The map below gives you a list of all the shops with location and artists being presented.

View Art Walk on Historic Main Street Stoughton, WI in a larger map

A few of my favorites will be presented.  Kathryn Vaughn at Main Street Flowers.  You may recognize this name from Madison Radio.  She hosts a wonderful show on Magic 98 every Sunday morning.  Several of her pieces are on display at Naeset Roe Inn.  Greg Rodriguez at Yaraha River Co-Op, is an outstanding painter.  He just finished a painting of Naeset Roe Inn for me that is hanging in the West Parlor.  Mona Semerau is a wonderful silversmith that does such delicate work.  Stop and see her at Vincenzo’s and have a glass of wine while you are there.

So stop in and see some new art during the Main Street Stoughton Art Walk Friday, July 23rd  5-9pm.  If you can’t make it, most of these artists are displayed at other times in these shops.  Come and see them during a stay at Naeset Roe Inn.  The inn is one block from Main Street and a great walk any day of the week.

Today I received a thank you card from guests that were here on Saturday.  What a lift it gave me.  Here is what the card said.

“Carl-  We just wanted to send you a quick note to say how much we enjoyed our first B&B experience.  It was a pleasure meeting you and Zack, staying at your lovely home, 7 enjoying your fantastic cooking!  we hope to visit eland again someday….  Best Rachel and Brandon”

What could make an innkeeper beam more than a note like this?  If you stay at a B&B soon, remember to write in the room journals if they have them or send a note.  You can even do it the electronic way and go to one of the many directories, such as BedandBreakfast.com or ILoveInns.com, that may list the inn you were at and write a review there.  It makes the innkeeper just as happy and it makes the serch engines even happier.

Have a great summer.  Look forward to seeing you soon.

Mandt park will be humming with activity so come often and enjoy the Stoughton Fair.

Check out the schedule at Stoughton Fair.

They have added a lot of new things this year so if you have been here before it is worth your time to come again.  Can you ever have enough plants in your yard?

If you want to get an early start and live a ways away consider coming the night before and staying at Naeset Roe Inn,  Downtown Stoughton’s only bed and breakfast.  You’ll be fueled up for a full day of exploring the nursery after a restful nights sleep and Carl’s 4 course breakfast.  Or you can leave the plants in the car overnight after your explorations, and get some  rest for the drive home and all the work of planting everything you have bought.

The Flower Factory Nursery is open 9am to 7pm weekdays, 9am to 6pm Saturday and Sunday.

Syttende Mai is coming to Stoughton WI May 14th – 16, 2010.  It’s a weekend to celebrate our Norwegian heritage and Norways Independance Day.  The city will  be full of things to do, see, and eat.  Come and watch the World Famour Stoughton High School Norwegian Dancers, veiw quilts and Hardanger, sample Norwegain Meatballs, Fried Cheese Curds and Cream Puffs.  You can participate  in the Syttende Mai Run, Walk or Lil’ Syttende Mai Run.  There is a great Arts and Craft Fair.  Don’t miss the Grand Finale the Norwegian Parade Sunday at 1:30.

Naeset Roe Inn is a great place to stay when you spend the weekend.  It’s also a good spot to hear and see the preperations by the River Bluff Middle School Marching Band.  Here are a few pictures as the practice their marching past the Inn.

All this wonderful weather was pushed into Stoughton on a great breeze.  Well, maybe you can call it a wind, when it is 20 MPH.  What ever you call it, it begged me to open the windows in the house.  So that is what I did.  This window hasn’t been open in 25 years.  Last Fall I had all the stained glass in the parlor fixed and new frames made.  Now the windows open like they were intended to, and it creates a great cross draft.  This helps with the cooling of the house and gets the stale air, from 5 months of being closed up,moving out real fast.

