They come from all over the country; people from all walks of life--from Rich Urban BikerS (RUBS) to hardcore bikers. The one thing they have in common is that they love their machines. Customizing is part of the love affair. I snapped this picture near Sturgis, South Dakota early in August. Many bikers, just like this couple, are coming to the Milwaukee area for the 105th anniversary celebration of Harley-Davidson. (Yes, that is a coffin shaped trailer.)

I found out about HOT TOPPERS from my Brookfield friend. She is a friend of Elm Grove residents Maureen Denney and Bob Lundquist, the owners of HOT TOPPERS. They needed my son the techno-doctor to pay a house call to HOT TOPPERS, to repair their 2 Harley themed pinball machines. When he returned, I asked him, What do they sell there?  He really could not tell me. Hmmm. I had to check this out for myself, and I am really glad I did! What an interesting place.

The HOT TOPPERS shop is located at 255 N. 121st Street, just a few blocks south of Bluemound Rd. and 121st St. What do they sell there? Why, HOT TOPPERS of course! Triple chrome plated ABS plastic covers for the various bolt heads on Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

The caps come in various styles and sizes and are easy to apply. Their hours are Monday - Friday, 9-5 (often earlier and later.) They are also open by appointment on the weekends.

How can chrome caps be that interesting? Because their bolt covers and chrome accessories shop also is home to their extensive collection of vintage motorcycles and motorcycle themed collectibles.

Everything from vintage toys to antique and collectible promo items, T-shirts, lunch boxes, collector plates and mugs are neatly displayed in their shop's garage. (This represents about 1/3 of their collection.) 

Their oldest bike is a French 1901 Clement. They also had a 1907 Triumph.

I believe this one is a 1914 Excelsior. They welcome visitors, and as their brochure states, it is a "Fun Place To Visit."

For more information on their attractive alternative to stainless steel bolts shown here on the HOT TOPPERS bike, see their website: hottoppers.com, call 414-282-5858, or email HOTTOPPERS@aol.com 

"Still the best bang for your buck when it comes to chrome!"

 Happy 105th Anniversary Harley-Davidson

You can also see their products at Hal's Harley-Davidson in New Berlin.

Links: 

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, Mark Levin,   Vicki Mckenna

You see a lot of bumper stickers on cars. Some are quite funny; some cruel. This one isn't a bumper sticker yet, but I suspect I will see it: I thought it was a clever play on a campaign slogan. (It was an email post script tag.)

NObama 08, Keep the Change!

This next slogan actually was a bumper sticker, and it was bipartisan!

DON'T STEAL, THE GOVERNMENT HATES COMPETITION

My son spotted this email tag on a VW car bullitin board site.

My carbon output feeds the trees the liberals love to hug!

Any one see a funny McCain bumper sticker?

Links: 

Brookfield7, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, Mark Levin,   Vicki Mckenna

One of the first things we purchased when we moved here was a utility trailer. What do we need that for? I asked my husband. He said we would need to to haul brush to the dump. (Back then we still called it the dump.) He did use it for that purpose...a lot.

In 1995 I became the one to go to the recycling center. We were remodeling and in 1995 the center still allowed residents to bring in their used building materials.

Every week I would make at least 3 trips with trailer fully loaded. I was a bit of a novelty, because there were not too many women who would drive a car with a trailer. (I got to know the guys pretty well--a few were nice.)

I've made a few trips since then, but I always needed my husband's car since he had the hitch.

But this summer, I got a trailer hitch put onto my car. That might not seem like a big deal to you, but it made me happy. Now I can go to the Recycling Center whenever they are open.

On a recent trip, my son and I watched other residents struggle shoveling mulch and dirt into their trunks and mini vans. I happily forked the mulch into my little old red trailer.

The Recycling Center has changed a great deal since my earlier visits. The new facilities for Public Works are pretty impressive. (Our tax dollars at work.) 

I must say I miss the piles of stuff and scrap lumber though. It was always fun to check those out. (Once a nice worker even let me retrieve a plaid metal lunch box from the scrap metal heap!)

Kids loved the idea of bringing home wood for a fort or tree house. It was truly a Recycling Center back then!

If you like to garden or if you have a lot of mature trees on your lot, may I recommend the humble trailer and hitch. They have more than paid for themselves at our homestead. 

Links: 

It sure took long enough. I planted earlier than other years, and my tomato plants looked great. Yet those green tomatoes just would not ripen!

I suspect cool night temperatures are to blame--tomatoes need it warm at night to ripen properly.

But today, TODAY, I found 2 ripe Lemon Boy tomatoes out in my garden they became my first tomato mayo sandwich of the season. The Mortgage Lifter looks like it will be next.

Now I can say I broke even on that plant. If I would have bought 2 yellow tomatoes at the store today, they would have probabaly equalled the plant purchase price. All the rest I harvest from this point forward will be free!

How is your garden growing?

