This and That

 

2021 TePaske Easter Cake

 

Hello Friends,

A little of this and that going on this past weekend and week. 

We visited Catie for her birthday. If you are new to The River, Catie is our deployed son's girlfriend. 

It was great to catch up with her. And we all are marking X's on our calendar's as we wait for Sam and the 157th to return to the United States.

 I started seeds.  

We cooked down our first batch of maple syrup. The syrup is dark this year, my favorite.

Easter of 2022 I missed out on making our TePaske Easter cake. Again, if your new to The River, we started a tradition of the TePaske Easter cake.

 Click here to see some of the past Easter cakes 

Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe 

I am happy to report I am back in business. We will be hosting a Palm Saturday gathering and we will be enjoying the 2023 Easter cake for dessert. Stay tuned.

 ♥

 Carla

 

2021 Easter Cake

One of my past favorites.

Checking off the To Do List and it is the Hodgepodge

 

A photo from long ago when we colored eggs with our boys. I love the bright green and yellow. I also see that they used the wax crayon on the eggs to write. I love seeing their writing when they were little. 

Enough reminiscing, it is Wednesday and it is time for the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 

 1. Did you celebrate St. Patrick's Day in some way? If so tell us how. Are you a fan of corned beef? Cabbage? The color green?

Our youngest son, Atticus, came over for the afternoon. I went with him to a tax appointment. When we returned home we played scrabble, dad won the game.  Atticus and my dad went ice fishing a few weeks earlier and we cooked up a delicious meal of the bluegill fish they caught. We also enjoyed fries, onion rings and green peas. 

Am I a fan of corned beef? Yes!

Cabbage? Yes, I grow it in my garden. I love the first coleslaw of the summer with fresh green cabbage and red cabbage. 

I do like the color green. 

 2. March 22nd is National Goof Off Day...will you celebrate? Your favorite way to goof off? Last time you had a whole day to spend 'goofing off'? 

I like to just do whatever. Maybe get lost on a rabbit trail on Pinterest looking at gardens, home improvements, fashion, and more. I have not had a whole day of "goofing off ".

 3. Something on your to-do list that has been there more than a month? Will this be the month you finally cross it off? 

I have three closets I want to clean. Will this be the month? I hope so!

 4. In your opinion, what emotion is the most beneficial? Which one is the least useful? 

I think Joy is the most beneficial. 

Anger is the one that I feel is the least useful.

 5. What was your favorite thing to do as a kid? Elaborate. 

I grew up in an old farmhouse. My sister and I had a room that was our Barbie room. You could say we had a big Barbie land. Here is one story, my Barbie set up a hair salon, when my sister's Barbie came to visit the salon, I really cut my sister's Barbies hair off!!! 

Yes, I got into trouble. 

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

"I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines."

Oliver Goldsmith 

 

 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

 

One of our garden projects that we created in past years. This year I plan to expand this garden. I would like to add another water feature someplace in the garden as well. I love having water in the garden.

Hello Friends,

Today I am going to share the article I wrote for our Village newspaper, Cameron Chronicle "The Little Paper With Personality." This article was for the March 2023 issue.

 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

By Carla TePaske of Cameron WI ~ The Little Garden That Could

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockleshells, and pretty maids all in a row. This is the way we plant our seeds, plant our seeds, plant our seeds. This is the way we plant our seeds, early in the morning.

It is that time, it is time to start planning the garden. Decide now what you want to plant in spring and summer, and take the necessary steps to prepare.

If you intend to start plants from seed, now is the time to start.

Pick a project to improve your garden. If you plan to refresh or expand your garden beds, decide what plants you want. Get your decision-making off your list before the garden season picks up.

There are always things we want to add to our garden that we never get done. That’s because we don’t schedule it, and what doesn’t get scheduled doesn’t get done. If you really want to add that water feature or that greenhouse or start a wildflower garden, now is the time to map it out, including the steps and the timeline.

My gardening motto is the following, plant something fun, plant something new, and plant something tried and true.

