Rohling Studios

Christmas at the Osthoff Resort and "The Golden Bratwurst"

Paul, Laura and I went to the Osthoff in Elkhart Lake for the day.  Look who we met!  Isn't he the greatest St. Nick you have ever seen?!!!  The funny thing is that I still feel giddy when I stand next to Santa, St. Nick or whoever you want to call him!!!  He is such a magical character!   The most fun of all was to stand next to my son with Santa.  In the past I stood behind the camera lense and took pictures of the kids with Santa.  Yesterday Laura took this picture of Paul and I with "the jolly old soul"!  It was worth the trip if only to have the picture....however there was so much more to see!!!

These are the adorable gingerbread houses sold by Coffee Garden from Merton, WI.

Meet Joe Kohlbeck from JK Designs of Sheboygan, WI.  He makes the most beautiful one of a kind reverse painted glass ornaments.  He also wrote the "New Legend of the Golden Bratwurst" and crafts the ornaments of them. Sheboygan is the home of bratwurst.  

He gave me permission to reprint his story...please email him if you wish to reprint it since it is copyrighted. 

                       The New Legend of the Golden Bratwurst

It was Christmas Eve in Sheboygan long ago and Heinze and Marta Gootwurster were puzzling over what to leave for a treat for Santa.  Marta said, "Heinze, the chickens, they ain't laying no eggs, der all on strike like the rest of us.  We don't have no money to buy a ham for Christmas much less sugar for bakin' cookies this year!  All seven of the Gootwurster children at the dinner table hung their heads sadly ad little Joey cried, "But Santa won't bring us presents if we don't leave some cookies for him!"  "Now, now children", said Marta, "Dat's nonsense! Santa don't just bring you presents to get gingerbread cookies.  He brings presents 'cause you  been good children and givin' gifts is part of the celebration of the Christchild's birth!  We tink of somethin' to leave for Santa."

"Hey Marta"said Heinze, "let's leave Santa a double brat from Grandpa Gootwurster's family recipe this year once, instead of all them cookies he'll get all over anyway enso!  "Yah, Yah, Heinze" said Marta, "dat's a good idea!"  So they left a note for Santa where the cookies usually were, instructing him to join Marta and Heinze in the back yard for an outdoor fry and there would be plenty of brats, Sheboygan hard rolls and all the fixings.

Santa filled all the stockings so carefully hung by the chimney and left more presents under the thin, sparsely decorated Christmas tree.  He found the note Heinze and Marta had left for him.  As he whooshed back up the chimney he was speculating over what a "double brat" might be.  He jumped off the roof into a big snow bank that was rapidly shrinking from the heat of the grill.  As he dusted off the snow, Marta was extending a steaming double brat on a Sheboygan hard roll with all the fixings.  Santa quickly muttered a thank you and took his first bite of a double brat.  He rolled his eyes and gobbled the rest of the sandwich down.  "That was f-a-b-u-l-0-u-s,"he said, "you kow, I get pretty "cookied" out this time of year!"

"Santa" said Heinze, "we have plenty more brats, would you like anudder one?"  Santa thought for a moment and replied, "I would indeed...ahh let me look at 'em once!?! "  He picked up a brat with his fingers and held it up in front of him.  With eyes twinkling, he laid his finger along side his nose and turned the golden-brown bratwurst into a golden Christmas ornament.  Santa presented the bratwurst ornament to Marta and Heinze Gootwurster for their wonderful hospitality and it continues to grace their Christmas tree to this day.

Much to their surprise, when they opened the grill, the remaining bratwursts had been turned into golden Christmas ornaments too.  Heinze and Marta hung their sparse tree full of the golden bratwurst ornaments and the Gootwurster children were dazzled by them on Christmas morning.  As friends and relatives visited them over the holidays, Marta and Heinze would give them a golden bratwurst ornament as a symbol of their hospitality and friendship.

Copyright 1997 Joe Kohlbeck

Email Joe at [email protected]  to order your own golden bratwurst.             

      

Where The Hell Is Matt?

Every so often someone captures your attention because they are uniquely themselves.......no matter where they go......and.....by being so they make you smile!  I have to post this young man (as he says) doing his bad dance all around the world...Go Matt!!!!  You are the essence of living this life!

