Each Little World

Pine cone projects

Recent frost warnings made me realize it's time to gather up the garden "debris" that can be transformed into interior and exterior decor. I'm talking about pine cones and assorted pods from trees in my garden. Now's the time to collect them before they get beaten down and damaged by fall wind and rain — should we be lucky enough to finally get some rain. 

Though you can make elegant creations, I often take the lazy way and just pile my finds in containers like this glass jar (above) filled with pine cones. Come winter, I'll add bowls of paperwhites but for the moment the cones are my solitary decorative item in the front entrance.

I found the two images (directly above and below) last winter and saved them as inspiration for this fall when my trees star shedding cones. I paticularly like the long string of pine cones because you can use any color of ribbon — matching or contrasting with your house color outdoors or indoors in the room you want to decorate. Such an easy way to personalize a decorative item. 

You can see more photos of designer Dorothee Schumacher's home (below) here.

Here are some of the other ways I've used pine cones and assorted pods for fall decor:

Pods in the parlor

What to put in a fancy vase

Cluck. The Chicken Store.

The mere name of this new little shopping emporium (see above and below) makes me start humming that song from The Music Man: "Pick-a-little, Talk-a-little, cheep, cheep, cheep." Somehow I never pictured myself falling in love with a business that caters to chickens and their fanciers, and yet there I was: out in Paoli admiring chicken coops. 

And though Cluck caters to chickens, they're only one part of the vision of owner Susan Troller. I am admitting right here that I am a friend of Troller's as well as her former editor, and I know from personal experience that whatever she turns her hand to, it will be well worth my attention. Cluck is no exception.

Cluck is the latest tenant in a hundred-year-old building that has housed everything from a blacksmith to a gas station. The original curved ceiling trusses still bear the painted warning "no credit." You can tell from this view of the shop's interior that Cluck is about more than chickens. While Troller is a lover of many kinds of animals and a "chicken wrangler" with a laying flock of six on her family's farm in New Glarus, Cluck is a much needed new home for all of us would-be domestic divas. Pull up a chair, sit down and peruse Troller's nicely "curated" displays, as the shelter mags like to say. 

The front half of the store is a gallery-cum-gift shop with chicken and country-themed art, old and new. Merchandise ranges from witty tea towels, stuffed pillows, mugs and sets of dessert plates, to vintage ice cream molds and a gorgeous cabbage-shaped soup tureen.  

There are books for kids, practical tomes for those who want to raise chickens (or bees!) and a tantalizing array of titles for the rest of us. I snapped up one on natural home decor and also a delcious cookbook of fall and winter dishes. Both titles are from a UK publisher and a nice change from what I find at B&N these days.  

 "Cluck," Troller's own book published by Wisconsin's Itchy Cat Press, is also for sale as is the new 2013 Wisconsin Local Foods Journal/Calendar.

And for those of us who still can't figure out why chickens are the fastest growing hobby in America, Troller has some adorable peeps in the shop. While they are not for sale, she'll help anyone who's serious abut chickens get started with advice, information, chicken feed and more. Live chickens are one of the few things Troller doesn't stock!

The chickens above are known as Lavender Orpingtons, and while they are beautiful, I fell for this rubber chicken coin purse. There are also full-size versions which are equally tempting. The big ones would also work to carry knitting or whatever project you might be schlepping around. 

Cluck's decor includes this feed sack from Troller's grandfather, Irvin Johnson.

There are chicken coops for sale that are as pretty as they are well made. Cluck will be hosting a meet the coop builders event on Sat. Sept. 29th.

Among the assorted artworks were a series of nicely-framed black and white illustrated covers from a British poultry publication called "The Feathered World." They'd be perfect for adding a spot of color to a kitchen or a touch of history to a library or den.

And perhaps my favorite find at Cluck, this pile of fluff from the British toy company, Jellycat. A young friend of Troller's recommended "Matilda Hen," with the pronouncement that "children love this toy." Matilda and her friends will charm more than children. 

Cluck is open every day but Monday. For times, events and blog posts visit Cluck's website. 

Southwestern Wisconsin: An early morning walk

A day in the country

Saturday afternoon we drove out into the Wisconsin countryside for a Harvest celebration hosted by friends. On our way we stopped to see painter Chuck Bauer who was exhibiting his work in his "Hen House Gallery" as part of the 14 South Artists annual tour. We've known Chuck for many years but I'd never been out to the farm to see his paintings in the location where many of them were painted — including "My Front Yard and Road" — which came home with us as souvenir of a perfect autum afternoon.

