The Snow Has Been "Flying"

We do not have much, if any, snow on the ground.

However, on one end of town there is a great deal of snow and lots of noise. We have a local business that most people know little about--Scheuring Speed Sports. People from all over the world come to our little town with millions of dollars worth of snowmobiles and trucks and trailers to test their machines and to train on the race track there. Currently there are over 100 drivers (plus the entourage that accompanies each driver) in the area. Most of them stay at the local ski resort. Most of them eat at our local restaurants.

They have their own snow-making equipment so the snow has literally been "flying." Most of the WT's live near the business and have had some of the fog from the snow-making (and lots of the noise from the snowmobiles!). Today at coffee Mary said that we have to think of the noise as dollars dropping into our town. It certainly does help the businesses in our community!
The racing season starts in Maine in two weeks. Today we talked to some drivers who were having breakfast while we were having coffee. They were from New Hampshire (They were heading back and had a 25-hour drive). We asked them why they come to Minnesota rather than go to Wyoming or Colorado where they have tons of snow already. The reason is that we are at "normal" altitudes and they don't have to re-tune their machines for racing and training here.

They also have other racing in the summer.

For more information, check out the link for Scheuring Motor Sports.

What's A (Good) Wife To Do???

Subtitle: "The 'Scent' Caper"

Tomorrow is "The Opener"--the firearm deer season opens in Minnesota. It is a big "holiday" around here. Women hate to go to the grocery store the week before because the "amateurs" (hunters) are shopping for food to cook at their hunting shacks and many of them aren't familiar with the grocery aisles and they take forever trying to find items. It is such a popular time that sons fly in from all over the country to hunt with their fathers at the hunting shack.

So--what is a (good) wife to do? Some of us end up with a houseful of men sleeping on the floors and getting up at the crack of dawn to go out hunting. Driving around town and through the countryside for days before, one sees blaze orange clothing hanging outside "airing" to get rid of household or garage odors. Some wives even re-wash their husband's hunting clothes in unscented soap to get rid of "human" smells. One wife has been following this for a week and wonders why they have to air out their clothes. Her husband leaves his long johns and socks in the house so they'll be warm in the morning to put on. He will also have a sandwich made with sausage that is full of garlic. She wonders, "If the clothes need to air out so the deer won't detect human smells, why won't the deer smell the garlic in the sausage and the human odors on his undies?" She also refuses to re-wash the clothes and asks, "After all, if the deer can't smell the garlic from 200 yards away, how on earth can they smell the Downy?" One wife who hates to mend, has ended up mending her husband's backpack. "The presser foot would barely go down enough to sew it right," she said. But he was happy as could be about it--no need to buy a new one as the old one has worked for many years already!

One of the WT's (who will remain nameless) even went with her husband today to put deer scent around the area where he hunts. He was going to go out alone because his hunting buddies were all working and she was a little concerned about him being out in the woods alone so she made the decision to accompany him. After all, she has had a cold and would not be able to smell it! Deer "scent" means putting doe and buck urine (!!!) on cotton pads and hanging them on a tree. The bucks are attracted to the smell and head right for it. This is all legal and, evidently, is quite a big business in the state. In addition, he put the scent pad on a string on a stick and dragged it in a zig-zag method to simulate a buck searching for this wonderfully-smelling doe to hitch up with (or another buck to fight with!).

At any rate, it was quite an educational morning for her. Since this was her first trip to his deer hunting area, he had to point out all the spots where he had shot deer (this from the guy who can't remember what he went downstairs for!).

The doe scent gets used first. It is put on the wick on the left.

Then he dragged it in a zig-zag path along a deer trail that led to a clearing where he has shot deer in the past. The hope is that a buck will smell it and think there is a doe that is pining for him and waiting for him to appear!

Another wick with buck scent gets put in a tree where one had been scraping on the bark and pawing at the ground. The buck hopes that there might be another buck to fight for the lady of his dreams!

A real "find"--a scraping on a tree!

One has to wonder about the kind of person that collects these specimens and how they do it! Then again, maybe we don't need to know!

