4th of July, fireworks, Mud Run, Mud Queen

We spent 4th of July in Upper Michigan and had a blast! We went to the parade that morning in Hermansville Michigan where the kids got tons of candy, everyone was tossing handfuls. Lots of trucks, firetrucks, ambulances, bicycles, even big military vehicles.
Then we went over to the mud run area, so Jason could sign up. He asked me if I wanted to run his truck, an F350, in the stock division. I never did that before, so of course I said YES! Its a 5 speed and its been oh about 20 years since I drove a stick shift, and never purposefully through a big pit of deep, wet, slimy, gooey clay mud. Cool!! We asked if there was a powderpuff division, with just females, they said no, just run with the boys. OKAY! Then standing in the pits we got the idea, maybe Jeff would like to as well, and he said YES! So three of the 6 in stock were us, woo hoo!! There were 3 different divisions, stock which meant tires up to 35 inches, no nitrous, no overbuilt engines, basic stock trucks. There were a total of 6 drivers in the stock division, Jeff, Jason, me, and three other guys. The next division is semi modified and the last division is super modified. These guys scream through the mud, not sinking in but kind of floating on top, use nitrous for speed and power and have huge lift and tires. Whew! Crazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzy stuff, they fly!!! Not so much measuring for length like stock and semi modified, they are timed and fastest wins! So, we get our numbers and go through the lineup, first forward then reverse order, everyone gets two tries. First try, Jason with 61 feet 5 inches, Jeff 61 feet 11 inches, and I had 57 feet 3 inches (according to Jason, since I was bouncing so high off the seat my foot came off the gas). The other 3 guys ranged from 59 feet to 57 feet. Second try, Jeff got 65 feet even, Jason got 65 feet 3 inches and I got 61 feet 3 inches. The others ended up with lesser yardage, so Jason took 1st, Jeff took 2nd and I took 3rd. We each got beautiful trophies and prize money and had a blast!! Check out the photos I will be posting as well. Jeff said some younger guys in the stands were watching me get into the truck and they were not impressed I was wearing flipflops "Dude, that woman is wearing flipflops! You can't drive a mud truck in flipflops! Flipflops!!! Man, that is just not right!"
After all of the trucks went - including one that very nearly went end over end! - it was time for the mud queen run. This year stakes were running high, $212.00 and bragging rights for all year. You just needed to be 16 or over and run, climb, get stuck, run, climb, get stuck, keep repeating and then make it to the other end of the mud pit. Hard to do, that mud sucks you right down. Afterwards, the grandkids needed to do some trial runs, they and Amber and Jenessa cannot wait till they are 16 and able to run! After they tried to clean up a bit in the Hermansville Pond we went to the The Shop in Nadeau and had a few beers and grilled sweet corn, on the way back to Jason and Amys house we saw a bear. Luckily Gary who was on his Harley slowed way down and we got a good look before it lumbered into the woods. Gary is a friend of Jasons who is camping there and taking a trip into Canada on his Harley today. We also saw turkeys, lots of deer, and fox kits during the weekend.
We got back to Jason's and started getting ready to go to Pauls house in Norway to watch the fireworks. Paul Raiche is Jeff's cousin and a heck of a nice guy. They hunt deer together at the deer camp, 40 acres that Paul owns. Originally it was part of the farm that Jeffs dad grew up on, so its a very special very meaningful place. Noy those small Michigan towns know how to put on a display! Fireworks everywhere and the grand finale went on and on.
The next morning Amber got up and went outside and saw a small bear cub about the size of a black lab. She ran back in which was a smart thing to do, those mama black bear sows can get very ornery if you accidently get near their babies. We goofed around for a bit then Jeff and Jason worked on installing a new toilet, Amy and I worked on planting strawberries. We went to a park nearby and the kids and Amy swam, for us it was too damn cold. This 4th was a blast!!

