OUR TRI-STATE DAYCATION

Saturday we took a "daycation" to points within about an hour of our house. It is amazing how many interesting sites there were--places I'd never been though I've lived my whole life around here. 

The big rock is, as it indicates, is about 130 feet north of the spot where all three states, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, meet. Both are located beside a very remote dirt road that my daughter discovered as she drove around looking for places to take pictures after church one Sunday.

This is the smaller marker rock on the tri-state point, 130 feet south.

This huge field of what I think are native prairie flowers is very close to the marker rocks. It's absolutely gorgeous!

Here I am standing on the other side of the field near the marker rock point. We saw a lot of wild apple trees thriving along the country roads. See how remote the area is at the tri-state point? I am standing at the edge of the dirt road.

During our trip we noticed that several small towns were having festivals, farmers's markets, numerous garage sales, and book sales. I got about 10 books free at one "sale." Oh, wow! I can't resist needlework books. As a knitter, tatter, and spinner, I felt like I had obtained a great treasure!

A hay field newly mowed and baled. We saw many beautiful farms all throughout the trip. I love the American farm life. I thoroughly enjoyed the farms I got to see on the daycation and all along our route last week when we drove to Colorado Springs and back to see grandkids (see last post). Hope to post more grandkid pics soon.

This lovely little church building was at a small Ohio crossroads, not far from the tri-state point. I guess it is considered Bridgewater Township, Ohio. But I can't remember the name of the little burg. Sorry about the intrusion of the electric wires, but hey, we do like our conveniences in the modern world, don't we?!

This bell was in front of the church. Not sure if it had originally been in the belfry here or not.

This millstone was at the corner of the church. I think it had been used in a nearby mill in the old days.

We went on to Pioneer, Ohio and took this picture of the interesting water tower. This pleasant little town was in the midst of an annual summer festival and we found busy restaurants, busy sidewalks, an old car show, and another library sale!

On we went up into Michigan and Rhiannon snapped this pretty picture of railroad cars. I love the colors.

I walked around the gorgeous campus of Hillsdale College. I'd love to be able to say I graduated from there! Hillsdale is full of pretty architecture. Wish we had had more time to photograph the buildings at the Hillsdale Fairgrounds--they are similarly beautiful--though constructed of wood unlike this brick college building, they have a wonderful old-fashioned charm. 

This serene picture shows an Amish farm and traditionally "shocked" piles of straw. You don't see this much anymore around here. I have seen this old-fashioned type of hay curing occasionally and specifically when I visited Holmes County further south in Ohio. I love the way it looks and enjoyed seeing scenes like this yesterday.

Couldn't resist begging Rhiannon (who snapped all these lovely pictures) to take this roadside shot of a blue heron. I love water birds and this fellow seemed pleased to stand still for a portrait.

I hope you enjoyed my "daycation" as much as I did, and that you will take time to discover the little-known sights and scenes close to home--those things we often overlook just because they are near or familiar!

Blessings, LORI

VANISHING AMERICAN EDUCATION--PART 2

I'm so excited to finally be able to share more of the pictures we took the day we had our little "field trip" to the Nottawa Stone School--one of the best kept destination secrets in our county! The first picture is of Huxley, my grandson, who wore his brown-striped overalls for this old-fashioned day of school! Even a little one like Huxley enjoys the old desks!

Here's Sophie, almost three years old, trying out her slate. She loved the old school too. Her favorite part of the day was "cleaning" the front desk up on the teacher's platform. She wiped it down several times with the cloth erasers provided for the slates!

Next is Emma, in her green prairie dress. She is the oldest and already is learning to read. She went into "teacher mode" almost as soon as we arrived and she gave her Granny an assignment to do on Granny's slate!

Emma enjoying the opportunity to write on the big blackboard up in front. See her prairie dress and bonnet? Granny made prairie dresses for her and Sophie with bonnets to match, especially for this day.

                              Both girls up near the teacher's desk. They LOVED ringing the bell!

