Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Sand Creek Brewing Company




We finally toured the Sand Creek Brewery in Black River Falls, WI. We'd been meaning to take a tour here since we tasted our first Oscar's. And because the brewery is so close to my hometown. Sand creek has been brewing beer since the 1990's. But brewing actually started in this old building around 153 years ago. Ulrich Oderbolz (pictured) and his family opened the brewery in 1856. We learned that after Ulrich and all but one male heir died tragically, the women took over running the brewery. And they were very successful. But for unknown reasons they decided to sell the brewery in the early 1900's.




When prohibition shut down the renamed Badgerland brewery in 1920, the building was used to bottle Coca-Cola, build land mines and raise turkeys.






New labels mingle with a collection of old bottles in the back.














Mash...blah....ferment...blah, blah. The tour was very interesting. But some brewing facts went in one ear and out the other. One thing that did not go unnoticed was that the tour guide was drinking a beer as he gave this very thorough tour. That's cool!



I think we got a little excited to finally sample some beer. I forgot to take a pre-drink photo op. Needless to say we didn't go home empty handed. We bought a case filled with their special reserve Doppelbock, Hard Lemonade and Wild Ride.




So what does this goofy Alpaca I illustrated years ago have to do with the brewery? I posted it in honor of Sand Creek's October fest Saturday, October 2. Along with beer there will be Alpacas of course! For more Lamas and Alpacas visit Lamas on Tuesday at....just kidding.



Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The great fortune cookie disaster of 2010!

I usually don't eat the marginally good fortune cookies that accompany the delicious take out we get all the time. But I never want to throw away the good (or down right weird) fortunes that linger inside the cookies. So I've been saving them. That is until my ziplock bag was full. Then I thought that maybe it was time to unwrap the cookies, read my fortunes and then throw them away. Well, I forgot the bag out on the counter. As soon as the lights were off in the kitchen, Hana ripped open the bag and the cookies went flying. It was time to read my fortunes...







A naughty cat on the counter. I try to keep her off. But you know what happens when you turn your back for a moment. Disaster!


















This was my favorite fortune. Ha!









This fortune is perfect to tie in the art part of this week's post. My painting, "Snakes on a Painting" was a State Fair reject this year. I've never tried to get into the fair before. The good news is that my Snake's are in a State Fair overflow show at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. Now through September 5. The opening was last Saturday night. It was really fun to see some of the almost 2,000 rejects. The great, the good and the down right ugly. Hey, I know what you're thinking... snakes are not ugly!





Finally, get a load of this fancy fortune cookie. It's the real deal. A yumo version that you get at my favorite Thai place Roat Osha. Just because I haven't eaten it yet doesn't mean I'm throwing this one away. I'm hoping that it says I will become a rich and famous artist. Oh, I think there was one that said, "dare to dream!" For more fortune kitties visit http://www.gattinamycats.blogspot.com/




Friday, August 20, 2010

Give art a chance!

I donated a painting for the 7th annual Art Perchance held at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. They call it an evening of art and artfully clever carnival games. And it really was alot of fun. I tried to capture the evening in photos. And where else would I start but with my painting. I did a larger version of one of the Black Shells I donated to the ripplesketches blog. Black Oil Shell is a statement piece of personal responsibility. We really do hold the future in our hands.




My new business cards.



I had to bring my own lunch pal. I'm kidding. They actually had some fancy snacks for the artists. I guess I was so busy eating I forgot to take some savory photos of the food. My favorite was the watermelon/salty cheese number.




I think I photographed most of the charming extras. I think their job was to try to get people to play the carnival games. And to just look cool.













If I wasn't an artist before, I officially am now!





I even put on some fancy shoes for the evening. A band played all night. But these shoes were only made for walking.






I met Nancy. She designed all the carnival games. (all the games were free by the way) And she was wearing a hilarious poodle skirt.
I also met Brian and Gerry. They might not ever know I remembered their names. Unless they check out my blog that is.



I won my very own glow stick playing this game.









I thought this would be the perfect photo to end this post. This is where my painting was. Now it's location is a mystery.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

A cat in the kitchen is a like a pain in the rear!

My illustrated recipe finally turned up on http://www.theydrawandcook.blogspot.com/ It's a really fun blog for artists, cooks, bakers, kitchen gnomes and of course cats. To see my recipe for Very Vanilla Cupcakes be sure to stop by the link. It was posted last week. So just scroll down through the new and tasty recipes above it.




Did a cat ever meet an empty bag it didn't love?




My cat Hana drives me completely insane in the kitchen. In this photo she picked up a whole bunch of veggie scraps, (I think it's cilantro) and jumped down to play on the floor. She loves cucumber peels, herby stems and all mystery strips. She'll taste everything. Just the other morning she made off with a leftover slice of a peach. So if I'm baking with let's just say, more tasty ingredients. It's a complete nightmare!




Hana's favorite activity is to drag fuzzy socks, soft sweaters and blankets around on the floor. You should see the kitty determination on her little face as she pulls at a big heavy blanket. It's actually a huge honor to have Hana bring you a rolled up pair of socks. You just say, "Thank you Hana"





"Mom, please don't take our sink away!"





So cute!





Sadly, the IKEA sink is finally installed in the bathroom. The cat's favorite window seat and place to spoon is gone forever. For less cooking and more cats visit http://www.gattinamycats.blogspot.com/



Monday, August 9, 2010

This Thursday is take your wife to work day. Next Friday is Hawaiian shirt day.

This blog post is about exactly what the title states. But I couldn't resist a reference to the movie Office Space. My husband will definitely get a laugh out of that one. Who could forget the Bob's, badges of flare, stapler gate, stupid reports, yeaaaahhh and of course Hawaiian shirt day. But for me last Thursday started with a bus ride downtown with the hubb's. This is where he works. Somewhere in there anyway.

I hung out most of the morning on Nicollet mall. There is a huge Farmer's market on Thursdays. It must go on for at least 10 blocks, give or take.


My husband sometimes comes home with a bouquet of flowers on Thursday. But not for awhile. Hint...hint...









A pickle bar, meats and berries, millions of veggies and even some sweets.





An Onion tart for lunch...



Desert...


Free Izzy's ice cream for this guy.




Now for the real reason I came downtown. I'm part of a BVAS gallery show here at the Thrivent building. So I wandered over to check out the show after lunch.








These 2 paintings are from my fiction project. Blue Morpho and Pacific edge.



I call this painting Costa Rica. The frog is my favorite part. The show runs through August 30, 2010. Now on to Macy*s...