Delta at Dawn

That's about when you have to get to the Delta Diner to nab one of their coveted booths. 

But be assured, if you do have to wait, it will be well worth it. 

Once you are seated indoors you will get a personal, detailed description of the day's menu items.

After ordering you will find:

The cooks are speedy.

The decor tells part of the story.

The people watching is great.

Even being watched can be entertaining.

And the food?

How 'bout this P*BLT?

 Clean as a whistle counter and grill.

Inspirational posters.

Real dairy products, and sweet and salty stuff.

Appropriate priorities.

Shiny surfaces.

Teamwork!

Conviviality.

Mex Benny. Eggs on cornbread with chorizo gravy.

Carefully researched data.

Swell uniforms.

A very large, no-cheaters-required menu.

Reasonable prices for high quality food.

Brussels sprout and bacon omelette.

This is true.

Well, at least it's a very scenic middle-of-nowhere.

With a wonderful atmosphere.

And very friendly staff.

Sweet-as-pie waitresses.

Pie!

Dedicated owners.

A fascinating history.

Shopping opportunities.

Baked goods.

Tasteful souvenirs.

Streamlined authentic design.

Overflow room and flowing syrup.

Great destination.

*perch

Signs o' the Times and Lake Places

Found at the flea market: delightful booth

manned by an offbeat free spirit,

artistic kindred soul,

local colorful character.

Yiddish verification needed.

Our sentiments exactly.

Guess which one came home with us and win a free night in a deluxe lake retreat suite.

(complimentary liverwurst sandwich bedtime snack included)

The Livin' is Easy

We're at large and letting someone else cook and do the dishes.

Just might not come home anytime soon.

We'll see.

Help yourselves to the tomatoes.

HB HB!

These busy bees remind us of our very own, very industrious, Honeybee next door. 

You can print this image from The Graphics Fairy,

color it, and send it to our favorite busy bee birthday girl today.

Speaking of honey...look at this beautiful, four pound jar of golden sweetness 

from our very own West Hill Honey Company.

Ain't she a beauty?

Perhaps we will invite Honeybee over for some birthday toast.

Confiture Par Avion

Beautiful black raspberry jam from none other than Madelaine of Chez Madelaine 

as recently featured on her blog.

We could not resist nestling the jar into the other purple produce we were washing up for supper 

for the ultimate violaceous photo op.

Berry jam is indeed, as Madelaine calls it, "summer in a jar". 

You probably already know that we here at NDL HQ are in the habit of saving jams and jellies until the fruitful season is well past. We love being able to revisit the tastes and scents of warmer days when the wind is blowing outside and we need inspiration to remember that spring and summer will come again.

When eventually we do enjoy this special treat we will also savor memories of the fun time had by all

when the jam came to us by special air delivery.

Jam, and George and Madelaine over the Mississippi at Lacrosse, WI.

How to Pinch a Penny

As we experience daytime temps in the hot-as-Hades range, the cabin-fever-in-July phenomenon kicks in as we hide indoors in front of fans and window air-conditioning units while waiting for the next cold front to blow through bringing tolerable dew points and thermometer readings.

Just as in January when we have spent too much time stuck inside these four walls, we can see every little thing around the house that needs repair or is long overdue for updating. We also have time to ponder our wasteful ways, and dwell on how we may become more thrifty and make things last instead of replacing willy-nilly household items that can see much more use if properly taken care of.

Here are a few highlights from our new bible of  domestic making-do and perking-up.

Coming soon: Conch shell planter seminar chez NDL.  

Natural Beauty & Local Charm

That's our motto. Who knew? It just popped up on a sign at the edge of town.

We don't disagree, just wondering who came up with it.

Lots of fun to be had while soaking up the natural beauty and local charm of our little town. 

Check it out.

# 14

Another reason Canada is awesome.

They put gravy on cheese curds and french fries, and stay open late.

Ann's Garden

Ann shared her clever and cozy garden with all who came to stroll for a good cause. What a treat it was to have the opportunity to come inside her little yard. The bike parked by the front door is just the first of  many charming vignettes of garden design and quilt artistry that pop out at every turn of the garden path.

