Thrift to Gift

 Hello Friends, during one of our thrift store stops, we found the following pins. Barron is a small city about 4 miles from our village of Cameron. When we saw the pins, my husband said he wanted the Cameron Centennial pin and he thought of our friend Lori when spying the Farm'n Feather Fest pin. But who wears pins these days? So we decided to make the pins into magnets.  

If you have been a long time reader of The River, you will know we are not native to Barron County or Cameron. And the above friend I mentioned helped us learn so much of the "need to know.. to look like you belong here"  Ha Ha!

In all honesty, we did have a lot to learn. One was the name of roads that do not appear on the signage of the road and street. So when someone told us to go down Poor Farm Road .. we had no idea where Poor Farm Road was, because it is not on the map and is not named Poor Farm Road on the sign for the road.

 Lori helped us learn where Poor Farm Road was, Airport Road and Museum Road. She made sure we knew who was related to who.. in case we got carried away talking about people. And thank goodness she did share that wee bit of information with us, because the person we purchased our home from ended up not being so nice. At the same time his sister attended the church we attended, but we did not know he was her brother. 

We are thankful to Lori to have shared some of the inside, need to know, to get around this neck of the woods when we first stared out in these parts.

We were excited to gift Lori with a pin.. now a magnet.. to give her memories of her hometown.. because she has now moved away. I hope she finds a kind neighbor and makes a new friend to help her "fit in" to her new town.

Pins.. made into magnets.

We have lived here for 25 years.. but even with 25 years under our belt, we will never really be natives. Just recently while delivering Meals on Wheels I had a conversation with the participant, it went like this...

Me.. Hello, Meals on Wheels.

Participant.. Thank You. What is your name?

Me.. Carla TePaske

Participant.. Oh goodness, that is not a Cumberland name! (Cumberland is a small city about 30 miles from where I live, that is where I helped deliver Meals on Wheels.)

Me.. No, it is not, and it is even worse, it is not even a Barron County name. I am originally from Phillips, located in Price County.  

Participant.. Alright.. she eyed me suspiciously.

Me.. I have lived here in Barron County going on 25 years. (hoping this would give me a pass.)

Participant.. Alright, you have pretty eyes, so that will do.

  ♥

Carla 

The Five W's and H

 Hello Friends,

Back in the day, we learned how to report a story with the Five W's and H.

A recent article in our Barron News Shield, Wednesday, March 16, 2022 grabbed my attention, the headline, Moths are a danger in Barron County.

As a gardener and having a business selling fresh cut flowers, I  am well aware of pests to our gardens, shrubs and trees. I also am well aware of the poisons that are used to kill these pests. The poisons are what I want to know about. 

The below article shared with me in four paragraphs how the DANGEROUS moth in Barron County got a name change. Yep, that is right, four paragraphs to let me know that previous name of the moth "gypsy moth"  was removed due to its use of derogatory term for the Romani people.

Right.. that is fine with me. Change the name of the moth.

BUT... where is the information regarding WHAT is going to be used in the spray to kill off the dangerous moth? What are the ingredients?

When? When will my area be sprayed?

Where? Where are you spraying?

What? What is in the spray? 

Do we need to keep our pets inside during the spray campaign? Young children, older adults, those who have respiratory problems?

Target of spray campaign.

 The article did provide a ten word long site to type in to find more information. When I typed it in my computer, triple checking that I had all of the ten words correct it said..

 PAGE NOT FOUND!

And by the way, the new name for the dangerous moth is spongy moth, which refers to the moths sponge - like egg masses.

I Bring You the Garden Chat!

 

This summer I teamed up with our local Library to do a garden chat. May through September I did a presentation. For the month of May pollinators were the highlight of the presentation.

Creating a Pollinator Garden

If you love butterflies, you will want to create a pollinator garden. It is not as hard as you think. 

 That is me! The wind was so strong that evening, as you can tell by my hair.

 It was a fun evening. It was a great way to start off the Garden Chat's.

I am sharing the hand out I prepared for the event.

Butterfly Garden Essentials

To attract butterflies to your yard and garden, you need to plant both nectar and host plants. Nectar plants provide food for the adult butterflies that pass through your garden. It is important to have plants that will bloom each season, providing nectar for the butterflies.

