Why I Oughta...

Once again, I'm going with Cocoa Bean Shell mulch in our front yard this year.  On a recent trip to Wisconsin, I stopped at the Hull Farm outside of Lake Geneva and bought ten bags.  They sell it for about 50% the cost of Menards, so buying direct is worth the trip if you are buying in bulk. We first saw the French using Cocoa Bean Shell mulch in the beds at Luxembourg Gardens in Paris last year and ever since, it has become something that I wanted to bring to our home garden.    Last year, I applied bags of the stuff to the front beds and around a couple of trees .  This year, I'm going to replicate that plan and use it just on the front yard beds - to keep the cost in control and to keep it away from Lizzie.  I'll post some photos of the beds once I put the cocoa bean shells (or hulls) down on top of the existing mulch/shells. There are a couple of things that I like about this particular kind of mulch including the 'mat' that gets created as a weed barrier

We were at Menards recently (of course we were) and in addition to all their Christmas decorations being out on display , we took a spin through their other seasonal section including the O Gauge train setup.  There were a few interesting buildings that I haven't seen before including a branded Starbucks store and this vintage-looking Wally's Shell station .  But, this grocery store - the Piggly Wiggly - is one of the standouts.  The product listing on Menards site is here where you can find all the details. (Well... maybe this UFO scene with an animated claw device pulling a cow into the belly of the ship is a standout, too!  Or...maybe this odd Taco Bell with a drive-thru ? The Piggly Wiggly is a nice Wisconsin-centric addition to the line of buildings that Menards continues to put out every year.  There are more than 50 Piggly Wigglys in Wisconsin - including the only one I've ever been to in Lake Geneva. Here, below, is Menards video that shows off that lit

Up at the Lake Geneva Walmart the KotBT found this Cheesehead and couldn't resist trying it on.  He said that they have one of these in the 'costume trunk' at his pre-school so he knew what it was immediately.   Are you surprised that they're $22?  I don't know why, but that struck me as being more than I figured they were going for around Wisconsin? This is the same Walmart - about 15 minutes away from Twin Lakes - that sells the cases of Spotted Cow , the Bucky Badger Club Cheese and where we both picked up our fishing license and spotted Chicago Alderman Ed Burke with his security detail looking over a kayak .  Of course, I didn't let the boy get the cheesehead.  Nevermind the price.  We are with Da Bears in our house.  Doesn't mean we don't love us some Wisconsin Cheese like the King of Clubs .  Just not the Cheeseheads. 

On one of our visits to Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, we came across a crew installing some flower beds in the main area that is just north of the little circular pond where kids launch those sail boats.  You can see that they're using this white fabric template to put down flowers in a pattern, but you can also see that on the right of this photo, they use the template to just make outlines.  After that, they fill them in with (usually) one color.  As this was happening, we stopped to take it and looked around at some of their stuff.  One thing that I saw that grabbed my attention was their use of cocoa bean hulls as mulch.  They had bags of the stuff lined up ready to be installed after the flowers go in.  I had come across Cocoa Bean Hull Mulch in bags at Menards, but didn't give it much thought.  Until now.  After we came home, I went off to Menards and picked up a bag of the stuff to see what it was all about.  Of note, Cocoa Bean Shell Mulch is toxic to dogs .  Just l

I've written numerous posts about club cheese .  It (Club Cheese) is my preferred version of cheese.  Better than cubed or sliced.  My personal favorite is the King of Clubs from Mars Cheese Castle , but I also really like the Bucky Badger Club Cheese - which is far easier to buy.  I've posted about Glas Club Cheese that we bought at the Woodstock Farmer's Market and Brewster House Club Cheese that I didn't love .  On a recent trip up to Wisconsin, Nat wandered into a place called The Cheese Box .  She said it reminded her of Bobby Nelson's , but much closer to home.  On their homepage, they show the inside of the shop and their counter .  Looks like a place I'd love, right? She came home with a few club cheeses including this Mild Cheddar - which was awesome.  This is private labeled for The Cheese Box, but they're not making it, I don't think.  They do, however, make their own curds and Nat scored a container of those (that didn't last v

