Sod Houses in the 1880s -- South Dakota

 I am always on the lookout for unusual pioneer era prints and such. Since my dad grew up on a dryland farm in Corsica, South Dakota-related items have always held a special fascination.

Lo and behold, these two prints just came up on Ebay:

Go here for more on this print.

Go here for more on this print. (Same seller, by the way.)

Here's what they say about these prints by WV (William Valentine) Herancourt. 

For offer, a nice old litho print! Fresh from a prominent estate in Upstate NY. Never offered on the market until now. 

Extremely rare - I could not locate this print anywhere, and could find very few other prints by this artist. He was from Kansas, and known to have worked in South Dakota, and captured some very important historical scenes.

Fascinating. And based on the 1885 date for one (c.1880 for the other), probably based on real homes. Going for a rare price, too -- but that's to be expected. 

My Opinion About Stuff I Need to Do

 

Of course, I'm the only one who feels this way...

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Michigan

 Happy Mother's Day to all those moms out there!

We made it to Michigan Friday night, in spite of a blown tire and a bunch of construction traffic through Chicago. (Not to mention that it was National Crazy Driver Week, apparently.) That was plenty of time to celebrate The Mama on her special day, with a nice family lunch. We plan to take her out this week for another tradition: Kentucky Fried Chicken, eaten at the park. But not yet -- it is FREEZING here, in spite of the spring flowers.

    After our months in Arizona and New Mexico, all this green is a visual surprise. But a pleasant one. The daffodils and hyacinths are nearly done blooming, but the lilacs are starting in. They always remind me of my Grandma Cumings, whose purple lilacs were one of my favorite messengers of spring. (Lilacs are "first love," by the way, in the Language of Flowers. This source also calls them "the joy of youth.")

Get your own L of F postcard here.

This week: tidy up the fifth-wheel. I did one vacuuming and filled the canister in ten minutes of sweeping; that's how much dust and doghair kicked up. Ewww. 

Meanwhile, in Colorado:

A woman DRIVES through her ex-boyfriend's funeral service. (She was 'careful not to hit anything,' she later explained to cops.)

Why did President Biden leave the word "God" out of his announcing the National Day of Prayer? 

Who's a Good Boy? Now you know...

A woman finally discovers her biological mom, only to find out she was the victim in a cold case murder recently solved. 

Calling police heroes -- and being berated for it. 

Intruders break into the Queen's Windsor estate -- and have gotten away with it. (So far, at least.)

The Indonesian sub that sank recently may have been hit by an underwater wave -- or series of waves.

Pundits are now acknowledging that you can make more from unemployment than being employed. Especially if you're making under $32,000. So President Biden is warning that if you're in that position and are offered a job -- you should take it. The question: will people actually listen -- and obey?

A very funny spring report on homestead doings by the Frugalwoods.

A history of the lovely 'Dear Jane' quilt. 

Would-be car thieves are stymied..by spraying gasoline at them!  Lucky nobody had a match...

How have Republicans been treated on 'The View?' And Democrats? Megan McCain holds forth.

Twelve things husbands say -- and what they actually mean. (Thanks, Babylon Bee! I laughed...the Brick winced. Mostly. He also --sort of-- listened to helpful hints for guys on housework.)

A Bronze Age jewelry find -- sitting in full view in Sweden. Amazing. 

Europe's first 3-D home...printed in just five days.

So the woman who 'found' Lady Gaga's dogs seems to have been in on the heist in the first place!

Have a great week. 

Almost There

     In Clinton, Illinois now. (That's just north of Springfield, in case you're wondering.)

     We slept at a Vinita, OK Walmart last night, and are hunkered down at a Walmart again. This time, though, we're accompanied by at least two other RVs. One couple has a yipey dog that Ruby and Charley are fascinated by. Although it's an all-night Wally, things are quiet, which should make for peaceful sleeping.

     Something happened today, that neither of us has ever experienced. We blew a tire on the trailer while going down the road. It just 'happened' that we had pulled off the highway to fuel up a few minutes previous. The Brick was concerned that one of the tires on the truck was leaking, and we couldn't find a station with an air hose to pump it up. 

     We were going down one of the side roads -- slowly -- in St. Clair, MO (about 50 miles from St. Louis) when the tire blew. 

Just exploded. We don't know why -- and neither did the tire place guy.

     One of the NEW tires we had put on while we were in Tucson two weeks ago. 

     Not only did the Brick get the spare on, but we saw a tire place advertised on a billboard as we pulled out and back on the road. And that tire place was right across from where we gassed up!

  Two hours later, we pulled out with a new tire in place, the spare back in position -- and the air checked on all the tires. I even found a penny in the parking lot.

        P.S. The truck tire that caused the delay in the first place? It's fine.   