If you want butterflies all season long, you should plant host plants. Host plants are the plants that the butterflies lay their eggs on and that the caterpillars eat.

Tips for Creating a Butterfly Garden

1. Lots of sun. Most butterfly plants need at least 6 hours of sun each day.

2. Planting in groups. It is easier for butterflies to see plants when they are planted in groups of three or more, because butterflies are nearsighted. When planting host plants, planting in groups will ensure that there is enough food for the caterpillar.

3. Shelter from the wind. Butterflies are delicate, so a little protection will help. Tall plants, trellises or fences.

4. Sunning spots. Rocks and stepping stones can be used by butterflies to warm themselves so they can fly when it is cool outside.

5. NO PESTICIDES! The most important thing to remember is that butterflies and caterpillars are insects. DO NOT USE PESTICIDE!

Black Swallowtail

Host/Larval Food Plants

Carrot, Dill, Parsley, Queen Anne’s Lace

Adult Food

Aster, Blazing Star, Chives, Phlox, Lantana, Milkweed, Zinnia

Monarch

Host/Larval Food Plants

Butterfly Weed, Common Milkweed, Swamp Milkweed

Adult Food

Aster, Blazing Star, Cosmos, Goldenrod, Lantana, Zinnia

 

Winter Tracks

 My husband and I purchased snowshoes for each other for Christmas. We do enjoy cross country skiing, but we are not able to adventure in some areas with skis. 

We have really enjoyed snowshoeing. 

It has become a new favorite!

During one of our snowshoe adventures we came across the following tracks.

Tracks we had not seen before .. what animal could be passing by?

When taking photos of the tracks be sure to place something next to the track to determine the size of the track. Also take a photo of the gait (the walk) of the animal if you are able. This will help when you start your research on who made that track. 

 Could it be a Badger?

It would be something if it was a Wolverine!
 

It is a Fisher.

The message below my husband sent to the Wisconsin DNR. 

My husband received a nice reply back from Curtis he did confirm the track was a Fisher and that it was a unique track to see.

 

 

Hi Curtis,

My wife and I found this track on Monday Feb 4. We were snowshoeing at a Barron County park by Prairie Lake. Whatever animal it is from was following our tracks from Friday Feb 1. We had some rain and melting over the weekend which may have distorted the track.

In the photos I have attached the basket of my pole is 3.5" diameter, for scale. Looking at various track books and online I think it may be a wolverine track.

If there is any insight you may have I would be interested.

 

A shout out to one of our dear blog friends Lavender Dreamer, who shares her hikes , photos of birds, plants and animals with us. She had a crazy weekend with Google.

Click here to read her story! 

 

She is back! 

Anniversary of the Barron County May 16th Tornado

Remembering May 16, 2017

 Click above to read more about the 2017 Barron County Tornado.

 ~source~

~source~

May 16th 2017 will be one we will remember. As an F3 tornado ripped along about 2 miles from our home. Our area was hit with hail. We had hail damage to our roof and gutters. I am happy to report that today, exactly one year ago all of the repairs to our home and insurance claims have been taken care off.

Our area showed care and support for all who lost everything. We have new neighbors who lost everything. They lived in the trailer park that was severely damaged by the tornado. They now live in a lovely home across the street. At first they rented, now they have it has their home.

Of all the stories from May 16th, 2017. The one that I am in awe of is from my  sweet 93 year old that I deliver Meals on Wheels. The path of the tornado was right along my Meals on Wheels route.

I shared her story last summer, I would like to share it again, as we all face challenges each and every day. Her positive attitude makes me smile.

I was back to work the week after the touch down. As I made my deliveries I was in shock. As I drove to my sweet 92 year old, I could not believe it!  A huge pine tree fell on her house and the entire area around her was gone, ripped up, her deck was gone, trees, flowers, garden and even the shoreline down to the lake. 

I gave her a hug! I asked her "you are 92 years old, have you ever been in a tornado?"

"No, I have not! This is my first one."