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We rekindled our love affair with road trip vacations in 2001 when our son was finally old enough to endure 3 days of driving at a time, and we were able to afford more dependable transportation. Instead of our usual 2 hour drive to some favorite State Park for 2 weeks of camping, we graduated to visiting various National Parks out west. It has been great.

Because of our road trip habit, I've payed attention to gas prices. Beginning in 2001, when prices spiked in late spring, I would wring my hands with everyone else and worry how high they would go by August (the time of our departure.) But it seemed every year, gas prices went down about 40 - 50 cents/gal by the time we hit the road. (Good reason to plan your driving vacation late in the summer.) Photo shows $3.79/gal on July 25, 2008 at Speedway on Greenfield and Sunny Slope Road, that is about .50 cents lower than earlier highs this summer. 

Experience taught me to not fret too much about what would prices be by the end of summer? I would assure myself the price would come down later in the summer, and they did. Unfortunately, the lower price of August was usually .25 to .50 cents/gal higher than the year before! 

I checked my travel journal for some past August price examples*. You can see the prices increases nearly every year:  2003 - $1.59/gal, 2004 - $1.83 to $1.93/gal, 2005 - $2.53 to $3.47/gal (California' price), 2006 - $2.99 to $3.19/gal, 2007 - $2.85 - $3.09. Notice the prices in 2007 were cheaper than 2006, but that was the exception to the norm.

The AAA agent told me Monday, the price this summer is $1.19 higher (nationwide) than last year's gas prices. That is a higher jump from years past. Some other market forces are at work.

USA Today attributed the oil prices drop to fewer miles driven in, Cost at pump dips as demand, oil prices fall,

Drivers in the USA logged 9.6 billion fewer miles in May than in May 2007, the government reported Monday. It was the third-largest monthly drop in 66 years.

But to me, that alone cannot account for the downturn in oil prices. If you look at the graph to the left, you see that oil prices started declining more steadily around the time the President announced he was removing the moratorium on offshore drilling. I believe if the Congress would approve domestic drilling, we would see more declines. 

If you look at the chart from this 2nd article, US drivers Log 9.6 B fewer miles in May, you see that Americans have been driving significantly less all year. May did not even mark the largest downturn, March did. If the price of oil was so dependent on driving alone, March's decline should have triggered a crude oil price reduction, shouldn't it have?

The data released Monday show that Americans drove 29.8 billion fewer miles in the first five months of this year compared with the same period last year, a 2.4% drop. The dip continues a seven-month trend beginning in November. Americans have driven 40.5 billion fewer miles from November through May compared with the same period a year earlier.

I believe we must start drilling in America if we want to see oil prices really decline. (Domestic drilling would also keep  billions of US $ at home, but that is another subject!) We are on a hair trigger as it stands now, where any natural or man-made disaster could push prices up. 

Unrest in non-OPEC countries, such as Nigeria, could push prices higher. Militants in that country sabotaged two oil pipelines Monday, driving crude prices for September delivery up $1.47 a barrel. A major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico also could send oil prices higher.

"We could always have a spike to $150 a barrel," Smith says.

For right now, we can relax just a tiny bit and enjoy the typical price decrease of .40 to .50 cents/gallon in August. Too bad it is still .70 cents a gallon more ($1.19 nationwide) than last year!

*In 1979 gas prices were under 50 cents a gallon in the early summer! (Good thing.This was our 5 1/2 week, 8,000 mile Way Out West camping trip.)

Click here to sign the DRILL HERE. DRILL NOW. PAY LESS domestic drilling petition and see the latest links to related oil news (updated every day).

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If you are a child, 4 years old through 6th grade, you are invited to Brookside Baptist Church's Vacation Bible School next week.

The theme this summer is Medieval Mayhem. (I think it is based on an Armor of God theme--same topic as our recent Sunday sermons.)

The Medieval Mayhem fun runs from Monday, July 14th through Friday, July 18th, 5:45 pm - 8:30pm.

On Friday, there will be a carnival night for all families and ages.

Oh, did I mention it is free?

Brookside is located on Pilgrim Road, just south of Lisbon. Address: 4470 N. Pilgrim Road, Brookfield, WI 53005, 262-783-6180

Click here to sign the DRILL HERE. DRILL NOW. PAY LESS.  domestic drilling petition and see the latest links to related oil news (updated every day).

Drill Here is now over the 1.3 million mark. The goal is 3 million signatures by the Democratic and Republican Conventions. 

Links:  

I just spent a delightful 4 days with 7 of my high school girlfriends over the 4th of July holiday. You could call it a mini-class reunion. I highly recommended it!

It has been 39 years since we graduated from Shorewood High School. I have kept in touch with 6 of the old gang, be it just an annual Christmas letter for some, emails, phone calls, and the occasional lunch out for others.

We thought it was pretty good to get 8 of us together at one time. Two friends still live in Shorewood, the rest came from Green Bay, Rockford, Florida, Colorado, and Oregon. The time span between visits ranged from a few months to 39 years ago! It did not take us long to get reacquainted.