Next year this just might have to be a field trip for the WT's! It is pretty interesting. Who knows when we might have to use these techniques ourselves???

Surprise Birthday Party for Helen S.

Helen's three "children" surprised her with a Birthday breakfast this morning with all of the WT's at the Abbie Pub. It is a milestone birthday tomorrow, but we won't say which one. Her son gave her the shirt that she is wearing: "Helen" on the left side (as you look at it) and "The Walkie Talkies" on the right.

Everyone had a wonderful time. It's pretty difficult to keep a surprise in a small town and there was some confusion with Helen calling the Abbie to say that she was paying and the kids had already made arrangements to take care of it!

L to R: Mark (from Michigan), Mary Ann (from Illinois), Helen and John (from Connecticut).

A large contingent of the WT's today.

The WT's plus Helen's kids.

We love to celebrate birthdays and this was even more memorable since Helen's family was able to join us (plus there was food!).

Catch Us! We're Falling!

It's that time of year again: pumpkins are sprouting on doorsteps, winter coats are already out, and we get an extra hour's sleep by resetting our clocks (Remember? "Spring forward, fall back").

While the change officially takes place at 2:00 a.m. tonight, most of us will turn our clocks back an hour before going to bed tonight--perhaps, some of us even did it this afternoon (For some, we need the daylight hours to read the manuals to see how to change some of those pesky clocks!). Some might forget and arrive early for church tomorrow. It has taken us since April to catch up on that hour of sleep! Of course, most of us are up at the crack of dawn anyway. It just means we will be up even earlier now!

With the clocks turned back, it will be lighter (or, at least, less dark) in the morning. Unfortunately, it will be dark earlier in the afternoon and where we live the days will be very short soon enough!

At any rate, we hope that none of the WT's will be late for church or whatever else is happening tomorrow. For sure, we don't want anyone to be late for walking and for coffee on Monday!

Saturday Shopper News!

It's been awhile since we have had any of our local news from The Shopper. Why now? Well--none of the WT's have had any other news to share with your loyal blogger, so here goes . . .

The Pumpkin Fest was a great hit despite the horrible weather. The kids were all bundled up for the carriage rides and there were even some vendors outdoors in the parking lot. Obviously, there were plenty of us indoors--kids for decorating pumpkins and adults for the craft sale and the FOOD! We never miss food! There is a big thank-you from the committee for all the help and participation.

The local computer shop now has a sideline business called "Click It's Gone" for those locals who are not computer literate but still want to sell their goods on eBay. Sounds like a good idea and we hope it works.

Interesting event coming up: On November 11 the PTO is hosting a Crafters Retreat: $15 will get anyone some table space and pizza from 8:00 a.m. to midnight. The ad says that it is a great way to get away from all the interruptions and spend an "adult" day/night "actually getting something done." Since it will be the middle weekend of the firearms deer season, it sounds like a great diversion. Of course, some of the hunting "widows" won't be able to get away from their children, but perhaps they'll attend anyway.

School Parent/Student Conferences for grades 7-12 are coming up on October 30. Drum roll, please: They can also pick up the first quarter report cards at that time!

For the past couple of years the Lions Club and the Leo Club (high school kids) are hosting a Halloween Monster Bash for the kids up to 6th grade. This has turned out to be a great event and keeps some of the kids off the streets. The young ones can also try Trick or Treats at the local nursing home, which is something the Elders really look forward to.

There are ads telling us how we can pick up absentee ballots for the November 7 election. There has been some talk about what we might be doing for the election--perhaps just voting "No"???? The local candidates also have plenty of ads--in fact there are some terms where there are more candidates running than there are openings! Might be an actual election for some of them!

It must be getting close to the holidays because there are several craft shows coming up. Great way to get some gifts early.

This Monday--the 23rd--there is a book sale at the local Public Library from 10:00 a.m. to7:30 p.m. These will be the books that are left from this past week's sale--A buck a Bag! Such a deal!

The local Lutherans are having their annual lefse sale on the 25th. The cost will be $3.50 for three rounds. Another great deal! Those Lutherans really know how to make it!

