midwest – French Ethereal

Apple picking… Is there anything more fun in the fall than going to a local farm to pick out pretty pumpkins to decorate our homes and porches? Yes! When we can add gathering a bushel or two of the juiciest ripe apples fresh from the nearest apple tree…

Fresh baked pies, apple butter, apple salsa and other apple products were available for purchase inside the country store.

One of the first things we did the day after arriving in Sioux Falls, South Dakota was to take a trip out to a local farm called

Country Apple Orchard

orchard-info@countryappleorchard.com

27249 SD Highway 115

Harrisburg, SD 57032

605-743-2424

We picked our own crunchy vermillion-red apples straight off the fullest apple trees I have ever seen. With names like Honey Gold, Fireside, Red Cortland and Sweet Sixteen, there are apples for baking or for eating straight from the tree.

Spaced sixteen to twenty feet apart in rows, these apple trees created a beautiful allée which beckoned one to enter!

According to Country Apple Orchard’s website, there are about 6000 apple trees and thirteen different varieties to satisfy everyone’s craving for pies and snacking.

We enjoyed a quick trip into the bake shop and store where some of the students visiting from a local preschool were having lunch. Our son and daughter-in-law picked out a frozen Dutch apple pie to have after dinner and I paid for our small apple bag upfront then went all walked out through the open field to pick our fill of sweet delicious apples.

All aboard! These students reminded me of the times we took our own children to pumpkin farms over the years.

We also watched some students, their teachers and chaperones climb aboard a hay wagon for a ride around the farm ~ so fun!

When they returned they picked out pumpkins to take back with them to school and then home.

🙂

Time to climb down. 🙂

I just wanted to race about and go for a long walk among the vast number of apple trees, just enjoying their overflowing beauty but the wind was just breezy enough that it quickly we were

getting too cold.

So we walked to the nearest trees and began picking… I can’t even tell you what kinds we pulled but they are amazingly colorful and so sweet to eat!

My super photographer son Peter took these photos and made

fat old mom look good!

Love the brilliance of all these apples! Vivid red balls

looking a lot like edible Christmas decorations!!

And here’s one I snapped of Peter and Justine. 🙂

They are keepers!

So if you are ever in the area, stop by Country Apple Orchard

during the fall’s apple picking season (late September/October) and enjoy a picnic with your family and a fun time gathering apples together and creating memories!

And if you haven’t stopped by my little fall home tour earlier this week it is linked in pink for you and won’t you take a moment to visit some of the others on the Fall In Love With Texas tour?

We have a great group of bloggers this year who have opened their homes to share with you rounded up by our host and friend

Katie Mansfield of Let’s Add Sprinkles.

Here is the list ~ just click on each link and you’ll be taken to

each participants’ blog on the tour.

🙂

Monday

Let’s Add Sprinkles

My Thrift Store Addiction

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Opulent Cottage
Bluesky at Home
Hyacinths For The Soul

Sharing with
Feathered Nest Friday ~ French Country Cottage
Sweet Inspirations ~ The Boondocks Blog
Hearth and Soul ~ April J. Harris
To Gramma’s House We Go ~ Chaz’ Crazy Creations
Wonderful Wednesday ~ Oh, My Heartsie Girl!
Friday Features ~ Oh, My Heartsie Girl!

Some other posts you might like…

10 Minute Fall Pumpkin Vase

Setting an Elegant Table with Pansies and Pumpkins

Sharing with
Dishing It and Digging It ~ Life and Linda

Happy weekend to you,

Uncategorized

TBT ~ Travels from the Midwest, Summer 2016

February 28, 2017June 21, 2019 French Ethereal

Last summer was a super busy 5300+ mile

trip around 14 states

as I’ve brought up a bit before.

Today, though, I thought I’d share

some of those photos from the passenger window

with you…

Earlier this month I talked about going back in time a bit to share some of the places and photos from places we drove by and through last summer.

Open prairie out in South Dakota

more silos on a midwestern farm

There is something really inspiring about wide open prairies on a warm summer’s day which makes me happy and leads to creativity! {This is when I tend to sketch things and write down ideas to share in the future.}

It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it is mine.

