Annual Cheese Trip

Once or twice a year, we take a trip up to Monroe WI for a cheese buying spree.  Most of the cheese, except for cheddar, freeze well.  We stop at Alp and Dell to sample and buy cheese and Swiss Colony where we also buy petite fours and other cakes.  They freeze well also.

On the way through Brodhead, there is a home/barn that always decorates the end of their driveway. At Christmastime, there is a red pickup truck with Santa sitting in the drivers seat (I have posted pictures of this before) and in the summertime there is usually a pink bicycle decorated.

In addition to the pink bicycle, there was a baby carriage filled with flowers and a baby doll head sticking up in it.  It was such an awesome display.

The flowers in my garden are looking so beautiful.  The orange tiger lilies next to the purple wildflowers are stunning.

One of my favorites are alliums.  Especially the hairy ones!

The Algonquin Library summer book sale starts on July 7th with a fee for entry.  On Friday thru Sunday there is no fee.  The McHenry County University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners are having their annual Garden Walk on July 9 starting at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake.  The Historical Society Museum in Union IL is having their fest/sale on Sunday July 10 starting at 9am. There's a white elephant sale, auction and pie contest.  The Mukwonago WI flea market is July 16-17, Cedarburg WI flea market is July 17 and sidewalk sales in Crystal Lake IL are July 28-30.  This is only a sampling of events during July.  There is so much to see and do.

Have a safe and fun Fourth of July celebration!

Happy treasure hunting!

So Much......

So much has been going on lately that I have neglected my blog.  I apologize.  Austin keeps warning me that I better not forget to write something.

Ethan graduated from high school last week.

That was all I was focusing on.  I was so happy for him and so proud.  I am sad that he will be leaving the "nest" in the fall for college but so happy for him that his life is wide open before him. So, no sooner then he graduates, but then he left on Tuesday for his summer job as a Recreational Camp Counselor at a video game camp.  He will be gone for 2 months.  He wanted this job so much and he went after it.  Another reason for me to be proud.  Austin is joining him at the camp for the next two weeks but as a camper.  Now I have no excuse to catch up on small projects since I will have lots of time on my hands.

In between all of this, my parents came to stay for the graduation and we fit in a few rummage sales. Of course.  My whole family is addicted to treasure hunting.  With so much going on, I almost missed the alliums blooming.

We did treasure hunt at the flea market in Cedarburg WI.  It was soooo crowded.  I have never seen it like that before.  The parking rate increased to $10 at the main lot.  It is still free to get into the market.  It was very hard to look at anything.  We still had fun though.  Yesterday, we went to the Mukwonago WI flea market.  The weather was perfect and even though it was crowded, we could still find treasures at this one.  I didn't find anything to resell.  I bought a few things for myself though.  I don't buy much to keep anymore but I couldn't resist some vintage bracelets.  We were disappointed though that the C.O.W., our favorite deep fried cheese curds guy, wasn't there any longer.  I thing he is gone permanently.  There was another deep fried cheese curds person there to take his place.

Somewhere in between everything else, I managed to recover a small bench.

It had an ugly blue fabric on top of golden legs.  I didn't do anything fancy.  I just put on a piece of linen fabric and it looked so much better.   A little plain for now until I figure out what I want to put onto it.

A few sales are coming up on Thursday:  St Mary Church in McHenry is having their rummage sale and so is the Lutheran School in Crystal Lake.  Nellies Barn Sale in Roscoe is also that day starting at 4pm.  The Belvidere Flea Market in Belvidere IL is on Saturday and starts at 3pm.  It is a late night one.  I like this one. It's smaller but I always find something there.  

I like the Waterford Unique Antique Market in Waterford WI.  They have a flea market on June 18, July 23, Aug 21, Sept 10 and Oct 8 from 9-3.  I haven't been to the flea market yet, but it's on my list this summer.

Austin was such a great help on Friday when he and I spent the day treasure hunting.  He was happy to find some vintage Transformers and I was happy to have his strength and help.  I warned him that when he gets back from camp, we are treasure hunting all summer.  He is easy to bribe with the promise of a McDonald's lunch.

Happy treasure hunting!