OWENSBORO, KY

I don't have much to show for our travel day from WI to KY....but can report, our timing to have one final Culvers Concrete malt didn't work out.  It was too early when we passed through the Chicago area so we had to settle for a Dairy Queen blizzard instead near Champaign, IL.  Oh my....I'll be walking 4 times a day to lose weight (if I can even get out of the car) when we get home!

Bear with me patient readers, I promise to get back to quilt related posts in the near future. But....as you can see, my life (actually, 'the husband's) has lots of other interests that keep me from quilting 24-7 as I'd prefer to do!

Moonlite Inn is a very popular BBQ joint in Owensboro that came highly recommended.  It sure doesn't look like much from the outside....well, frankly, not from the inside either....  They are known for their BBO mutton.  YUCK!

Apparently, their chubby greeter likes the food.

There it is......BBQ mutton....right on this menu.  Believe me, I had a difficult time trying to find anything I'd eat.....since I'm not a fan of BBQ.  I wonder what on earth people order at 9:00 AM.....that's when this restaurant opens.....I couldn't wrap my head around that!

Happily, my 'find' came at the end of the meal.  Sincerely, I had THE BEST piece of coconut cream pie I've ever eaten.....it melted in my mouth.  Good thing we'll be home tomorrow, I've pigged out so much on this trip, that even one day longer and I'd have to be BBQ'd. 

FAREWELL WISCONSIN

We spent Sunday morning at Road America, and then headed up to Stockbridge, WI to meet my brother and his wife.

Since he lives nearby, he knows all the hot spots!  

We gathered on an outdoor deck of a local supper club where both 'boys' could look out and keep their toys in sight.  Ours is the one with 4 wheels!

 
The restaurant overlooks Lake Winnebago which is the 2nd largest natural freshwater lake in the US.  It's nearly 138,000 acres.  During ice fishing season, it's not uncommon for 10,000 cars to be parked on the ice.

The restaurant is a popular spot, even though it's at the end of the road......and because this lovely harbor is adjacent, many boaters visit as well.

 
How cute is this??  'The husband' found this drive- in July on his recent motorcycle trip.  It opened in 1948 in Oshkosh, WI.  Today, the servers still where roller skates as they deliver the food.

RACE DAY

Yesterday, I continued to eat my way through the food stands at Road America.  A favorite stop one run by John The Baptist church volunteers.  

Can you tell I have a real weakness for ice cream?  Well....actually sweets in general.  We discovered these ice cream sandwiches several years ago and now find ourselves having one a day while at the races.  If it looks big, you got the correct picture.....('the husband' is holding it)...............it's huge and I ate every bite!

I'm sure this driver never eats ice cream!  Ya, I know....they have to be tiny to fit in their cars. And....flexible.....I watched him go through a series of stretching exercises as he prepared for his event.

The team we cheer for is Penske RS Spyder Porsche.  We quilters refer to our 'stash'...imagine having to have a front end stash!  These are their spares which I'm sure they hope not to use.

Techs from the Porsche factory unveiled their new engine during a presentation for the Porsche club attendees.  I wonder how fast we could get our needles flying with one of these puppies??

The Porsche Paddock parking is a real perk that we enjoy using at this event.  It's a special fenced in area that is only available to Porsches.  It was full on Sat. and quite a sight to view 5 rows of Porsches parked side by side.  The many vintage and other 'limited' edition models that came made it very special.  

Me??  I know red, blue, and black......not model numbers, engine size, yadda yadda.....but guys can and do stand around for hours trading words of wisdom about the merits of these cars.

A GUY THING

I'm getting behind on my posts.....I'll blame that on 'the husband'.  We are spending way toooo much time doing the guy thing of watching cars go round and round.

In our opinion, the best road racing track in this country is Road America  It's a 4 mile - 14 turn professional track that has hosted races since the 1950's.  I'm not sure of how many acres the facility is on.....a lot.  Sooo pretty, very rural, and it easily rates as having the best food stands! It's located in Elkhart Lake, WI, about 20 mins. from where I grew up. 

