Gene Stratton-Porter Historic Site

After seeing Mid-America Windmill Museum, we made the short drive to Rome City, IN to tour the Gene Stratton-Porter Historic Site as we were making our way to Lake Michigan. We thoroughly enjoyed the peaceful grounds and lovely home.

Just as was the case at our previous stop, we were blessed to have a private tour and learned a great deal about this interesting Indiana author, environmentalist, nature photographer, artist, musician and business woman. Gene Stratton was born on August 17, 1863. Growing up on the family farm, she spent hours exploring outside and loved everything about nature. These formative years instilled a lifelong passion. This is just a small glimpse at the gardens surrounding her home. Our tour guide told us that she used to tend the grounds dressed in men's clothing since it was so much more practical than trying to work in those conditions while wearing a dress! As you can imagine, this setting lends itself perfectly to a wide variety of wildlife. We were able to see her artwork depicting the birds and other animals she encountered. 

Sitting on Sylvan Lake, the home was her vision and Gene not only designed it, but oversaw the construction process. It was completed in 1913, has an incredible lake view and was named Cabin at Wildflower Woods. 

We found it interesting to observe how insightful she was when laying-out the house, making it both creative and progressive. Her kitchen, for example,  was ahead of its time in design and function.  

 How many homes of the time had their own darkroom?!

Gene Stratton was married to Charles Dorwin Porter and they had a daughter, Jeannette. In 1919 Gene went to California, intending on spending winters there. She became fond of the area, though, and ended up staying. She even started her own film production company there. Gene passed away while living in CA in 1924.

We thought it was clever of the historic site to display her book titles at the entrance of the grounds. In addition to these published works, Gene penned numerous national magazine articles for McCall's and Good Housekeeping. 

After having been to this interesting historic site and learning about this incredible woman, I am inspired to read some of her works. I have reserved the first book of the Limberlost series, Freckles, from the library. Have you read any of her stories or poems? If you're ever in the area, you may want to stop and poke around the Gene Stratton Porter Historic Site. I think you will be very glad you did.

Tuesday's Tablescape

Since our recent trip included a few Lake Michigan lighthouses, I was inspired to set this table. 

Nearly 20 years ago, we began incorporating beacons in our travels and have visited them in the Great Lakes region, Wisconsin, Florida and along the eastern coast. I decided to use my official United States Lighthouse map for a table cover.

When we went to Cape Hatteras many years ago, we purchased a set of replica Lighthouse Service tableware. Those seemed a good fit for today!

Over the years we have picked up some decorative miniature lighthouses, so I pulled four to represent the area which we just traveled. 

While away this time, we were able to stay right beside the Grand Haven light (shown below) and that was a great experience. 

I hope your day was bright! 

Mid-America Windmill Museum

We just got home from an enjoyable vacation. Visiting and catching-up with relatives, seeing Amish country and exploring a few port cities along Lake Michigan made for a great getaway. Sightseeing is popular with us and one of our interesting stops on this trip was Mid-America Windmill Museum in Kendallville, Indiana (not far from Fort Wayne). Dedicated to education and preservation, this gem hosts a collection of over 50 authentic windmills. Some are spinning outside in the field while more delicate artifacts are housed in an enormous barn. 

Since we were there during a weekday morning, the museum was nice and quiet and afforded us the opportunity to have a private tour! That coupled with perfect weather added to the experience. In addition to learning about the history of mills, we now know about the different styles and how each one operates. While strolling the grounds and building of Mid-America Windmill Museum, we were taught that there are three types. Some windmills are designed to generate water, some turn a stone to grind grain and others turn gears to operate machinery. We find it mind-boggling to consider what an enormous positive impact these machines had on farmers of yesteryear, while playing an important role in our country's growth and advancement. Today windmills are still in existence, primarily used by Amish farmers and farmers in the western states.

The below mural is on display in the museum and was painted by a local art teacher. It's a replica of a 1930 advertisement for the town's own Flint and Walling Manufacturing Company. 

Ironically, Mid-America Windmill Museum just celebrated its 25th anniversary. If you ever have the chance to make a stop here, I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as we did! 

Missour Mines Historic Site

As you're aware, we are big fans of our state park system. Missouri has many lovely sites to enjoy and those with historical significance are of particular interest to us. Several weeks ago we played hooky one day to visit a few places we'd not previously visited. The first stop of our all-day excursion was Missouri Mines Historic Site in Park Hills, MO. 

The original plant was built by Federal Lead Company in 1906 where lead and zinc ore were mined. The photo below shows how the complex looked in its day.

In the early 1920s, the plant was sold to St. Joseph Lead Company where production continued until it closed in 1972. A few years later, the land was donated to the state. Today, the old original buildings remain onsite for visitors to observe (due to their condition, they cannot be entered).

Mining machinery is on exhibit in a mining hall.

A complete mineral museum highlights multiple examples (as shown below). There is also a very good historical movie which provides an interesting and informative overview of the actual mine.

Missouri Mines Historic Site is open yearlong with limited off-season hours. Throughout the spring and summer, they're open daily (hours vary). There is a nominal fee to enter the museum.

We would recommend this site to others. Maybe you can stop to see it if you're ever in the area.

A TOAD-ally BEE-utiful Stroll

Now that we are in full summer-mode, the flowers are a burst of color and that makes me smile. It also makes it a good time to take a stroll. Look at this cute little toad I found right away.

We are overrun with frogs and toads this year. I think all of the flood waters resulted in an amphibian bumper crop and since we back to a creek, we have tons of little visitors in our yard. 

Next, I encountered many buzzing pollinators. These bees love the purple coneflowers...

and purple bee balm.

We have many varieties of daylilies. Can you see the residual water drops remaining from being watered?

Black-eyed Susans are exceptionally showy right now, as well as

 Sombrero Salsa coneflowers.

This little patch of snapdragons are self-seeded and are so delicate and pretty.

You may recall when I planted these vining black-eyed Susans back in May. It looks like they are happy in their location.

Our hydrangeas (Little Lime variety) were planted last fall and are looking healthy and happy in the new location!

Three types of sweet potato vine grace our gate basket.

We are doing our part to boost the threatened monarch butterfly population by planting swamp milkweed/butterfly weed. We added both yellow and orange.

The blackberries are ripening and I'm excited because we should have enough for a cobbler this year. 

Larger in size than the purple bee balm shown above, this scarlet variety always reminds me of fireworks!

Yarrow is bright and pretty! It's more than a month later in blooming this year due to our weather conditions.

Now do you see why I found this to be a 

TOAD-ally BEE-utiful stroll?