Field Trip - Fall Harvest Fest

This was the first year for the Fall Harvest Fest in Belvidere, Illinois. My sister and I both agreed that the organization did a terrific job. Everything was well organized, they had provided interesting and fun things for families to do, the signage was great and it was in a beautiful location along the Kishwaukee river.

All the activities were located across from the historic Baltic Mill, built in 1845. There were guided tours of the mill being given all day.

You will remember that shortly after setting up our pop-up tent (those things are amazing) it began to rain. Lots of rain. The other crafters had heavy plastic panels that attached to the sides of their tents. We did not and so we improvised with blankets and other covering that we thought might be used as table coverings. It all looked a bit sketchy but we soon discovered that our tent sided in fabric was a far superior design.

We sat inside the tent and stared through the rain at the couple selling decorated gourds and birdhouses. One of the other crafters had a phone that could connect to the internet and gave us all a weather report. The weatherman said the rain would work it's way across the area and it would be clear after 10 a.m.

We waited. The rain slackened and we were hopeful. What the weatherman failed to mention was that trailing behind the rain were strong, gusting winds. I've mentioned before that wind in northern Illinois is as part of the landscape as the trees and the crops. But the winds that followed were gusting strongly, the air filling one tent like a balloon, picking it up and tossing it aside. Those crafters soon gave up and left.

Our tent, with it fabric sides that allowed air to breathe through, was steady and strong. Then there's the fact that the fabrics were soaked and heavy, anchoring the sides. It was quite an adventure! My sister and I sat in the tent, her knitting while I crocheted. What's a girl to do?

As promised things cleared up and finally we had a break. Everyone came out of their tents and the husband and wife who owned the Kettle Corn business started popping up their treats - traditional kettle corn (slightly sweet) and caramel corn. My sister ran over to buy our first treat of the day, a bag of kettle corn.


Fresh Kettle Corn

The corn is popped in a very large open kettle and it's wonderful and fresh.

I wandered off to find the bathrooms which were inside the old mill. These interesting wooden sculptures are displayed outside.


Wooden Indian

This shows some of the detail.


Another wooden Indian

One of the local businesses sponsored a wine tasting.



There was a scarecrow contest and all the entrants were lined up facing the street. There were some very clever entries. I'll add a photo of the People's Choice Winner later because my photo editing software is giving me fits right now.

Like I said, the organizers did a great job. They hired a face painter and she was so talented. The kids looked great and were having a good time.


Face Painting

There was an area filled with pumpkins for the taking and just behind that area was the Make-and-Take-a-Scarecrow.

There were piles of clothes.



And piles of hay.



And scarecrows were born!


Woman working on a baby scarecrow.


If you grabbed one of those pumpkins, you had yourself a scarecrow.



At this point the wood fired pizza guy rolled up. Oh yeah! Can you imagine having your own wood fired pizza oven that you could take anywhere with you?


Wood fired pizza.

My sister and I shared a artichoke and Gorgonzola pizza. At this point it seemed a possibility that we would spend more money than we were taking in. Luckily, with the break in the weather people starting showing up and shopping! At this point we were glad we'd stuck it out, unlike some others that had packed up and left.

The park was ablaze with fall colors and what happened next was one of those beautiful serendipitous moments in life.

From behind the mill came a whirlwind of purple, traveling fast across the landscape. It was Quinceanera on the move! A Quinceanera is a girl's 15th birthday celebration and most times it outshines even her wedding day.



Many of these gowns are actually wedding gowns that have been ordered in a signature color. This group was in the park for a photo session before heading off to the party. Can you imagine the stroke of genius ordering this purple gown? It was magic against the blaze orange, red and yellow palette of the forest.


Quinceanera gown

After the early disappointments the day got better and better. In the afternoon one of my readers arrived and introduced herself, it's Marianne!



She lives on a nearby farm with her husband and daughters. She has a wonderful blog called Spend the Thyme Farm. Go visit with her. Marianne and I talked chickens and stuff. I was so happy to see her because you know..... you guys left me sitting all by myself under a tree one time, with a picnic basket full of food. Seriously, how rude!!! HA.

Marianne got free stuff. Do you see how it's a good thing to show up? I totally understand that it's impossible to drive to a craft show in Illinois from say, California or Germany. And that is why I'm going to give you a chance to win free stuff also.

Here's what you do. Leave a comment telling me where you're from. I think we're all interested in knowing where our blogging friends call home. Just say, "Sorry, I couldn't meet up because I live in _________________." Fill in that blank. Lurkers should feel free to de-activate the cloaking device and join in.