The International Quilt Festival/Chicago 2007/Little Stitches

Oh my!  I have never been in such a large area with as many REALLY NICE PEOPLE all at one time!  It must be the nature of quilters and people who love fabric.  It was crowded but let me tell you...everywhere you heard..."oh excuse me....I'm so sorry....Isn't this wonderful....I'll share it with you!"  My goodness I came out of this day thinking that if quilters ran the world we'd be so much better off! I have a whole weeks worth of things to show you and people for you to meet!  So I guess I will just start from the beginning!  There is bound to be something you will like going on in this blog for the next week....lots of new people to meet and lots of eye candy!

This is where I met Debbie Lofgren from Little Stitches.  She is from Escondido, Ca.   Their patterns are a mixture of primitive, folk-art & a bit of whimsy. AND.........they are super nice folks too!  Be sure to visit their website and get to know them better HERE.  You can order from their website so treat yourself to looking at all the wonderful patterns from penny rugs to punch needle and more...they offer it.  Tell them I said hi!                                                                                              

       

To order these check out there website on this page!

A Quick TRIP To Chicago

It was a very quick trip.  My son, Ben was in Chicago on business so...Friday it was off to Chicago to see family.  I decided to take the train that leaves from Sturtevant.   It's a wonderful new  station that stops less than two miles from where I live.  As I packed my overnight bag I felt quite like a young girl.  My friend Ang, took me to the station.  No one was there when we arrived.  The big round clock high on the wall had stopped marking time.  We checked out the building and discovered our voices echoed through out....(Which gave me the perfect chance to imitate Kate Smith loud and proud!)  Ang is my best friend because, usually...I can do what ever I feel like and she will either laugh, crack a joke or join in.  A friend that doesn't get embarrassed when I am me is great to have.  We have fun together.  In this case we were both singing arms outstretched in true show biz style when we both looked up at about the same time to see a camera in the ceiling probably making a video of everything and everyone that steps into the station.  It took a few minutes after Ang left before anyone else showed up.  No one would have known they had missed a great comedy show only minutes prior.  Someone, somewhere was laughing like crazy when they ever reviewed those tapes. I climbed on the train and it arrived in Union Station less than one hour later.  What a delight it was to ride the train again.  When I got off, my oldest son, Paul was standing there grinning at me.  What a great surprise!  In case I haven't told you before I think I have the worlds best kids!  We headed over to meet Ben and went up to the Signature Room for an quiet drink and an appetizer before dinner. 

 

We watched the sunset and the traffic grow and then we were off to look for a quick cup of coffee somewhere on the Magnicant Mile before dinner.  After dinner we stopped at The House of Blues to listen to a band called "Liquid Soul" and have a few beers before bed.  I'm very impressed by the collection of outsider art they have there! The HOB houses one of the country's largest, publicly displayed folk art collections.  Art covers the walls, bar and even the ceiling.... Many original pieces by Mose Toliver and Howard Finster!  It was less than 24 hours later Paul and I were dropping off Ben at O'Hare Airport to catch his flight home and we were headed north over the Wisconsin State Line and home.  I had fun spending time with my boys.  It was good to see them together and to be with them again. 

Happy Halloween from Water Street in Milwaukee

     

Happy Halloween Everyone!  So here I am on Water Street in Milwaukee, WI which is the most wonderful place to people watch on the Saturday night closest to Halloween.  How appropriate to be drinking a brew on Halloween...don't you think?  The big draw is the $1,000 first prize and the second prize Packer Tickets.  I have to apologize at the onset of this post for the poor quality of photographs but I had to have you get an idea of what it is all about!

I don't know these people but this is what you do on Water Street...You walk around and take pictures of each other and sometimes the TV crews take pictures of you taking pictures of each other.  And then you talk a bit and move on to meet some more folks. 

My Grandson would have loved this couple.

Now this is the fellow who had the best costume there!  Very slick!

I actually met Popeye and Olive Oil....My sister would be so jealous!

No Halloween is without Elvis and Marilynn Monroe.

Some people come alone but larger than life!  You simply have to make it a point to meet them!

And some are so large they are intimidating!

These two came as a butterfly and a ladybug.

