A Semi-Magical Week

When Keetah has had a particularly stinky poop, she bolts out of the litterbox, skitters across the kitchen floor, and then turns back to tear up the stairs. Unlike the nastiness that must have just come out of Keetah, this past week was great!

In summary...

Friday Night
After 7 hours or so of driving, we arrived at our home for the weekend, an amazing lake house a bit north of Milwaukee. We stayed up for a while to talk to Patrick and Chelsey, and then we went to sleep in a bedroom with a vaulted ceiling and a wall of windows overlooking the lake. Nice!

Saturday
We started the day at the West Bend farmers market. I picked up some tomato jam, which I'll crack open during the winter when I miss tomatoes, and we breakfasted on huge peach and raspberry muffins. Yum! On the way back from the market, we stopped at a cheese and sausage store for cheese (of course), beef jerky, and baby rice popcorn (I haven't been able to find this here in Missouri).

Once we returned to the lake house, Chelsey, Patrick, and Chelsey's dad took us for a turn out on the lake. C and P convinced me to try "barefooting" - you know, skiing on the water WITHOUT the benefit of skis. Seeing as how I've never even waterskied before, you can only imagine how this ended. I think I made 5 or 6 attempts (half in swimsuit only, the others in a wetsuit...which makes a big difference comfort-wise).

I never made it up successfully, but I did walk away with a little cut below my eye, a very bruised right arm (from clinging onto the boat's boom for dear life), and nicely bruised thighs (from sitting in the swing suspended from the boom). Painful, but it was fun. Seriously.

After barefooting, we went tubing, which really was fun. I especially enjoyed seeing C and P thrown off the tube when C's dad made a crazy-fast turn (sorry, guys, but it was fun to watch).

Once watersports were over, we watched C and P prepare food for their little going away party that night. We feasted on guacamole, salsa, chips, more cheese, and burritos.

OH, and wonderful pies! C made a double layer pecan pie, and P made a peach and raspberry pie.

Sunday
The day started with brunch in Hales Corners with P's parents. A very delightful brunch buffet at the botanical gardens...made even better by P's mom telling stories from P's childhood.

I love parents.

Brunch was followed by a rather sad Brewers game. The loss was quite great...11-1, I think. But, I did snap this fuzzy photo of Porkchop and Patrick by the sausage statues (you know about the sausage race, right?):


(We took our camera on the trip, only to find that the battery was dead. So, this is the only photo I have, taken with my phone).

After the game, we checked out Patrick's kick-ass garden. It's a great example of intensive planting with beans and squash climbing up trees.

Next, it was on to Madison for dinner with our friends Vivian and Carmen. We stuffed ourselves on curries and mangoes with sticky rice at Lao Laan Xang. Mmmmm....

Monday
The day started with more food! Breakfast at Lazy Jane's began this very self-indulgent day. After eating, we stopped by Porkchop's (and Patrick's) old stomping grounds: Tandem Press. Then we went to my old stomping grounds: Lakeside Fibers. Good yarn was found and purchased. Then we went to a new stomping ground: Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier. (Oh my gosh. That's all I have to say. And yum...super-ass yum.) Finally, we went to a place that I want to be my permanent stomping ground, a new cheese shop: Fromagination. Or, maybe more appropriately, BEST CHEESE SHOP EVER. I now adore Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Uplands cheese...I think I might have to order a wheel. It is super fantastical.

After all of this excitement, we lunched at Ian's Pizza (always a winner with pizzas like macaroni and cheese). Our last stop with Patrick and Chelsey was the UW Art Department, where Porkchop checked in with former professors, and Patrick got the scoop on the Buenos Aires printmaking scene.

Much too soon, we had to part ways. Porkchop and I drove back to St. Louis (but first we stopped to pick up some New Glarus Spotted Cow beer and Sprecher root beer), and P and C went back to Milwaukee to prepare for their trip (which has been delayed due to Hurricane Ike).

The Rest of the Week
Went by quickly. Today I started scraping the basement walls in preparation for applying dry lock. It isn't easy. We're scraping off some paint/plaster stuff so that the dry lock can go directly on the masonry. Since we don't know if the paint/plaster stuff is lead-based, I wore Porkchop's respirator. So, while I'm protected, I'm not able to breath in as much oxygen. It makes the work extra tiring.

This evening I biked around Cherokee Street. First, I had a chai and a brownie at Mississippi Mud House. Then I ventured to the other end of the street to check out the Mexican Independence Day Festival. The festival itself wasn't so great...mainly people leaning against buildings while 6-foot high speakers blasted music.

But, fortunately, there were a few art things happening. I chatted with the printmakers of All Along Press. Two recent WUSTL grads started the press, and Porkchop looks forward to printing there and maybe doing a workshop on litho. Myself, I hope to print some greeting cards or other little things.

I stopped in at a couple of art shows - one at Fort Gondo, and the other at the gallery across the street (can't remember the name). There's also an art supply shop opening up near All Along and the galleries. It won't open officially for a couple more weeks, but the owner had it open tonight so that people could check it out.

Many exciting things happening on Cherokee Street! Kakao is also on Cherokee now, so I will have a local truffle supply (although I can't figure out what their store hours are...).

I might have stayed out longer, but I was on bike and I need to buy new bike lights so that I won't be run down in the dark. I had contemplated buying a new bike, but I think my old bike will be just fine after I clean it up. CAMP apparently has a free bike clinic on Thursdays, so maybe I will go there this week for help with a tune-up.

Anyway, that's all! Hope your weekend is super-great!