T-14 Days...

...and counting.

Or not.

Fourteen days until our country's sesquicentennial.

Like everything else these days, it seems to have snuck up quickly.

Or is it just me?

I have no plans for the 4th and I'm not necessarily sad about that.

Most years, I have tried to spend the holiday at the lake.

However, given that one whole level of the house is uninhabitable (and said level contains the laundry area as well as the main closet where all manner of necessary things (batteries, toolbox, spare paper towel, etc.) are kept and said closet no longer exists), it's not going to happen this year.

It would have been nice to sneak one last holiday in up there with the kids before the new "little" arrives, but it is what it is. Besides, I am certain that the entire area will be a complete and utter zoo.

Even on normal years, fireworks (and other ruckusing) start many days ahead of the actual holiday and continue many days after (with essentially no break).

It is also extremely over-peopley.

In addition to the many resorts and cabin rentals, there are several "residences" in the area that have been built soley as rentals and they are overflowing with tourists.  And those people who are actually residents there most usually have their own parties...and guests.

Consequently, the lake is full of pontoons, speed boats pulling giant tubes, jets skis, water skiers, and the shores are full of other people's music and squealing children.

At dusk, the fireworks will begin and the adult parties and music kick in.

That's on a normal year. On this auspicious Independence Day (that just happens to land on a Saturday, go figure?) I don't care to know what it will be like.

In other words, it's no place for the likes of me.

So, instead, I have decided to "over-decorate" for the occasion and, since no one else will be seeing it, I thought I would share a few snippets of it with you.

{A few of my vintage and antique parade horns on the cabinet in the front entry.}

{Fresh peonies nestled in an old crock in the drysink...guarded by a vintage eagle cookie cutter and drinking straws.}

{An out-of-print Blackbird Designs pattern "Home of the Brave" stitched last year and finally fully finished atop the mantel.}

{Stitched on 40-ct "Old Linen" by xJu Designs}

{Top of the pie safe.}

{Poor photo, but this is an old child's/youth's woolen naval jacket, with greens and flag tucked in a very large gourd container}

There's more...perhaps I'll manage another post within the next couple of weeks and share more.

Among all the dressings and hoopla, however, there is one particular treasure.

{Teresa Kogut's "250th Celebration" with modifications}

Beautifully stitched and beautifully finished onto a little wood shaker box.

An amazing gift from a dear friend.

At a time when my spirit - and heart - desperately needed a lift, it arrived with a fanfare all its own...sweet handmade paper birds, wonderfully packaged...and some of the best chocolates I've ever had.

I intended to photograph the wrappings, paper birds, chocolates, etc. but the latter disappeared too quickly and missed the photo shoot...and then, of course, I felt guilty.

My heart will hold the joy this brought for many, many, seasons to come.

Thank you

𓏲ּꪆ

Camelot It's Not....

Pretty, but....

...Camelot it's not.

And for someone who is a huge fan of Camelot, I am not entirely certain how I ended up in a place like the Cold, Cold, Land of Nod.

In the musical, King Arthur declares:

It's true! It's true! The crown has made it clear.

The climate must be perfect all the year.

And then he sings of the glories of Camelot:

A law was made a distant moon ago here:

July and August cannot be too hot.

And there's a legal limit to the snow here

In Camelot.

The winter is forbidden till December

And exits March the second on the dot.

By order, summer lingers through September

In Camelot.

Camelot! Camelot!

I know it sounds a bit bizarre,

But in Camelot, Camelot

That's how conditions are.

The rain may never fall till after sundown.

By eight the morning fog must disappear.

In short, there's simply not

A more congenial spot

For happily-ever-aftering than here 

In Camelot.

Camelot! Camelot!

I know it gives a person pause,

But in Camelot, Camelot

Those are the legal laws.

The snow may never slush upon the hillside.

By nine p.m. the moonlight must appear.

In short, there's simply not

A more congenial spot

For happily-ever-aftering than here

In Camelot.

