Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Weekend Update



At the Flying Pig, a garden center and gallery  outside Algoma, I spotted a birdhouse filled with a nest of noisy tree swallows.  The parents flew in a constant tag team to feed their fledglings, but the impatient youngsters couldn't wait for the next course.


My aunt has a robin who returns each year to raise babies in the shelter of an aluminum awning.  These young birds are nearly ready to fend for themselves.


When I visit Door County I like to visit art galleries, including the Francis Hardy Center for the Arts in Ephraim.  The building, located on the Anderson Dock is a historic warehouse, and boaters are invited to paint messages and designs on the clapboard siding.  Since the weekend seemed to have a bird theme, I took this photo of part of the building's constantly changing decoration.

Every summer I drive 200 miles north and spend a few days with my only aunt. She kindly agreed to be my "substitute mom" after Mother died, calling to see how I'm doing, providing a place to stay when I visit, and not caring a hoot if I raid her refrigerator.  I try to combine this visit with the Algoma doll and bear show, held at the high school.  She always works at the fund raiser, baking brownies and delivering lunches to sellers.  We have fun looking at old family pictures, eating out together, and generally catching up on each other's news.  I sometimes rummage in her basement for my cousins' old dolls.  Sometimes I buy a vintage Tammy or Barbie doll for myself, or sometimes I just find and clean up an old doll for my aunt's five-year-old granddaughter. That is what I did this time,  and we had a good afternoon sorting through plastic tubs of old doll clothing, looking for just the right outfit for the Madame Alexander baby who saw the light of day for the first time since about 1965.


5 comments:

Jane said...

Lucky you! We vacationed there the first two weeks of June and we are still pining for a return! Our weather then was quite disappointing and we only had two good days of sun, but still it was Door County and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves........except for the black licorice jelly bean in the tip of my Caramel Collision Cone at Wilsons! LOL!

Anonymous said...

Hi Sherry!

Did you get any Door County Cherries? I heard the crop was all but destroyed this year.

I've been the to Pig in Algoma...another great place to go is the Von Stiel Winery in late September..they have an art show, live music, and many goodies to eat...not to mention wine tasting.

Just south of the Pig, is Heritage Farm where many times during the year they host folk and ethnic bands...like rock a billy, celtic...great stuff!

I love Door County! I'm about 2.5 hours north west from there.

Thanks for the memories!

Nancy

Rayne said...

wonderful baby bird shots.
I've heard of Barbie dolls, of course, but what are Tammy dolls?

Teri said...

boy, Algoma is REALLY north! Nice that you do it. I always enjoy Door county also and probably need another trip there.

Glad to hear your city is drying out.

Joan Sandford-Cook said...

Hi Sherry - first time Ive visited your blog as a result of you kindly commenting on my allotment post. Sorry you have had flood problems locally. Really enjoyed reading through your posts, gave me such a flavour of your life and country. Loved what happened to the egg lady sketch. Nature is more amazing than anything we can personally create.