New House · Travel

$61 – exactly

stacks of quarters on a black granite countertop

From spring through fall at our First Street house, Richard, ever the car guy, would carefully coordinate the shade on the driveway and car washing to avoid direct sunshine and water spots. Later in the year, on those less frigid winter days, having collected quarters for months, he would use them at the self-service car wash thus keeping winter salt and slush to a minimum. These days, Med City Detail keeps our vehicles shiny and up to his standards. Since we no longer need this cash reserve sitting on the dresser, we decided a better use would be as an extra contribution to the Building Our Future-Beyond Ourselves church building fund.

As I lined up the coins from the Mason jar on the new kitchen island, I wondered if they might total 264 – just for kicks.  While I only reached $61, they did trigger a conversation about our 1989 western vacation, which mostly followed that historic highway and included touristy adventures such as dinner at the Big Texan in Amarillo, hiking the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest national parks, and spending the night at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, as well as a day at the Bob Bondurant School of Performance Driving. Definitely a chance to get your kicks on Route 66!


Travel

Red Redux

cake frosted like the Swiss flag with the German greeting beautiful 1 August

On the eve of Swiss National Day and as a final post in BeckyB’s #SimplyRed Squares challenge, I am reposting a picture of what I am sure was a delectable, delicious holiday treat.  My Swiss cousin Franz sent this in greeting on August 1, 2023, along with his warm regards following his family’s visit to Wisconsin. 

It has been a colorful #SimplyRed July and I am looking forward to Becky’s next Squares challenge.

And, just in time for tomorrow – Happy Swiss National Day! Or, more Appropriately- Alles Gute zum Schweizer Nationalfeiertag!

Travel

Jardin botanique de Montréal

red and white rose with greenery in the background

Whether following a frenetic F1 race weekend or simply enjoying several days of international sightseeing, the Jardin botanique de Montréal is always on my itinerary when visiting this beautiful city.

With dozens of thematic gardens showcasing everything from fragile alpine flowers to monastic medicinal plants even including an opportunity to discovery Indigenous knowledge in the First Nations Garden, the colors and fragrances are ever changing. A stroll through the rose garden offers riotous hues as displayed by this variegated beauty; perfect for this week’s #SimplyRed Squares contribution. The Jardin botanique de Montréal Rose Garden was created in 1976 to mark the Olympic Games and features over 7,000 roses, representing more than 900 species and cultivars.

Check out the #SimplyRed offerings from BeckyB and others participating in this Squares challenge.

Other items of interest · Travel

Geometric Secrets in King’s Chapel

stacks of gray slate roof tiles set against old stone wall

Geometric January: Square Challenge #3

Access to otherwise restricted areas is an advantage of sightseeing in a large, organized group. During the 2018 pilgrimage to Massachusetts, our time in King’s Chapel was not limited to the sanctuary. While that beautiful space is so full of history as to be a worthy destination all by itself, our talented guide gave us more. In the bell tower we touched the last bell ever cast and hung by Paul Revere. And, we ventured into the crypt where family names of the historically prominent were carved in the lintels. It was there that I snapped this photo for today’s GeometricJanuary challenge hosted by BeckyB revealing a supply of somewhat dusty slate roof tiles safely tucked away for future repairs.

Other items of interest · Travel

Travel Memories: Geometric Art in Switzerland

artistic colorful posts set against a forest background with tarmac road in foreground

Geometric January: Square Challenge #2

On a gray day amidst sporadic rain showers, a flash of color appeared as we traveled up the Bürgenstock for late afternoon hot chocolate and delectable desserts while overlooking Lake Lucerne at the Bürgenstock Resort.

Visits from Swiss cousins in July and October led to reminiscing about that earlier grand tour to Amsterdam, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. Their arrival brought a bit of international flair even as a trek to Holcombe, Wisconsin for Thanksgiving was our furthest away destination in 2024. That 2018 adventure is the source of this second GeometricJanuary square as I join BeckyB for a month of geometry with the thematic requirement that the header photo must be a square.

Photo details: Bürgenstock Resort, Canton of Nidwalden, Switzerland, September 2, 2018.

Knitting · Travel

Swiss Holiday Mail and Fiber Arts Inspiration

handpainted holiday images on card and envelope with Swiss postage stamps

Mail arrived from Switzerland just as Knit Camp’s virtual Traveler’s Club begins its three-month (January – March) exploration of Swiss fiber arts. The beautiful, handcrafted card offered family news, as well as memories from the summer of 2023 and time spent with Kuster cousins. This holiday greeting will serve as inspiration when I stash dive for yarn to knit this month’s themed pattern, the Interlaken Headband which features interlocking two-color mosaic stitches, just like the lakes for which the design is named.

Plus, the hand painted Christmas imagery also qualifies for this month’s geometric squares with BeckyB!

Happy Knitting! Or, more appropriately, Viel Spaß beim Stricken!