Two contemplative pictures of Emma. First, she is at the teacher's desk loving her chance to play "old fashioned" schoolmarm. I love the one where she is reading under the big windows where the light fell in from the west!

Two little prairie girls shivering in the wind at the front doors of the school! Sophie looks so sweet! Emma's bonnet got shoved a bit forward and hid her big smile! We hurried to take this picture!

I know this post was a bit more lighthearted than the previous one. I intended it to be so, for I think it simply reflects the innocence we've lost in our culture since the days that this school was built (1860's?). I was talking to a friend the other day who is in her sixtie's and she was reminiscing about being able to walk a country mile as a child to visit cousins without her parent's supervision. We were a different people at the foundations of this country. Have we lost our freedom with all of our "progress?"

I am reminded of part of the prayer of King David of Israel, noted in Psalm 144...."That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets: That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets . Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord." (Italics and emphasis, mine)

This condition is true freedom!

Blessings, LORI

FAMOUS HYMNS AND REVIVALS

We took a ride last Sunday afternoon to Pokagon, Michigan, just west of our area to see a quaint little historical spot that my husband Clint discovered on a recent trip for his employer. It was extremely hot that afternoon, though obviously the pictures don't show that! Our area got into the mid 90's last weekend!

I am standing in front of the church where the famous hymn, "The Old Rugged Cross" was first sung. The sign below explains all the history of the hymn and its significance to this place. It was finished for a revival held here in 1913. Hopefully you can read the explanation on the sign. This era in history is one of my favorites--clothing wise, historically, and for the fact that our nation experienced a great emphasis on revivals during this time period.

The little church is being made into a museum. The grounds around it are very nicely kept and quite beautiful.

After we were finished there, I mentioned to Clint that I'd like to go on to look for an old camp where I spent some time as a young person, Crystal Springs, near Dowagiac. We found it easily a few minutes later and drove through the grounds to see the quaint old buildings. It is another of those wonderful places from this era, a place where revivals were held. It is the kind of place that made an iimpression on me--one that I'll never forget. I like to think it shaped me in some very profound ways as I stood in the huge wooden tabernacle as a young girl. The tabernacle is still there, constructed in the late 1800's. I believe the camp is still run by the United Methodist Church. The beautiful tabernacle was home to large crowds at the turn of the century for preaching and singing services. As I remember, the side doors swing out and can be propped up or at least opened to accommodate overflow crowds. I modeled the African church in my latest book, "The Call From a Distant Field" after the tabernacle at Crystal Springs that so impressed me at 12 years old. So this little Sunday afternoon excursion was like stepping back in time--one of my favorite things! Blessings, LORI

CRAZY PATCHING

I started a crazy patch pillow over the weekend. I've done many in my lifetime!

I use a simple method of sewing a single piece to a muslin backing and then placing other pieces over the edges of that one by one. I sew a straight seem and flip the subsequent pieces over to their right side and iron them down.

I "built" a bit of a fan out of five green pieces before applying that to the rest of the block.


Here I am, fan wrong side up, sewing it to the center piece. I think the pictures are out of order! Sorry! After this I flip the fan right side up and iron it to smooth it. When all the pieces are done and the muslin square is covered, then comes the real fun--embroidering over all the seams. Since I call myself the "queen of thread" (more thread in stashes than any woman in the country) this is always a fun challenge.

This pillow is intended for the new old Victorian platform rocker that I donated to my library. It will go in our new history room. I am the "curator" or whatever you want to call it for the history room and we recently broke through a wall and doubled the size of the room to include more files, artifacts, and historical info. We painted the walls a slate blue/grey and dark cream, put an oriental rug (reds and golds) in the center of the room and will add the newly refinished and recovered Eastlake rocker for folks to use while browsing all our new collection!

This last picture is part of my stash of "silks" that I dumped on the sewing room table before starting the pillow project. Hopefully I'll have a finished pillow picture to show you soon!Blessings, LORI