Home Updates

As of this morning, the last door went back on...the home updates for this summer are DONE!

I will start with the hallway.
I do not have a picture of what the hallway looked like before we started Phase 2 this summer.

 We had removed the blue & gray thin stripes on a white background wall paper above the waitscot. All the woodwork was about the same color as the wainscot. Also notice the old light fixture.

This is the after pictures:

This photo gives a good representation of the painted walls. Notice the new light fixture.

This photo gives a good view of the white painted trim and doors. I am not sure how many family photos will go back on the walls. They look very plain right now.

Bathroom tomorrow...

The Garden

The tomatoes are ripening, so today I spent some time in the garden.

The peppers have been very slow, but with the two I picked today, 

the count is now up to 5! But there are quite a few others growing.

The cucumber plants are looking really sad, but there are lots

of blossoms and many little cukes growing.

This is a fun time of gardening, but also a pain, as now that the stuff

is ripe, something needs to be done with it and as usual, I have other

things on my plate this week. Maybe it will all wait 'til next week?

Isn't the color gorgeous?

This is for my friend Marge, who ALWAYS displays her
crafts and cooking in a 'Martha Stewart' manner.

Memorial Day 1959

I FOUND IT!

In a group of pictures I recently scanned while visiting my Mom, I found a picture taken at the Petrified Wood Park in Lemmon SD on Memorial Day, May 1959.

 At first I thought the photo was taken at the base of the largest pillar of this little museum. (photo below) But now I don't think so. I don't have a picture of just a large single pillar from my recent visit. I guess the point is, the park has changed and grown since 1959.

Love the hairdo & outfit! Hey, I was 9 years old; what can I say?

Maybe the large pillar is behind this little museum? I might have to hunt for more pictures, because I thought there were others. 

Driving through SD

 We have made a couple of trips across SD late in the evening recently. We all know SD has bugs. Sunday evening was especially heavy with bugs the first half of the homeward trip. We had to stop after the first 100 miles to wash the windshield as it was so covered we could not see well at all. We tried stopping earlier to wash the windows, but it seems so did everyone else as there was no water in the black container at the closed service station.


This is what the front of the van looked liked when we did find a tank of window washing water. Even the car wash attendants were a bit shocked at the condition of the van grill when we stopped to get the van washed on Monday.

As we were driving home on Sunday evening, I kept smelling swamp water, or what I thought was a swamp smell. Later I realized it must have been the smell of fresh 'summer bug kill.' YUCK!

Climbing the Stairs

It was grand daughter time yesterday afternoon. She is changing and doing so many new things each time we see her. Grandma still gets a wee bit anxious when Willa is hanging around the stairs, but she proved yesterday she can handle them as well as Grandma!

 See? I got here by myself.

 She does go up and down on her front side.

Going up...she moves really fast!

 She holds onto the decorative posts going down

and does watch her feet and the steps.

It is still quite a stretch for those short little legs!

Usually the gates are up, but with all the in and out, 

up and down traffic yesterday, the gates weren't

always in place. 

Piggy Tails

Willa's hair is growing enough to put it in pig tails. Grandpa got a couple of pictures last weekend.

I don't know how long they last...but they are cute and make her look so grown-up. Almost 16 months old...

More Willa Weekend Photos

Here are some more pictures from the weekend.

It looks like she is trying to climb up on the kitchen bench???

Carrying her bib

Look at that crocodile tear!

It looks like she is running!

Breakfast with Willa

Even though I did not get to spend the weekend with Willa, Grandpa took the camera along. Between Grandpa & Momma, I did get pictures of the weekend with Willa.

This is from Saturday morning. Willa is about to have breakfast.

 OK. I'm here. Feed me.

 Looks good.

 I want it now!

Come on. Where's my bib?

 Grandma made healthy muffins.

 Willa eats all of one food first...

 just like her Daddy.

 The banana slices will have to wait.

Grandma's muffin is history! Yum!

A Visit to Petrified Wood Park

In 1959, I think over Memorial Day weekend...the real one, our family of six took a vacation driving from Java SD to Billings MT. It was the only vacation we took while I lived at home. (I wonder what that means???) I suppose Dad was 'caught up' (as caught up as a farmer can be) with farm work so we loaded into the two-tone brown station wagon and headed west. I don't remember a lot about that trip. I can only guess what it must have been like traveling with three kids and a baby with no air conditioning or DVDs to watch...the whining and arguing! We went to Billings to see my Dad's sister and her family. I do remember one stop we did make...in Lemmon SD to see the Petrified Wood Park. There are a few pictures showing us in front of one of the buildings. Unfortunately, I don't have one. But when I get it, I will post it, just for fun.

