a view from mom's garden

This flower reminds me of one of my favorite crafting tools: the spirograph.

a toast to wineries

Summer in Southern Illinois means going to wineries (click here to see a past post on this topic). I went back to the region for a bit this summer and had a relaxing time sitting outside on warm afternoons with friends, gazing out at the vines and sipping chilled white wine.

road trip: enchanted highway

The Enchanted Highway in North Dakota is a thirty mile stretch of road that has many different metal sculptures every few miles, from Teddy Roosevelt on a horse to 15 foot grasshoppers all created by one artist with just donations. This one is titled "Pheasants on the Prairie." The drive was beautiful and the sculptures worked surprisingly well amongst the farm fields.

hay and horses

road trip: miss salem sue

New Salem, North Dakota is home to the world's largest Holstein cow. Weighing in at 12,000 pounds, it is difficult not to notice that the dairy industry is a big part of this region.

road trip: crazy horse

Here are just a few of the amazing facts about Crazy Horse (find more here):

*It is being carved in the round and when completed it will be 641 feet long and 563 feet high, larger than the pyramids.

*All four 60-foot high heads on Mt. Rushmore would fit inside just Crazy Horse's head.

*There are one million visitors a year.

*They allow dogs!