I happened to stumble onto one of our high school English teachers while looking at Franklinnow.com. There she was on the blogger list: Marjorie Pagel (Miss Johnson, then after she married, Mrs. Pagel to us.) I emailed her and she filled in a few blanks for some of the other English teachers at Shorewood. 

In high school, we were not part of the popular group, nor did we really want to be. We were happy and secure in our friendships with each other. Literally, we were Sweet 16 and never been kissed. Believe it or not, only 1 out of our total group numbers (17 or so?) dated in high school!

Our current mini-reunion marital status is: 5 out of 8 still married to their first husband, 1 widow, 1 divorced, and 1 single. I think that statistic bucks the national average. Perhaps it was our early non-dating status that contributed to our marriage's longevity? (Those who favor courtship over dating would agree with that theory.)

For entertainment, mostly we talked, showed photos of family, looked at our old yearbooks, and did I mention we talked? Our hostess prepared cute little SHS emblemed journals for each of us to write in--just like we wrote in each other's yearbooks.

We did venture out of my friend's Shorewood home for a few outings and field trips. Thursday night we showed the out-of-towners the new Bay Shore and had dinner at Bravo on the patio (while listening to the free plaza concert--brr, it was cold!) The reaction to the New Bay Shore was not very positive.

Friday, lots of talking and getting caught up on everyone's lives. After a cookout, we went to Atwater Beach for their fireworks. The view was the only difference from our usual Elm Grove fireworks display--fireworks gatherings are rather universal I think. At Atwater, the viewers sit on top of a bluff and the fireworks are shot off from the lake shore below. It gives a different perspective.

Saturday, we went on a auto tour past everyone's childhood home in Shorewood, took a brief walk through the high school campus, and had a delightful lunch at a tearoom on Capitol Drive. After a trek to Cedarburg we returned to Shorewood for more catching up on everyone in our yearbooks.

On Sunday, we went out for breakfast before some had to head for the airport and home. After that, I took a nap!

I have not giggled that much in a long time, however, life's road is never all laughs. There have been tragedies too: the death of a husband, siblings, and parents, and serious illnesses for some of us or our children. It makes you realize how precious life is.

Good friends are precious too. The old saying, a friend in need is a friend indeed  and the Girl Scout song, Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold. certainly hold true for me. Last summer, when I needed to sell my dad's Shorewood home, my 2 Shorewood friends pitched right in to help me hold the estate sale. They were there for me.

Although we may be of differing religions, political parties, and economic status, the same good, solid core beliefs that brought us together in grade school and high school are still there. 

We are already talking about the next reunion...where should we meet?

Click here to sign the DRILL HERE. DRILL NOW. PAY LESS.  domestic drilling petition and see the latest links to related oil news (updated every day).

Drill Here is now over the 1.29 million mark. The goal is 3 million signatures by the Democratic and Republican Conventions. 

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Meet our kitchen dynamic duo: Silvia, on the left, and Rocky, on the right. They both make our day begin! (They were named by their manufacturer, Rancilio, not us. We do refer to them by name though.)

I have introduced them to many of my coffee drinking friends, and my duo have always left a very good impression.

We purchased Silvia, the espresso maker, from Wholelattelove 6 years ago to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary*.

It sells now for $595.00. That seems steep for a frugal gal like me, but when you consider the small Krups or Braun type machines are around $100 and they don't last or make a great cup, this price is not so bad. Plus, remember what my mother taught me: skimp on what doesn't matter so you can splurge on the important.

Same with the grinder. Rocky has replaceable burrs. We have had Rocky for 4 or 5 years (another anniversary gift to ourselves.) So far--so good. Again, the Braun grinder we got from Linen's and Things for around $80, did not hold up. Rocky sells now for $320. Since you can replace the grinding burrs, it potentially can be kept going for years.

Both are considered professional quality. I have found that when you use something a lot, it is best to buy very good quality tools. They perform better and produce a superior product.

Good coffee is a ritual in our household. We don't go out for coffee**, lattes, or espresso. Instead, we use really good coffee beans--Alterra--and make our own espresso at home. 

People think nothing of going out for a $3 specialty coffee every day for both a husband and wife, which adds up to $2,190 / year for one cup a day each. Even factoring in the grinder and espresso maker (total price divided by 6 yrs) along with the coffee (65# a year), doing it ourselves costs us $706 a year for many cups a day each!  We "save" $1,484 a year. Our home brew is still cheaper than just going out for one regular cup of coffee each at a Caribou or Starbuck's saving $681 a year.

The Rancilio company was very good about getting me a replacement gasket for Silvia. (That was the diagnosis from my trip to Alterra last year.) Rancilio ended up sending me a gasket for free. I call that good service!

Wholelattelove is a great place to look for coffee related items. They have lots of customer reviews to read, which can be helpful. (Mine are in there somewhere.) 