One of about 6 entrances into this huge place.

It's so big, they rent golf carts to get around for big $$.  Going by my ipod's nike shoe workout mini computer.......... we walked no less than 6 miles each day....that's not as important as the calorie counter that displays how many food stands we can visit.

Elaborate tents house the race cars, mechanics, and all their stuff.  Each year their 'digs' get more and more professional in appearance.  I can't imagine the cost involved!

I've managed to consume a brat a day since I arrived back in WI......  But, a brat on a stick?!?!  Never.....  I'm falling behind on my Culver's malt a day goal.......hope to get one today.....if only they had that at the race track.

Here's another Wisconsin favorite.  NO WHERE else will you find corn this yummy...WI definitely has this market cornered.

We belong to the Porsche Club of America......and happily can park our car in the Porsche Paddock where a hospitality tent awaits.  

It's a great place to hang out and watch the racing on closed circuit TV, grab something cold to drink, and attend a presentation.  Yeah!!!!  We won the 'distance' award this year.  To qualify you must have driven your car to the race the longest distance.  The husband was thrilled to receive some fancy, smanchy, Porsche filter AND a case of Mobil One oil.  Now, get this....the filter will be shipped to us, the oil we had to take....what's wrong with that picture?  The car that drove the longest, therefore, probably with the most stuff crammed into the tiny trunk, now has to haul a case of oil home.....amusing!

GOOD EATS

'The husband' and I are on a road trip.......heading for (yup...you guessed it.....) another car race.  This one is at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI.

Seriously, I'm eating my way across the country.  Our very first stop as we reached the Illinois/Wisconsin border was Culvers.

Just seeing this blue and white sign makes my mouth water for their concrete chocolate malt which I recently expressed a yearning on this blog.  I don't even want to know the calories in this puppy.....

 
One can purchase a smaller size, but what's the point??  Go for it I say.  It may not look yummy in this photo, hey...you try taking a photo with one hand while the other holds this freezing cup of frozen fat while trying to maneuver the whole process in a tiny sports car.  

Since there are no motels rooms to be had anywhere near the race track, well any motel this hotel snob will stay in.....we always end up staying at a Hilton Garden Inn in Oskhosh.  My Dad's birth place and home of the makers of some pretty nifty coveralls.

Another favorite hot spot for us is the Red Robin (and to my knowledge, a chain that doesn't have restaurants in NC).  It's known for their gourmet burgers.

I had a new item on their menu.....the description actually was better than the taste......me thinks there were too many flavors competing.  But, who couldn't resist a creamy brie burger, on a bed of au gratin potatoes, with lettuce, &  basil tomatoes on an onion bun.

If I keep eating like this, I'll never fit into the car on the way home!

PACKER SOAP OPERA

Even those of you who have NO interest in sports have probably heard about the ongoing drama involving Brett Farve and the Green Bay Packers.  I'm soooo sad over the announcement yesterday that our golden boy, Brett will now be wearing a different green jersey.

I'm actually in WI at the moment, and I can report that this saga is non stop news here.

This photo of a classic Brett moment is already getting smaller and beginning to fade......

As, bigger than life photos are appearing......no longer will we see green and gold.....it's green and white......

I can't compare my life/career even a tiny bit with his, but I do understand the indecision and apprehension that comes with moving onto a different phase of one's life.  Poor Brett has struggled with retirement....on again, and off again.  Like many professionals of all types of careers....it's hard to walk away when one still loves the job.

As I begin to reduce my hectic travel teaching schedule, I'm looking forward to more time at home and actually having time to sew again (grinning), and yet I'm fearful of the loss of enjoyment I've had hopping around the country.  I'm not giving up teaching......I'll be doing that as long as someone wants me!  However, I've begun a transition that will take a couple of years which will decreases airline travel in favor of local teaching and ??    That's the indecision.....the ?? part of what else I'll do to keep myself busy!!

It's great to live in such a wonderful country where it's possible to have choices!

Nebraska Quilt Project

The Alliance for American Quilts has just announced the Nebraska Quilt Project can be viewed online in the Quilt Index.  