The plant something new is important. As you pick your improvement projects and seeds to grow, remember to pick something new. As gardeners who have been at it a while, we tend to get stuck in ruts and grow the same things over and over. There are so many opportunities to try something new, and in the process, we grow with it and learn so much more.

As we plan out our garden season, remember that time is your most precious resource, our growing season goes by fast.

Seize the moment. Until next time happy gardening!

This and That

 Hello Friends,

A little of this and that today.

 

We recently visited my sister and her husband. My sister knows I love to visit thrift shops. We stopped at Pancakes in Heaven Thrift in Eagle River, Wisconsin.  I found a few treasures.

A little pheasant to sit under my homemade pine trees that our friend Charles made. 

 

 

I also found a ruffed grouse. 

 

 

I love blue. I found this blue candle holder.

 

 

 The T-shirt quilt is coming along. I will start to put it together.

 

 

 I decorated for Easter. One of my treasured decorations are these eggs. My friend Judy had our family over to her home, her daughter Lori's family and we dyed eggs using onion skins and nylon stockings. Our boys were young, I actually do not remember the year we did this together. I still have the eggs and I smile each year bringing them out for Easter, reminiscing our young family days.

 

 

 My friend Deb likes to share funnies with me. How many times has this happened to you?

Last week I went to have my haircut, while trimming my bangs a Bon Jovi song came on the radio and the salon broke out into song. Ha! And the next morning, I still had Livin' on a Prayer stuck in my head. 

 

♥

Carla

On The Road Friday ~ Eagle River, Wisconsin

 Hello Friends,

Today we are on the road to Eagle River, Wisconsin. My sister and her husband moved to Eagle River last year. This is their first winter in Eagle River. We visited the weekend of February 17th - 19th. It was a fantastic weather weekend.

Saturday morning we hiked the trails that my brother in law has been making on the property. It was a beautiful sun filled morning. 

 Saturday evening we went to a hockey game, we watched the Wisconsin Windigo. 

 

 The Eagle River Sports Arena is recognized by the Wisconsin Registry of Historic Places. It really is a unique building. It is very comfortable watching hockey in the stands.

 

Home to the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame, Eagle River is where to find our state’s best hockey memorabilia and honors of its 69 inductees. The Eagle River Sports Arena has been housing the Hall of Fame since 1975; but long before that, the arena held a history of its own for its notable dome shape, constructed by local volunteer carpenters and towns people. Built in 1933, the arena was designed to promote winter tourism in the area and is now recognized by the Wisconsin Registry of Historic Places.

 

A few more photos from the game.

 

 The game went into overtime and the Windigo won!

It was an exciting hockey game.

Thank you for coming along with me to Eagle River, Wisconsin. 

 ♥

Carla

 

The Promise of Spring and the Hodgepodge

 

Our neck of the woods is currently sleeping under a lot of snow. The promise of spring is in the warm sunshine. In a month or so the above beauties will be the first of our spring flowers.

Today is Wednesday and that means it is time for the Hodgepodge.  

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 1. We're in to a season students call 'spring break'. Did you/your family travel over spring breaks when you were growing up?  Tell us something about a 'spring break' you remember (from childhood or adulthood, either one).

 One of my favorite trips was with my Uncle Paul and Aunt Sally. I was in fourth grade, I traveled to Arizona with them. We celebrated Easter with my Uncle Paul's family. I remember the Easter dress I had, it was one of my favorites. 

 2. Last thing you broke? Was it a big deal? 

I broke a wine glass. No, it is not a big deal.

3. March 7th is National Cereal Day...are you a fan? What's your favorite? If not cereal what's your favorite breakfast? Your typical breakfast?  

I enjoy cereal in the summer months. Not so much in the winter months. I like Raisin Bran. I also like Cheerios, in the summer months I add fresh strawberries or raspberries from our garden into my bowl of cereal. 

My favorite breakfast is made by my husband for me on the weekends. He makes my eggs just the way I like them, fried potatoes, sausage and a slice of toast. 

My typical breakfast is a hard boiled egg and a slice of toast.

