pow wow in Litchfield

So much to tell you about.But for now will let you see the video I did

Swarming time

Summer has been hot and muggy.  Seems to me that the harder the summer then the harder the winter.  The bugs and birds have all begun  to swarm.  The dance of the starlings is so fluid ..Like a ballet in the sky

Historical Landmark Coliseum Ballroom destroyed by fire.

Coliseum fire
Benld, Illinois
As the band, Shadow of Doubt played, a fire erupted in the attic and back rooms of the building quickly spreading and finally destroying this historical landmark.


The memories that were created in this famous landmark  are being recalled by many .  Marriage propositions, first kisses,  first stolen glances.
Famous bands and singers were drawn to this place..  Among some of them, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Glen Miller, Louis Armstrong, Lawrence Welk.Guy Lombardo, Kay Kyser, Count Basey, and  Chuck Berry , Everly Brother, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, Johny Rivers and Ray Charles,  Ike and Tina Turner, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bob Seger, Styx, Foghat and Head East, Heart, Ozark Mountain Daredevils and Mama's Pride.

Built in 1923 , it has seen so many different changes.. a ballroom  which closed in 1980 reopened later as a skaing rink    A few years ago Route 66 Association of Illinois add the coliseum to its hall of fame   The last decade saw it as an antique mall.


Faulty electrical wiring is rumored to be the cause of the blaze..
The grounds were not destroyed  and a minature golf course still stands.  Ironically it is still in halloween dress

The following is from KMOV

(KMOV)-- The legendary Coliseum Ballroom in Benld, Illinois was gutted by fire Saturday night, leaving nothing but a charred shell.

Officials say the fire broke out sometime between 9 and 10 p.m. in the Macoupin County antique mall, about an hour northeast of St. Louis. A band was playing to a full house when the blaze started.

One of the band members told News 4 he noticed a burning smell hours earlier around 7:30 p.m.

Nearly every surrounding department responded to the fire.  Flames reportedly rekindled Sunday morning, and crews returned to the scene.

Three people suffered injuries during the blaze.  No word yet on their condition.

In its heyday, the ballroom was seen as a historic hotspot on Route 66.  It was built in the 1920s, and hosted many celebrities over the years.  It was reportedly one of Al Capone's favorite hide-outs.

--
http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Coliseum-Ballroom-goes-126478588.html

 

We are expecting

We are EXPECTING!!!! I know, I know pretty crazy isn't it??
 I really don't want to believe it myself.
 I wasn't going to put it on here, because it will be obvious soon enough, but thought I needed to make it official.
 So now you know, its official.
 We are expecting another hot day tomorrow!!
 Wait! What did you think I meant!?!?

Giant wind chimes under the bridge

Aarhus - Pedestrians may be surprised by the sounds they hear as they approach a foot-bridge in Denmark, for a large interactive wind chime now hangs beneath the span.

Chimecco, a 600-pipe wind chime, was created by artist Mark Nixon as part of the third annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibit in Aarhus. The design was chosen as one of the winners, from a competition which brought in more than 350 submissions, and Nixon and his assistants spent about a month putting it together. The anodized aluminium pipes vary in length from 120mm (about five inches) to 3750mm (over 10 feet), and are attached to the underside of the bridge. "Chimecco hides silently beneath the bridge in the forest until activated by human movements or the wind causing it to sing, dance and play with the senses," Tree Hugger quoted Nixon as saying. People can activate some of the chimes from below. World Architecture News reported that Chimecco is based on three conceptual ideas. The idea of music and interaction as a catalyst for conversation and play is one concept. As a non-visual object, it will reveal itself by sound at times, and other days it may be passed by unnoticed. It can also be played from below, creating a condition of performers and audience. It allows creation through a combination of human and natural movement. Nixon was chosen as one of three artists followed during the construction of their art for a Danish television documentary about Sculpture by the Sea. "It's all about play really, and we want people to play with the work and enjoy looking at the work," he said in the film footage. "It's very basic really. It's a very basic thing just to make people smile." His website includes several photos of Chimecco during construction and completed. FVL Media has a 360-degree panorama of the chimes, including sounds. Chimecco is for sale at the price of €26,000 (£23,000 - $37,000). A gallery including all of the pieces in the 2011 Sculpture by the Sea can be viewed online.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/308960#ixzz1RkGtL81P

Firecracker wannabe's

Firecrackers by chicken eggs.

 

When JJ and I first got married we had to find 

a house with plenty of room... 

My three children

and his 2 he had custody of at the time

(2 to follow soon).

we found a home with 2 stories and plenty of room

However,  the former tenant left

200 doz. chicken eggs deep in the basement

For over 6 months the house was vacant, so that means I have no idea how long those eggs were there 

or for what purpose that many eggs had

Told all of them, carry them outside and put in the

burning barrel.  Wrong move

wrong wrong

do not ask 3 teenaged girls and their boyfriends to 

get rid of that many eggs

They had a pitching contest  and it sounded 

like WWW3  was going on out there.

One sniff told me what had happened.

phew...

Put them in a pile cover them with boards and burn them.   Hurry...

WRONG Move...

AGAIN

Advice to the readers!!!

do not burn rotten eggs.... 

the shells are fragile

They explode...  good thing  the boards were on top  or else someone would of gotten shot!

Threating sky

This sky happened in the middle of the day.
The skies turned orange to a brilliant red.  I felt like the sky was almost within arms reach .  The colors were an absolute inspiration for a painting.  We have had so many storms in the past month but this one really noisy.. So much lightning happened as the storm went through

A labor of love....homemade recipe eatable

Remember when Mom cooked when you were a child?
Something special..And never a recipe!

