I WON!

Thank you, thank you, thank you. My basket, Penobscot Treasures, won during the 2nd round in Baskets of Joy's "My Favorite Basket Contest".




What to choose with the gift certificate? Lots of Patterns? A Couple Books? Colored Reed, Lids and Handles?

I feel just like it is Christmas morning! Thank YOU!

Wood Smoke

Have you ever noticed that most of the Worm Family photos contain woodsmoke?
For a change, we could shoot away from the fire, maybe just once?

Tomato Gluttony

Remember the scene from the movie Charlotte's Web where the rat Templeton goes to the fair and spends the whole night eating his way through every kind of fair food possible? I can even remember some lines of the song he sings," Glut, Glut, Glut". Well it is kind of like that here but with tomatoes..... and plums are approaching quickly.
( I stopped at your house today Bette with a big box of tomatoes and plums but you were not home)

It is one of my life goals to eat as many homegrown fresh tomatoes as possible each summer. It has never been a challenge... until this year. Most years a few BLT's and we are good. This year I have had to search outside my normal realm to handle the load.
(No, I am not into "putting up tomatoes for the winter".)

We really liked both of these recipes so I though I would share.

Marinated Cherry Tomato Salad

4 cups halved cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 T apple cider vinegar
1 t dried or 1 T fresh chopped parsley
1 t dried or 1 T fresh chopped basil
1 t dried or 1 T fresh chopped oregano
1/2 t salt ( I used less)
1 1/2 t sugar ( I used less)

In small bowl mix together oil, apple cider vinegar, herbs, salt and sugar. Pour dressing over sliced cherry tomatoes and gently stir to coat. Chill for at least 2 hours. Stir gently before serving.

I am thinking of trying the recipe again but adding thinly sliced red onion. Hum. What do you think?


Italian Bread and Tomato Salad
Serves about 4

1/2 pound firm Italian bread, cut into 1" cubes
2 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, put though press
4 large, ripe tomatoes, I used Brandywine (heaven), cut into 1-inch chunks
2 T. thinly sliced onion
1/2 cup pitted sliced black olives
1/2-1 cup sliced fresh basil
2 T. olive oil
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into bite size pieces
salt and pepper ( lots of pepper) to taste

salad greens

Place bread cubes into large bowl, toss with 2 T. olive oil and pressed garlic. Place on baking sheet and toast in 350 oven for 10 minutes. Turn and toast another 10 minutes. Remove when crisp and set aside.

In bowl, mix cut up tomatoes, black olives, onion, chopped basil leaves, 2 T olive oil, 2 T. balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Allow to sit for 30 minutes. ( The original recipe had you placing the bread cubes in this mixture also, the cubes soaking up the oil and vinegar dressing, it was good but we felt we liked them crispy, like croutons - do what you like.)

To serve- Arrange salad greens in shallow bowl, throw on a HUGE spoonful or spoonfuls of the tomato mixture, throw on a few pieces of cheese and a handful of the bread. Yum.

Hello from Edinburgh

I just wanted to share a couple highlights from my past week in Scotland.

The picture on the left is of us pony trekking. My friend Amy (far right) is part of the Exmoor Pony Trekking Club at the University of Edinburgh. In the summer they take the ponies up into the highlands for trail rides. We went for a tour hour ride. It was so fun. My pony was named Rosie and liked to go really slowly and then go fast to catch up. I laughed the whole ride. We also rode through a field of sheep. The guy in the middle is Amy's husband, Bradon.

I spent the last two nights on the Isle of Mull at in this amazing place, the Camas Centre. I was visiting a friend who works there. It is a retreat center where groups come and participate in activities, go camping, kayaking, etc. To get to the center you have to take a ferry over to the island catch one of 4 busses a day, ride for 40 minutes, then walk a mile and a quarter down a muddy track. The center has limited electricity provided by a wind turbine and grow all their own vegetables. You can't tell from this picture, but there are sheep roaming everywhere. It is so fun to walk out the door and have sheep munching grass right there. Plus they don't have to mow the lawn. I want a sheep.


While staying on Mull, we took the ferry over to the Iona. Iona is famous for an Abbey which dates back to the 1300's. It was really neat and I will post pictures of it later. This is the beach on Iona. It was gorgeous. If it wasn't cold out I would have though I was in the Carribean. Supposedly they have bottlenose dolphins there, but I didn't see any. I did see a hedgehog in the garden at Camas though. It was so cute!

Ok, I think I'll head to bed now. Tomorrow I'm going into Edinburgh for the day to do some shopping and tour the museum. Then on Monday I'm off to Copenhagen.

Do I Have It Right?