The Methodists are selling pasties (Cornish meat pies) for a fund-raiser. They are pretty delicious also and at $3 each, it is a great deal.

The arena is now open for public skating and practice. Right now, it is almost cold enough to make ice outside! Back in "our" day, we skated outdoors. Many of us remember where the rink used to be and the old Slovenian women who used to work there and would help us tighten up our skates. Who can forget that smell of wet wool as we dried our mittens on the stove? Who can forget how we would have to quickly remove them when they started to smoke??

Can't forget the Buck and Doe Contest at the sporting goods store. For $10 folks can get a ticket and win prizes when they weigh in and register their deer. They are giving away some interesting prizes. There will be plenty of activity around that place beginning on November 4th! They will soon be putting up the ramp and pulley system for weighing the animals. Of course, some folks get upset with the hunting season, but some are happy that some of the deer are harvested so that there aren't as many around to eat our flowers and vegetables and to run into our cars. This time of year is particularly dangerous as they have only one thing on their minds!

The local bank is reminding us that it will soon be time to put up their "Hat and Mittens Christmas Tree." They will be looking for these items to make donations to various organizations in the area.

We have had our second snowfall and there are ads for tune-ups on our snowblowers. Hate to think that the time for using them is coming up quickly!

Playing at the re-opened theater: "Lady in the Water" at 5:30 p.m. and "Clerks 2" at 7:30. "Ant Bully" is tentatively scheduled to start on Friday. Wonder what "tentatively" means. Sounds a little ominous! All tickets $2.00 for a great deal.

Let's hope that the WT's get some more exciting events going so that we can entertain you with our own antics!

Winter's First Volley!

We have had some snow in the past few days. It was quite miserable this morning with the slush and the cold and the wind. Despite all of that there were several in the group that made it for coffee--in fact, several even walked!

Looks pretty cold for visitors to town!
Tomorrow is the Pumpkin Fest. We are hoping that there will be plenty of people who brave the weather to attend this annual festival.

The Craft Show from 10:00-3:00 will take place in the Community Center. There will be activities for the kids--Design-a-Pumpkin and Design-a-Cookie. Of course, we will enjoy the food (that'll be enough to draw in the WT's!)--hamburgers, hot dogs, sloppy joes and, of course, Homemade PUMPKIN pie! Don't know what will happen to the outside vendors, etc. There will be a free Blood Pressure Check at the Firehall and hand and face tattoos and a movie. The Annual Quilt Show will take place at the Library and that is always a popular event.

There will be Carriage Rides from 11:00-2:30 on Main Street.

It should be a great event! And we are hardy folks!

It might look cold, but visitors will still enjoy a very warm reception in our town! So do stop in to visit!

Know When to Fold 'Em!

Today was our big poker lesson. There were twelve of us that showed up for our salad lunch, but not everyone stayed to play.

Our instructor for the day, Tonya, only started playing last February and has since won many prizes. She was so much fun and made the afternoon interesting for all of us.

She brought two table tops, cards, chips and even prizes for us!

We like to think that we are "Superstars" and it was neat to know that someone else felt the same way (or, could it be, that it was the name of the table top from the tournament where she won it!).

The usual group photo: Seated L to R--Helen S., Mary, Jo, Joan, Pat, Irene, Jodie and Lorraine. Standing--Lil, Nancy, Tonya and Tee (Tee and Nancy were on their best "photo behavior" today and didn't hide).
Tonya explains a little about the game before we start to play.
Pat doesn't look so sure that this is better than bridge.
Ooops! Did we do something wrong in our betting? Should we have bet more? Less? Tonya was a great teacher!
It looked as if Mary was going to be the big winner! She had stacks of chips in front of her!
Lorraine also won and rakes them in!
But Tee was the big winner for the day (Mary came in second)!
Most of us will never play again. Some might play occasionally. At least, we now know what it is all about so that we will at least be able to understand what others are talking about when they discuss Texas Hold 'Em!

We found out that Tonya plays every Wednesday night at the local resort and invited us to come to play or to watch! We laughed about that because Wednesday night is typically saved for church activities. We decided that we'd better get out there before Lent, when our Wednesdays are tied up!