Moms special recipe was vegetable soup!  She could make that soup 5 days a week and not one time did it taste the same. And it always got better. Tried to figure out what she put in it by just eating it .  Shoot that was not an option. 

The meat...uh ham, no  beef, nope pork.  It remained a mystery for a long long time.  I was in my 30's when she finally gave me her secret..  

Dreams of fresh sliced carrots, and tiny new potatoes not even fully grown yet.  Fresh peas from the store and fresh celery.  vine ripened tomatoes.  Garlic , fresh ,  not powdered.

And sweet onions.  

All of the above is what I thought she was going to say

NOT  NOT  NOT

My mouth was watering and with pencil in hand  began to take dictation

Mom looked me in the eye and said "Do you really want to know? Are you sure?  Are you ready? "   By this time my curiosity was tingling  and on the alert. My mom was an ole  trickster from way back when.

"You dont need to take notes!"  (worried now) " How many vegtables can you count in the soup, how many types?.  Here look at this bowl of soup"   She pushed it towards me... Oh I counted at least 10 different types.  " Tell me what you think is in the soup.."

I named off a bunch of stuff  and tasted it to find the spices.

Thought they were all fresh..

My mom had those tiny little baggies...and foil..

Every meal that we ever had in 2 wks time was part of the soup.   Veggies in separate bags.  pieces of onions that when cooked you could not tell if they were the end pieces.. celery leaves  onion roots  pieces of meat (only she knows what kind of meat)  ends of tomatoes    all the stuff you normally throw away..went into her soup..   No salt, pepper...  little bit of macaroni and cheese.... mashed and boiled potatoes.  

ham bones and steak bones.. squash, mushrooms...

There was nothing fresh... leftovers converted into a labor of love soup.

The ultimate soup.....Nothing ever wasted ever

And it was the best soup in the world.

 

awesome water slides

Tragedy in a Bass Tournament

Litchfield spillway
bottom of the spillway
(both the above links are to Youtube)
Please right click and open into a new window

Boating Accident on Lake Lou Yeager Leaves Schram City Man Dead

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 08:33:04 CDT
A boating accident left a Schram City man dead on Saturday. According to Litchfield Police 53 year old Granville “Jack” Floyd of Schram City was near the spillway on Lake Lou Yeager along with 47 year old Ernest Smith of Litchfield. The two were fishing along the dam and spillway area when heavy rainfall from the night before pulled the boat to the spillway. As the boat began to drop over the spillway Floyd reportedly jumped, Smith stayed in the boat and rode it to the bottom of the spillway. Smith was able to grab a lifejacket and swim to shore.
Members of the Litchfield Fire Department began combing the downstream area and found Floyd 300 yards from the spillway. A Litchfield Fire Department Dive Team swimmer pulled Floyd to the shoreline where resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.

The water was way too swift.  Floyd must of panicked.  They closed the lake after this til the water lowered.    If you check out the videos that I made you will see just how swift it was.  At the bottom of the spillway there are trees  that have grown up due to the water being lower... As you can see there are no trees showing.   They are still there once the water receded  

Peppi

This is 
peppi at 4 months old.  He has filled out really well  and is now 16 months old
First time I have used picasa to edit and send to this blog..
I swear I was not ever going to get another pet, much less 
letting them stay in my house..  But he stole my heart...He  is a peekapom.

Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans day

Wednesday, March 30, 36 years after the last Marines and others withdrew from Saigon, the nation will recognize "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day"  thanks to a resolution unanimously passed by the U.S. Senate

It is not a national holiday and many are unaware of the resolution in which the senators encourage Americans to recognize the sacrifices of the Vietnam veterans

http://marines.dodlive.mil/2011/03/29/welcome-home-vietnam-veterans-day/

http://www.historynet.com/senate-sets-march-30-as-welcome-home-vietnam-vets-day.htm

Estey organ

It appears that this organ may be dated between1890-1895
It has 2 spots for holding I suppose candles  On the right side one is broken off but I still have it.
The place I acquired this one from was going to gut it and make a bar out of it.  However, it still produces sound and is in very good shape,  not perfect but a beautiful accent to my home.  The bellows still work on it however, one pedal needs to be reattached.  On it are knee pedals.  Some of them were called Parlor organs  and I suspect that this was one of them

Lemonade Salad

Lemonade Salad

2-1/4 cups butter-flavored cracker crumbs (about 64 crackers)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 Tbsp sugar
2 (14-oz each) cans sweetened condensed milk
1 (12-oz) can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 (12-oz) carton frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (11-oz) can mandarin oranges, drained
6 to 8 maraschino cherries

Combine cracker crumbs, butter and sugar. Press into an ungreased 13 x 9
dish; set aside.

In a bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk and lemonade concentrate until
smooth (mixture will begin to thicken). Gently fold in whipped topping until
smooth. Pour over crust.

Cover and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours. Garnish with mandarin oranges and
cherries.

Yield: 12 to 16 servings

My father in WW2 and some memoribilia

THE DREADED TELEGRAM

 

 

 

This was something that no one in the armed forces wanted to receive.   However,  many did and so did my mother.  I was going through my old memories of my family and I found this.  Mom always told me  she was one of the lucky ones.  Dad had  a piece of shrapnel embedded in his back.  Just a fraction away from severing his spine.  Impossible to remove it, so they said,  or he would be paralyzed  permanently.

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