Hay Bales {rolls or bolls} ~ I love how alfalfa and hay can be baled or rolled and this was the first time I realized how pretty hay rolls can be. Neatly stacked side by side, or just fresh-cut and ready to be moved nearer the barn ~ ready to feed to one’s livestock during the upcoming winter. One can also smell the sweetness of the hay!

I’ve since seen many hay rolls with our move to Texas and they are now sometimes “ordinary,” but I still like seeing them moved about. Around here, hay rolls are sold to locals for their horses, cattle and goats. The farm behind us has several rolls which are currently getting smaller and smaller as the angus there eat their way through those hay bolls.

Farmhouses and churches ~ another of my favorite things bringing inspiration to everything that I do! My favorite color is white and this lovely building fits the bill perfectly. With its grey roof atop the main sanctuary and above the little church bell cupola, this building had me at hello!

sideways hay rolls!

“Work and pray, live on hay, you’ll get pie in the sky when you die. “

— Joe Hill

Wide open spaces and rolling hills ~ Another favorite with wind sweeping through grasses sounds sooo delicious! Don’t you just love the sound of wind making trees creak in a wood or just whistling across an open moor or prairie?

I love walking in the wind and as long as I am bundled up with a thick, warm sweater and a coat to block the chill I am outside walking! Our Yoda loves to be outside in the wind, too, his hair and ears blowing back behind his face as he heads into the wind.

Our trip across all those states may have been a busy two weeks but it was one of the best vacations we have ever taken. This was one of the first trips my husband has been able to go on in a long, long time.

Happily, he was able to see attend our son and daughter~in~law’s wedding and enjoy this road trip with us.

Mr. and Mrs. Peter and Justine Chapman ~ Amy, our daughter, at far left in lavender

Some of the other posts I shared were about the

Midwest wildflowers

Shopping at Magnolia Market ~ The Silos

and antiquing at

Second Impressions

and

Finders Keepers

are worth checking out especially if you are planning an upcoming trip across the midwest.

🙂

Feel free to leave any comments or share this or any of these posts. If you like, follow me here as well as on

Instagram and Pinterest for other ideas and shares

I come across.

Blessings to you,

Uncategorized

TBT Thursday ~ The Hermosa Madonna of the Prairies

February 9, 2017June 21, 2019 French Ethereal

It’s Throwback Thursday for me over here at French Ethereal today and I’m thinking maybe for a few other posts here in February as well. Madonna of the Prairie is today’s unusual and cool post about how this lovely statue ended up out in a hay field in western South Dakota and also a little bit more of the behind the scenes from our cross country trip through 14 western states last summer.

It’s no mystery that I like garden statues with angels being a favorite of mine and recently I shared how I found our little statues, “The Girls” as I’ve come to call them. My hubby and I were on our way to visit Custer State Park hoping to see a great herd of American bison and later to eat lunch at a log cabin restaurant up among the pine trees…

Even editing this photograph, the sunlight was so strong making this photograph
appear really washed out but I wanted to share how she looked out in the field.

During the whole 5300 mile two week trip we saw and visited some really cool places and I just didn’t really get to cover those here. We were sooo busy just driving all those 5300 miles and trust me on this: riding as a passenger and trying to type on a computer is pretty near impossible. I did try!

First there was this bump

then that bump

then another bump.

Two hundred miles of jostling around over roads that

swish and swoosh as you are tapping away on computer keys for

what is normally a post that takes about

two to four hours to compile

edit and add all the photographs.

It’s enough to make anyone really seasick…

You get the picture.

<!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"ＭＳ明朝"; mso-font-charset:78; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;}

😉

The view from the back of our cabin ~ Hart Ranch RV Resort, Hermosa, SD

I did most of my travel writing at night in the hotels we stayed at along our prairie route.

{If I wasn’t too worn out ~ note: I did the majority of the driving.} Then other day I was moving files around and moving photos off the computer and I came across these photos again of this Madonna out in the field there near Hart Resort RV Park {our campground for several days} in Hermosa, South Dakota {an upcoming post!}.