Up at the Lake Geneva Antique Mall (which...is Trump Country, FYI.  MAGA and all that what-have-yous are involved.  Also, I think it means that Nat might not let us go back.  Also, the fact that the guy asked us to leave because the King of the Ball Tossers was touching toys.  Imagine that!  Toys!), I came across this pair of Poinsettia candle stick holders.  They're marked Napco 1957 on the bottom and have what I assume is a "Made in Japan" sticker that has been smudged pretty harshly. You can see the marks in the photo below. One note:  this did NOT come home with us. I didn't particularly love them.  And we have just gone through a Christmas season where most of our vintage Christmas collection was relegated to an upper shelf in our green room up front where nobody - including me - could see them.  They brought me little joy - and were a pain to unwrap/re-wrap after the season had passed.  Not to mention that Nat had purged about half of the pieces - that

A few days ago, I posted a photo of the Playboy Club and Resort in Lake Geneva that is on display at Pier 290 in Williams Bay that is part of a pretty great memorabilia and photograph collection inside the restaurant.   They also have some artifacts from the golden age of Lake Geneva including this massive sign that they have in what appears to be the stage/band area.  There wasn't a band playing on the day we went to Pier 290 for lunch, so I went over and took a look at this hand-painted wooden sign.  It features "26 miles of shore line" and proclaims that "The best way to view beautiful Lake Geneva is by boats of Geneva Lake Excursion Corp".  Looking at the map, it appears that the Geneva Lake Excursion Corporation had two locations - one of which is in the very location of Gage Marine in Williams Bay where the Pier 290 restaurant is located.  Wonder if they just *found* this piece on location?  Or if they rescued it and brought it back to it's

We went out to a kind of fancy lunch recently to a place called Pier 290 in Williams Bay up on Lake Geneva that is run from the folks who run Gage Marine.  It is a waterfront dining destination (for some) and we wanted to give it a try.  We drove by a place called Harpoon Willies that seemed more our speed, but we ended up staying the course and heading to Pier 290.  I went with the Wedge, which I have to say:  they got a bit too cute with and wasn't awesome.  Wedge's are best when they are dead simple with super high quality ingredients, right?  The one at Pier 290 is a balsamic-based dressed wedge , which was their first mistake.   But, that's not the point of this post.  Nope.  While the food was just fine at the restaurant, their wall of honor/memorabilia/photograph collection in the hallway on the way to the restrooms is, by itself, worth the visit.  And one of the displays there is all about the Playboy Club in Lake Geneva that you can see above.  (Side no

This seems like a relatively important development for our family:  a Starbucks is set to open in the outlot of the Lake Geneva Walmart.  Most mornings when we're up in Twin Lakes, I head out to either Bodi's bakeshop to pick up some donuts or to McDonald's for a couple of Big Breakfasts.  Then, I usually take a trip to the Walmart to pick up rations for the day.  Having a Starbucks there - and one with a drive thru - will be really nice and make a quick addition to the routine.  And, gives me another reason to make that 15 minute trip besides buying knock-off American Girl Dollie stuff for the girls along with the turkey and cheese stuff for Dallas' turkey and cheeses.

I tend to do most of my shopping up in Wisconsin at Walmart.  Nat isn't a fan, so most of the time, the trips I make there are with just some of the kids.  We buy fishing gear, groceries (including turkey for grilled turkey and cheeses) and other lakehouse what-have-yous.  On one of my recent trips, I came across this huge pallet of New Glarus Spotted Cow 12 packs of cans right by the 'greeter'.  Interesting to see this craft beer being sold in Walmart, isn't it? Having recently read this piece about New Glarus planned expansion , this got me thinking.  From BrewBound : New Glarus Brewing Co. is adding 16 fermentation tanks that will eventually allow the Wisconsin brewery to double its annual capacity to more than 400,000 barrels.  The German manufactured tanks, each capable of holding about 580 barrels of beer, arrived via boat in Milwaukee earlier this week.  Carey had hoped the tanks would be operational for a busy summer selling season, but the additional

Over the years, we grew into some food 'habits' during our repeated trips to Southwest Michigan and Coloma.  These were places we went , food stuffs that we picked up and fell in love with over time.  Now that we're spending more and more time up in Wisconsin, that same pattern is falling into place.  It seems like we're already coalescing around some favorite spots and foodstuffs like the King of Club cheese spread .  On a Saturday this month,  I packed the kids into the minivan and headed up to the Lake Geneva area to pick up some fishing supplies at Walmart.  After we left, I wandered around the the various big box stores and strip malls near the highway and came across the Lake Geneva Pie Company .   It was open early and there was a crew in there baking. Having never picked up a pie from this place, I pleaded my ignorance and asked for help.  She lead me to the Lakeshore pie.   From their site : Lakeshore Berry Crumb.  A customer favorite is our tantalizin