Sounds like another field trip!

Know When to Hold 'Em

Our group is always up for something new. Tomorrow we have two events:

A woman who is a professional poker player is going to teach us what this whole Texas Hold 'Em is all about. One of our members decided that she wanted to know more about it but did not want to get a computer game and did not want to watch it on TV. So--we all decided it sounded like a fun thing to do and then tell our kids and grandkids about. Of course, we also will have lunch beforehand. Then the pro will tell us what the game involves and we might even play a little. It looks as if ten or eleven of us will be there. We are always "up" for any event that includes food!

We are going to the movie tomorrow evening: The Devil Wears Prada is playing at our local theater (the one that closed and then re-opened with $2 tickets). We will do our share to try to keep it going. We might also have a pizza or something for a snack after an afternoon of playing poker!

Bad News Turned Good!

Our readers might remember that our local movie theater--aka "The Showhouse"--quit showing movies a few weeks ago. There were articles in the paper about the poor economics of showing first-run movies and the lack of patrons at these movies. There was even mention of selling the big silver screen and the seats! We were so sad to have this happen. Attending movies in that particular theater is quite an event--with the bistro tables in the back where we could eat while we watched the movie.

WELL--something happened and the owners changed their minds. Last night they started showing movies again. The movies will not be right "out-of-the-box" movies; instead, they will be movies that have had their run. They will charge us only $2 to see these movies! We are all pleased that they have had a change of heart. We thank the local leaders that perhaps helped them realize that there was "middle ground." Now we will schedule ourselves to go to see movies on a regular basis. Perhaps this was a wake-up call for all of us to patronize our local businesses!

Autumn's Last Hurrah!

We love autumn! Unfortunately, it is of short duration here in the northland. With the dry summer we just had, we were afraid that it would not be that pretty this year. It has been spectacular. The reds and yellows of the maples, the yellows and orange of the poplars and the birch, the orange of the tamarack--all with the evergreens in the background--have been gorgeous this autumn. This is probably the last week, but we have enjoyed it for the past several weeks.

The sky is so blue in the autumn. It is fun to look straight up through the trees (at our age, we must be careful so that we don't fall over!).

Jodie shot these two photos at their cabin in Minnesota. Above: It was a beautiful autumn morning with the reflection on the lake. Below: The lakes are as deep blue as the sky in the autumn.
A beautiful sunrise in Minnesota's lake country!
Lorraine returned from Michigan with this spectacular photo of their lake. The blues of the sky made everything look so beautiful and serene.
We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves because not all of the leaves are down yet. However, some serious raking will soon be in order! It surely beats shoveling snow!

Another Unveiling--Naomi's Remodeling Project!

As our loyal readers know, it doesn't take much for the WT's to declare a party! Naomi had quite a remodeling project this spring and summer. Now that it is completely finished (and she has recovered from it!), she invited us all over for a potluck breakfast!

Naomi welcomes us to her "new" house. She made her three-season room into a dining room/sitting room (with a skylight), increased the size of her kitchen and had it re-done, and added an entry room. Everything is just gorgeous and we thoroughly enjoyed it!
What would a WT get together be without some great food. With Scandinavians, Eastern Europeans, and even an Irish woman, the combinations were delightful!
Naomi standing in front of the shelves that showcase family photos and plenty of mementoes of her extensive travels.
The traditional group photo--Front: Jo, Jodie and Naomi. Mixed together: Helen S., Elsie, Joan, Lil, Nancy, Sharon, Pat, Tee, Dorothy, Lorraine, and Mary. Next time Nancy and Tee, who are both trying to hide in the back will have to be front and center in our next group photo!).

Autumnal Equinox--2006

Yes, we know that this is not the official Autumnal Equinox, 2006. However, our party leader is not available for Friday night at 11:03 p.m. and we would rather get up early to watch a sunrise than stay up late to sit in the dark. (Besides we are always a little bit "ahead of the curve" on most things that we do!). Emily suggested that we call it "Equinox--the Prequel."

