Hollyhocks

Sometimes the old-fashioned flowers are the prettiest. We have a row of hollyhocks growing against the south wall of our house. Hardy and dependable, they re-seed and come back year after year, sometimes surprising us with new or unexpected colors. This year we have burgundy, yellow, and this pretty pink coral.

Peewee's Playhouse

This funky custom-built wooden playhouse caught our eye while driving down Green Road. Cedar shake shingles & everything. Very cute, in an asymmetrical Tim Burton sort of way. The sign gives all the details.

Meadow Creek Market

During an early bicycle ride on Friday morning I was finally able to get a few more photos of the community of Pewaukee. Meadow Creek Market is a large shopping area made up of several blocks of retail stores. You can see Wal-Mart in the distance. It was still early, and therefore the whole area was pretty quiet. Very ho-hum suburbia...

Of course, there is the ubiquitous Walgreen's Pharmacy.


...and the necessary grocery store, Pick & Save (or as locals call it, the "Pluck & Shove.")


Sit on the patio or have a cup of coffee to go from Dunn Brother's Coffee.


You can always "Save Big Money at Menard's!" (as their ad goes) - the regional home improvement super store.


Hungry? Have lunch at the Chinese "Supper Buffet" -- I believe there's one like this in every city.


And finally, stop to see if you have any money left at the National City Bank.

SkyWatch Friday: Sunrise Cotton-Candy

I rarely get up before dawn, and even then I don't usually venture outside. But during this week's heat wave, even with air-conditioning the house seemed stuffy. We northern Midwesterners complain about the cold winters, but can't seem to tolerate the hot, humid summers, either. Tough crowd!

The other morning, I decided to get up early and see if it was any cooler outside. It actually was (although not by much.) I was greeted by these fluffy cotton candy clouds reflecting the rising sun.

Check out all SkyWatch entries here.

Meet Mr. Puffball

We've had a lot of rain followed by hot, humid weather and so have been inundated with a variety of mushrooms in the area. But none so wonderful as the one in the photo I took a few years back of a giant puffball mushroom in the woods near Balmer Park. I couldn't resist giving him some shades. :-)

Another one was of this wonderfully twisted toadstool growing out of a dead branch in our tree line. Looks like something right out of Alice in Wonderland!

Japanese Maple

A shot of a branch from the Japanese Red Maple in the front of our house. We planted this "small shrub" almost 15 years ago when we moved into our house. Assured by the garden center that this variety would not exceed 15 to 20 feet, it's now pushing 25 feet and waves outside our upstairs office window. I love the pretty, delicate leaves and they turn a deep rusty coral in the fall.

Thistle

This thistle is growing next to the railing of a stairway overlooking a walking path by Lake Michigan. Still tightly closed, the bloom will be a lovely fringed raspberry pink once opened. I think it looks beautiful this way, too. Hard to think of something this graceful and pretty as being a weed.

Harriet & Humbert

Can you see her? Being so tiny, blending in is probably a good thing. That and being quick! We've named this little female hummingbird Harriet. She sat perched on top of the Linden tree surveying her surroundings for a very long time. At least we think she's a female because she is not as bright as Humbert, the male, seen below at the feeder.

They are not shy, either. If we are sitting on the patio & the feeder is nearly empty, they will buzz around, chirp loudly and complain. Just like kids... so maybe we're really not empty-nesters after all.

Summertime

You know it's really summer when the neighborhood kids set up their lemonade stands, complete with handmade signs. This resourceful little dude (with some help from his mom) was selling lemonade, bottled water, trail mix, Rice Krispie Treats, and "Fun Fruits," although his cute little sister was busy eating all the profits. :-)

Sunset Spruces

Another beautiful sunset for SkyWatch Friday. This view looks over a forest of spruce trees lining the "Broken Hill" subdivision, just east of the Meadowcreek Market shopping center on Capitol Drive in Pewaukee. Really has a north woods feel, doesn't it?

See all SkyWatch entries here.

Clematis

Maybe it's been the long cool spring, but it's been a great year for certain flowering perennials around our patio. The clematis vine took a long time to come around, but it's loaded with flowers. This photo is just one example of the pretty purple and white blooms.

Sunrise: On the Rocks

This was the view out our patio door at our hotel on the morning we left. Do the lucky residents of Sedona ever grow tired of waking up to those surroundings everyday? Behind Bill Mr. Pewaukee Daily Photo you can see we had a great view of Brins Mesa and Coffee Pot Rock (which we both agreed, at a certain angle, looks more like a rooster.) As always, vacation went much too quickly, but we are already planning our next visit back there - over New Years! The Packers are slated to play the AZ Cardinals and we're scheming to get tickets. :-)

Red Rock Country

I would be remiss if I didn't post at least a few photos of the gorgeous red-rock scenery we encountered in Sedona. The top shot includes a view of what appears to be private water reservoirs back in Boynton Canyon in West Sedona. Not sure if they belong to the Enchantment Resort located along the canyon, or if they are part of the very posh collection of houses in the area.