If you love good coffee--espresso in particular--consider doing it yourself. 

I am not affiliated with Rancilio or Alterra in any way. 

*We had originally purchased a Capresso fully automatic espresso maker to celebrate our 25th anniversary. It was fascinating and fun to use, but it produced a very inferior cup of espresso: not nearly hot enough, not strong enough, not enough crema. In addition, the water and bean chamber were very small as was the dump container. It was automatic, but it seemed it always wanted something.  That got returned and we did more research. Our son, the master of online product research, found the Rancilio company. It seemed to be just what we were looking for--a home version of a professional machine.

I will caution you though, you MUST use either RO or distilled water. Using Brookfield's hard water will ruin any espresso maker. Even the professional demineralizer coffee maker treatments can't eliminate the build up.

**I do go out for coffee with a friend from time to time, but this is purely for social reasons.

Click here to sign the DRILL HERE. DRILL NOW. PAY LESS.  domestic drilling petition and see the latest links to related oil news (updated every day).

Drill Here just reached the 1 million mark. The goal is 3 million signatures by the Democratic and Republican Conventions.  

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Ah, the joys of rental property. Most people's perception is that you just sit back and collect the rent. Maybe that is what our Mayor Jeff Speaker thought when he ventured into the landlord business? I don't think he is thinking that now. From the article:

Asked why he bought the Milwaukee apartment building instead of one in Brookfield, Speaker said he couldn’t afford one in Brookfield.

“It’s an investment, and they can be fairly lucrative if you have a good tenant mix,” Speaker said of Milwaukee rental properties.

He said he would like to get tenants who are on rent assistance “because you’re guaranteed your money.” But he said he couldn’t do that until he made more repairs.

“I’m trying to make a difference down there,” he said...

...He wants to hold annual barbecues there.

My husband and I were landlords for a brief time in our younger days. We bought the tiny Polish flat my husband lived in during his college days from his landlady. It was divided into 3 units and we lived in the upper front after we were married. A few years later, we purchases a second property from our former landlady. Hey, no money down, what did we have to lose except a lot of sweat equity.

People teased us a lot about being the land barons, knowing how we were working our tails off and operating on a shoestring. We repaired the numerous code violations and painted, refinished floors, and transformed them into rental units that decent people were happy to rent for a reasonable price. 

I had to smile when the article about Speaker's rental property violations mentioned that he planned a barbecue when it was all finished, because that is what we did! It was in celebration of our white trash tenants moving out. (We inherited them with the purchase--they were on welfare by the way--our landlady must have liked the rent assistance angle too?) 

The neighbors and other tenants were jubilant when the two families moved out.

Now the JS Editorial: Keeping Promises  compares Brookfield standards with the City of Milwaukee. (H/T Fairly Conservative) Ouch.

Later the article speaks to the heart of the landlord business when purchasing on the cheap:

“We recognize it’s difficult to bring it out of a crappy condition into a compliant condition,” Todd Weiler, spokesman for the city’s Department of Neighborhood Services, told Sink.

...But Weiler made another good point about buying a building in bad condition: “You should know that when you buy it and have hammer and nail ready,” he said. “It’s time. The proof will be in the pudding. We’ll see what happens to his promises.”

Truer words were never spoken. Both properties we purchased had been neglected for quite some time. Our Riverwest Polish flat was not so bad. The landlady left us alone in exchange for cheap rent, and so, we had fixed up our interior before we purchased. Once it was ours, the "hammer and nail" were always with us and we brought it back from the grave. Although it never was a great Milwaukee style flat, it did have a certain curb appeal when we finished it.

The second property, the huge flat and cottage, really needed work (1st photo). The neighbor lady was so anxious to get rid of our bad tenants there, she offered to help us fix up their units if we could get rid of them. She was faithful to her word.

I would like to say that I never have seen such neglect since our Milwaukee Landlord days, but the fixer upper we purchased in Brookfield in 1986 was just about as bad if not worse! Lots more sweat equity here on Kinsey Park Drive. Maybe that is why I'm still so tired? 

I suspect that with rental property, like boat ownership, the happiest 2 days are the day you purchase and the day you sell. At least it was for us.

As for making a "fairly lucrative" investment? I suggest a really solid mutual fund! 

Related Posts: This was the Polish flat I referred to in Remembering the BIG CHILLS the flat pictured was before my dad helped us paint. 

Click here to sign the DRILL HERE. DRILL NOW. PAY LESS.  domestic drilling petition and see the latest links to related news (updated every day).

Drill Here just reached the 1 million mark. The goal is 3 million signatures by the Democratic and Republican Conventions.

Links:

Before we breezed out of town last weekend, I purchased some Edy's Slow Churned Ice Cream in what formerly was the half gallon size and tossed it in the basement freezer. (I know ice cream has not been 1/2 gallon for years. It is actually 7 cups.)

