While a majority of the kittens at the farm are born in the spring and early summer, some come early when the snow is on the ground or in the fall. My long time cat Dutch who died last year, was born on this date thirteen years ago. One of the new kittens has similar markings and likes to climb, and time will tell if it can get back down by itself as that is one thing Dutch had trouble doing correctly.
Eyeing Up The Climb
On a warm sunny Sunday, heading to the lake (or a small pond in my case) might be a way to spend the afternoon for some swimming, boating, fishing or just relaxing watching the clouds go by. But since the fish in my small pond are only bait size, I guess I would have go to somewhere to fish or to kayak.
Sunday Afternoon by the Water
The year that Abraham Lincoln took his oath as President for his second term amidst the Civil War, a family settled on their farm which has been passed down through generations. Today they are celebrating the 150th year of their family farm with an open house near Baldwin, Wisconsin. This barn was built around 1900 from nearby timber.
Family Farm Sesquicentennial
Today’s full moon is called a Blue Moon, even though the moon isn’t any bluer than the full moon earlier this month. But once in a while there is a blue moon, when a volcanic eruption or smoke filters the Sun’s reflected light and makes the moon appear blue.
The original definition in the Maine Farmers’ Almanac defined a “blue moon” as the third full moon in a season with four full moons instead of the typical three. The second definition came about after an article by hobby astronomer James Hugh Pruett was published in the American magazine Sky and Telescope in 1946. He made a miscalculation, and claimed that any second full Moon in a calendar month is called a blue moon. A correction was printed but the mistake spread worldwide and is now the most common definition.
So the next blue moon by the original definition would be May 21, 2016 and next blue moon based on two in a month will be January 31, 2018. The true blue moon based on color isn’t as easy to predict since based on particles in the air.
Once in a Blue Moon
One small perk of mowing lawn, especially on my trails, is that you get to see what flowers are blooming and last evening as the sun was setting and while finishing the last sections, I spotted a rare find. It had been thirty plus years since I had spotted the Lesser Purple Fringed Orchid while walking through the cow pasture on the farm so I was thrill to spot one last night. It is found in the Eastern US, but in some of those states it is listed as endangered, rare, or threatened, although Wisconsin is not one of those state, it is not a flower that I see very often in this area. Probably since they prefer wet habitats but with the rain this summer, my lawn is a wet habitat!
So I will have to venture out today in the daylight to get more pictures of the showy inflorescence of pinkish-purple dancing flowers of the Platanthera psycodes, meaning ‘butterfly like’, referring the spreading fringed petals, before someone mows it off or a deer eats it!
Lesser Purple Fringed Orchid
On a breezy day like today, I wonder how many storms and changing seasons this old log barn in upper Wisconsin has seen. Not sure if the owner had limited paint or time, but definitely gives a different look to it.
Log Barn
The sun is starting to peek out after the rain, but it hasn’t cool off nor has the dewpoint dropped, so it is another hot summer day. The yellow blossom of the common St. Johnswort looks like the sun bursting out its rays. But like many other flowers, this native one from Eurasia and North Africa was introduced into this country in the 1700s as an ornamental and as a medicinal herb. Now it is considered an invasive and noxious weed especially since toxic to livestock as it crowds out native species and forage on pasture lands.
Common St. Johnswort
On another warm summer day, these little baby pot-bellied pigs might want to find a cool place but it won’t be in my house even if they are cute when little, but like all things, they grow up and soon there is a hundred pound pig, or larger, is wanting attention.
I might sweat like a pig on this hot day, but the pigs won’t as they don’t sweat much and it is why they wallow in mud to cool off. The expression “sweat like a pig” came from pig iron, a form of iron smelting which the iron ore is heated to extreme temperatures and is poured into a mold shaped like one long line with many smaller lines branching off of it at right angles. This looks similar to piglets feeding from their mother, so these pieces became known as pigs. The smelter has to wait until the liquid cools to move it and as the metal cools, the air around it reaches the dew point, causing droplets to form on the metal’s surface. When the “pig” is sweating, it’s cool enough to be moved.
Sweat Like A Pig
These pigs probably want the bowl filled back up with water to play in.
Hidden on top of St. Anne’s Hill, sits a quaint stone chapel dedicated to St. Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose feast day is today. The St. Anne’s Shrine consists of the fourteen Stations of the Cross, which line the path from St. Luke’s Catholic Church to the top through a cow pasture, a replica of the Lourdes Grotto in addition to the chapel.
Five years after a cross was first fashioned from stones on the summit of Council Bluff by Father Surges and two visiting priests, the shrine was dedicated in Plain, Wisconsin. Held on the Feast of St. Anne, the July 26, 1928, dedication was attended by more than 1,000 parishioners and guests.
Some of the “pretty” rocks in the communion rail came from my grandmother’s flower garden, but since I didn’t circle on the picture when she pointed her rocks, I don’t remember which ones they are.
Inside St. Anne’s Hill Chapel
On a hot summer Saturday, I am sure the beach will be filled with people cooling off at Interfalls Lake in Pattison State Park. The twenty-three acre lake, containing several small islands, is downstream from the Little Manitou Falls. And the sound of the small dam and the roar of the Big Manitou Falls can be heard directly behind this spot. In a span of a short distance, the waters of the Black River makes a 30 foot drop before flowing into a calm lake briefly before it goes over the dam and then the big plunge of 165 feet until it makes its way to Lake Superior.
Interfalls Lake