Other items of interest · Travel

Geometric January: Square Challenge #1

square photo of cobblestones set in geometric shapes with the toes of black shoes poking into the frame at the very bottom

Rather than simply start the new year by sharing good wishes (although I certainly offer those!) I am joining Becky for her GeometricJanuary challenge. With other bloggers from around the world, I will share images (all squares) that convey this quarter’s topic. The rules are simple: post a square picture that expresses the geometric theme. If you blog, consider joining the fun as the posts are always creatively entertaining.

While I cannot envision posting daily, I promise an assortment of the fresh images throughout the month starting with the cobblestone paths at the Montreal Botanical Garden that I traversed with friends in August 2022.

Knitting · Travel

Park Shawl

Just off my needles is Christina Campbell’s International Peace Park Shawl. Her inspiration for this simple asymmetrical shawl knit in two colors, came from Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, the world’s first international park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The design begins and ends with solid segments representing the two bordering countries, color shifting stripes portray the mountain ridges, and the delicate lace segments depict the fragile nature of peace. 

My knitting journal usually documents December projects designed by Christina when I have joined 100s of other knitters participating in her annual Project Peace knit-alongs (KAL).  The delicate hand-dyed merino fingering skeins from last June’s Hand Dyed Happy Yarn Club are reminiscent of craggy peaks after snowmelt and spring flowers dotting high mountain meadows.  The pattern sat in my queue while I waited for that just right combo of yarns since, after three visits, Glacier National Park remains among my favorite natural places with these fond memories…

  • A mid-summer visit with nieces and nephews when thirteen of us hiked a glacier trail.  The sun sparkling so brightly off the snowpack there were sunburned calves, despite a slathering of sunscreen. 
  • When, despite a sunny June day, we could only venture as far as Lake McDonald Lodge as heavy, late season snowfalls blocked Going-to-the Sun Road.
  • And the thwarted plans to visit Glacier’s Canadian counterpart, Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada, due to lack of proper documentation.  We had incorrectly assumed drivers’ licenses were sufficient IDs and we learned (too late) that without our passports, US customs would not allow reentry.  Instead, we simply enjoyed rustic Rocky Mountain scenery on our side of the border.

Happy knitting on happy trails!

Travel

Happy Swiss National Day!

cake frosted like the Swiss flag with the German greeting beautiful 1 August

While this holiday always shows up on my calendar, it is special this summer as we have just said “Auf Wiedersehen” to ten cousins visiting from Switzerland, as well as an assortment of US relatives with Swiss heritage.  Leading up to their arrival, I assumed the role of travel agent and booked housing and offered sighting seeing suggestions.  Even though arriving in Chicago on different days, six on July 9 and the four landing on July 21, everyone’s destination was the micro-metropolis of Bloomer, Wisconsin, and the Kuster-Custer family reunion.  The last family picnic was held in 2013 celebrating my Great Uncle Vincenz’s 1913 arrival in America and my grandfather’s visit to his brother a year later.

The challenge of planning sightseeing trips for Swiss visitors is understanding and accepting that the Midwest specializes in subtleties.  We simply cannot compete with the panoramic vistas of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, rather Wisconsin and Minnesota offer gently rolling green hills, tall corn, and the mighty Mississippi, albeit moving slowing along.

In addition to the picnic, my tour guide itinerary included two trips to the Mississippi River (one for each of the two travel groups) with stops at Lark Toys to ride the hand-carved carousel, the Alma lock and dam to watch a tow go through, a scan of the valley from atop the river bluff, and wood-fired pizza at the Stone Barn, as well as 17 people joining Momma for Sunday Mass.  Momma’s house was the gathering point for three dinners – lasagna for 9, a sandwich smorgasbord, and post-picnic snacks, enjoyed by 17, all served with a variety of red and white wines (moderately consumed) and gifts of Swiss chocolate in red and white foil wrappings.

In these few days, amid a great deal of laughter, a few tears for those no longer with us, and plenty of careful translation from Schweizerdeutsch (Swiss German) to English and back again, we, the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren of August, Vincenz, and Willhelm Kuster shared the joy of family together.

Photo credit:  Swiss National Day graphic shared by Franz K. via WhatsApp

Travel

Up, up and away…

white airplane wing above the clouds with a Swiss flag on the wing tip against blue sky

While we may not be traveling very far from home these days, we are soon going to enjoy hints of Switzerland.  Six Kuster cousins landed in Chicago last Saturday, toured the Windy City, and are now heading north along the shores of Lake Michigan.  They will spend time in Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, and beautiful Door County before driving west to my hometown, Eau Claire.  Another four Kuster cousins will depart Zurich on July 20 for O’Hare and immediately head north for the all day Kuster-Custer Family Picnic on July 22 in the small burg of Bloomer (population ~3,700).  At last count during yesterday’s Zoom planning session, we are expecting 180 picnickers, including our 10 Swiss visitors.  Amazing to think what the two brothers, Wilhelm and Vincenz immigrating from Switzerland, created.

Photo credit: Marianne Deluca