state park

Take a Hike

| terriaw

I like to take different hikes on the weekends in fall, try a different trail, see different landscapes, collect treasures I find on the trails, mostly through photography. One of these weekends, I’m hoping to go on a hike by myself and try doing some botanical studies and odes to nature in my sketchbook.

This past weekend, I hiked at Lapham Peak, which is part of the Kettle Moraine State Forest Southern unit, formed 10,000 years ago by glaciers. The trails traverse through glacially-formed hills and around kettle lakes, prairies and state forest land.


It was also great fun to discover a beautiful butterfly garden in the middle of this state park, full of a huge variety of wildflowers that attract pollinators. Nice to still see bees, goldfinches and monarchs this late in the season. I lucked out with a warm and sunny fall day, so it was exhilarating to be out in the woods and hiking the trails again.

End of Summer Weekend

| terriaw

I love three-day weekends, especially ones filled with summer weather. We started ours with a weekly trip to farmers market where I bought squash potatoes for this recipe, zucchini for this recipe, the best granola I’ve ever had, and raspberry chocolate tarts.

Because it’s the end of summer, we didn’t feel like gardening, so we lounged the afternoon away.

I fixed this sewing project with the addition of some ric-rac trim along the border and outside seam.

I made two of these with some fabric in my stash.

We spent a fabulous day on Sunday at Devils Lake State Park hiking and sightseeing.

The views from the top of West Bluff were gorgeous.

There were early Fall colors to be seen growing around these large boulders.

We saw some weird fungus growing on the rocks too!

We saw a lot of people on the trails, but it was still exhilarating to be out in nature, exercising and breathing in the fresh air. Good for my heart and soul!

The beach was crowded with friends and families, picnicking and playing in the water.

We brought a picnic and lounged on our blanket for awhile.

I made that blanket a couple years ago and this is the first time we’ve ever used it!

The ground was hard and we needed pillows, so that is my mission for Labor Day – to make small, maybe 8×12-size depending on what Joann’s has in stock, portable picnic pillows to go with our picnic blanket. I say portable because I’m thinking about either handles or straps for easy carrying.

I am already looking forward to the next three-day weekend, no matter what the season.