We knew it was going to be a beautiful morning as we headed off to the east and we were not disappointed--it was a spectacular morning at Fisherman's Point. We arrived around 6:30 a.m. to a most gorgeous sunrise over the fog on the lake. It was about 30 degrees, but there was no wind so it was great!

This is the scene that greeted us. The official sunrise was somewhere around 6:58 a.m. so we had a lot to do before that time.
Former flight attendant, Laurie, gets the mimosas ready so that we will be ready to toast the sunrise.

Here it comes!

The mimosas await!

Our toast to everyone--a long autumn, a short and mild winter, and great and long-lasting friendships!

L to R: Pat, Emily, Nancy, Laurie, Joan, Jodie, Tee, Naomi, Helen S., Elsie, Helen J.

Toasty warm: Elsie, Helen S. and Helen J.

We had a great breakfast--two hot egg dishes, scones, blueberry muffins, coffee cake, lots of fruit and plenty of coffee. Nancy even brought "healthy" pretzels for us to sample!

L to R: Pat, Elsie, Helen S., Joan, Helen J. and Laurie.

Emily, Tee, Naomi and Nancy.

As we always say, "A great time was had by all!"

Equinox Party Coming Soon

In September, 2003, we celebrated the autumnal equinox with an early morning party at a campgrounds about 5 miles from town. At that time we said we would do it again in two years. Ooops! We missed last year, so we will be celebrating it this coming Thursday morning at sunrise.

This was the view as the sun was coming up that cold morning in 2003.

The group saluted the sunrise before our campfire with mimosas. We then enjoyed a full breakfast.

More on the Unveiling

Pat had a little more information to share about the "unveiling" of the painting. There were 12 WT's at the event.

Joan was able to salvage one photo of Dick and the painting as he explains how lithographs are made and talks about the painter, Fanch, who is a French artist, now living in California. During Dick's presentation there was a violent thunderstorm--a perfect setting for an English mystery.

They all enjoyed wine and cheese and sat and visited for about two hours!

Catching Up With Some of the WT's

Emily and her husband took a BWCAW Trip for the first time in many years. They thought they were too old to sleep on the ground. In fact, her husband slept in a hammock.

Mary's Honey Crisp apples are plentiful. She wonders if she will have to bring in some immigrant help to pick them for her! The little birds are hollowing them out. Rather than just taking a peck out of many, they had chosen a few and one was just a shell of an apple left after their feasting. Mary brought apples for all to coffee today.

The unveiling of the painting at Pat's house was nice. The painting, a lithograph, is "Interior With Two Picassos." Pat's husband gave a presentation about the artist and the painting. The group enjoyed studying it---lots of details including a pair of rose-colored glasses. Sorry we have no photos to share since Joan's batteries in her camera had died.

We had a big group for breakfast on Monday. We try to have breakfast together once a month--it's good for us and good for the business where we have coffee each morning.

Jodie has kept us posted on her fly fishing trip in Colorado through her own 'Blog. We are a traveling group and we do keep in touch with each other.

There was an article in the Duluth paper about the "rebirth" of our area. That was good news--especially after the announcement about the movie theatre's closing-- and we'll share it with our readers next week.

We'll also share information about our upcoming Autumnal Equinox party next week. Keep checking this spot.

The Unveiling!

Pat and her husband took a cruise to Alaska earlier this summer. He bought a painting while they were aboard ship and she is having a WT get together on Wednesday, September 6, at their house. While the artist will not be in attendance, the buyer/owner will be there to provide a description and interpretation of the painting. Sounds pretty high society for us and it should be great fun!

A Very Sad Day Coming Soon

Our local movie theatre--the "Showhouse," as many locals still call it--will not be showing movies after this coming Thursday because of "financial conditions." We have all realized for some time that not enough folks have been supporting this business, so it is not a shock but still somewhat of a surprise.

Now we won't be able to sit at the bistro tables in the back of the theatre as we eat our pizza or subs and watch the movie. We will have to drive 16 miles to the closest movie theatre and it just won't be the same!

It is one of the only silver screens in this part of the state and they had put in Dolby Sound, so we were really up to date!