Her son lives across the street from her, she told me he came over and said "Mom, a tornado is on the way. We need to get you down in the basement." She told him, " I am not going in the basement she said, I am going to the bathroom, I will never make it back up from the basement." 

She was out of power for four days. She told me, "I stayed right here! I was not about to leave my home."  The interesting thing was that after the tornado, our weather was cold and rainy for the rest of the week. With a tarp on the roof and half the house and no power, it got chilly. She said, "Oh I was fine, I went to bed early and got cozy under the blankets."

 

My sweet 92 year old, has just lost half of her home, all of her trees and her shoreline. She takes me to the window that over looks the lake. The tornado also touched down across the lake, and took all the trees and tore up the earth. As she looked across the lake, she looked at me and said "Carla, I never knew all those homes where across the lake, it is so pretty at night to see the lights twinkle." 

 

Another positive thinker in the tornado.

The area the tornado hit was full of trees, the homes were built among towering pines. What is so strange is the tornado took the pine trees, garages, out buildings but left many of the homes. I noticed today when I delivered, one of the homes that survived, they planted a vegetable garden. Something they could not do before because of all the shade. 

I hope they have a great first vegetable garden season.

 

 

This evening there will be an Anniversary of the 2017 Tornado at the Park. Each survivor will receive a cherry tree to plant. My 93 year old plans to share her story and cheer as her neighbors and community worked together as they cleaned up the damage the tornado caused.

She also told me she is excited to plant that cherry tree.

~source~

trans·plant ... the story continues

My husband and I moved to Cameron, Wisconsin 19 years ago in August of 2016. 

We both are born and raised Wisconsin kids. 

You would think moving to a new part of Wisconsin would be easy. 

 Jeremy and I found out different. We had a lot to learn.

In case you missed the first story, click here.

Please remember as you read my series about moving to a new area...

1. It was not easy. We had no family or friends in the area when we moved here. My husband had a job interview here, that is what brought us to the area. We have been blessed with his employment. 

2. It has been 19 years. I have learned so much. And have made many wonderful friends. The move was not easy at the start, it has been a blessing today.

And so to continue...

this is not a barron county road

 

 

To get started. Barron County roads run on a grid system. 

Cranberry Morning is the source for the following information. To read the entire post Click here

Barron County is laid out on a grid with every street being named according to its distance north/south and east/west of the southwest corner of the [perfectly square] county. If you know this, you need never get lost in Barron County. Everything is measured from that southwest corner.

For a transplant, that would be me, saying to me to meet up at the corner of 11 3/4 Avenue and 

2 3/4 Street, kind of makes your head spin.

 Now add the rest of the Barron county native language. Sure all the roads have this nice grid system. But the Barron country natives do not use the grid system. They go ahead and name the streets what they want.

I start to get use to this. I am on 19th Street. I am sharing with a native that I took 19th Street to get to X.  

"Oh you mean, Airport Road!" says the Barron County Native

"No, I mean 19th Street" says I, the transplant

"No, 19th Street is Airport Road and it is River Road too." says the Barron County Native 

"Ya know, where I come from, we just have ONE name for our roads. Like County Road W, or Skinner Creek or Danish Settlement." says I, the transplant.

I wish I could say it ends here, but it does not.

Oh no!

I was employed in the city of Barron. I lived in Cameron. At the time I was taking Hwy 8 to get to work. I was told of a short cut from my husband. He showed it to me. It was Hwy W. Fun, I thought to myself. I grew up on a Hwy W. I was so proud of my short cut. I shared it with my co workers the next day, all natives by the way. "Oh you mean Museum Road!" the natives said.

Come to find out Hwy W of Barron County is also know as Museum Road and 13 1/2  Avenue and

 14th Avenue.

And I still wish I could say it ends here, but it does not!

Poor Farm Road aka Hospital Road aka ....

County Road O aka Airport Road aka 19th Street aka River Road

Now after 19 years, I am use to the road names. I can get around. When I meet someone new in the area. I always give them the heads up about the way the roads work in this county.

How about you? Do you live in an area with confusing road names? 

Do some of the roads have more than one name?

If you are a transplant, did you have trouble understanding the way the natives explained directions?