Anyway, since we drove through the Petrified Forest National Park in AZ in April, I have been curious about SD's Petrified Wood Park, no national in the title. I was curious as to why the SD park is buildings constructed of petrified wood pieces. Why wasn't the wood left as it was found? Did the park look any different than it did in 1959? Last week on our way home from the Hills, hubby 'graciously' agreed to a side-trip to Lemmon SD to stop at the Petrified Wood Park to revisit the 1959 stop and to get some answers to my questions.

I learned the park has grown since 1959. Back then it was two 'buildings' and a few pieces of wood strategically placed, and maybe a couple sandstone ball towers.  The park of petrified wood now covers an entire city block and continues to grow in displays through the work of volunteers and donations.

One of several arches

The fairy-tale 'castle' displaying some dinosaur & plant fossils

(Some of the logs used to build the castle weigh more than

10,000 pounds and are from 8 to 10 feet in diameter!

Total composition of castle is more than 

300 tons of petrified wood & fossils.)

The Museum 

(a circular building completely constructed of petrified logs)

The gift shop

The wishing well & museum

(The floor of the museum is petrified slabs of grass!)

The arched entrance to a walled courtyard

A pyramid of sandstone balls

(there are about 100 cone-shaped pyramids 

in the park ranging from 8 to 32 feet tall)

A column created from pieces of petrified wood

A very large sandstone ball atop a petrified tree stump

(sandstone balls range in size from 1/2 inch to several feet in diameter)

One of two large petrified trees in the park

This is what I learned about SD's Petrified Wood Park

1.  It is still free.

2.  It started in 1931 when Ole S. Quammen began erecting the Petrified Wood Park and the museum where he planned to exhibit historic articles from the area around Lemon. 

3.  Mr. Quammen was an amateur geologist who wanted to share the unique fossils from prehistoric times found in the long ago fresh water lake of the area.

4.  He had three goals when he established the Petrified Wood Park: to extend the studies of the region (he enlisted the services of government geologists), to broaden his knowledge of his hobby, and to provide work for many jobless men who were victims of the drought and depression at the time.

5.  Farmers in the area were happy to donate the 'petrified' rocks found in their fields and still are today.

6.  Over a thousand people gathered on June 2, 1932 to dedicate the park and view 'the masterpiece of nature'.

7. There seems to be an unlimited supply of petrified wood within 25 miles of the community.

8. Bones of mammoth prehistoric animals have been uncovered as well those of snakes, fish, snails, grass and leaves of trees.

9. Mr. Quammen used his personal funds to build the park and to provide jobs (and pay) the more than thirty men who constructed the park during that time. One crew collected and hauled the logs and another crew erected the unusual structures.

Later I will post some pictures of the 'wood' that caught my eye as I wandered the city block.

Three Dog Night Concert

For eight years the Redlin Family has sponsored a well-known musical entertainment for the people of Watertown, northeast SD, ND, MN and others. Last night was our fifth concert.

The free concert takes place on the lawns of the Terry Redlin Art Center, along I29, at the east edge of town.

People bring their lawn chairs and camp out early in the day to enjoy programs for the kids, area bands, and last night, the SD Army band.

It is a sea of humanity. Thousands and thousands of people. They come on charter buses. We parked at the mall and rode a yellow school bus to the event.

 At 8:30 the main show begins.

This year Three Dog Night performed for the hour long, free concert.

The six member band played their well-known oldies, and a couple of new songs from their soon to be released album. I like their oldies best. Speaking of oldies...But Ohhh could they sing!

The audience was given glow-sticks to wave during the song "Celebrate!"

Following the hour-long concert, there is a free fireworks display. Last night was the BEST fireworks display ever!

My photos don't do justice to the awesome display.

We happened to be standing in line for our bus ride at the 'escape door' when the band members came out for their ride to their hotel. Curt said a couple of them were moving pretty slow...oldies...

I also must add now there are corporate sponsors who help fund the day-long event. When it started in 2004, Terry Redlin was the sole funding source for Mannheim Steamroller and the fireworks. The event has grown in size every year since.

In 2005 we heard Lee Greenwood, then Ronnie Milsap the following year and Sawyer Brown in 2009. Pretty awesome for our community! Thank you Terry Redlin, wildlife artist.