Fair Time is in the Past......

At the Iowa State Fair they had a building of animals being born as well as chickens, ducks and turkeys. As the chicks hatched out in the large incubator they would progress down to the big area.  They still needed heat lamps tp keep the chill from air conditioner.  I didn’t get baby ducks or turkeys. It was just too crowded to do so.

There had been a couple of lambs born over the night as well as a few kids, baby goats.  My dad raised hogs so we didn’t wait in the long lines to see piglets. A couple of calves had been born a few days before we visited.

I was pleased that so many were interest to the young farm animals.  I am sure most people had not seen young animals unless they visit a place like this.

Goats were rarely raised in our neighborhood when we lived on the farm.  People really were not milking goats for profit in southern Iowa. As a kid on the farm I do remember one stray male goat came to our house and stayed on our front door steps. No one seemed to know where he came from as we prided ourselves in knowing what people had on their farms. In a couple of days a guy drove up with his pickup and loaded him in the back.  He apologized for his taking residence and pooping in our front door area. That is the only goat experience that I had for my entire 20 years on the farm. My Uncle Bill did raise sheep for selling their wool but he was a rare farmer to have sheep. I think the goat came from a farm in an old town of Hopeville, Iowa five or six miles away.

At the fair is a long tradition of creating a sculpture in butter.  A new artist does sculpt this cow on a wooden and wire frame. The first sculptor retired eight years ago.  The replacement artist started adding other things to the display.  Other things were sculptures of things that did not relate to the agriculture themes.

This year a tribute to Sesame Street was created. You can see here Bert and Ernie made from butter.  There is a partial wing of Big Bird in the photo.  These displays are a traditional high point for the visitors to the fair.  I think politicians came in to have their photo taken with the cow.

Here is a different angel on these three characters. I didn’t have the patience to stand in line to see them so took photos on the other side of the roped of area. This is the same building as agricultural products are shown along with flowers.  I guess there is an active bee hive going on on the second floor.

There was also an ice sculpture window display. They must keep it cold in there to keep the fish and other things from melting.

Our internet was down again today but I guess it was for only an hour.  I hope this isn’t going to be a regular happening. We stopped in to the phone store yesterday and bought each of us a new cell phone.  We had a cheap one for a few years just so we had one in the car in the winter or when traveling.

Buying phones is quite an experience and sales people can be nice but also pushy.  I did know what I wanted and sneaking a tablet into the pile was not going to happen.  When he found out we both had MacBooks he settled down a little.  My wife’s phone was working by the time we left the store more than an hour later.  Mine was in trouble and I had to go establish new passwords.  For some reason I had an old extinct email address attached to my Apple site and my Facebook was the same way.  I did get the Apple account figured out and I used my wife as a second email address to get the other passwords straightened out. Anyway, by late night time I was up and running and my wife figured out how to turn the sound button on so we could hear our phones wring.

I mowed the backyard again today and I am taking the rest of Friday off.  I appreciate your stopping by today.

No Fleas Market.....

Along the North Shore is a long lasting business that sells garage sales kind of things. All of the tables are out night and day with a makeshift type of tarp on each one.  The close them up at night and then open up the next morning. I would say there are eighteen or more tables of glass ware, dishes, ceramic pieces and much more.

Inside the building are many rooms to move through looking for that perfect find.  Having just moved and putting away all the dishes and things, I really wasn’t that excited when we  visited. The modern fiesta ware is sitting outside on tables but the authentic old fiesta ware is inside. There is a book room and old movie dvd room. I was pleased that we really didn’t find any more dishes.  The dishes we bought here 16 years ago are still in use today. They were Sango Stoneware with tulips on them for decoration.

We did buy four juice glasses at the sale.  These were the only juice glasses for sale. One can not buy them anymore unless you want plastic ones. They are bright and shiny as if they had never been used.

The dinner plate hibiscus has many blooms on it which means it will bloom for another couple of weeks. It fades to a bad brown color by the end of the day.

My new phlox from last season put out a small bloom but now has regrouped and is showing a lot more flowers. I assume they are hybridized for color and this is an interesting addition to all the others that I have.

This too is a hybridized one to give a two color bloom.  It too has surprised me by being stranger as a flower than it first appeared. I expect the show will be much greater next season. My old fashion phlox is getting itself establish and it too will be better next season.  I have a lot of phlox at the old place that is scattered everywhere.

I have one other variety in the front plater that seems to be too crowded with an aster and sedum.  I need to move it to the backyard while I can still find its stem and roots.

I returned to the dentist yesterday afternoon to have two cavities taken care of. Normally they have me just stay for that work but I think they wanted to get another billing out of me. It was not a great experience which none of them are but I was numbed up more on one side of my face than another.  I was thawed out on one side about three hours sooner than the other.  We wanted to eat at a place where I  could enjoy soup and Italian noodles.  It worked well but I was still partially numb after we returned home.  The unusual thing is the side that was least treated for numbness was actually the side that they did more difficult work.

I am good today.  I mowed the lawn in the front this morning and am taking it easy the rest of the day. We were cool this morning and had dew on the grass.  I think I am all out of North Shore stuff but I had a lot of other things to share before we took that trip.  I will have to go back and pick up the earlier things.  Thanks for stopping by today.  Take care out there.

Middle of the Week.....

My one visiting monarch frequents the zinnias.  He had become friendly as I stand out along the garden.  He hasn’t landed on me but comes really close.

One butterfly and a couple of humming birds are a nice addition to the garden. I think there are two hummingbirds and yet they are hard to tell apart when they come one bird at a time.

Back to the light house photos.  We were able to walk around the place experiencing the size of it. The craftsmanship is wonderful and I am sure there has been continue maintaining of the place.