Milwaukee must be sporting a new kind of brew!

 

Some made some money while in costume....

Some didn't wear costumes but hammed it up for the camera just the same as those of us who did!

 

And then there were those of us who continued to walk around the streets flirting with men in tin costumes (WHO WAS THAT MASKED MAN?).  The best thing about the whole evening is simply this....strangers talked to strangers, young to old, People just out to have fun....there were no barriers of any kind.  Some came in groups, some came alone....everyone talked to everyone....laughter was everywhere!  There just aren't enough days like that!  I think we should get dressed up no matter how old we get.  I think we should have more days that it is ok to get dressed up!  Happy Halloween Everyone!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere

Don't you love them?  How does nature do it?  These things of many shapes and sizes begin to grow from a little seed!  It amazes me every year.  And every year they are the subject of so much fun!  I love Halloween!  I love the pumpkins the best of all.  I love to see the things everyone does with them.  Everything from carving, to decorating, to drawing them.  I love all the different shades of orange.   I took these photos with a good friend in Door County earlier this season.  I saved them for today to post.  To carve your own pumpkin on line go to....  http://www.cubpack81.com/images/carve_pumpkin.swf  carve your pumkin and then click DONE to see it light up. 

Halloween Weekend

Yesterday I had my boat winterized and stored all of the skis, tubes, fishing rods, and life jackets inside it.  Today the whole package  left my garage to go into storage itself for the winter.  SAD!  I waited for an Indian Summer weekend but we never got it.  Tonight we dress up and go into Milwaukee where HALLOWEEN is NOT just for kids.  I'm going to be a witch.  (I am always a witch...I love being a witch but I am a good witch.)  Faye is a Fairy, Ang is a beer can and I don't know what Diane is going to be.  Water Street has a wonderful contest for the best costume.  I have never seen such original costumes.  My Grandson is going to be a pirate.  Yesterday Jen called so he could tell me about carving his pumpkin and about eating pumpkin seeds which he seems to think is pretty cool. 

Autumn is nearly over.  I raked leaves this morning...they all seemed to fall at once.  Last week they were still on the trees...this week they were in layers on the ground.  My trees are looking naked.  I did get an inspiration for this week's Illustration Friday while I burned a few leaves.  The wind was very strong and I could only burn them in the screened fire pit with the top on it.  I hope I can capture the way the wind took the smoke through the screen and swirling into the air and around the house!  I smell like burned leaves.  Gus is curled up beside me.  We are both taking break before we take on the rest of the day.  I think about you all and wonder...what are you doing for Halloween?

Elkhorn Antique Flea Market

It's still summer to me when I can go to the Elkhorn Antique Flea Market and find great things laying about!  Especially water things!  LOL!  Last Sunday found me itching to go to the flea market since I hadn't gone all summer long and it's just one of those things you have to do at least once a year.  I called Paul and Laure to tell them it was happening this weekend.  In an hour Paul called me back to say they were going and I told them..."ME TOO!".  We met there and spent our time each searching out our own favorites.  See if you can find them in this Where's Waldo picture.   

Isn't this some treasure of a bike?  I meant to crop this picture when I took it but then noticed Paul and Laura in the background and couldn't crop them out of it.

This is a good time of year to go because there are usually some unique Halloween items and I simply LOVE the vintage Halloween items!   

Some things are genuine vintage old stuff and some are just made to look old but, it's all wonderful when you are having fun and it's a beautiful sunny day!  (I speak from experience when I say there is nothing worse than rain when you are doing a fair!). 

I was very taken by this display....Meet Bobby Boyd and Joe Grim from "Shabbiques".

