wrong if I say the best part of the 48 hours was the unplanned part.

Upon our return walk from a yummy dinner wafting through the air was singing. Whether it was chorale practice/ a performance at the Shake Rag Arts Center, our neighbor, our group set out to investigate as I headed in to shower and remove the day's dust and sweat.

Mexi'k'an?

I hurriedly jumped in the shower to cool off, clean up and then head out to join the others.  It took a bit of sleuth work as the music had stopped and following voices might have led into a private party. As luck would have it, there in a small outdoor theater in a wooded clearing the musical The 25th  Annual Putnam 's County Spelling Bee's cast was in rehearsal.

We were invited to be an honorary audience. Unbeknownst to me was that preceding my arrival, the others had given their names and were to be participants in the Spelling Bee.  So much fun to sit back and watch them on stage being middle schoolers.

What a hoot! And their spelling wasn't bad either...

Here's the original cast...

Three of us in this pic... Far left back row, and 3rd and 4th in front

There was an opportunity to Can Can

AND raise the roof!

It was definitely worth the extra mosquito bites to enjoy live theater out in the woods of Mineral Point.  You just can't plan everything. Serendipity reigned!