You can chalk this up to coincidence...but a series of 'just by chance' events, all happening one after the other? We call this a God thing, and are grateful to Him. (Our guardian angels may not be too thrilled at this point, though.) 

On to Sparta, Michigan tomorrow -- and The Mama's Farm. About four more hours to go.

Bye, St. Louis Arch...

Traveling On

 We're in Amarillo, Texas.

                                                           The dogs love going with us.

I can tell you from firsthand experience -- Walmarts the country round look pretty much the same. Even the bright blue signage isn't much different. Not every store will let you stay in the parking lot, but this one does. We're snuggled in, not far from the pallets of fertilizer, under a few shade trees. It's been raining off and on all day, and the rain tinkles off the leaves in a pleasant little sound. The temperature's dropped considerably from yesterday's heat, but with the stove on (we had nachos), we've been very comfortable. A heavier quilt, though, will be on the bed tonight.

I just finished the final edit on the book -- what a relief. Didn't get much sleep while it was happening, because we only had internet access occasionally. And even that wasn't much good; other than the bigger cities, New Mexico is apparently not known for its "wired" capabilities. 

On through the Texas Panhandle tomorrow, then Oklahoma. I figure we'll probably make it into Missouri before we stop for the night. We keep hearing this song on the radio...strangely, it fits.

Deer Creek Boys   "When the Highway Does"

Gotta Put On Those Traveling Shoes

 On the road again. 

We left extra-quickly from Arrey after the RV park manager stopped by -- someone was waiting to pull into our spot! It's a great place; he'll love it. 

Meanwhile, the Brick put in four-plus hours of driving to get us to a comfortable rest area. It's not far from Santa Rosa, NM; several other RVs are parked here, which is comforting. As well as the usual 14-wheelers. Which is ok, too -- it's the empty rest areas that can be a little unnerving -- and dangerous. 

Our goal: get to The Mama's in time for Mother's Day. It means 4-5 hours of driving each day, which should be doable. It is hot during the day, but a cool breeze at night helps for sleeping. You get used to the perpetual rumbling at rest areas, as well. After a while, it just sounds like a fan running. 

More New Mexico tomorrow -- then Missouri. I think. 

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Arrey

     We've spent the weekend in Arrey, NM, a supposed ghost town that's small -- but very much alive. We've been staying at the Arrey RV Park, and luxuriating in all the water and electricity we can use, after nearly a week of traveling by going from rest area to Walmart to rest area. (This is called "dry camping" or "boondocking" when you do it this way.) The park is full of semi-permanent customers, a rather quirky clubhouse (knotty pine, old DVDs, books -- and a pile of free onions) and a very kind manager. The park has more trees, greenery, blooming flowers and twittering birds (cats, too) than we have seen in a long, long time. It's very peaceful here.

The fifth-wheel can handle "dry" camping. But you always have to be aware how many lights you have on (because they use up the battery life generated by the solar panels) and how much water you have. (We have a 60-gallon tank, so we can go quite a while.) 

     We have more than enough solar panels up top to generate the power we normally need -- but they're not in sync with the batteries and the static inverter. The Brick plans on tinkering with this after we get to The Mama's in Michigan. We'll be there for Mother's Day, but plan to take most of this week for traveling. It's no fun to rush while pulling a fifth-wheel. We've done it before, and it guts you out. So we'll take our time...and probably go from rest area to Walmart to rest area again. 

In case you're wondering about Arrey, it's about halfway between Hatch and Truth or Consequences, off Interstate 25. We've noticed pecan orchards and several large chile packing plants. (And yes, we stopped in Hatch for some ristras and a bag of fresh-roasted green chiles.)

Arrey was a Hispanic farming community named Bonito (Spanish for "pretty") when the Elephant Butte Land and Cattle Co. bought homestead rights. Among the homesteaders: Tomas Baca and Urbano Arrey, who came totown from Las Palomas in 1891 and was the town's first postmaster. The post office opened in 1901 and never closed. Descendants of the homesteaders still ranch and farm in the area.

The local cafe has a killer steak special on Friday nights. The people are hard-working and proud. There's a reason we've been staying here so long -- but you'll have to wait until later to find out!

Not much "stuff" this week -- we've not had a lot of access to the internet. I'll make it up to you soon.

"What was a meal you loved as a kid...but didn't realize you were eating it because you were poor?" This one has LOTS of answers, and they're interesting ones.  (From Quora)

Easy homemade bread.  (From the Cheapskate Cook)

Choosing to be homeless -- some very sad reasons here.

The Italian version of Robinson Crusoe is finally leaving his island -- after 32 years.

Amish sugar cookies.  (From Taste of Home) 

Renovators at the Uffizi Gallery find a hidden fresco -- and bones. 

Olympia Dukakis died Saturday. A wonderful actress I have admired ever since Moonstruck. She was 89.

Have a great week.