While away, my husband spotted a USA Today article he thought was blog worthy: Shoppers beware: Products shrink but prices stay the same It was all about how manufacturers are making the packages smaller but charging the same price as the former full size:

"Downsizing is nothing but a sneaky price increase," says Edgar Dworsky, former Massachusetts assistant attorney general in the Consumer Protection Division, now editor of Mouseprint.org, a consumer website. "I'm waiting to open a carton of eggs and see only 11."

The article showed Edgar Dworsky with a magnifying glass and some Breyers ice cream cartons in the new 1.5 quart size. If you aren't paying attention, it would be easy to mistake the 1 cup smaller packages for the former 1.75 quart sized cartons.

 "We did not in any way try to hide this," insists Tim Kahn, CEO of Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, which also makes — and has shrunk — Edy's. "The package-size change couldn't be any more visible."

I didn't catch the Edy's reference at the time--hey, I was on vacation! But tonight when my men wanted some ice cream, I noticed the Edy's carton on the counter and said, "This is smaller than before, we got gypped like the article!"

I still paid the same price as the larger size but lost 1 cup of ice cream.

Sometimes manufacturers have the nerve to try to sell the idea of smaller sizes, spinning that it is for your convenience that the package is smaller because it is easier to carry!

Sure enough, my ice cream was the newer, smaller size. When I put it back in the kitchen freezer, I noticed that it fit in a place that wasn't tall enough before. Guess the smaller size was for my convenience. :)

Other products have shrunk too. Sugar is a good example. Sugar always came in 5 and 10 pound bags. Now you have to be careful. The name brand sugar often comes in 4 pound bags. Generic or store brand sugar usually comes in 5 pounders. (Aldi's sugar is 5 pounds for $1.79 if you were interested.)

Consumers just can't catch a break. We pay the same, if not more, for gas laced with ethanol for a 10% reduction in m.p.g., and now we pay the same price for a container that is 10% to 20% smaller than before!

Hmm, if only we could reduce the density at Percheron Square by 20%, but that is a subject for another day.

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Remember the billboards that said IT was coming in 2001? The IT was the Segway, a "two-wheeled self-balancing vehicle that runs on a rechargeable battery." Although Steve Jobs and others "predicted it would change the way people lived," the IT came and at the time, it wowed the public about as much as the Edsel.

But times have changed since 2001. Gasoline prices are now higher--a fill up for our minivan then cost $35, today it can cost $80. People are looking for alternatives.

Segway Glides as Gasoline Jumps the Wall Street Journal reports. Obviously, this is not the solution to high gas prices for Wisconsin residents, but the article mentioned a few Segway owners who thought Segways made sense. (Maybe I should say, cents.) 

Scott Hervey of Yorba Linda, Calif., bought one of the electric scooters on June 7 and has put 150 miles on it commuting to his custodian's job at Disneyland, about 12 miles away. He had considered buying a Segway for four years, and gasoline prices finally drove him to do it. Now he "glides," as Segway enthusiasts say, to work. "I like passing gas stations," says the 54-year-old.

Segway's cost around $5,000 each. The user must be fairly agile and willing to expose themselves to the elements--and neighborhoods. Then there is the question of, where do you ride it? Sidewalk or street? Some communities ban them from sidewalks.

We were at Disney World the first year the Segway was released, so we saw them in action. Both my husband and son wanted one.  For specific uses, especially in large factories or businesses, I can see where they would be handy, quiet, and because they emit no exhaust, can be used indoors. I'm not sure they are the perfect commuting vehicle though. But it seems some people would disagree:

Sales at the scooter's maker, Segway Inc., have risen to an all-time high, says CEO Jim Norrod. The closely held Manchester, N.H., company doesn't release detailed numbers. (A September 2006 recall showed the company had sold 23,500 Segways.) But Mr. Norrod says he expects sales this quarter to jump 50% from a year earlier, versus a 25% year-over-year increase in the first quarter.

Among the new customers are local governments and universities whose budgets have been pinched at the gas pump. New York's Syracuse University and the University of Kansas say they bought Segways for their campus police this year, in part because of rising gasoline prices.

As gas prices continue to climb, some people will be looking at creative ways to ease their pain at the pump. I would think those motorized bicycles that the police and parking lot security use would gain in popularity too. Maybe people will finally decide a 30 mile commute to work is not the best idea. (In that case, Brookfield real estate should become more attractive because we are so close to the city.) But for the gizmo-loving customer with a large wallet in a temperate climate, the Segway may finally have hit its stride.

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What's in a name? Plenty.

In case you missed this, the Friday edition of the Detroit News printed this headline, "Clinton, Osama meet to discuss unity"

The paper claims it was a mistake, but the error appeared on "about 45,000 newspapers distributed north and west of downtown Detroit." 

Appropriate apologizes made and accepted. I wonder if the first copy has made it to eBay yet? 

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It has been a while since we had a rain like this morning's. Guess I won't be gardening today. But that is OK, we needed the rain.