 4. Break ground, break of dawn, break down, break the bank, break one's stride, break the ice, break a law, break a habit, break bread...choose one of the idioms listed and tell us how it applies to your life currently. 

With the light increasing the break of dawn is peeking when my alarm goes off in the morning and I love it.

5. Where do you go to connect with friends and family? What do you like to do most when you're home alone?  

 We enjoy hosting family and friends at our home.

When I am home alone I will usually be working on a project. I like to write when I am home alone, I write most of my blog posts and garden articles when I am home alone.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Speaking of daylight, Daylight Savings is here this weekend. Will it be the last time we have to change the clocks here in the USA? 

  

Joy List Monday

 Joy List Monday

♥ a weekly ritual ♥

a reminder to stop and pay attention to the little beauties and graces that make life magical and to set aside time for gratitude each day

 

♥ fresh eggs from our hens

 

 

♥ watching our hens take the first dust bath of the season

 ♥ a spring feel to an afternoon

 

 

♥ getting ready to tap maple trees for the maple syrup season

 

 

♥  forced bulbs making the inside of the house a spring garden

♥

Carla

Wising you a beautiful week full of little things that make you smile.

 

On The Road Friday ~ Red Cedar State Trail

 Hello Friends,

Today we are going on a trip to Red Cedar State Trail Menomonie, Wisconsin.

The evening of January 27th  we participated in the Candlelight Ski. We have done this for several years. During the COVID19 years the candlelight ski events came to a halt. It was exciting to get back to  the enjoyment of the romance of a candlelight ski.

The trail is light by candlelight to the ice wall. The ice wall is light up by candlelight making it a true winter wonder. 

A lovely luminary along the trial.

 A week later my husband and I decided to head back to the Red Cedar Trail and ski the trail during the day. We had a week of very cold weather. In my day photos you will notice how the ice wall 'grew'. The colors of the ice are blue and green, sometimes photos just cannot capture natures ever changing beauty.

 

 

Red Cedar Trail

 This 14.5-mile rail trail shadows the steep walls of the Red Cedar Valley from Menomonie to its connection with the Chippewa River State Trail. Along its route, the trail passes through the communities of Irvington and Downsville and the Dunnville State Wildlife Area. The trail passes by prairies, marshland bottoms, forests and farmlands, including sandstone bluffs and other unique rock formations.

Thank you for coming along with me today.

♥ 

Carla

  

Marching On

 Hello Friends,

Happy March to you. 

Today I am going to share an article I wrote for our local newspaper the Cameron Chronicle "The Little Paper With Personality." The publisher of the Cameron Chronicle asked me to write an article about the recent deployment of the 157th.

Wisconsin National Guard Making History

By Carla TePaske

Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 157^th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade is making history. In October 2022, 280 Wisconsin National Guard Soldiers deployed to Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa for a 10 month deployment.

This is the first time that a Wisconsin unit is deploying into the African theater on a Title 10. When mobilized (or activated) under Title 10 U.S.C., you are directed by the President to report for active duty in an official capacity.

The mission for the 280 Wisconsin National Guard are the following, maintain the United State’s strategic access and influence on the continent; counter threats to U.S. persons, facilities and interests; prevent and respond to crises such as disaster relief or threats to embassies; and work with allies and partners to achieve shared security objectives.

Major General Paul Knapp, Wisconsin Adjutant General, commented, “The world is at a critical juncture, and our adversaries are looking to expand their corrupting grasp across the globe. The 157^th and 357^th will play a key role in stemming these attempts by our adversaries.”

Russia and China have long sought to increase their influence across the African continent. Violent extremist organizations such as terrorist groups and pirates are also among U.S. adversaries in the region.

Colonel Eric Leckel, commander of the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 157^th, qouted U.S. Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks regarding the mission, “Great moments are born out of great opportunity.”

Godspeed for the 157^th!

 

Thank you to all our friends and family for the continued prayers for Sam and the 157th. I will share a few photos below that Sam has shared with me.

Djibouti Currency

One of the cats on base.

Our Sam

 

 Thank you again for all the prayers.

 ♥

Carla