Their food business will still be available, and we hope that at some point we will have movies back! We hear that already folks are trying to figure out a way . . .

Sad day!

School is Starting Soon--Shopper News

Although we no longer have school-age children, most of us are still on a "school schedule." Of course, some of us are retired teachers, so that is not too unusual. It seems that in every small town, the pulse of the town is sometimes based on what is happening at the local school and we are no exception.

The Shopper was full of mainly school news this past weekend--bus schedules, articles from the Superintendent, articles from the principals, articles about what is needed for the students.

The PTO had a big front page ad listing its ongoing accomplishments and announcing their meetings. The first meeting is coming up on September 6 at 2:30 p.m. Not only do they have ongoing projects (such as the playground equipment, book fair, bike rodeo, Grandparents' Day, Teacher Appreciation, yearbook, Mitten Run, etc.), they also have made donations to various school-related organizations. We can all help out by dropping off our Box Tops for Education, which brought in nearly $4,000 last year (and our school was in the top 10% nationwide for this!).

The school calendar is listed also. The teachers are already in meetings today and tomorrow, with Tuesday, September 5th, the first day of school this year. We will all have to watch out on Monday night because the local water pressure might be low as all of that summertime dirt gets washed off before the first day of school!

There is something called "Power Lunch Accounts" that parents of elementary students are encouraged to set up. It seems to be sort of a "Pay it Forward" account for school lunches for the kids. Great idea--no more excuses for lost lunch money!

School pictures are scheduled for Friday, September 8, for grades 7-12. Watch out for that water pressure again on Thursday night! It costs $3 to rent a lock for a locker--but it will be returned when the locks are returned in the spring.

Parents are reminded that immunizations for the students must be up to date. If they are not, the student will be asked to stay home until they are.

A whole system is in place for how students should report their child's absence--a note or a phone call or email. My, how times have changed!

Supplies are listed for materials for the classrooms. We should probably be making some donations to some of the parents as some of these lists look pretty costly.

The elementary school principal also has a letter welcoming the students. It appears that the starting dates are sort of staggered. It looks too complicated for this old brain and many of us are at the point where we don't learn something new if it doesn't pertain to us--selfish, but we deserve it and have earned it! School pictures will be taken on Thursday, September 7th. My gosh, that means no water pressure on Wednesday night also. Guess we'd better bathe during the day next week!

One of the big stories is about our new school project. We have all watched as the playground equipment has been moved and some of the old buildings are being demolished. It seems that there is something new happening every week. The Superintendent reminds us all that the primary goal is providing a first rate education for the students and that it is not the building that creates this quality, but the teachers do. He reassures us that everyone and everything is "good to go" for the school year. He reminds the students that the secret to success is to attend regularly, listen to the instructors, and turn in assignments. He also says that parents should listen to the school, listen to their children, and remember that neither of them always has the full story! Good advice for all of us!

The transportation schedule and maps are included but it takes younger eyes to read the map--we're sure that everyone will get to where they are supposed to get. The Fall Sports Schedule is also listed. There is a football game next week, a girls' swim meet, and volleyball games. Many of us attend some of the games and meets to keep us all young and in the swing of things in the community.

There is a lot more going on in our community, but, for now, back-to-school is the most important event! We'll keep you all posted on how it all comes together.

Roommates' Reunion

Mary and her two roommates from college have been getting together since the early 80's, meeting each summer. It started out as a lunch meeting half way between, in Hinckley, MN. That wasn't enough time for the catching up they had to do, so next they planned one- or two-night sleepovers--at Isle Royale, Bayfield, Minneapolis, Duluth, each of their three homes and more. Five years ago they tried kayaking for the first time and decided to repeat that event, so Viv and Diane came to Mary's house this summer. One day was a perfect day for kayaking on a nearby lake--"a little wind, a clear blue sky, and time to skim over a good portion of the lake," according to Mary. Other activites this year included a nap after kayaking, lunch and dinners out on Mary's screen porch, watching "North Country" on a DVD, walking and having coffee with the WT's. They looked at each other's pictures and talked about the trip they'd made during the past year. Mary, of course, has her own business (See the link for Mary's Productions on the right), Diane has retired from teaching and has written a poetry book, and Viv is still teaching and has also started quilting. As Mary says, "The old cliche says it all: 'A good time was had by all.'"