Boynton Canyon parallels the above mentioned resort for a short distance of the trail. They have no doubt seen their share of errant hikers and so have responded by erecting an adobe retaining wall with an iron-gate fence. Also posted are "keep out" signs boasting of security cameras and armed guards. So much for hospitality...

At the end of the trail we found a plateau covered with dozens of small piles of methodically stacked rocks. Not sure what the meaning of this is - but we found it quite amusing, and naturally had to add our own contributions.

Antique Teenager

This amusing decal was on the back window of the truck parked next to us in the long term parking lot at Milwaukee's Mitchell Field Airport. From the various poker-related paraphernalia on his dashboard, I'm guessing he went to Vegas!

Flag Day

To commemorate Flag Day, I'm posting this image of the oldest (?) operating saloon and restaurant in Arizona, The Palace. There was lots of red, white and blue displayed on the day we walked by. Located on Prescott's "Whiskey Row," the inside has an airy feel with tall, tin-lined ceilings, dark wood, a long, old-fashioned bar, and great local art work. We did not have a chance to eat there... perhaps next time.

Arizona Flowering Shrub

This lovely delicate bloom was one of many on a vine-like flowering shrub outside our Sedona hotel. The red and gold colors really gave them a southwestern flair. I don't know their name, but they seemed to be very common in the landscape.

Sedona Moonscape

On our drive from Phoenix up to Sedona, Arizona, we paused at a rest stop to watch the moon rise over the distant hills.

Sky Harbor Airport: Skywatch Friday

We're back! And even though this blog is supposed to be about Pewaukee, there were just a few things we saw on our trip to Arizona that I might have to post. The first is this airplane hanging beneath a prairie-style stained glass ceiling which is the focal point of Sky Harbor's terminal 3 in Phoenix.

The stained glass ceiling, designed and created by artist Ken Toney, was installed when terminal 3 opened in 1979. Because the original bulbs that illuminated this work of art lasted for only a few years, Sky Harbor officials could not justify the expense of building scaffolding every time the bulbs needed to be changed. Therefore, the ceiling remained dark for almost 20 years. In 2004, it was re-lit. Because lighting technology has improved so much in the past few years, the bulbs which now illuminate the stained glass will last for 10 years or more without needing to be changed.

See all SkyWatch entries here.

Garage Makeover

We're in Arizona this week, so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post. But I do have this unusual photo of a local garage that I pass each day on my way to work. It was transformed from a single to a two-car with an interesting arbor over the front door, along with a "faux" weather-vane tower. The shadows are quite dramatic in the morning sun.

Balloon Chase

It's that time of year again - where the weather gets a little warmer, the trees are leafed out, and the hot-air balloons take off! This balloon was floating above Pewaukee the other day when I noticed it was being followed by several cars and a "chase" truck. They were in front of me on my way home and so I was able to watch it land in a field to the left of the road while the vehicles patiently waited.

The area has lots of open space, parks, farms fields and such, so it's ideal for this adventurous "sport." During the Waukesha County Fair in July, there is usually a fleet of them flying overhead for several days.

Skywatch Friday: Sunset over Chrysler

...Literally and figuratively. This view shows a very heavy sun sinking behind cold, hazy clouds above the local Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep dealership in Brookfield, Wisconsin, earlier this spring. Built just a few years ago to accomodate a booming economy, it is still in business - for now. With finances going south, we shall see what the rest of the year brings.

See more of SkyWatch Friday here.

Lake Country Gallery

Lake Country Gallery in Pewaukee houses a number of works from local artists. It's a converted turn-of-the-century (19th to 20th!) school house. The fiberglass animal sculptures outside the gallery are landmarks of sort, as they have been there since the place opened in the late 1990's.

Dog-Walkin'

In keeping with June's theme of "feet"...

During a hike back in April, I was trying to find something that would suggest spring. Subject matter was hard to find as, even though the sun was out, it was still rather brown and gray all around the park. For lack of anything better, I decided to get a few shots of Nik - and in doing so, got my shadow and my foot in the picture!

June Theme Day: Feet - Polar Bear Paws

The Polar Bear exhibit at the Milwaukee County Zoo features several very large bears, and this one displayed his very large and oh-so-cute padded feet during his nap!

See all June Theme Day entries here.