Small Scale Life

Small Scale Life Welcome to a backyard naturalist journal about birds, habitat, and small scale living on the shores of the Willow River in Wisconsin. Come grow with us!

Join your hosts Farmer Tom and Julie as we discuss creating a U-Pick Micro Flower Farm from scratch in Western Wisconsin. We will also be growing flowers, vegetables, and community by holding events at our farm and by interviewing market gardeners, urban farmers and flower farms who are all connecting to the land and serving our customers.

02/24/2026

Dreaming as the snow falls. I am glad I am in my warm cozy office (“The Nest”).

The snow didn’t last long, but what I am working on will. Stay tuned.

02/23/2026

I am trying something new here. I am planning at least ONE thing that brings me closer to my goals, builds my little businesses and/or connects me with this community.

This little list helps me focus and be intentional as I build and create.

Will I always be successful?

No, but we have to start somewhere.

The journey of a million miles begins with a single step. This is a lesson learned from the Walk for Peace that just wrapped up in Washington DC. If those monks can walk 2300 miles for Peace, we can do one little thing each day and walk our own 2300 miles.

Learn, do, grow and be a little better everyday. Remember: it starts with one little step.

02/22/2026

February Grilling in Wisconsin. Yes, this is how we do it!

Gotta love my 2 second hand Weber Grills too. 🥰

02/20/2026

This little spillway reminds us:

The obstacle is the way. Find a way through, above, below or around the obstacle.

Keep moving forward on your journey towards your goals. Nothing can stop you; the obstacle the is the way.

You can learn a lot from a river if you watch, listen and open your mind to the lessons. 🌊🌊🌊

Cadott, WI
2/20/2026

02/18/2026

Project completed: moving and updating the Canoe-Kayak Rack here at The Landing.

The Canoe-Kayak Rack was sitting on a concrete pad next to our garage. I built it a couple years ago, and it needed a some bracing and some eye hooks to keep the canoe on the top of the rack. It blew off once when we had a big storm, and I wanted to better secure the canoe. I have straps hooking into each eye hook, and the canoe stayed in place with some high winds last night.

I pulled everything off the rack, moved it down the hill and put it down by the water. I re-arranged the “arms” that hold the kayaks and strengthened them.

So far so good!

The winds were howling last night, and the rack remained upright. The canoe and kayaks stayed in place as well. Being down the hill on the shoreline did help shelter the rack and break the wind (in a good way).

Now it is time to build some new racks to store firewood. We have realized that we need more firewood to keep our window-heavy upstairs warm during these cold winters.

More projects are in the works here at The Landing!

02/08/2026

The singer Aaron Lewis (originally of Staind fame) croons about “Grandaddy’s Gun.” Well, I can’t sing about that, but I COULD croon about Grandaddy’s Skillet.

I rescued this skillet YEARS ago. This deep skillet (and lid) was rusting and forgotten under a sink, and I pulled it out and took it home. I cleaned and oiled it up, and I use it as much as I can.

My grandparents are gone; their resort near Wisconsin Dells is gone. All the stuff they accumulated is gone.

But a couple things remain and are used all the time here at The Landing: my grandma’s painting over the fireplace and Grandaddy’s Skillet. Both are cherished and used often.

They remind me of my grandparents and a different time.

Do you have any old cast iron from your grandparents or ancestors? Let us know in the comments below! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Before vs. AfterTrying to decide if the new caricature-style logo is better than the vintage one. What do you think?
02/07/2026

Before vs. After

Trying to decide if the new caricature-style logo is better than the vintage one. What do you think?

02/07/2026

Before logo….after logo….what do you think?

ChatGBT created both logos. The first was created back in October 2025, and then I had it create one tonight. I liked the original logo and wanted to have one for spring, summer, fall and winter with a red bird (yes, it is generic bird that has a Cardinal color).

So…ChatGBT went in this more cartoony direction. It looks and feels like everyone’s ChatGBT caricature that we are seeing all over the place.

What do you think? Before or after?

Comment below! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

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2625 Northwestern Avenue
Wausau, WI
54403

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