All the WT's enjoyed the visit at coffee and look forward to more visits and tales in future summers!

Our Own "Constant Gardener"

We have many wonderful and talented gardeners in our group. A couple of years ago Pat decided that she wanted to re-do her gardens. She had it all planned and implemented the changes last year. The result has been a gorgeous garden of mainly perrenials in her back yard (but visible from the street if one really looks!).

Pat is very generous with her flowers. She brings them to her church on a regular basis and the congregation loves to look at them during the service. She also shares them with family and friends.

She has two raised areas with gorgeous flowers. The nice thing is that she can sit and work in the garden and reach it from almost every side. She really has made us all think about what we can do to make gardening easier and it is even more evident to see how the results have been worth it!

Jeep Travel Bug in Geocache

Today WoodsWoman (aka Jodie) launched a Green Jeep Travel Bug in our WT's Centennial cache. The TB is part of the 2006 Jeep 4X4 Geocaching Challenge.

This Green Jeep Travel Bug is named in honor of Slide Mountain. Slide Mountain is located in Wyoming and sits 9,630 feet above sea level.

Hopefully, someone will soon pick it up at our cache and get it moving so that we can keep track of it!

"Fab Five" Does Wisconsin!

Two of the Walkie Talkies--Mary and Tee--were part of the "Girls Gone Wild with a Rented Minivan" Road Trip. They motored to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, on Thursday, August 3. The purpose of the trip was for Mary to tape a PBS fund drive with Nancy Zieman, to promote "Sewing with Nancy" on public television stations (see link on the right). The pledge special was LIVE in Wisconsin on Saturday, August 5 and was also taped for showing anytime during the next two years on public TV stations across the country. Mary was Nancy's guest, promoting the Sweatshirt Makeovers programs and book they taped in 2005. The other four road trip participants (Nancy H., Sarah, Renee and Tee) took pledges on the phone in the studio so you'll see them too if you watch the pledge special. In our area it'll be showing sometime in December (We will be sure to let our readers know when it'll be playing).
Photo above: Left to right--Nancy H., Sarah, Mary, Renee and Tee. The "Fab Five" with their mini van on a rainy Sunday morning before their return home.

Other activities included lots of sweet corn (and more that was brought home on Sunday), a trip by Sarah and Nancy to find a yarn shop located on a sheep farm, lunch at Chipotle on State Street in Madison, a great tour of Nancy's Notions with Deanna, and relaxing at the pool and the lovely back yard of Nancy and Richard Zieman. Richard was the head cook for two great outdoor dinners.

Above: The "Fab Five" with Nancy Zieman at her home where the group celebrated with a birthday cake for Nancy H. who soon has a milestone birthday. Seated: Sarah and Nancy H.

Standing L to R: Renee, Tee, Mary and Nancy Zieman.

P.S. Deanna called the group the "Fab Five." When Tee heard the name, she thought it was the "Fat Five!"

May We Take Your Pledge, Please?

Mary and four others are off to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, this morning for a road trip and working adventure. Mary says that perhaps it's a "Girls Gone Bad" trip in a rented minivan! On Saturday they will be in Madison taping a PBS pledge special for "Sewing with Nancy." The topic will be sweatshirts. Her four cohorts will be handling the phones for the pledges coming in while Mary will be the guest talking about the shirts with Nancy. The pledge special will be live in Wisconsin but will be taped to show at other stations in the United States. This means they will be able to watch themselved in December on PBS from Duluth.
"Sewing with Nancy" (above photo) is TV's longest-running sewing program. Nancy Zieman and her guest, our own WT Mary, share their love of the sewing arts and explore the latest ideas in the country's most popular crafts. Check out the link for Nancy's Notions on the right and for Mary's Productions.

We will be sure to share any travel adventures with our readers next week.

We will also be sure to let you know the program's number so that you can check your local PBS listings to see when it will be on in your area.