Grand-Dogger

This is Harriet, my daughter's four-year old Cockapoo.  She is delightfully energetic, yet was being unusually well-behaved and patient during our photography session.  Saturday was warm and humid, and it was quite a walk down to the Washington Highlands creek, so I believe it took a little wind out of her sails.  She was just happy to rest for a while on the cool rocks along the creek before our hike home.

Arts & Crafts Part II

Just down the street from the home posted yesterday is another gorgeous example of Arts & Crafts architecture in suburban Wauwatosa. This one looks like it belongs deep in the forest of a fairy tale.

...Except for the neon flamingos!

Vintage Arts & Crafts

An original Arts & Crafts-style house located on Stickney Avenue in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. There are a number of these beautiful works of art on this street, and throughout the city. This style of architecture flourished in the early part of the 20th century. They just don't build 'em like this anymore.

Constantine & Helen

The City of Wauwatosa is sometimes called the "City of Churches" because there are over a dozen within the old village area alone.  Set amidst a pleasant neighborhood of stately vintage homes, Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthadox church stands out as a divergent bit of architecture.

One Way Cafe

A nice place to stop for a cup of coffee or tea while shopping in the Village of Wauwatosa.  And yes, it is on a one-way street. ;-)

Supervision!

This sign is posted in my doctor's office.  There is a Starbuck's next door and I believe they keep a supply of puppies in the back. ;-)

Piano Lessons

Wauwatosa is the Native American term for firefly, so many things and places in Tosa have the word "firefly" within them.  This cute piano studio, located in a refurbished house on Harwood Ave., has a rusty water pump out front cleverly sporting the shop's sign.

Peter Piper Bartolotta

Another grand Victorian-Gothic style building in the Village of Wauwatosa houses the esteemed "Ristorante Bartolotta." Built of cream city brick, this is the flagship location for the Bartolotta restaurant group and is hands-down my favorite place for a special meal in the Milwaukee area. Their Pappardelle Braised Duck Ragu is fabulous!

For decades, it was the "Peter Piper Pancake House" - the type of restaurant you might see featured in Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network.  A great story about this place is that it was a local haunt of the old Tosa eccentric, Abe Austin, Jr.!

Ace Hardware

The Ace Hardware store in the village of Wauwatosa is celebrating its 91st year in business in this beautiful old gothic stone building. The inside brings you back to simpler times, and while walking through narrow aisles, the oak plank wooden floors creak with every step. They just don't build 'em like this any more!

Lamp Posts

These signs were displayed from the area lamp-posts in the quaint downtown village of Wauwatosa. During our recent afternoon walk we visited a number of cute shops, photos of which I'll be posting throughout the week.  

Peace Sign

We spent a recent Saturday afternoon walking through the quaint shops of the Wauwatosa Village. This sign was posted on the door of "French Country Pine & Design" on Underwood Ave.  The point is that Wisconsin recently enacted an open carry firearms law... and while few people actually do so, many would rather not see it at all.

Below is the storefront of this cute shop which offers lots of whimsical design accents.

Theme Day: Bakeries

Delicious!  It's the first and only word that comes to mind when talking about Simma's Bakery in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.  The lovely wedding cake above was made for a friend of my daughter's special day a few years back.  The display below shows just a few of the many options available on a daily basis at Simma's shop.  A picture of Simma posing with Julia Child (bottom) is on the wall in her bakery.  Since her retirement, Simma's daughter manages the busy little bakery, which in 2007 was given the "One of America's Top 25 Bakeries" award by the International Restaurant and Hospitalities Rating Bureau.

Nanking Cherry

Our old neighbors back in Wauwatosa gave us a little Nanking cherry tree seedling (Prunus Tomentosa) a year after we moved out to Pewaukee. I dutifully planted it back in our tree line and tended to it for the first few years, only to see it mown over by the subdivision groundskeepers. Heartbroken, I nursed the little stalk - which still had a few leaves - back to life, and put a small barrier of chicken wire around it. Surely that would deter the mowers. Nope! The next year we found the wire bent and twisted in the tree line and the little tree was completely gone! We sadly admitted defeat and soon forgot about it.

Last summer while cleaning out some brush in the tree line, I noticed a small bush near the edge that was overgrown with tall grass. A closer peak revealed that it was covered in tiny cherries. The Nanking had survived after all! Apparently over the past few years, the mowers had changed their boundaries just enough for the little tree to come back to life, yet still be hidden by other wild plants. We cleared it out a bit and put another, larger protection barrier around the slim trunk, and this year it's flowering beautifully. Can hardly wait for the cherries of summer!

SkyWatch Friday: Time for Lunch

We met our daughter for lunch last Friday in the Village of Wauwatosa. Tosa is a large and fairly diverse community in the western part of Milwaukee County. When we lived in Wauwatosa, we were only about 8 blocks from the Village and used to walk there often. The Menomonee River runs through it paralleled by railroad tracks, and a little red station house is still there as an historic marker. The facades have changed and the old fashioned pancake house and "Drew's Variety Store" have been replaced by upscale restaurants, shops, and boutiques. The old Ace hardware store is still there, though - wooden floors and all, as is the good old Baskin-Robbins.

On this day we dined alfresco at Cafe Hollander, and just a few weeks ago we met friends for dinner at Firefly. This newer building (above) houses offices, indoor parking and a Noodles Restaurant, and features a clock tower showing that it was, indeed, time for lunch.

Be sure to view all SkyWatch Friday entries here.