Yeah, Nod is pretty much the polar opposite of Camelot (pun intended):  No limits to the snow here (legal or otherwise), winter tries sneaking in as soon as October (and, some years, even September is not off limits) and, as for the rain not falling till after sundown?

HA!

It falls morning, noon and night...and whenever else it feels like it.

Yesterday morning started like this:

It went downhill from there.

Yesterday afternoon/last night were worse.

It continued into the wee hours of the morning before giving us a brief reprieve.

It just started again with more heavy rain forecast through the evening and night. As you can see, we are under another flood watch.

I have once again hooked up the pumps, but water has already made its way through the chimney and into the furnace room.

I shudder to think of what is happening at the lake.

Weather aside, Nod can be beautiful.

{Not beautiful, mayhap...and destructive little rodents they are...but, have to admit, they're cute.}

{The first "volunteer" patio petunia of the year}

{Middle-of-the-night skies}

...and there are treasures here.

All in all, I'm just one squirrel short of a fairytale.

Oh wait...I have one of those too.

Another Cold Night in Nod

Not quite a "month of Sundays," but it’s definitely been several moons since I've posted.

Sorry (or not, depending on point of view).

The "full pink moon" at the beginning of April lived up to her name.

(Technically, this was a few days prior to my last post but, close enough.}

As with most springs in Nod, Father Winter is not leaving without a battle, but the duel between Winter and Spring seems especially prolonged this year.  In some ways, the battle reminds me of that of a teenage daughter who is testing her limits with her father. 

Personally, however, I think Spring is the underdog in this squirmish.

The snow has mostly melted, replaced by rainy, soggy, days with only periodic fits and squalls of snow flurries.

And, of course, the snow on Rib Mountain remains. The annual "snowmelt" contest (guessing the date when the snow will finally melt on the mountain) is ongoing. Last year, the winning date was June 19th.

No, that date is not a typo and, no, Rib Mountain is not a proper mountain as most of the rest of you know mountains.

We had a few (i.e., maybe 2??) days mid-April during which the temperatures climbed to the 70's. But when that happens here, it means storms and tornadoes will follow because the warmth never lasts.

{Tornado storm clouds April 17, 2026}

So far in 2026, 26 tornadoes have touched down in Wisconsin, two of which have been in my "backyard" (i.e., within 15 miles or so from Nod).

The closest one touched down on April 17, 2026. It was an EF-3 tornado (with winds of 145 mph).  It stayed on the ground 17 minutes and covered a distance of 13.5 miles.

At least 75 homes were damaged or destroyed in the immediate area. (Later, official reports indicated 140 homes were damaged/destroyed in the township.)

Thankfully, no lives were lost.

While the duel is ongoing, we cheer Spring on.

This little Eastern Phoebe is an incredibly melodic cheerleader.

Despite the "greening," more nights than not come with a frost or freeze warning and that doesn't appear that it will change anytime particularly soon.

{Ice-covered leaves and branches on the crab apple tree}

Despite being known as a "Flower Moon," the most recent full moon (last week) was clothed in cold, moody-colored, clouds. 

Had I not known better, I could have sworn that it was the Wolf Moon.

 

{I was having some difficulty uploading this video, so fingers crossed it works. It is dark (because it WAS dark) so all you will likely see to click on is an arrow...and you will need to make sure your volume is turned up.}

It looks to be another cold night in Nod.

One Step Ahead, Two Steps Back

...toward spring I mean.

In the week since I last posted, we've had two ice storms, two snow squalls, and one day of spring-like weather (today - albeit windy and rainy).

There is the possibility of snow in the forecast for tomorrow night again.

{A little spun cotton chick in a sphagnum moss nest in a little escargot pot with an ice-coated window in the background}

I had said I would try to show some Easter photos but, obviously, that didn't happen. Well, it's happening now (if you haven't figured that out), but it didn't happen before Easter like you probably (and rightly) assumed it would. 

Each year I bring out less and less, which means I should get rid of more and more.

But that's not likely to happen either.

In any event, here are a few photos. Heavy on the rabbits, I know.