Now listen folks, if this doesn't go through, I've had it!!!! I've had the best professional help possible and it better be right! I'll write something better next time. Bette

Update from UpNorth

Finally, finally, finally getting some veggies coming in. We have had 4 ripe tomatoes so far, 2 not so ripe, and a couple of little ripe cherry tomatoes. Picked 6 cucumbers last night, a couple more zucchini. Peppers are coming along. Tall carrot tops, lots of Swiss chard (come pick your own), some winter squash coming, but no beans. The green bean vines are finally growing, but no blossoms yet. I still have my fingers crossed. The sunflowers are very, very tall and getting heads.

We finally made the move and bought a tent for fur trade reenactment rendezvous. Picked it up yesterday. Will try our hand at setting it up next weekend. Exciting!

Got a fur trade era catalog from which one can order a leech jar. Let me know if anyone needs one!

Not much else new. Joe is trying to rid the pond of beavers, which is sad, but needs to be done. We are enjoying all of the birds coming and going, you can sure tell the year is waning.

My first basket class will be next month. I have all of them figured out for the school year, which is amazing. Now, I just need to make them all, but first need to order the supplies.

That's it for now.

An update from this large, Midwestern city...

Much has been happening in my world. I just wrapped up my work for the next issue of American Woodworker (the October/November issue; there's a lot of lead time for magazine production). I got to write an article about a router pantograph (among other things). It's a pretty neat little tool that lets you trace and reduce images and then reproduce them with a router. Here's a sneak preview of me in the magazine:

Two weeks ago, American Woodworker took me to Las Vegas for a day. They wanted me to get to know some of the manufacturers I've been dealing with, and the American Woodworking and Finishing Supply convention is the place to do it. I spent a day wandering around the Las Vegas convention center seeing the latest and greatest new tools. Then I spent my night in "old" Las Vegas before heading back to the Las Vegas Hilton for some much needed sleep. I booked my flight out for late the next day, so I spent my day off wandering around the strip. I didn't win it big, but I only invested about $20. I spent the rest of my money on food and drinks (it was 115 degrees for the short walks outside between casinos). It was a nice break and the first, I hope, of many fun business trips.

I also found a spot to build a modest recording studio in Minneapolis. It's about eight blocks from my apartment in a building that houses about 30 small creative businesses. A handful of buddies are moving their equipment in with me, and we'll be giving it a go as a business. It's very exciting. I'm mostly excited that I'll have a place to make some noise without disturbing my neighbors. I signed the lease on Friday and we're hoping to be up and running by the end of the month.

I'm still working late night shifts at the Genesis Communications Network. I'm officially a producer, but mostly I take calls and talk to hosts for the AM talk radio shows that the company produces. I've learned a lot about satellite connections and other specialized technology.

Jill and I spent this weekend in Alexandria, MN, at her roommate's parents' house. They live on a lake and have a boat. It's a little resort town, with 11 lakes that connect to each other. We spent most of our time outside with drinks and snacks on hand. It was wonderful.

I thought I should also let everyone know my new address so they can pop in unexpectedly:

Andrew Zoellner

2015 Pleasant Ave S #1

Minneapolis, MN 55404

Drive On and On and On

We are slowly on our way back to Wisconsin. Spent last night and tonight in Ottawa enjoying the Parliament, Mint ( Jeff always very impressed with shiny things like $300,000 bars of gold which we all got to lift and touch), Chinatown, open markets and in Rachel's case the mall attached to our hotel. Replaying our trip backwards we drove through Vermont and New Hampshire to get to Ottawa. Hiked around the rim of Cannon Mt. in NH ( got to the top via gondola), and shops by Keepsake Quilting ( too much fabric, I came out with 4 greeting cards).

We stayed overnight in Waterbury, Vermont and went to Ben and Jerry's for the tour. We stopped by on our way out of town the next day for ice cream and JERRY HIMSELF WAS THERE, sitting quietly at a table with friends eating ice cream, shaking hands and having his photo taken with fans. Of course we don't have a camera right now... Rachel thought about having her t-shirt signed but we didn't have a Sharpe pen. Also saw the Trapp Family Lodge. Lots of people there....lodges, condos, cabins, huge, outdoor concerts, wagon rides. On our way to Canada we enjoyed driving through the islands of Lake Champlain.

So, in Maine it was damp, damp and more damp. We couldn't get into our cottage the first night so Rachel stayed with Emily as we could only get a room for two at the East Wind Inn in Tenants Harbor. The Inn is reported as being haunted but we just had a cute wallpapered room with a nice view of the sea.

Saturday was the BIG St. George Day festival. Poor Rachel painted faces for hours ( kids kept asking for painted lobsters) and Jeff and I both helped Emily with crafts. Huge book sale, garage sales, parade, pancakes and a lobsta' dinner. The dinner was served with a huge pile of mussels-tasty cooked with lots of garlic. ( but it didn't agree with me later on!) I did not win the signed Wyeth print at the raffle.

Nate's grandmother invited us to her home on the ocean to watch the fireworks. The fireworks put FDL's 4th of July fireworks to shame.... odd too, as Tenants Harbor has some fireworks on the 4th also, but more on St. George Day.