So… Why Madonna of the Prairie?? I asked myself this same question:

What in the world was this huge statue doing out in the middle of nowhere just standing tall and majestic in this field???

A small herd of bison grazing in a meadow at Custer State Park.

Taking a quick look about there was nothing remarkable about the land ~ just a field where hay grass had grown and recently been mown and gathered in as cattle feed for this winter.

This field would probably yield one more crop of hay again towards the end of summer in late September or early October before the first snow flurries which in South Dakota {according to my South Dakotan daughter~in~law, first snows can happen right at the end of October/very early November}.

–>

But along Madonna’s skirts sheaves of wheat standing up tall give us a clue. It’s fairly easy to guess that she was put out here in this field as a visible protector against crop failures, tornadoes and any other natural disasters. Then there’s the little sign that says that this lovely Madonna is a representation of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ Jesus. I was wondering if a group of Christian women might be asking God to protect their communities, the yearly harvests,

these people’s very lives and livelihoods.

The real story couldn’t be more different!

Rancher John McMahon owns Spring Creek Ranch and raises herds of cattle there along highway 79. He is the one who put up this Madonna on this hill back around 2003. A short article by Dan Daly of the Rapid City describes in greater detail how this statue came to be:

Mr. McMahon, while visiting a friend in Montana sometime before 2003, was taken to see a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe that this friend and others had had commissioned and put up along a highway there in Montana. McMahon liked it so well that he decided to do the same thing and had this one created. You can read Daly’s article by clicking on the highlighted word Madonna, above left.

Well, that’s it! No super mystery and my whole idea of this statue’s being there as a symbol to all for protection is a bust. 😉 However, looking back when I think of the stories I read when I was a child by Laura Ingalls Wilder of her families’ existence on the open prairies there’s no question farmers needed all the blessings that God could provide! Plagues of grasshoppers still happen ~ not so much since the invention of today’s modern sprays combatting them ~ but there’s always a new pest out there ready to gobble up crops.

my own little Madonna, in a way

So in some small way I still prefer to think of

this Madonna statue as being a benevolent benefactor protecting

the people there in Hermosa. As the name “hermosa” implies:

The Madonna of the Prairies

is indeed “beautiful.”

xoxo Barb 🙂

Will be sharing with

Feathered Nest Friday ~ French Country Cottage

Friday Feature ~ Oh, My Heartsie Girl

Home Sweet Inspiration ~ The Boondocks Blog

Inspire Me Wednesday ~ Adventures of Mel

<!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"ＭＳ明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} –><!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"ＭＳ明朝"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:fixed; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} –>

Uncategorized

Places to Visit ~ Finders Keepers Antique & Coffee Shoppe

September 14, 2016June 21, 2019 French Ethereal

Here is the post about

Finders Keepers

Antiques and Coffee Shoppe…

{though a few days late with our internet~challenged capabilities!}

😉

As I mentioned in my last post

Coming into this antique mall

right off the main highway

in Percival, Iowa

was such a treat to find!

After traveling for hours by car

bumping over mile after mile of roadway

though enjoying

snapping photos of rolling hillsides,

farms along the way

and silos to my heart’s content,

I still was in need of a break from

sitting or driving…

~ Finders Keepers ~

Antique Mall and Coffee Shoppe

2085 Crossroads Drive, I-29 & Hwy #2, Exit #10

Percival, Iowa 51648

fkantiques@yahoo.com

FindersKeepersMall.com

Right off Interstate 29,

Finders Keepers

was a wonderful find and upon entering

the shoppe,

I was greeted by the owners

who were very welcoming.

They asked if there was anything

they could help me find.

There wasn’t really anything

so…

I planned my quick adventure and hooked a left

deciding to scout the perimeter

then come back and zigzag up the middle

finishing out on the right side ending

near the front register

and the display cases there.

One of the first things I found was this incredible

ironstone watering pitcher that I truly, truly wanted

but just couldn’t afford…

It was calling to me desperately saying,

“Take me home!”

