Say Cheese! Last Gasps of Summer

I'm more of an autumn or spring person but it is sad to see summer's last hurrah.

The Tree Farm had grape tomatoes to die for as well as all of this last Thursday

Calculating if he's "This Tall" before another crushing blow

Yesterday at the Sun Prairie Corn Fest (who doesn't love a ginger)

A Hammock Boat made from instructions on the Internet

Maureen (her brother John built the boat) and Camilla (from Norge)

A color shot of the Matz Farmstead not included in the last post

My cousin Jackie in a classic, "Don't you dare take my picture" shot

Matz Farmstead Ruins

This property is a nice bit of local history. Homesteaded by a German immigrant named Matz in 1852, this farmhouse was built with stone locally sourced after the owner, Friedrich Matz, returned from the Civil War.
Here's a photo of the farmhouse from 1907.

Matz spent time at Camp Randall—go Badgers—before going off to war as a private in the 11th infantry.

The house burned down in 1949 and I haven't seen much more information about the ruins than what's on the Historical Marker Database.

Halfway Prairie Wildlife Area

It's part of the Dane County Halfway Prairie Wildlife Area and although often photographed, I thought this building would look good in black and white.
There are more remains out of shot to the left shown in this post from last fall.  

Say Cheese! Mosquitos

Cloudy weather plus humidity make me a walking human pest strip.

A beautiful place but what I remember most are the mosquitos.

Dog and Butterfly

A week of dogs and butterflies.

Must you, always, with the camera?

Dog Visit!

And then she flew away into the garden

Marilyn

This was a throw away snapshot of my mother in front of a diner in the Dells taken with my pocket camera (I could buy 13-and-a-half of them with what I paid for my new lens). It got some good feedback on a Facebook group called Wandering Through Wisconsin, so here you go, happy Thursday.

Say Goat Cheese!

It won't turn me into Diane Arbus, but the lens I rented finessed these mediocre snapshots into photos so...

Give us a kiss

Got into the funny weeds growing out back

Circulating on Facebook, origin unknown

...I bought the lens.

Say Cheese! Big Cats

I stopped by the Big Cat Rescue in Rock Springs last week and had a nice visit in the hot sun. I know this is stupid but they remind me so much of house cats and dumber yet I was talking to them as if they were. I got pretty much the same reaction as I do with house cats.

Vixie, a female Bengal Tiger

Memphis, a male White Bengal Tiger

Either Snowball or Avalanche, a White Bengal Tiger

Bam-Bam, a male African Lion who inspired the Big Cat Rescue

Dozer, a male Black Leopard rescued from a FIB zoo that no longer had room for him

Lives downwind of the Big Cat Rescue and quite chill 

Say Cheese! Lens That Costs More Than Most People Would Pay For A Camera

I decided to rent a real (as in real expensive) lens before I climbed the next step up to a full frame. I picked up a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 lens at the local camera store (where they're charging $300.00 more than Canon).

Having a Jaques Tati moment.

Enlarge to see classic butt check, left

Then home (stuck behind some friggin' idiot going ten miles below the speed limit on four, yes four different highways...almost crashed into him on 113 where either time stopped or his car was trying to eject him).

Acoplados baterista sans zapatos

The Say Cheese! Birthday Link Up

Both my mother and Oliver recently had birthdays which helped a little with the loss of Bob. Nothing like cake and candles to make eating at our favorite restaurant a special occasion.
Of course I'm still a diabetic and still on a major diet so no cake for you!

Torture, I mean cupcakes fresh from the Milwaukee Metro Market

Ninety-four and wondering, "Where is the other half of this cupcake?"

A pile of birthday lottery tickets

Seven and wondering why his niece Bella, a lab pup who doesn't stop moving long enough for a photo, always shows up at treat time

Frosty Paws Goatee

And now it's time to link a post with photos or a lovely cheese recipe.  Really, all you need is a photo or recipe and as much as I love comments, why not link your post too?
Say Cheese! cake and ice cream.

The Especially Sad Say Cheese! Linky

It doesn't seem possible but we lost Bob on Saturday. Bob and I had a lot in common, mostly that we didn't like many people but we did like each other.

Bobby Boy made me think of the Moe Szyslak quote, "I'm a well-wisher in that I don't wish you any specific harm." He could be a real demon seed but that made it all the more special when he let you into his world, one that I picture looking like the Upside Down.

The photo-ready Teddy was originally called, "Bob" because his black and white head could be seen bobbing in the field on nature walks. That soon gave way to "Bob No" (his Facebook name) for obvious reasons.

His one-man roll call included Bob Barker, Handsome Bob, Mr. French, Roberto Clementi (his actual last name), Rat Boy #1, Big Rat and Crabby Pants (his park name). He was the elder of the two Rat Boy Brothers.

A daddy's boy, dandy and only child until he-who-shall-not-be-named came along, Bob knew what he liked and liked what he knew, another thing we had in common.

How he put up with me I'll never know, but the postseason will be all the poorer without him.

I love you, boy and I'll think of you every time I start singing songs from the seventies and pass the Walkies Park (which is pretty much every day). 

The car still smells like you and it feels as if you're right there beside me (which you shouldn't be, get back in your seat, Stank Breath).

It meant a lot to me that you let me into your funny, fuzzy, fractured, frazzled world.
Thank you for letting me in, boy, shhh, now everything's okay.

Say Cheese! Walkies Park

We had a deluge yesterday followed by heat that dialed up to sweltering before we circled the walkies park.

♪ "I am the beautiful reflection of my love's affection." 🎵

The scene at the Walkies Park after the storm

Oliver sporting his new doo