More than 5,000 quilts and 3,000 quilters have been cataloged.  The bulk of the quilts were made between 1870 and 1940, some are now part of the quilt collection of the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Seriously, you could spend days viewing these quilts online, and to think all this history is only a click away!  I'm grateful for the vision & achievement of the AAQ Index!

Basket quilt - 1913 - Maker unknown

The Love Apple - 1863 by Elmira Peckham

SOUTHERN EATIN'

Grocery shopping is still a source of amusement for me.....there are items for sale that are completely foreign to me, yet of course are perfectly familiar to most Southerner's.

Take sweet tea for instance.  Goodness.....you can find it EVERYWHERE....and me asks WHY?  If one wants to drinks something full of calories, why not have a chocolate malt instead?  Oh, ya, I'm not in WI anymore where an over abundance of dairy products is definitely part of our daily lives.

I've tasted Pork Crackins.......yuck!  And, I sure didn't know there were so many different kinds of 'greens'....much less anyone wanting to eat them from a can.  Perhaps I need to have a good Southern home cooked meal made by a local to appreciate these products.

But wait.....I feel a Sheboygan Brat, served on a Sheboygan hard roll coming on.  Though the linked article provides a clue about the dedication we Sheboygan natives have to our brats, the cooking method is NOT the way most Sheboygan brat 'fryers' prepare their brats.   (By the way, we call it 'frying out'....not cooking out or BBQing)

QUILT SHOW

The Asheville Quilt Guild held their annual quilt show at the NC Arboretum this past weekend.

The 434 acre site is the perfect setting for a quilt show.  I was fascinated to learn of their Quilt Garden, which changes from time to time by replanting (the 'design').

Without the ability to take a wide shot, you may not quite be able to discern a pattern in this photo.....but look at the red triangles which surround a concrete square and you'll get the idea.

The show was a huge success thanks to the hard work of guild volunteers, the talented quilt makers, and of course, the vendors!

BEES - Part 3

After discussion with their fellow bee keepers, Connie and Ted alerted us that they were coming back to rescue the bees along with their fellow bee keeper Cal.  (His blog is sprinkled with a lot of information about bee keeping, check it out.)

They arrived just before 7:30 AM and began by fogging the site of the hive to keep the bees inside and I assume keep them from getting agitated.  Note the various stages of protection....Cal, the closest to the bees didn't even put on gloves!

Next, Ted cut a section from the top of the tree.  This is done to see how far up the tree the hive is located.

Now they are attempting to split open the tree, again to check the location of the hive.

There was no evidence that the hive was that far up the tree trunk, so now, a section was trimmed from opposite side, which is closest to the bee's opening.

This end is fairly rotten.  The next step was to attempt to split the trunk open from the top to get a better view of where the hive is located.

Connie and Ted listen to the buzzing bees.

I wasn't brave enough to take this photo.....Ted stuck the camera in the hole of the trunk.....clearly...there are a mess of bees in there!

Again, the tree is cut to help isolate the hive and to make recovery more manageable. 

And.....cut again.

Finally, the hive is revealed.

Large and small sections of the honey comb are now visible.  Along with lots of bees.

Cal, wearing only rubber gloves (is he nuts?) begins gathering the honey comb which is placed in their new wood frame home.  He got stung numerous times, as did Ted.....Connie remained covered up and safe!

Unfortunately, I missed much of this recovery process because I had to head off to the Arboretum to present a lecture at the Asheville Quilt Guild's annual quilt show.  Thank you to 'the husband' who documented these steps and happily didn't get stung!

The honey comb is cut to fit into the frames.

A local dog wandered in to see the action.........it too got stung!

After nearly 5 hours, the bees now have a new home.  As it turned out, apparently in the nick of time since there was no honey in the hive for them to feed from.  This was probably the result of the ongoing draught in Western North Carolina.  The bee keepers believe they probably would have perished within a week.  

This experience has been so educational for us and I hope for you readers too.  Support your local bee keepers!