I am hopeful that when I am able to afford one,

I’ll find one like it again.

This creamware pitcher was in wonderful condition ~

just a little crazing

and was so, so very pretty…

I still think of calling up Finders Keepers

and inquiring about it…

sigh…

Not much further on these sweet

milk glass~style lamps with ruffled shades

caught my attention.

This pair would look nice lighting up a

vanity or as bedside table lamps.

A Radio Flyer sled would be a fun gift for any child,
and the prairie girl in me loves the whatnot shelf for
displaying special china or brick~a~brac.

Finders Keepers’ purveyors had nice collections of

old Ball canning jars, little wooden children’s chairs, and

a childsize covered wagon ~ something I haven’t

seen before in any antique shop out here

in California.

One such seller displayed a nice collection of

hand~embroidered linens from the 1940’s or 50’s

which were in great shape.

I was tempted to buy a couple and bring them back

especially since a friend of mine

from my old tea group recently copied one which was framed

and hung on another tea~friend’s wall in her

former home.

I’m not usually a kitschy person

but those linens as well as my

little doggy and peppers

did speak to me

and

they certainly are kitschy and

vintage to boot!

😉

In this particular row any of the ladies of

Downton Abbey

would be proud to carry and wear any of these

lovely leather gloves.

Along the back

an area dedicated to vintage books

held many young adult tomes

beloved by readers past.

These charmers would certainly

fit today’s trend of

displaying books with their

spines facing inward and the page ends

facing outward.

Among the middle rows of Finders Keepers tall lighted display cases held shelf upon shelf of Homer Laughlin Fiesta Ware,

two shelves full of frill~edged Shelly teacups,

a fair amount of chintzware with their cheerful colorful

all~over patterns of flowers and these lovely

brown and white Haviland pieces.

Much to drool over!

A personal favorite ~ koala bears made in the 1970’s

from wallaby fur {eventually outlawed}.

At one time, my brothers and I had 32 of

these darling little {and large} koalas that we

used to play with for hours on end.

My brothers Frank, Gene, and Tom with our metal climber and the plumeria trees we used to climb.

There’s a picture I took when I was about 11 years old

which is out on my personal Facebook page

{not French Ethereal}

from around Father’s Day a year or two ago

where I shared a photograph of my three brothers

with the mass of koala bears

atop our backyard picnic table

circa 1972-1973.

And lastly the pink thistle

that I saw out of the window and

I just had to photograph

that started this whole run into

Finders Keepers

antique store!

Hubby had only pulled~in to fill our gas tank

and I had just woken up from an hour~long nap

as I had driven all morning.

It was now a little later in the afternoon.

If I hadn’t left the car

to snap a few photographs,

I wouldn’t have looked around and seen

this shop about 50 feet to the left

from the gas station…

So happy that I did!

Please visit Finders Keepers at their website listed above.

If you click on the brown highlighted words above,

you should be taken

to Finders Keepers website and to my post

about the little doggie and pepper shakers.

Hope they work! 🙂

Finders Keepers is also out on Facebook

which I forgot to mention previously.

***Also, as you’ll see here at the bottom of this posting ~

I’ve joined up with a wonderful group of mostly women

{however, there are a few great men out there, too!}

for a

#FiftyandFabulous Blog Hop Party!!!

Do check out these wonderful blogs ~ there are

lots of wonderful exciting things happening

out in BloggerLand

that may be of interest to you!

I will be sharing with ~

#FiftyandFabulous Blog Hop Party

Create Link Inspire ~ Naptime Creations

http://nap-timecreations.com/2016/09/easy-fall-diy.html

WOW Us Wednesdays ~ Savvy Southern Style

http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/2016/09/wow-us-wednesdays-291.html

Feathered Nest Friday ~ French Country Cottage

http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net

http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/2016/09/feathered-nest-friday_15.html

Blessings to you as you go about

your day,

🙂

An InLinkz Link-up

https://static.inlinkz.com/cs2.js

Uncategorized

Antiquing ~ Second Impression Palace, Mitchell, SD

July 26, 2016June 21, 2019 French Ethereal

What makes the heart

go pitter~patter?