If you have ever been on a private well, rainy days don't always get you down. Remember the drought of 1988? (I remember the year because I was pregnant.) It did not rain all summer it seemed. Because we were worried about our well going dry, no one had to tell us to conserve water. We did not go on our usual summer camping trip but delayed until Sept. Often we joke we were the drought busters that summer because while camping, it rained so hard it collapsed our tent! (Oh, that was fun.) But the drought was over and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

The rain this morning got me to thinking about how too little rain isn't good for people on wells, but too much rain isn't good either.  We used to be on a septic system when we moved here in 1986. Sometime between moving in and getting sewer, there was a year that was too rainy. We did laundry, dishes, showers, and even flushing sparingly. Again, conservation was the key to surviving our too high water level. No one had to tell us to do that--it was in our best interest to do it.

As I thought about the too little/too much rain and how both prompted water conservation in our household, I started thinking about how the more conveniences and services we have, the more wasteful we become.

Think about all the food we waste in our culture. One of my in-laws says she never takes home or saves leftovers. I must have looked rather shocked when she said that. She explained she never eats them and just throws them away anyway, so why save them?

That would never happen if a person had to grow and preserve their own food. When you do that, you are invested! It takes a lot of time and effort to grow and can, dry, or freeze your bounty. In my early married years I did this. Trust me, you don't waste a thing!

What about heating and lighting? Back when people chopped their own wood and dipped their own candles, nobody had to tell them to turn their thermostats down! You heated only to the necessary point. Often people went to bed shortly after dark. (I don't want to go back to that era.) 

It is just human nature. The more we have--the easier it is, the more we don't appreciate it and the more we waste. This concept applies to other things too.

How about health care? This is an issue in the presidential campaign. Should we provide Government health care to all that covers everything or look at ways to increase market forces and personal accountability? 

What about providing a college education? Would a student be more diligent and careful about class selection if they were paying themselves or if the government was paying? 

The more we have done for us, the less accountable we become.

Well, that is enough early morning musing for one day.

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One of the great things about gardening is that there are usually plants to share with others. If a specimen is doing well, invariably there will come a time when it needs dividing or thinning. Sometimes a particular plant does a little too well and spreads itself to places you don't want it. That is when your garden clean up can be another gardener's boon.

Last year a friend in my neighborhood mentioned she wanted to start some Mayapples. Since I really hate to see someone spend their money on plants that are so prolific*, I mentioned I had some and would share some when I had a chance. This spring I dug a few out for her so she could get a patch started. 

As I was digging, I got to thinking about my Mayapple plant's history.

Back in 1968 my family was camping in the West Bend area. I was also volunteering that summer at the Milwaukee Public Museum in the plant department. We were working on a Wisconsin Woodlands exhibit and my boss, Roberta Plumber needed some Mayapples to make a vac-u-form type mold from. My mother and I, avid wildflower enthusiasts, noted that at the campground there were lots of Mayapples. We asked the owners if we could have some and they were willing to share. So 4 Mayapples traveled from West Bend to Shorewood.

Mom and I planted 2 in our shady back yard and I carried the remaining 2 in a bucket (on the bus) to the Milwaukee Public Museum.  Mrs. Plumber made her plaster molds of the large umbrella type leaves and was able to vac-u-form many plastic leaves from those molds for the display. The Mapples stayed in the bucket for weeks to serve as a sample for color and structure until the exhibit was finished. (We added wire and beeswax stems and then sprayed them with acrylic paint. They looked quite real.)

Talk about tough, those 2 plants survived in the bucket in the museum plant department for weeks. When we were finished with them, I trucked them home again on the bus (talk about a conversation starter!) and planted them with the others.

When I got married in 1977, I brought some to my Riverwest home to start a wildflower shade garden. When we moved out here in 1986, I brought a few with me to start some Mayapple areas here.

Now, 40 years after the first transplant, they move on again to my friend's. Who knows where they will go next?

There are lots of plants in my garden that have come from friends and neighbors. I remember the story behind each one. You could say my garden is not only a garden of plants but of memories too. It is one of the many things that make gardening enjoyable to me.

If you admire a friend or neighbor's plants, I think a polite way to ask for a plant is to say, If you ever have to thin them, and you have extras, could I have a start? Most gardeners will be more than happy to oblige.

Next time you are at the Milwaukee Public Museum, look for the Mayapples in the Wisconsin Woodlands display. You now know a little bit more about them!

Mayapples are considered to be a thug of the garden by some (they take over), but I have not had that problem. Their unusual large leaf makes a nice contrast in shady areas, and they are tough!

Mayapples are used for medicinal purposes by some in the medical field. They are not to be used by lay-people, as parts of the plant are poisonous!

*Last year at the Mary Knoll Weed Out, one woman told me she purchased Wood Violets. I told her to give me a call, I have plenty for free! I have seen them for sale for around $4.00 each. 