Foliage Follow-up: 9.16.2012

This summer I've been enjoying two foliage plants that have a similar look and feel but come from different families. Vacouveria hexandra, known as the "Vancouver fern (below)," makes a great groundcover in dry shade. This swath is growing next to an Arborvita hedge in a grove of River Birch trees so you know there is a lot of competition for moisture.

I love Adiantum pedatum aka Maidenhair fern. Years ago a neighbor gave me a clump and I've been a fan ever since. Two years ago I planted Adiantum Venustum (pictured below), the Himalayan Maindenhair fern. Though it has the same lacy quality, Venustum lacks the spiral shape of the tall fronds in the straight species. It grows instead in airy clumps that slowly spread out like a lacy groundcover. These are growing in a richer, more moist environment that the Vancoveria.  I am quite pleased with it given the fact that its first two summers in the garden have both been  hotter and drier than normal.

To find out what kinds of foliage appeals to other gardeners, visit Pam Penick at Digging for Foliage Follow-Up Day.

GBBD: 9.15.12

September Bloom Day offers an unexpected surprise in this long, hot, dry summer: lots of flowers all bloooming right on schedule. Thursday's rain passed us by again and much of the garden remains stressed, but these plants seem to be coping nicely. 

The Hendrix Border (aka Purple Haze) is awash with Anemone japonica 'September Charm' (above) and an Aster (below) that remain nameless since I purchased it unlabeled. 

Allium senescens 'Glaucum' and Sedum hybrida 'Matrona' (the next two images) complete the purple theme. Though these colors are all so soft I guess it's more of a lavender haze.

Elsewhere Cimicifuga racemosa 'Brunette' (snakeroot or bugbane) is blooming in a number of locations throughout the garden.

But all the Tricyrtis hirta 'Tojen' is concentrated aound a stone lantern in one huge clump in The Sacred Grove.

The Traffic Island garden in the street in front of our house continues its bright color scheme with Pelargoniums, newly planted Sedums, Agastache 'Tango', Coleus and a Geranium 'Rozanne' for contrast. These next pictures show what's happening in each of the four corners of that little garden surrounded by concrete curbing.

To see what other gardeners have blooming in their plots this September, visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens who hosts this monthly bouquet.

The wheels of justice turn in Wisconsin

A Dane County Circuit judge today ruled Act 10 — which aimed to limit public workers' rights to bargain collectively — is unconstitutional under both state and federal law. Grateful thanks to Lester Pines and the other Madison lawyers on the legal team. You can read early details of the story here.

Note: I don't know the source of this photo. If you do, let me know so I can properly credit them.

I've got my Brelli . . .

It's cool, it's cloudy, it's supposed to rain today. I've got my Brelli; why won't it rain? I keep waiting and hoping and listening for thunder. But there's no sound outdoors or in; nothing but a soft swish as I open and close my artful umbrella.

How to Be a Woman

I went looking for Caitlin Moran's "How to Be a Woman" after reading this review in the NYTimes. Found it at Room of One's Own Bookstore where they knew exactly what book I was talking about even though I could not remember the title or the author. "Room" may be the only bookstore left where I knew they would know what I wanted and have it in stock as well.

Went home and devoured it in 48 hours — in between bouts of laughing til I cried. It was so smart and sassy I kept interrupting my husband who was trying to read his own book. He didn't have a chance as I endlessly said "listen to this," and then read long bits out loud to him. He went on to read the book himself when I finished. 

If you're a feminist this is the book you've been waiting for. Read it; laugh out loud, jump up and down and then give copies to every young woman you know. Though the author is British, there are very few references that don't translate and, in fact, I think it may be easier to read about contentious topics through a different cultural lens. I guarantee Moran will entertain, enthrall and energize you with this feminist memoir cum manifesto.

For another review with more background, read what Peggy Orenstein said about the book on Slate. 

Cathedral Square

Our first evening in Milwaukee we began the night on one side of Cathedral Square at the Whiskey Bar, had dinner at Louise's on the other side, and ended the night at the free "Jazz in the Park" concert that filled the Square with music and Milwaukeeans. Saturday morning we roamed Cathedral Square again to enjoy the sights and sounds of the farmers' market located there.

We brought home this dried gourd handpainted by artist/gardener/gourd geek Ramona Palzkill of Dodgeville. The design is a sunflower whose petals cascade down the sides of the gourd. The bottom has a piece of felt on it so it won't scratch your table and the dried seeds — which are still inside the gourd — rattle when you shake it.