That excited feeling one gets

when you KNOW

there could be

Something out there really special just

waiting for you

to find it…

Second Impressions Palace Antique Mall

412 N Main St, Mitchell, SD

(605) 996-1948

You know that feeling when it hits you full force

at least it does me!

😉

Last week as we were driving across the

prairies in South Dakota

we kept seeing road signs for

an antique mall in Mitchell.

So…

We decided to stop and check it out!

I found lots of older camera equipment at

Second Impressions

perfect for that person

who is a collector of such goodies.

My son began collecting a few pieces

especially older lenses

as they can often be adapted

to work with today’s digital cameras.

Two summers ago, we found a 1970’s~era

camera body, several lenses for that model and

a flash at an estate sale.

My son was very excited that weekday

when I came home and woke him up

to go back with me to take a look.

This is always a score in our book!

I love this darling little pillow!

Wouldn’t it be cute

with other vintage pillows

in delicious shabby shades

sea foam green, soft pinks and sky blues?

Of course there were lots of vintage and

antique books to peruse ~ I found a number of vintage

Hardy Boys Mysteries

as well as this

Harper’s Third Reader.

The stories within are good still and its fun to read

these hundred~year~old school books

to see what life was like back then!

Vintage books are also wonderful to decorate with ~

stack them to raise items creating height or

balance in a tablescape ~

anything which needs a little boost

when you are decorating a shelf or mantel.

True antiques these former gas chandeliers

now electrified would look wonderful hanging in a

period or transitional home.

Surprisingly not much china was available

as I overheard the shopkeeper tell someone that

tea sets weren’t selling well…

A shame really as I found this tea set to be quite charming!

Shopping this time for me had to be easily

packable and small since we were full in the car

so the crystal chandelier pieces

a packet of silver-plate knives

and these two door escutcheons are all the antiques

that came back with me from this trip.

Finally, the last and the pièce de resistance

a mantel unlike any I have seen anywhere ~

If I could have forked over the $895 price

I would have in a heartbeat…

This is actually three separate pieces: the mantel piece,

the greenish patinaed metal insert

and a metal medallion of a woman down below.

All lovely and beyond my budget… sigh!

So now you know what makes my heart skip a beat

and makes me swoon.

Anything here make you swoon, too?

😉

Happy antiquing,

p.s. ~ As always, feel free to “share” and “like” my little ramblings. I’m looking at adding

Mail Chimp to make it easier to send you mail updates of when blogposts publish.

I do appreciate your comments even though the goofy Google+ thingy says comments are

“from me”… Still trying to find that and fix it. Let me know if you happen to have had the same issue… Thank you!!!

*Will be sharing with ~

Feathered Nest Friday ~ French Country Cottage

http://www.frenchcountrycottage.net/2016/07/feathered-nest-friday_28.html

SaveSave

Uncategorized

The Wilds of South Dakota

June 21, 2016June 21, 2019 French Ethereal

Lake Thompson Recreation Area ~ part of the South Dakota State Park system. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about
Lakes Henry and Thompson when they were two lakes back in the late 19th century.

South Dakota is one of the prettiest states
in the union.

With its wide open prairies stretching out for miles in every direction; buttes rising up out of the Missouri, the Sioux
and other rivers, and even with bigger cities dotting the countryside, there is always a sense of
“the prairie…”

All along the highways of Nebraska and South Dakota, cities and towns have markers and often memorials
to entice travelers and locals to stop by and visit. We stopped at several memorials welcoming us into towns.

With its haunting beauty, the prairie whispers in its daily winds for one to come take a walk,
go for a bike ride,

or just explore and travel back in
this land’s time machine to the state’s earlier, wild days
as a expansion territory…

Crossing the Missouri River

In 1803, Jefferson commissioned the Corps of Discovery, and named U.S. Army Captain Meriwether Lewis its leader, who in turn selected William Clark as second in command. ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition

Lewis and Clark along with their team of men, began surveying South Dakota territory in the summer of 1804
reaching Sioux City, Iowa, in August.
One of their party, Sgt. Charles Floyd, Jr. became ill with what was probably peritonitis due to an inflamed and ruptured appendix and died there along the banks of the Big Sioux River,
a tributary of the Missouri River.