 

I ended up buying lots of frames from them and you will be seeing my art work in them soon.  I also HAD to purchase the old framed musical notes that Joe is holding.  Somehow they looked strangely familiar.  When Bobby told me that they used to line the walls with them in school rooms to teach the songs to the kids I snapped right back to first grade at U.S. Grand Elementary School when Miss Frey was my teacher and we had them in our room.  The ceilings must have been at least 20 feet tall then and I remembered her putting these in the blackboard chalk trays to teach us how to follow the notes and sing.  (Yes they were black then).  I can even smell the chalk dust as I am typing now.  If you were lucky you'd get to take the erasers outside to clap the chalk dust off of them when they got too full and wouldn't wipe the board very well.  I liked Miss Frey.  She got married that year and we used to giggle when her husband came to see her at work.  He always joked with us and winked as he stuck his head in the door.  On our birthdays, (or any day we picked if it was in the summer) she let us bring treats for the class and before we could hand them out she would chase us around the room until she playfully caught us and pretended to give us a birthday spanking plus "a pinch to grow an inch and a swat to grow a block" (Whatever did THAT mean?) or at least that's the way I heard her say it.  She also taught us the alphabet song.  Then each of us got to go up to the blackboard and write it for real on our tippy toes to reach it as we tried to write.  I wrote, "A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K........hmmmm... what DOES and an elemeno look like, Miss Frey?"  Of course that's the way I heard her say that too. 

Well...back to Shabbiques.  Their products are mostly made from old tin tiles.  This is one of the frames I bought.  They also have other wonderful things.....

   There are stars....

and  tin shaped hearts....and....   

  and vintage crown moldings with sparkley knobs.  !  If you like what you see here be sure to email them here and tell them Claudia sent you.  And next year...don't miss the Flea Market.  As for Bobby and Joe...if you are in Texas right now you will find them at at the Round Top Show Daily which is something I don't want to miss next year if I can help it.   Check it out here and here.

Thursday I am off to Arkansas.  Who knows what treasures await me there!

Meet David, Lucas and Heather Frykman

Two of the nicest people you want to meet live Near the tip of the Door Peninsula in Ellison Bay,WI which is fast becoming known as Door County’s gallery town.  The amazing thing is that the two folks are members of a family that makes art their life together.  Meet David's son Lucas Frykman, photographer and painter and his wife, Heather Harle Frykman, photographer.  In 2005 David, his wife Carole, a native of nearby Baileys Harbor, Lucas and Heather bought the hundred-year-old building that, during the 80’s and 90’s, was called The Birch Tree. They set to work and created a beautiful gallery of David’s wood carved art, Heather’s Door County nature photography, as well as fine pottery and paintings.  This is one talented family! I so enjoy noodling around their gallery. 

David is a woodcarver.  He creates the most whimsical characters...each one seems to have a little bit of built in happiness....a twinkle to their smile.... or a bit of innocence.  They are all wood, mostly Eastern White Cedar, and most are painted with oil colors, while some are left natural with a finish of amber shellac.  On the day that I visited Heather and Lucas they were busy painting some of dad, David's carvings and stocking the shelves for the holidays. 

There is nothing's better than walking into a working gallery!!!!  I love the brushes and paints and the feeling of creativity and magic in the air. 

When I walk through the gallery there is not a single corner that isn't eye candy!

It's my personal observation that I found a big smile on my face as I visited the gallery! 

Heather's photographs can be viewed further on-line.  Her animal photos are  HERE....birds are captured beautifully HERE.... they are some of the most amazing I have ever seen!  If you are in the mood for nature look HERE.  Breathtaking sunsets are HERE. If you want to see a trillium in bloom anytime of the year look HERE.  Have some fun and treat yourself to a visit to their website Here.  Oh I can't resist...here are just a few more pictures....Enjoy!

Be sure that when you stop in to see them to tell them that Claudia says, "HI". 

More Friends and Family/A Celebration in Chicago

 

After a day of fun we walked across the street for the ceremony and celebration to follow.  We had a fantastic time! 

If you are planning an event in Chicago be sure to check out A New Leaf.  What an unbelievable place it is...just a bit of magic in the middle of the city.  For one evening my past caught up to my present and the future began for new Mr. an Mrs. Eschmann.

After Brunch the next morning I had to duck back in.  I needed to see the retail area of A New Leaf and get permission to photograph and post what I found!

....dolls and flowers....

Fun and colorful parasols....

orchids....and old worn table tops....

succulents in clay pots....old silver

and new.....

Oil Cans....

Candles of every shape, color and size imaginable!

mixed with tiles and.......

Spools and Ribbons....

An old wooden cribbage board hangs nearby a drawer full of more spools and Trims....

Every where you look there is pattern, color, texture and foliage. 

I will stop now.

Trust me!  It's worth the trip!