fishing Sunday afternoon

Sunday afternoon we took the girls fishing. Amber caught two, a bluegill and a sunfish and Jenessa caught one bluegill. They were released (the 3 fish). We went to the mill pond by Weyauwega, there were literally thousands of dragonflies flitting around. Lots of people fishing too, it was a gorgeous day, sunny then overcast, windy but not humid, just right. On the way home we went past cactus rock, a huge expanse of rock near New London, WI. We didn't see any of the native cactus (opuntia) but did see dogbane blooming and a ton of blue berried juniper.

class on Saturday afternoon

On Saturday afternoon, 06/27/09, , 23 ladies took part in a 3 part class here at Kindred Spirits Organics. The first section was about culinary herbs, how to grow, harvest, and prepare delicious food. They sampled chive butter and thyme butter with whole grain crackers. Then it was on to make and take mixed herb vinegars. Each lady was able to make her own container and was given recipes and instructions. Since these make nice hostess gifts, they were pretty pleased at their creations and that it would only be pennies to reproduce more. The last segment was right next to the flower coolers, filled to overflowing with buckets and vases of flowers. First we went through the different kinds, if they grow here in Wisconsin, colors they come in, etc. Then I stood back! The ladies chose their favorites and went to work. Each was unique and beautiful, and they were quite excited to be able to bring home their creation. It was such a blast! It was noisy, the women laughing and oohing and ahhing over each others flowers and petals and stems and leaves everywhere but so much fun!

Dinner plans for tonight

Tonights meal, cannot wait as I think it will be really good. Orange roughy fish that will be baked with a nice big stalk of fennel and a bit of tarragon and thyme, French bread with real French butter that we got from the farm market this morning and butter parsley potatoes, viva la carbs!! Jeff heard a program on public radio a couple weeks ago that was talking about French butter being unique to the region and season, season due to what the cows have been grazing on, and region as to whats available. Since then we have been wanting to try it, and today our favorite cheese purveyer, Nala's Fromagerie from Green Bay just happened to have some!! I can't wait, should be good and a great finish to a hectic week!!!

HOG Harley Owners Group Wisconsin Rally

This weekend here in Appleton, Wisconsin, there are literally thousands of Harleys riding around town. The annual state rally is being held here, there will be a parade of bikes going right down College Avenue past Kindred Spirits this afternoon. Should be interesting and exciting, and what a hot, steamy weekend for this! Cool! Jason and Amy brought Jason's Harley over last night, the two year restoration was just finished a couple weeks ago. Since then, 2 shows, 2 first places!! He gave us a ride, which was awesome. We joked about Jeff needing to wear a seat belt, a couple weeks ago he fell off the 4 wheeler by accident in Upper Michigan and needed medical attention. Do you know that medical grade super glue is used instead of stitches? It really works! And that at the hospital (45 minutes away) emergency room, you take a number, just like at a deli or bakery, and wait for your turn. Since Jeff was the only one in the waiting room bleeding, we had hoped his number would be called soon. As a get well present, Jason and Amy sent him a U. P. care package, consisting of a seat belt cut from a junked out car, an emergency blanket to keep shock from setting in, some antiseptic wipes, a big tube of super glue and some aspirins.

Garden update

With all the rain lately, the garden has been pretty happy (so are the weeds!). The beans are being enjoyed by the rabbits, the potatoes are up, corn is about 4 inches tall and the shallots are doing really well. Not bad for a late start this year. Tomatoes are green but no sign of blossoms. Thanks to my friend Cindy I am experimenting this year - growing my first artichoke! She gave me a beautiful plant and since it will need to overwinter to produce the chokes next year, I transplanted it into a larger sized pot.

Holistic Moms Network

There is a new chapter of Holistic Moms Network forming in Appleton, and the open house meeting is Monday June 20th 2009 at 6 p.m. at Harmony Cafe. For more info contact Rebecca at
rkkberinger@gmail.com or visit the website at www.holisticmoms.org