Mr. Clark wrote of Sgt. Floyd:

. . Serj. Floyd died with a great deal of composure. Before his death he said to me, “I am going away. I want you to write me a letter.” We buried him on the top of the bluff ½ mile below a small river to which we gave his name. He was buried with the Honors of War much lamented. A seeder {cedar} post with the (I) Name Sergt. C. Floyd died here 20th of August 1804 was fixed at his grave. This man at alltimes gave us proofs of his firmness and determined resolution to doe service to his countrey and honor to himself . . .

I wrote about North Sioux City in a post last month
describing how within a 10 minute drive you can be in three different states ~ Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota.
One of our countries tri-state areas!
🙂

There are several memorials in the area and the
Sgt. Floyd Monument a commanding obelisk 100′ tall,
is there on the north bluff overlooking the Big Sioux River,
a tributary of the Missouri River.
The monument and surrounding park of 25 acres is lovely and
quite peaceful, a fitting last resting place for Sgt. Floyd.

***Click on the monument name above to visit the
National Park website to learn more about
Sgt. Floyd and the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery.

Driving along the prairies along Interstate 90

Thunderheads piling up in the East ~ signs of a rainstorm but luckily Not a tornado!

Four men in the mist ~ Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln

Amazing views from anywhere within Mt. Rushmore park!

Another view of Lake Thompson, South Dakota

One of the placards on the walking tour at Mt. Rushmore National Park

This summer our whole family including grandparents

will converge in South Dakota for the wedding of
our son to his bride~to~be.

I’ll be once again shooting photos of the South Dakota towns
and prairies but if you have any requests for places to visit,

email me at french.ethereal@gmail.com as we will be traveling through 14 states taking our daughter and her goods to her new home in Texas then traveling onward up through Oklahoma,

Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and into South Dakota

{not necessarily in that order}.

😉

As always, I’d love it if you’d “Like” my blog and “Sign up”

along the side bar to receive future blog postings!

Sharing with ~

Feathered Nest Friday ~ French Country Cottage

Happy summer travels,

Uncategorized

Camping Around South Dakota

May 13, 2016June 21, 2019 French Ethereal

Checking out two lovely campgrounds

for you this week ~ the

KOA

in Yankton, SD

and a second KOA in

North Sioux City, Iowa!

These photos were taken at the KOA in North Sioux City.

As you can see, this is totally a “kid’s paradise!”

There are three swing sets here, the kind like we used to play on as kids;

a couple of different areas with modern climbing

structures along with their big yellow slides;

and

a Frisbee golf course for “bigger kids.”

Campsites are roomy and extra long to accommodate large RVs and pull-thru campers.

In these next pictures you can see part of the Frisbee golf course…

Since we will be camping over most of the time

we are traveling here for

our son and daughter~in~love’s

wedding

and afterwards as we take

our daughter

down to Texas,

{she is moving~out with a friend and letting her wings fly!}

I’m glad I came over to check out this campground.

Both KOAs have pools and are pet~friendly

with areas to let your dog use the restroom as well

as letting them play with other dogs.

🙂

Justine, my daughter~in~law~to~be,

says there are quite a few campgrounds around here and that

we can camp in Vermillion at one of the local parks.

There is usually a nominal fee to camp,

less than would be paid at a state or private park.

I had forgotten that you can camp at many parks

here in South Dakota.

Peter and I did just so in DeSmet, South Dakota a few years ago.

When he and I drove out a few years ago with his “new” car,

We paid $8 to camp. It was $10 to hook up an RV.

Just drop a check in the mailbox attached to

the park restrooms…

It’s all on the honor system which is lovely!

If you go to DeSmet, be sure to stop by the

Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum and giftshop!

Every year in July, the city puts on a pageant

with young actors and actresses portraying the life

and times of Laura Ingalls’ 1880’s life there on the

DeSmet prairie.

