some gifts

we have this fun new store in town which opened over the summer,  Tulips Boutique.  they offer mostly hand crafted items, many of which are local artists, they have over 30 local artists that they feature!  i think that is pretty darn good for this small little town!    i've been in there at least 3 times in the last month and they are always getting in new things. 
i have a friend coming to wisconsin whom i haven't seen for almost 2 years and i wanted to pick up a little something for her.  i usually try to make all of my gifts, but i had a very short notice on this one.   i decided  the next best thing is to support a local artist.   one the  artists who has pieces at Tulips, is Amy Arnold,  with her  business called Peepwool.  she makes hats and dolls out of recycled sweaters.  here's the hat i chose for my friend.  very cute indeed.  when you walk around Viroqua you can see Peepwool has many supporters!




i couldn't help picking up this little pillow also made out of a recycled sweater for amelia, it's either for her birthday or for christmas.  she loves her pinks and purples.  i'm not sure who the artist is on this one, i know she lives in Soldiers Grove and her craft business is called "the yellow room."
last christmas i tried to make all of my gifts handmade, but it was very overwhelming and stressful.  this year i decided i will still make a few handmade gifts, but the majority of gifts will be handmade items from local artists.


ps,
i really have to practice styling with my photos.  they really don't showcase the artists pieces very well.

a little something

i thought i'd share with you the poster i picked up at the Viroqua Harvest the other weekend.  i haven't found out who the artist is behind it, so i can't give proper credit, but i love it and have been drawn to it from the moment i saw it, i think i might have to frame it.  what a creative idea to have the man on the moon play fiddle to the little carrot and radish!  i'm always in awe at the talent and creativity that is here in our little town.



i also thought i'd share with you the little guy that is going into my next painting. 

{this moment}

A Friday ritual started by Amanda Blake Soule, of Soule Mama

"A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week

A simple, special, extraordinary moment"

have a wonderful weekend!

the harvest

this past saturday i had my first experience with pressing apples.  i had asked a friend of ours, Todd,  if we could use his cider press, having never done this before or knowing what was all involved,  he graciously brought it over.  to my surprise it filled up the back of his pick up truck, for some reason i thought a cider press would be much smaller.
luckily we were able to find apples yet, since it is at the end of the season for them.  for cider you don't have to get the pretty apples, you can get the 2nd and even 3rds(which i never knew there was such a thing.) i guess cider tastes better if you use a variety of different apples, it has a more complex flavor.

luckily Todd and his wife decided to do apples too, and came over and set everything up.  the whole apples go into the hopper which is run by a small motor that chops up the apples and comes out the bottom into a bucket.  the apples are then put into the wood press( Fischer is looking into it) and then the cider is pressed out manually. 

here's Todd and Jimmy manually pressing the cider out, which was quite a workout.

and watch that yummy cider pour out!   what a delicious treat to put your glass right under there and catch some fresh cider!


we strained the cider into a large garbage can (clean of course) and then poured it into the metal container which we could use to fill the bottles.   we had neighbors coming and going during all of this, some just to see what was going on, others to help out a bit. 

todd and his wife made 10 gallons, and we made 22 gallons.  a  neighbor of ours  helped out during much of this so we gave him some cider, we had a new neighbor move in next door, so she also got some, my parents went home that night with some in their cooler, and any lucky friend who happened to stop by that evening got fresh cider!  the rest we froze.  the whole experience was very enjoyable and all that cider was well worth the effort.
in between pressing cider, we made it to the first annual Harvest Celebration.  it felt very right to be celebrating natures harvest just as we were harvesting all those apples.  the Harvest Celebration began with a parade that had hand made puppets and were all human powered.  later that evening there was a cabaret show which included a fire circus which was a hit for people of all ages.  what a celebration on a beautiful day. 




the goddess of the harvest and the man on the moon!





















 these are a few of the reasons why i'm so happy to be living where i do, i feel very fortunate!

a new painting

wow, i actually finished a painting!  it feels like forever since i made anything.  life has been so full and busy lately that i haven't had time or energy to paint or draw.   i thought once school started maybe things would slow down, but no, it seems things have sped up instead!  there has been lots of canning, freezing and dehydrating going on at our house, but the end is in sight, yeah!   i have a little more applesauce to make, more pears and apples to dry, some  green tomato relish to can  and perhaps a few apple pies to make and freeze and then i think that should be it!  we had to buy a bigger freezer for all of our goodies.

amelia painted a little picture this afternoon as i was finishing mine, and of course she wanted me to take a picture of it, just like i do with mine.

on the table

just a little something i've been working on in between canning, freezing and dehydrating.  i'm trying to incorporate the collage technique that i've used in my last 3 pieces and using it with my girls.  hopefully i'll have a finished painting in the next day or two.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual started by Amanda Blake Soule, of Soule Mama

"A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week

A simple, special, extraordinary moment"




Have a wonderful weekend!