Greetings Gentle Travelers,
There is an old saying, “If you want to happy for a year, get married. If you want to be happy for a decade, get a dog. If you want to be happy for a lifetime, plant a garden”. A little misguided on the marriage thing I hope, but the message is a good one. Happiness is simple, add more travel, add more good food and conversation, add more time alone. Talk to the trees, reconnect with the Earth. Spend time with your friends, including the pooch mentioned in the old saying. We had an amazing year at Castle La Crosse. It was far busier than expected and the weather didn’t slow everyone down much. With travelers from many far away places and a lot more local people staying with us to celebrate a special birthday, anniversary or just time away. Food has never been a problem for us in this amazingly farm-rich community (I’m not sure that’s a word, but we’ll go with it) and the co-op has kept us well stocked. A guest having breakfast with her husband said, “I wish I had time to bake” so I sent her a simple pie recipe and some encouragement. I even told her a good store bought pie crust would be fine, as we’ve been told by Ina Garten – The Barefoot Contessa. Well, I created a pie making machine, she’s on a roll (literally) and I hope she brings us a pie on her next visit. What are you baking? Or cooking? Or planning to plant in your garden this year? We’d love to know. Speaking of gardening…the La Crosse Garden Club now has a new and permanent home at Castle La Crosse. Very soon you’ll be able to get gardening tips, planting lessons and ideas, plus the community that comes from fellow gardeners. The website goes up this week, the board of directors is coming together and we have a plan to help people remember where their food comes from, enjoy all of the physical, social and psychological benefits of gardening. And, it’s the kick in the pants I need to get the grounds around Castle La Crosse looking their best. I found some antique roses from an 1892 bush they have been for grafting from for several years, the same year the Castle was built. So I’ll plant those! I learned that the antique rose varieties are very hardy and huge, the lady at the nursery called them the Mules of the Garden. They don’t need as much fussing over as the new roses from the stores, plus they have a lot more fragrance, which is usually one reason to plant roses in the first place. I do love them, for a long time I think they were considered old-ladyish (again, probably not a word) but they are great reminders of those that came before us and the fragrance from an old rose is very calming. Give them a try in your garden or a pot on the patio is fine too: https://heirloomroses.com/collections/old-garden-roses?filter.v.availability=1 or https://www.davidaustinroses.com/
We have discovered how much we enjoy gardening, visiting garden centers and gardens around historic homes around the country. There is a lot to see, including the botanical gardens in the midwest, there are several. In Chicago the botanic garden has an English Country Garden area that gave us so many ideas, more than we could possibly do without some help. In fact, the English Country home look is what we lean towards most at the Castle. It’s comfortable, casual, all while visiting a very grand home that could so easily be stuffy and unwelcoming. Here are a few of our favorites to add to your list:
https://www.chicagobotanic.org/inbloom/highlight?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_Yq-BhC9ARIsAA6fbAgxRM63cmORn-Df9g7ZLj_3Xx7n08FbvwhqFqFlc1BECQHsKLeajl4aAr7vEALw_wcB
https://mngardens.horticulture.umn.edu/minnesota-landscape-arboretum
For now, be good to yourselves, find some happy things to do and come stay at your favorite B&B to tell us about them!
Billy & Brandon
Castle La Crosse