Check out there website for information on upcoming events

and to plan a vacation around them!

Happy camping this summer!

Blessings to you,

Uncategorized

A Camera Try-out ~ Canon EOS 70D

May 12, 2016June 21, 2019 French Ethereal

A mini vacation after a busy weekend

was just what was needed with a day trip visiting thriftshops

and getting out and

photographing nature…

On Tuesday, driving over to Yankton, South Dakota

to browse through the local thriftshops,

{still searching for old Ball jars to use for table pieces

for our son and his fiancée’s wedding this summer}

I came across the

KOA campgrounds

I’m writing up for the next blogpost.

Then I found the other KOA yesterday morning…

along with these beautiful flowers…

While walking around North Sioux City,

where my son and his fiancé just moved,

I found these sweet flowering plants

growing alongside the walking path.

Sorry, I don’t have any idea what the name

of this sweet pink flowering plant is…

If any of you know the name of this plant,

please let me know!

🙂

I forgot my camera when we drove to the airport last Friday,

however it turned out to be a blessing to be able to borrow my son’s!

This camera is a bit heavier than my little

Canon EOS Rebel especially with the bigger lens.

Please forgive me for some of the photos being

slightly out of focus.

I didn’t find a tripod amongst my son’s things.

But it was fun shooting the photograph above

and the one below.

I was down on my hands and knees {seriously}

for this next shot.

Even came away with grass stains and wet spots on both knees.

😉

I was having The Best Time shooting with his

Canon EOS 70D camera

and

his used and refurbished

Canon Ultrasonic 24-105mm lens!!!

The quintessential French Ethereal flower: anything lavender ~ love this!

He started borrowing this bigger lens

for filming class projects and then quickly

decided he needed to buy one!

He bought it used from

Borrow Lenses

a company which ships lenses to customers

inside well-padded suitcases.

When you are done using a lens

you just ship it back.

🙂

{You can click on the link above to visit Borrow Lenses.}

The Canon Ultrasonic 24-105mm wide-angle lens

is perfect for taking really close-up photographs plus it

creates the “boca” effect that photographers

try really hard to reproduce

{like me!}

where what you are focusing on is “in focus”

and the background and the surrounding area

is slightly to fully blurred.

*called bokeh*

Love it!!!!!

I even just looked up into the sky and shot a few pics of this

cottonwood tree that was next to me!

The leaves were rustling in the light breeze

and interestingly enough

this shot has a 3-D effect to it!

🙂

More of these purple lovelies! Perhaps purple loosestrife?? Might be larkspur.

My favorite shot: amazing clouds in a French blue sky! Also, check out the “moving clouds…” Just stare for a bit… 😉

This is one of the United States of America’s tri-state areas where South Dakota meets up with Nebraska and Iowa.

The convergence of the Big Sioux and

the Missouri rivers

happens a few miles down Highway 29

from where I shot these photographs,

along this

very lower right tip of South Dakota

where it overlaps with

Nebraska and Iowa.

“Gateway to South Dakota” say the words on the blue water tower ~ the opposite side says “Welcome to Iowa.”

I think I’m going to have to save up my money

for a really long time so I can get a lens like this!

I love how you can shoot photographs
really up-close then turn around

and shoot far away and get photographs

like this landscape portrait.

My son and I will be going over to the

Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve

later this morning so I’ll be sharing

about this lovely place and more photographs

of this beautiful area and my
“second spring” with you soon.

Happy Thursday to you!

and

Blessings to you always,

Sharing with:

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Tag: midwest

Places to Visit ~ Country Apple Orchard

Like this:

TBT ~ Travels from the Midwest, Summer 2016

Like this:

TBT Thursday ~ The Hermosa Madonna of the Prairies

Like this:

Places to Visit ~ Finders Keepers Antique & Coffee Shoppe

Like this:

Antiquing ~ Second Impression Palace, Mitchell, SD

Like this:

The Wilds of South Dakota

Like this:

Camping Around South Dakota

Like this:

A Camera Try-out ~ Canon EOS 70D

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: