Road Trip

No, this Blue had a small patch of white on her chest.
Also didn't have the size that I often associate with the
breed.

maybe lady cat versions are smaller? i don't know much about russian blues except their color! i know franny and judy are much smaller than the boys in their family.

You all would have cracked up to see me
playing photographer. At one point I hiked at
least a mile if not more across a field to get
a picture of an old spring house. Then there
was me prowling through an old barn. I didn't
get in pictures of the inside but it was so forlorn.

I wish I could get a pic of the old round barn not far from here. And the round houses too, I bet those are so interesting on the inside.

Blue might be mixed, but takes strongly after the Russian Blue for personality. She might've been the runt of the litter, or not enough nutrition as a wee kit, or just naturally on the small side. Either way, good things come in small packages, huh?

There is a round barn at the Red Mile in Lexington. It
dates back to the late 18th century I think. It really needs
more care than it gets. The only time it's open to visitors is
when the Grand Circuit is running.

ah...ye olde round barn! there was one we used to pass on our way to Toledo. one of things my folks always said about it was that it was made round so the devil couldn't corn you in it. i wonder if there are saying like that about all the round barns?

Not that I've heard. Actually, I think the original builders got the idea from Indian teepees, which are also round. Considering all the wind you get out on the plains here, it makes sense since wind will easily go around a round object but nearly knock over anything with a flat side to it. Round has a lot less wind resistance. I imagine putting furniture and pictures on a rounded wall would be a challenge. If it were up to me, the very center location in a round house would be for the bathroom.

That's interesting from what you two are saying. It's worth looking up.
I know in Kentucky, especially in the eastern part of the state you used to
see spring houses all the time. Also smoke houses used to be very common
too.

this is weird....i posted something in here twice last night and it appears that neither of them went through!

wasn't 'much...all i said was that back home we didn't have smoke or spring houses but we had a lot of pump houses. i have a feeling a pump house might be similar to a spring house though.

I think so. I maybe thinking of a wash house, which
I remember an aunt and uncle having one.

pump house (at least what we called it) was the place where they pump was kept....and later where the generator that pumped the water to the house etc was). wash house was where the old wringer washer was and maybe where you'd hang the clothes to dry when it was wet or freezing out. (maybe even in the old old olden days where people filled up the big old wash tub to take a bath?)

Then the pump houses must be more of a Midwestern
thing, I don't remember them in Kentucky.

I only remember seeing one pumphouse and that was at the picnic grounds in Beloit where my dad's company held their annual family picnic. Only source of water in the place. Very cold too and took a lot of pumping to get it started.

Yeah, unless you get those old pumps primed
just right they are impossible to work.

we had a pump at our house...it worked when i was a kid but i don't remember it working when i was older..of course, right now i can't remember if dad tore it out or if it was still there!
my great grandma had a pump that we used all the time. she liked the taste of the water from it (not us..ick!) and we used it to water the plants etc.

Yeah, I remember having to prime that pump and nearly wearing my arm out before we got any water out of that darned thing. Good thing the company picnic was only once a year. I couldn't imagine having to do that on a daily basis.

My great great grandma had to get all her water that way though. Now I know why none of the kids ever backtalked to her!

probably because i was a country kid, but it didn't bother me much. i spent so much time weeding and picking berries and beans etc that a little pump had nothing on me;)

I don't know if I mentioned this but I couldn't
get over how hazy it was in Kentucky. When I
was flying in it was like looking through a piece dirty brown gauze.

Was that haze coal mining pollution?

I would say only part, coal usually destroys streams
etc. This was from car etc. There is no public transportation
to speak of in that part of the world.

man...and they say New Jersey is bad! sounds like its creeped farther into the states!

I think you're right there. It was really frustrating
because I wanted to see the stars. There is so much
light pollution here in Dallas that is hard to see the stars.

And if you look around midnight the next few days, look straight up and the brightest thing in the sky besides the moon is the planet Jupiter. Closest it's been to us in about 50 years.

you really have to get away from the city..or even large towns to be able to really see the stars anymore. when i was walking home late at night when i first started working here i could see the stars. it was nice cuz i hadn't seen them in so long. but now i think there are more lights somewhere cuz if i look out behind the house at night its so bright its almost like midday out there.
its always nice to be able to see the stars and to be able to see the sun rise and set. i can't keep my bearings of n/s/e/w since i left MI cuz i can't see where the sun rises and sets!

I understand. looking out the Lair kitchen window
I've seen some wonderful sunrises.