A reader reported she has hostas with a traveling history too and "can picture them in three states, with a number of friends and neighbors." She also noted the Trillium in the photo. That Trillium was native to Kinsey Park Drive (my street), but not my home. My great uncle was a home builder in the late 1940s - 1950s and built several houses on my street. One site had trilliums in the excavation path. He dug them up and gave the plants to his daughters and nieces (one was my mom). She planted in Shorewood at our house. I took some to Riverwest when I married and eventually back to Kinsey Park Drive in Brookfield. So my Trilliums literally went full circle--just a block west from their original location!

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Today is Tuesday, and I must make my monthly pilgrimage to Alterra coffee at Mayfair Mall. (It is usually the only reason I venture over to Mayfair!)

In case you did not know, Tuesdays are double punch days at Alterrra Coffee. That means they give you 2 punches for every pound of coffee you purchase at Alterra Cafes. They also have a drink card if you purchase brewed coffee to drink there.

When you fill the card with 12 punches, you can turn it in for a free pound. But that is not the end of the freebies. On the reverse side of the card, if you fill in your name, address and birthday, Alterra will send you a birthday greeting with a coupon for another free pound of coffee!*  Now, I call that a bargain.

Alterra is great coffee. It is a local company that roasts right here in Milwaukee. Photos are from their roasting operation on the East side at 2211 N. Prospect Ave. (It is fun to watch the roasting operation and it smells wonderful in there!) It is a Fair Trade company if that matters to you. I like supporting local companies, especially when their product is great!

The coffee I purchase at the actual Alterra stores at Mayfair Mall or on 92nd and North is REALLY FRESH. Much fresher that even the Alterra coffee from Sendiks or Pick 'n Save, I think because they go through it so fast at the cafes. 

Coffee is one area I am picky about. I would rather drink 1 cup of really good coffee than a pot of bad, cheap coffee. In fact, I do not drink regular coffee much at all; my husband and I switched to espresso 20 years ago. (Warning: Once you acquire a taste for espresso, all other coffee pales in comparison.)

Over the years we have tried many different coffees. We found Starbuck's beans
too burned tasting. Used to use Victor Allen's but they closed the Brookfield store long ago. Then we stumbled onto Alterra and have used only theirs for years. Sumatra is our favorite for espresso. 

The stores also offer a discount (50 cents, I think) if you bring in your own 1# Alterra bag to refill.

I purchase my coffee in the bulk 5# bag, which they offer an additional 10% off on.  This brings my total cost down to about $42 for 5#. Add to that the extra 2 punches for 1 additional pound to fill the card, and the card is then ready to turn in.

That comes to about $51 for 8# of coffee: $42 for bulk 5#, 1 more pound @ $8+ to fill the punch card, then 1 free pound when card is turned in, and 1 free birthday pound.

Really good coffee just became more affordable!

* Only one free pound per name. Because I buy so much coffee, one helpful Barista told me to fill in a name/birthday/address for each family member or even fill out with a coffee loving friend's name, birthday and address to send them a free pound.

(I am not affiliated with Alterra in any way.) 

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I actually got my tomato plants into the soil yesterday! That is a record for me--usually I don't get them it until the first week in June. I am pleased with my accomplishment. :)

For the past few years I have planted Lemon Boy. They have a wonderful fruity flavor and are a pretty yellow color. They are not heirlooms, but I purchased 2 at a recent visit to Steins since they are a favorite. I also picked up a Sweet Cluster--a small 2" red type.

Last year I ventured into the heirloom varieties with Mr. Stripey. Those were fun. Huge striped red and yellow fruits with a great flavor. The photo is from last year's Mr. Stripey. You can see it was mostly yellow. The tag on this year's shows a primarily red tomato.

Since I liked Mr. Stripey so much, I purchased it again this year and ventured into a few more heirlooms. A gardening friend recommended I try Brandywine, so this year I picked one up.

Steins had a marvelous selection of heirlooms this year, and the plants looked very healthy. I think the price was 3/ $6.50. A few more heirloom varieties jumped into my cart:  Mortgage Lifter--a meaty red prolific tomato, said to have sold for $1.00 during the depression, Aunt Ruby's German Green--a large yellow and green striped tomato, Green Zebra--a small green and yellow tomato, and Cherokee Purple--an unusual mahogany and red colored tomato.

Sadly, tomatoes do not grow well in my vegetable garden. I must have some virus in there or something. Instead, I plant them on the southern exposure of my house in my perennial bed. The tomato plants love the heat that radiates from the foundation after dark. Granted they look a little odd in with the flowers, but hey, I am a tomato lover so they look good to me! 

No need to worry about having too many tomatoes. They freeze very well. All I do is wash them off, cut out the core, and throw into a freezer Zip-loc bag. Because the freezing action breaks down the structure of the fruit, they are wonderful in soup or spaghetti sauce  I am rather a peasant type cook, so I don't even peel them. You can rub off the peelings very easily when they thaw a bit before you put them into the soup pot, however. 

Can't wait for the first tomato and mayo sandwich!