It also awakened a few critters.  Who says bunnies don’t hibernate in the winter.  i know that i looked for them all over the house during the winter and even captured a few of them.  But today, after having the windows open for less than 24 hours, there they were all over the house.  Little dust bunnies swirling and hiding in new corners and grabbing onto chair legs so they wouldn’t get blown away.  They came out from under the radiators and book cases, I even say one sneaking out from under a video cabinet.  Well I ran and got my O’Cedar Bunnie trap and started to maneuver them into an area where I could box them up and take them outside.  Being a green Inn we practice catch and release.  There are a few critters outside that like these bunnies, especially in the spring.  Nests will be softer because of the extra fir.

So that is the tail of the bunnies at Naeset Roe Inn.  They may have hidden all winter, but they did get caught when they awoke from their hibernation.

As long as you’re thinking about the inn, why not make a spring time reservation at the Inn.  The wild life in the house has been reduced to Zack and maybe a Bunnie that didn’t wake up from his hibernation yet.  There are some great spring time recipes I’d like to try out on you also for breakfast.  Look forward to seeing you soon.

This is just a reminder that the Big Bead Show is this weekend at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison.  The show is open 10-5 on Saturday and 10-4 Sunday.  Diakonos Designs will be right next to Midnight Moon in the first row on the right as you enter the show.  As usual there’ll be tons of great beads and findings throughout the show for all your upcoming beading projects.

At the Diakonos booth they will be featuring new clay bead designs along with new resin-filled bezel mini-masterpieces highlighting original art by Kathryn Vaughn.  They also have an array of new beads from Jon Sutcliffe, who was recently featured in BeadStyle magazine and some value-priced original sterling silver pendants from Mona Semerau. 

Midnight Moon will have a great selection furnace glass(made in the USA).  Specials on Pearl,  Glass and Natural Stone Stands.   Get your PMC here also.

For more information about the show, check out the official website:  www.beadshowmadison.com.   You can also check out the stores on Main Street in Stoughton after the show is over.  They have incredable stocks of everything beading.  They also have classes that you can take to let your artist out of its shell.

Here it is:

The Block

Now you want to know what is he going to ask. Well, I need to know the pattern this block goes together best as. There are three different ways that I can but them together.  They are shown below.

Pattern #1

Pattern #2

Pattern #3

The finished quilt will be two more blocks wide and two more blocks tall.  But you get the general feel for the patterns and, and I want to get your opinion, so you get to look at a smaller version of the finished quilt.

I know, some of you may say “what’s the difference between #2 and #3?”  Well there is, even though it is subtle.

Now, here is what I would like from you.
It’s your chance to make a difference
in my future guests lives.
Let your voice be heard.
You don’t even have to leave the house to vote.
You can vote as many times as you want.

Just go to the bottom of this post and leave a reply or click on the comment link,
and tell me which one you like.
It’s simple, type, 1, 2, or 3.

I’ll have the rest of the blocks ready to put together early next week so I’d appreciate hearing from you.

So while you are here vote now.

If you’re reading this on Facebook you can just COMMENT with a 1,2,or3.

Thanks for your help.

Spring is on the way, a little birdy told me so.
Don’t forget to turn your clocks forward when you go to bed on Saturday, March 13th.  Or you will be late all day long.

March 12th is the  ”BE-DE-FU” Event:
Two local stores – Midnight Moon and Diakonos Designs will be sponsoring a creative contest called ‘BE-DE-FU’.  This first monthly ‘BEading DEsigning FUn’ challenge will take place at both stores from 6-8:30 where beading teams will create unique designs using specially selected beads.  We’ll get together at Vincenzo’s at 9:00 to see all the designs and vote on favorites. Join us for food, friends and some creative BEading DEsigning FUn— come design & compete as part of a design team or watch and learn new ideas from fellow designers.  Call Lynn (877-1577) or Becky (575-5642) to reserve your spot.

March 13th – 14th – Make Your Own Jewelry Weekend:
Join Becky at Diakanos Designs and create jewelry from Katherine Vaughn’s art and/or learn to make resin jewelry.  Join Lynn at Midnight Moon and see how easy it is to design your own PMC (Precious Metal Clay) pieces. For more information contact Becky at 575-5642 or Lynn at 877-1577 for more information.