Our cottage had a great view, it was on a nice rocky cove. I already forgot the name of the cove. It was close to Emily's house. Saw eagles getting fish in the water there. It was OK but not as fantastic as the Memo's home where we stayed last year. Oh, I forgot to mention we met Memo at the Library book sale.

We went on a boat ride and saw; dolphins, seals, puffins, Wyeth's Islands, Steve's house .....Steve.... the former guy from This Old House (Nate went to school with his kids), other famous peoples house that I forgot too. We also pulled up lobster traps and if you need to know, we can all sex lobsters now and explain the difference between soft and hard shell lobsters.

Jeff, Rachel and Emily also went sea kayaking at night to look for the bioluminescent plankton. They enjoyed it but Rachel later said it was kind of scary being 4 miles out in the ocean in the dark. They took me to the pier at night the next night and I got to see it too. Looks like fireflies but under the water. Jeff and Emily climbed Mt. Battie. Jeff looked pretty good at the top--a little pale but he did it. While they climbed, Rachel and I went to Reny's--as soon as Rachel found out they had American Eagle clothes she was hooked.

One sunny day we went to the beach at Popham Beach by Bath. It was SO AMAZING. With my knees I stayed out of the big waves, but the other 3 played in the huge waves all afternoon.

So on our way out to Maine we stopped at Waldon Pond and since it was so close... well I knew it was close but it took us over an hour to really find it, we stopped at Amanda's office and really, really surprised her.The expression on her face was well worth the time we spent in confusion trying to find the building. We also had a great time in Corning, NY at the Glass Museum. We all took hands on classes and either pulled or blew glass. I guess that's all. We are tired and looking forward to being home on Wednesday.

Prize for Procrastination

Today I finally accomplished something I have been putting off and working on for over 15 years. It is SUCH A RELIEF to have it done and over with.

When we moved to Fond du Lac in 1985 I joined a group of local Home Economists. The group formed back in the 1970's and had what I always thought a silly name that was a mouthful; Fond du Lac County Graduate Home Economists. I enjoyed the group. We had lots of speakers, organized panel discussions, took little tours and went out to eat. Unfortunately people got busier, the founding members got older, people moved away and when I was president in 1994, the 8 or 9 members who attended regularly, decided to disband and donate all our treasury to the women's shelter. Quite an honor to have the club disband when one is president....

So, as President, I got all the files. Five big loose leaf binders full of unorganized papers, programs and receipts covering the 25 plus years of the club. I was to organize it and give it to the Galloway House who agreed to kept that information for eternity. Only problem was Rachel was a baby, Emily was busy and needed to be driven here and there and we started to remodel the house. ( and that isn't done yet either!) Once in awhile I would take out all these papers and try to organize the mess but most of the past 15 years it has all been on a shelf in the basement.

Over last winter I worked on it often. Throwing out duplicates, organizing year by year and yesterday, very embarrassed, I finally called the Galloway House. I found out the lady who takes the donations is only there once every three weeks and today was the day. Condensed down to one large binder the history of the club is finally home.

It will make a good resource for some college paper....for about the first 15 years members didn't have first names... Mrs. Smith or Mrs. Robert Smith never Carol Smith. Programs changed from "The Science of Dry Cleaning" and "Fitting Home Sewn Slacks" to "Child Abuse in FDL County" and Tours of Earth Sheltered Homes. Also I forgot how hard it was to make handouts and send out letters. Everything I did was typed on my old electric Smith-Corona. Clip Art was actually cut out and pasted on with glue. Receipts from the Office Supply for copies were well recorded. Well, I should have turned in 14 years ago, but at least it is FINALLY DONE. And now I am going to forget it completely.

Today in just ONE HOUR; with the help of 8 volunteers, 5 mothers and one children's librarian, Rachel and I ( the only weavers in the group) helped 21 kids, ages 5-10, weave 21 baskets. The kids were happy weavers and each child seemed very pleased with their finished little basket. I don't have any pictures of the finished baskets- we were all too busy cleaning up as another group was coming in for another program in 30 minutes. (Think small round wood base with continuous weave , a block of color in the center and a loopy rim-that I kind of invented)

I divided the group for the first demonstration with half going over to Rachel and her friend Allison who were guarding three big Rubbermaid Tubs of Dyed Reed. The plan was for Rachel and Allison to pull the colors out for the kids , thus keeping the long strands of reed tidy and organized, BUT as Rachel later told me, "It was insane, with 10 excited kids all grabbing around in the tubs". By the time I did the demonstration for the reed grabbing group things had calmed down but you can see the great expression on Rachel's face as she is talking to the librarian about her experience with a pack of hungry reed grabbing kids.

Not a lot of smiles in these photos but at the end all the kids had big smiles. I just wanted a big glass of ice water!