I noticed in Brookfieldnow that Dixon Elementary School was including heirloom tomatoes in their fundraiser on Sat. May 17th, from 9AM to Noon. Price: $5.00/plant. Proceeds go to purchasing white boards for the school.

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On a  glorious day like today, there are few things I like better than an afternoon out in the yard. I just finished my Dr. Death duties (Weed B Gone and Round-Up*) and now I am ready for a little digging time in the flower bed.

I have been watching my 2 peach trees with growing interest. If they are going to bloom, it is usually on Mother's Day. Despite our late spring, they did not let me down. I spotted 2 blossoms in full bloom--1 on each tree. I am of course hoping for more, because there is nothing like a home-grown peach.

Last summer was rather abysmal. Only 1 lonely peach total. That one was a surprise because I did not even see the blossom! In years past, I have had bumper crops. But lately it has been pretty much a miss.

My peach trees are 2nd generation, from a volunteer. I think a squirrel probably planted the first one from a stone out of the garbage or a tree in someone's yard? I noted the young tree in the early 1990s and thought it looked like a fruit tree, so I just let it grow. A few years later it was adorned with hundreds of pink blossoms on Mother's Day. That tree has since died, but I did plant a number of pits from those peaches, so the volunteer tree lives on in a way.

Peaches, even when professionally grown are rather short lived; often they only live about 15 years. So I am enjoying mine while they last.

Another bonus of blooming trees is that they seem to attract migrating birds. The orioles are already singing high in the trees. Sometimes they will stick around through mulberry season. 

Got to go. Time to weed and transplant.

Enjoy the day. 

*I hate to use herbicides, but sometimes they are the only thing that will work. My preference is Round Up. I was told it was a vitamin and causes the plant to grow too fast for its root system. It also breaks down into inert substances in 24 hours. Draw back is that it kills everything it touches. Benefit is that it is the only thing that will kill certain thistles. I tried for years to pull out the smaller thistles from my flower beds and that treatment only seemed to increase their numbers. Finally I resorted to painting on Round Up with a art brush. That worked.

Weed B Gone is nasty--it stays toxic for days. Its benefit is that it does not kill the grass. I use it sparingly and try to spot treat as much as possible rather than spraying the whole lawn. 

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I heard this morning that one gas station in the Milwaukee area hit $4.00/gallon for gasoline this morning. What better time for the 2008 Bike to Work Week?

There are different special events this week including a bike tail gate and bike drive in movie (about bikes!)

I have often noted a bicycle parked by the back door of City Hall, so at least one Brookfield worker already does bike to work. He must be a hearty soul though, because I have seen that bike even in the dead of winter!

Hopefully the weather will cooperate this week if you are able to give bike to work a chance. 

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Today is Earth Day, a day our family holds in special regard--in a tongue in cheek way.

You see, today is the only day of the year that Jiminy Cricket appears at Walt Disney World* in costume. We discovered that by accident on a family vacation about ten years ago. It has become a novel attraction if we happen to be there on this day ever since.

I dug out a pin and sticker from 2 Earth Day's of yore. The pin shows CFLs, saving water, and using bikes as ways we can be more environmentally minded, or as Jiminy says, Environmentality.

His sticker caption reads, "Every Little Bit Makes a Big Difference." 

That slogan reminded me of a German saying my grandmother used to quote, "Ya ya, every little bit helps said the frog as he peed into the Rhine" (River). She would say it in German, but that was the gist of the translation.

It was funny because it contrasted the sincerity of the frog's belief with the absurdity of the frog's actual contribution of his liquid making a difference to the Rhine River.

Yet this is the message of some environmentalists and global warming preachers. That by changing a light bulb or bringing your own cloth grocery bag to the store, that we can save the planet.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are a lot of things I think we should be doing better. We waste a lot in this country, and as a frugal person, I hate waste of any kind. But I think we only truly believe what we really put into action.

Do people's actions reflect their beliefs? Some people are trying to "green" up their lives. Others are not. Some people make no attempt to be environmentally friendly; some only talk a good line.

I caught part of Vicki McKenna's radio program today. It was all about Earth Day and Global Warming. Listen to her podcast for a sobering look at where all this Global Warming legislation is leading. (Tuesday Hour Two Part Two 4-22-08)

On a lighter note, she discussed an email that has been circulating that compares Al Gore's home to President Bush's Texas ranch. (I received a similar one last month but the photo of Al's house was not the same.)

The perception is that Al Gore is the environment's friend, while George Bush is the environment's enemy.  

So how do the two compare?

According to the Snopes Urban Legend site, the email is basically true: Al's house does use 12 times the amount of electricity as the average new American house. (Their mansion is only 4 times the size of the average new home.)

The Gore's say that they compensate for that in that they pay an additional $432 on their electric bills to get this power from Green sources. Their home's excessive energy use follows the same incongruity of the Gore's Nobel Peace Prize celebration dinner featuring foods flown in from all over the world.

So who r