random ramblings

The title of this post is frightening to anyone who really knows me. If I’ve ever left you a voicemail while I’m driving, you already know how I tend to go on and on and on. I begin with the reason for my call, with every minute detail imaginable. Then I will whine about how sad I am that I didn’t reach you personally. And if traffic is bad or there is a horrific driver in my path (and really, when isn’t there?!) I will tell you all about it. After that useless information, I’ll feel the need to let you know where, why, how, who, what, and where I am going. But aside from the part you just read, this post is not like that…

Instead, I am going to share with you some cool stuff of late… at least I think it’s cool stuff.

Today I added a new category to my LINK column, over there on the right of the page. It’s called “French Stuff I LOVE”. Some of the links are new and some I’ve moved from other categories, check it out. Actually, I hope you’ve checked out most of the links by now, there is some really great stuff there, cooking and otherwise.

I’ve been shopping on the web too much lately. A few things are more than necessary, such as my hair products from Ouidad. If you too have naturally curly hair, these products are must-haves, especially the Climate Control. Honestly, I could not live (as in could not live with a huge frizzy mass that would be my hair) without it! A couple of other purchases, I suppose I could live without them, but sometimes when you see something you love, you just have to snap it up before someone else does and you regret and mourn the loss. The milk bottle crate is from Napa Style (seriously overpriced cool stuff) and the vintage cash register drawer from The Old Painted Cottage – one of the aforementioned links on the right with reasonably priced and cool stuff. The crate has arrived, and the drawer is on its way. What about you? Do you shop on the web? Isn’t it satisfying to do so in your P.J.’s?!

Finally, I want to share a few pictures from our recent trip to Dave’s hometown of Rockton, Illinois, which is on the Illinois/Wisconsin border. Rockton is a small charming midwestern town, actually a village, located on the banks of the Rock River. While Dave was growing up there, the population was under 2,000. When he graduated high school in 1975 it was 2,218. The 2000 census had it at 5,296, the 2010 count isn’t in yet…

If you have heard of Rockton before, it is most likely due to Rockton’s claim to fame from the 1940s through the 1970s – The Wagon Wheel. During its glory, the Wagon Wheel sprawled across more than 300 acres. It boasted attractions such as an airstrip, golf course, restaurants, church, bowling alley, (both pictured below) dinner theater, and two ice skating rinks, where Olympic figure skating bronze medalist Janet Lynn trained.

Walt Williamson started the Wagon Wheel in 1936 as a hamburger stand and gas station.

Sadly, after Williamson’s death in 1975, the demise of the Wagon Wheel began. After a rash of suspicious fires in the 1990s, the site became an eyesore. In 2004, the once-famous resort was demolished and the site cleared.

But one Rockton gem still stands and has personal meaning to Dave and his family, an old stone house (above) that is actually featured on The Village of Rockton website gallery page. This house was the Hopkins’ family home that Dave’s father grew up in. The family sold it after Dave’s grandmother died, to the man who still owns it today. When we were visiting in July, we stopped to take pictures and were met by the gardener, a lovely woman, who allowed us to tour the yard and take pictures. The log-cabin-style playhouse with red shutters (pictured at the top of this page) was built for Dave’s father, and still stands there today and is used as the garden shed. The shed is used as a working fireplace, look for the chimney in the photo below. I am hopeful that the next time we visit, we will be able to tour the inside and possibly draw some plans for the new shed…

This concludes my random ramblings… the next post will surely include a recipe.