To Ann's delight the Angel's Trumpet opened right on cue to fascinate and amaze garden visitors.

This small water feature gave inspiration to all and especially to those who thought 

ponds were only  a large scale proposition.

Ann and Ridge plant an impressive veg garden on their small, somewhat shady lot. The tomatoes are grown in tubs to keep them out of the tainted soil around their beautiful, but toxic black walnut tree.

The sedum covered birdhouse was a big hit with the strollers. Ann made it herself.

Yup.

This stunning plant was the most inquired about. It is called Persian Shield and it is a beauty. 

Look for it vying for ribbons at the Northern Wisconsin State Fair this week.

Thanks Ann and Ridge for generously sharing your special space and many talents with your community.

Good luck at the fair!

Thunderdome

 This was the amazing sky over the lake as the last guests left the cabin after a very sunny and fun, 

but very hot week .

The rain came and brought blessed relief from the heat making for much more pleasant conditions for washing sheets and towels, bundling up the recycling (high temps called for many bottled beverages), and cleaning up the waterfront, while reviewing the week and remembering what a good time was had by all.

Swingers

Found amidst the ephemera at the estate sale of the beloved uncle of a large, local family.

Anyone recognize the swingers, their minder, or the location?

Life with Live Bait

Here's a sight we never thought we'd miss.

Crawlers in the frig right next to the cottage cheese and leftover spaghetti used to make us squeamish.

We still set the box off by itself on a door shelf when possible. 

And we usually leave it to someone else to lift the lid to see if  its shiny occupants 

are indeed still shiny and happy and healthily wriggling away.

But in the delight of the moment when we saw evidence of fishing right alongside the hummus, 

we took a peek, and sure enough the same old sensations of disgust and wonder with a hint of danger came back all at once and then quickly faded into a sense of contentment at what the presence of worms on the top shelf means in this family's life.

If there are worms back in the house then the fishermen are back too. 

Gone fishing. Of course.

Grey is the New Baby Blue

A friend, in anticipation of  her first grandchild's first visit to grandma's house asked if we would sell her one of our recently completed quilts. 

After a deal was struck, we asked if she thought the baby's father would like to have for his own child the blankie he gifted to our son when he was born. We remembered being so touched that the maturing first grader had given up his most beloved possession for the new kid on the block. We also remembered that, at the time, his mom assured us that he had plenty of spares and although she agreed it was a grand gesture he would never have let go of his very last option. We were still quite impressed with his generosity.

When our friend came to pick up the froggy themed comforter we also handed over the well-loved, formerly pastel yellow, tattered ribbon edged thermal blanket that we had kept in the attic all these years waiting for just this opportunity to return it to its original owner. 

She let out a whoop and laughed so hard it seemed she might choke. Her words were difficult to make out, but between gasps for breath it sounded like she was expressing indecision on whether to give it to the baby to help build his immune system, or call the hazmat unit.

Perhaps she will let us know which, if either choice, she made.

If only this blankie could talk. Imagine the stories of childhood tears, fears, joys, adventures, and bedtime dramas it could tell.

Maybe it would even write a song about all that it had seen.

Posh Pottery

What's your guess? 

Crate and Barrel? Pottery Barn? Ikea? 

How about estate sale Homer Laughlin? 

The Wells Art Glaze series was primarily produced in solid pastel colors.

 This "rust" version is uniquely rich and well, artistic.

And would you believe it is 80ish years old?

The pattern was discontinued in 1935.

Beautiful, and a totally justifiable purchase when compared to the price of the high end paper-ware we might buy to use once and then throw away. Even if these lovely pieces are brought out for a single occasion we are still ahead financially. But that is not going to happen. This set will see plenty of service. We may even revive broth as an appetizer so that we can use the two-handled consomme cups.

Sometime soon we will show you how great Wells Art Glaze looks  with some other certain all-time-favorite bargain-find dishes in our collection. Excited? Try to contain yourselves.

Pansy Potager

Just for fun we sowed some mesclun around the pansies in the tool shed window box.

It filled in the edges nicely and was good for a couple of sandwiches-worth of greenery.

Pansies are edible too, but we'd rather look at their pretty little faces than eat them.