The various windows are there for a reason as you can see by looking at the next photo.

There is a spiral staircase that takes one up to the top of the lighthouse. I am assuming that it is original and there never was a wooden staircase.




I did not climb the stairs this time but I have been up there probably 15 years or more. It is a one person size of stairs so one has to see if anyone is coming down when you want to  go upstairs.

Two keepers stand at the entrance to greet the visitors.

One entires the keepers main house through the back door.  One walks right in to see the woodturner stove. Guides are positioned in a few of the rooms. telling about the life of 1900s.

As a part of the storage area for the kitchen there is a built-in cupboard. There are more shelves singing the other walls framing a window. I didn’t ask the question but I am assuming that the wife of the keeper probably did all the cooing for their family.  All the supplies would be depend on what the ships bring in from the cities below them on the North Shore.

The house has been restored so the plaster walls were perfect. I am sure they had plaster workers redo them.  I lived in an old house as a kid where the smooth plaster was troweled on thee walls.  I am assume my own house was that way but people came in a spread popcorn lecture on ceilings and walls of our house.

A bedroom looked like this and I now noticed the hot water radiator in the room.  It was told that it was the government that paid and had the place built so the most modern things of the time were used.

Apparently a water tower type of system or water tank in the attic gave them the ability to have a bath tub and toilet.  I could imagine these could have been added in the 1920’s as new improvements were added to the house.

Opposite the cliffs of the lighthouse is an open bay with and island in that bay.  I am sure ships would hit that island just as easily as the cliff itself so the need for the lighthouse to be built.

We are having another rainy day for most of the day.  I have another appointment with dental guy and will take the rest of the day off.  I was going to mow the front yard but rain does stop that process.  I hope all is well out there. Thanks for stopping by today.

Tuesday’s Things......

I looked out my living room window and saw this goldfinch. It has taken all summer to get one to come to a feeder.  I have seen a couple flying around.

I have a far distant blurry shot of one of two who have been feeding off of the zinnias. I remember that they really like coneflowers in the fall but right now they are still in bloom. It is interesting how they behave differently each season. I had lots of goldfinches two years ago and now I haven’t seen any for months.

I was concerned that maybe all the sparrows were keeping them away but this shot proves wrong.  I refilled this last night and this morning we have a large flock of the sparrows going in now.

The complete lighthouse includes a lot of extra things that made the whole place work.  In the background is a building that held a steam machine to make the giant fog horns make their large sound.  If the ships couldn’t see the light house, they could hear the sounds of the horns.  They had lots of wood from the timbers to create heated water to help make steam.  The lighthouse itself was warmed by the woodturner in the west end of the attached building. You can see the chimney in this shot.

The foghorn was built on the rock also. You can see the tall chimney on this building.  They must have built stairs to get to the back door of this building.  The whole rock formation really and usual formation being on top of the cliff.

The woking system looked like this to power the fog horns.  I do remember when they left these on display when I visited the place 25 years ago.  I am not sure why they removed the machinery but I am sure they had a good reason. I guess a picture is easer to maintain than having people mess with the equipment.

The back door of the head light keepers house was decorated with these brackets. The back door was covered and the front door did have a porch.

The rock cliff does project out into the lake and one could see how ships could easily crash against it.

I have more photos to share of the keepers house where they eventually had running water for them through the use of pressure tanks and gasoline engine pumps.

We had another storm through the night giving us a lot of lightning and thunder.  We got about an inch of rain with that  helping us to get out of the drought season.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Monday’s a Go.......

In the 1900’s there was a major shipwreck along the north shore. The ship had  no idea where it was and they ran ashore joining the many other shipwrecks on the shore. The whole area where this rock stands is an isolated wilderness with out any roads to get to the location.   A rail system was installed at the base of the rock and steam engines transported everything that was need to build the lighthouse.  Workmen early on lived in tents as they started the construction.

Along side of the light house was built this small room and hallway to get to the inside of the light house. A wood stove was used to heat the place and the lighthouse itself.

The rocky top of this cliff gave them a great foundation to plant the structure on solid ground. The tower itself looks like a classic salt shaker and the small building addition was the styles with roman classic architecture details. The young boy in the photo messing with his cell phones shows the true proportions of the base itself.

Workers had to be supplied with everything from boat for the building as well as for them to have food. I suspect the crew had a head cook to supply meals.

It is 1900’s and the whole site as like settling a colony. Other things were being built at the same time to support the function of the lighthouse.

This is the back side of the building where they could enter it to stoke their fire and to climb the lighthouse to light the lanterns. In the back ground you can see two of the thee houses constructed.  One was for the head lighthouse keeper and his family.  The other two houses were for other families and workers.  Since the government paid for the buildings they were well constructed.

Behind the three houses were these barn like structures for tools and equipment that had been brought in by boat. I suspect that they had to bring a cow or two to supply mill for them once everything was established.

The lighthouse keeper’s house was spaced farther away from the other two.  All of them were brick sheeting and tile roofs. During the summer there are some places for people to live while working the state park.

This is the view out of the adjacent building to the lighthouse. The view to the lake is seen but the sheer drop from above really can’t be understood in the photo.  More photos will be share tomorrow as the state park is explained more to you.

The one butterfly in the flower garden was flitting from one zinnia to another.  I went out with the camera and got a few shots.  He does not open his wings will he is feeding on zinnias.
I am home from a dental appointment and will return on Wednesday for a couple of repairs. I am not looking forward to that.  It is a sun shiny day today. It is a good day to take it easy and enjoy the day.  Thank you for stopping by today.

Roses.....

A rose garden in Duluth, Minnesota. The lake conditions are great for growing roses. This garden has been here many years and we got to visit it on a more pleasant day.