{Antique and vintage candy containers. Most are German, but a few are Japanese, or unmarked. These are the kind where the heads remove to access the candy (vs. the type with a paper-covered opening in the bottom)}

 

{Another antique candy container...with embellishments}

{Rabbit print on old paper framed on an antique book cover}

{Pressed paper/pulp/ paper machie rabbit...one of many. Another obsession}

{Antique German die-cut rabbit and vintage watch faces and flower frog}

{Probably my largest antique candy container}

And lest the fowls cry foul, Miss Fiona is here to represent the chicks, ducks, and ducklings in my collection that didn't get shown.

{Yes, she is real...and taxidermized. Sorry}   

*************

As a bit of a postscript, someone mentioned in my last post that they wondered where the rabbits go in our wretched winters. 

Contrary to popular belief, they do not hibernate.

Rather, they seek shelter in a variety of places: brush piles, tall grasses, under my porch decking.

During periods of heavy snows (i.e., weekly in Nod), they will use the snow itself as a shelter - building tunnels and shallow depressions in the snow called "forms."

The snow acts as an insulator reducing loss of body heat and a buffer against the wind.

All too soon, they come out and build nests. One day the ornamental grass was covered in several feet of snow and the minute the snow melted, some bunny had burrowed in and started building a nest out my back door. Again.

GAH!

Blizzards and Bunnies

...and after the flood came the blizzard. 

We are no strangers to cold or snow here in Nod, but this last storm, the weekend before last, was a doozy even by our standards.

I knew we were in trouble when, on Thursday night/early Friday morning, the forecast was for 3-5" of snow and we woke up to go 13."

We had a brief reprieve during the day on Friday and Saturday, but the new system (i.e., the blizzard) moved in late Saturday night.

By Sunday morning I was unable to get out the door.

{That's all the further I could push the door open before it hit the massive drift.)

In addition to the previous 13" of snow we had just gotten, we got 31" more in less than 24 hours.

{This is not a black and white photo...}

New records were set in our area and schools and roads were closed for several days (unheard of here generally).

My son managed to get over and plow for me (he lives a ways away) after the township roads were finally plowed but he could not shovel through the drifts to the house, so I was stranded for 3 days (one more disadvantage of a detached garage).

Most of that s*#t stuff has since melted and, thankfully, even though the temps were above freezing (actually well above freezing one day), the nights were still below freezing so there wasn't horrendous flooding.

Well...I've not been back to the lake since so, perhaps, I should not speak too soon.

We've since turned cold again...with snow squalls during the days and dropping into the (very) low teens at night. As the forecast stands now, we won't be above freezing for Easter day.

Weather notwithstanding, I have started pulling some of my chicks and bunnies and such.

The light that comes through my kitchen window makes it difficult to get decent photos (no, it's not the state of cleanliness of the window), but I tried to photograph the little vignette I started on the top of the butter churn above the sink.   

As I played with the focus, my attention was drawn to something in the background

Yup...the real ones are back.

Oh, wait...they didn't ever leave. (What's left of) my shrubs and the cords on my Christmas lights will attest to that.

Anyhow. 

Not much is being accomplished in the handcraft realm for many reasons.

I don't think, however, that I ever shared the "final" finish of this piece: "imagine*dream*believe" by Artful Offerings. 

It was stitched years ago and I posted about struggling with its floss colors. It came as a kit and, once I started stitching, the colors seemed very country-ish/baby-ish...especially when the "Woodrose" floss I had was way to the pink side vs. the peach side.

But I sucked it up and finished it and, many years later, finally got it fully finished.

Ok...that's it for now folks.

I have another week of nonsense ahead, but I will try to pop back in in the next few days and share a few more bunnies and such (hopefully not of the real variety). 

{Thank you to all who commented on my prior post and for the good wishes, hopes, and prayers. I am sorry that I didn't manage to respond individually to everyone. Life, once again, got ahead of my good intentions. Please know, however, that each and every comment was appreciated and brought me a measure of comfort.}