Hawks

The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup and I said nothing here. Scandalous.

I'm not a huge hockey fan and that last time I followed the Hawks with any frequency, Chelios and Probert were on the squad. But I am a huge fan of good news and the whole city being happy and excited for a few days. And I love love love celebratory pictures or messages spelled out in strategically lit office windows in high rises all over town.

Not to mention Art Institute lions wearing hockey helmets. . .


So, thanks, Hawks! And Congrats!

Our Trip to Milwaukee, Day One

I had to work on the Saturday of Memorial Weekend, but Dan and I hit the road right after and headed north to Milwaukee. A few nights in the County Clare--a great Irish pub/inn located an easy walk from the lakefront and the art museum.

When we arrived, we dropped our bags in the room and came out for a drink and mussels with brown bread before going for a walk around the neighborhood.


On the walk, we saw this amazing art deco apartment building on a bluff overlooking the lake. I could totally live there.



Dan the man. How strong is he?


It was too late to visit the art museum on Saturday, but we walked along the fountain out front and played with the fun garden playground outside the children's/science museum.


Dan plays a xylophone bench.



Milwaukee was gorgeous. Kind of a strange place. I've never seen a cooler, cleaner, more beautiful town. . . that felt completely and utterly empty. We passed maybe 10-15 people on the street total on our 2 mile circuit. If the apocalypse was tidy and got rid of only people, the remains of the world would look like Milwaukee.



Who wouldn't want to live in this courtyard building?


Clematis already 15 to 20 feet tall in early June? How'd they get that done?





First night's dinner at Root was super-duper. Ate outside, on a bluff, overlooking downtown Milwaukee while drinking tasty wine and eating amazing food.


I made Dan get the fig and tongue empanadas. . . he said they were great. . .


they looked great. . .


and then back to the County Clare for dessert and a little Irish folk music in the pub.

Our Trip to Milwaukee, Day Two

The second day, our one full day, was filled with trying to make sense of the Third Ward, doing a little antiquing, seeing a Brewer's game and then trying to find a less formal yummy dinner in town. Success and failure, but tons of fun.

First we checked out the Third Ward and the Milwaukee Public Market. I'm super sorry, Milwaukee, but both were a crushing disappointment. Both seemed not at all what we were expecting. . . gorgeous old industrial architecture, but filled sparsely with frivolous shops. And Dan and I, having grown up with the Westside market in Cleveland and Findlay Market in Cincinnati (respectively), were disappointed by the Milwaukee market--as if it was way more worried about being fancy for the Third Ward regulars, than it was in reflecting the German/sausagey/beery history of the area. Fail.


The one nice thing I can say about the Third Ward is that the buildings are lovely and we were keen to walk around and gawk at the architecture. Love the broad sidewalk-deep awnings--reminds me more of the South than the Midwest.


And this boardwalk by the river was a nice walk as well.


Stopped for some antiquing later in the day. Dan got an amazing black fish-shaped bakelite (?) dish. And at long last, I got a cake cover and the charming fellow 2 pictures below. But this next photo is the yard between the back of an antique shop and a house. Cute garden and I was hoping sincerely that that was the shop owner's commute.


Brewer's Stadium is beautiful. And it was a gorgeous hot and sunny day. But a part of me hoped for rain so we could see how the roof worked. . .


Ladybugs. . . the international symbol for my sweetie, Bugg. And these were truck-sized, climbing a downtown building.


We had a hard time finding a dinner spot a second night in a row. Root was really posh, so we wanted something a little less fancy--but still tasty, of course. And I was really difficult to please. I don't even remember the name of this place, but it was out by the river. . . a nice watery breeze on the outdoor patio.


And we had a brilliant fried clam appetizer. But then they were out of the shrimp/scallop tacos I wanted and there was a crazy loud boastful drunk guy behind us dropping the f-bomb every third word, so we skedaddled back to the County Clare for carrot cake for me and a giant corned beef sandwich for Dan.

Our Trip to Milwaukee, Day Three

Alterra coffee--sort of like the local version of Starbucks, but with far better pastries. This is the lake front branch where we had our final Milwaukee meal. . . cinnamon buns, coffee, fruit salad and a shared ham and swiss croissant.


I had no idea the giant whale tale of the Milwaukee art museum opened and closed. But apparently if the wind blows harder than 23 mph, it closes up. Nuts and extravagant and magical.


The shrubs outside of the art museum were the most beautiful shade of chartreuse.



My tiny marble-headed sweetie dwarfed by the architecture of Milwaukee's art museum. . .


A gorgeous installation by Beth Lipman. It's hard to do justice with photographs.



From Theaster Gates' installation To Speculate Darkly--totally awesome. A powerful installation about the lack of attention given to African potters--most especially those yoked under slavery in the States.



forgot to write down the maker of this chair. . . just mostly thought if I ever needed a throne, it would look like this and I would give it a gold room to live in. Plus, besides the pretty, it's like a party throne--no need to wield power alone when you and your four best friends can make ruling into a mad social event.


Kees van Dongen The Quai, Venice. . . there's so much to love in this playful piece. Almost looks like the graphic work of the 30's and 40's, but here it is as a painting!


Alexei Jawlensky The Gardener


Jule Bastien-Lepage La Pere Jacques (The Wood Gatherer)

Out of Hand Herbs

I planted sage, thyme, chives, tarragon and oregano in the back yard a few years ago, and the only herb that hasn't run wild is the thyme. The oregano and sage would take over the whole yard if I would let them. In prep for hopefully, finally, (if it ever stops raining for more than a day) planting a few tomato plants, I butchered the sage and oregano and pulled out one full tarragon plant.

And now tarragon and sage are drying in the attic. Way too much for the two of us. Will friends or family get sage for Christmas?

A Few New Projects

mitts. mitts. mitts. mitts. mitts. mitts. mitts. mitts. mitts. mitts. mitts.

I have a million pairs of fingerless mitts that I have made for myself. I chill easily and so I even wear them around the house in the winter. And they're fun to make--short projects that let me try out new knitting techniques and patterns and textures.

But I have enough mitts of my own, so these will all be for sale in the fivetrees shop in late summer early fall. A little preview. I'm learning to make bobbles. . .


And these guys are a test run for an EP album cover for my sweetie. He's been recording off and on for months, and so I want to make sure the art comes out just right. But these guys--my little dry run--got turned into what? stick animals? puppets? hmmmm. . .

Storm Skies

Tornadoes touched down in nearby communities last night. Yesterday it rained so hard here that a rapids formed where our driveway/alley slopes down and hits the street. Summer storms are always the most violent. . .

But afterwards, if you've had the good fortune of not being in the path of a tornado and you and and all of your neighbors are fine, then you usually luck out and see some of the most beautiful skies--deep blue, the last monster cumulus clouds skittering out of town, crystal clear air and sunshine. Today was no exception (and maybe that was reason enough for the homemade ice cream at long last).

On the way to see our friends' new home in Oak Park (so, before seething with jealousy over the location and the beautiful 50's aqua woven-print kitchen counter tops), we saw this amazing installation of flowers made from recycled bottles.




And the skies all day were one gorgeous show after another.