Thanks for coming along to the Fall Harvest Fest. After that early rain it was a great day and I'm looking forward to doing this fair again next year.

Field Trip - The Apple Orchard

I thought you might like a look at the nearby apple orchard.



The above photo was taken back in 2005. Dorothy M and her husband owned and operated the orchard for many, many years but when Dorothy's husband passed away she sold it to a young family who has carried on the tradition.

I was very surprised the first time I saw it because the trees are very small, very short. No ladders needed here.

The most famous part of the orchard experience was the ability to pick your own. There was a small gift shop and a bakery where they made those cider doughnuts fresh every day.

It's really grown since the last time I visited. Let's go to the Orchard Shop.



Later in the day the Lion's Club will be grilling brats in that big tent.

Since the Kuiper's took over they've added the farm across the road, where in the fall there's a corn maze, pumpkins and everything else imaginable.

At the entrance to the Orchard Shop they've got some wonderful vintage tractors displayed. I'd love to give one of these a spin.



Shopping carts are corraled in a small silo.



The shop has greatly expanded and they've got all kinds of specialty food items. I seriously had to curb myself. But I did promise myself to go back and get some fresh ground peanut butter and some jelly.



They've created a cool photo op area where you can pretend you're actually riding a tractor in the corn field. The kids were getting a kick out of this.



Don't you love these huge fans on the ceiling?



Somebody had fun designing this place.

The Kuiper's are a new breed that operate something classified as Agri-tourism. They're entrepreneurs and employ alot of local people. Great for the local economy. In the winter the business focuses on cut your own Christmas trees. It's a wonderful day in the country.

KUIPER'S FAMILY FARM

I tasted all the different varieties in the sample area and I bought 1/2 peck of Sun Gold apples for us to share. Hope you like them.



This is very typical family excursion here in the American midwest, along with any number of Fall Festivals, Scarecrow Fests and Pumpkin Festivals. We love autumn!

How about your area? Is there a special fall outing that your family takes?

Field Trip - Shipshewana, Indiana

We're going on a field trip this morning and I'd like to thank everyone for arriving on time. I will be checking those permission slips as you enter the bus, so have them in hand.

Unfortunately, this morning we're facing a typhoon. It's a real gullywasher out there and I hope you've brought your umbrellas and rain ponchos. We're going to need them.

Everybody on the bus.

It's a fairly long ride to Shipshewana, about 3-1/2 hours. I don't think we'll have any trouble finding things to talk about during the ride.

As we enter the town you'll notice all the quaint shops lining the main highway. Be on the lookout for Amish buggies carrying families into town.

I'm happy with the fact that the bus driver as decided to drop us off in a large parking lot some distance from town. Gosh, we're going to have to walk in the downpour. Don't take you cameras out of your purses because they'll get soaked.

There's a buggy. Hop over that puddle



Let's make our way into the Blue Gate Restaurant and Bakery. Maybe the deluge will let up while we're having some lunch. We've entered the door to the restaurant and look what greets us.



Cinnamon rolls with lots of gooey frosting and pecan sticky buns.

Congratulations to everyone who guessed the photo in yesterday's post. It is indeed a meringue pie - lemon meringue to be exact. This is the epitome of meringue swooshing talent and it's baked to an evenly brown perfection. I don't know how they do this. Mine gets those extra brown areas.



We're going to have a hearty Amish-style farmhouse lunch including fried chicken, pot roast, real mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans and those terrific homemade Amish noodles coated with chicken sauce. Yum. The noodles are exceptional.

Omigosh, the rain has passed and the sun has come out. Hooray! Hopefully we can dry out.



The story behind the Blue Gate is that supposedly when a young Amish man would wish to ask for a young woman's hand in marriage, he would go to the girl's home and paint the front gate blue. Is the legend true? Probably not, because if you roam the Amish countryside you will never spot a blue gate. Nice legend though.

Buggy rides are offered all over town.



Some of the buggies are small two seaters and some are quite large, holding whole families.

Look at this colorful planting across from the restaurant. I love the cart.



Meet the other members of our group today.......


Susan, Lynn, Ellen and Donna.

There are Amish working all over town. This man is making popcorn for sale.



Here's a large, fully-enclosed buggy.



More buggy rides being offered. Go ahead and take a ride, I've already been out.



A convertible Amish buggy with bucket seats.



Their animals are stunningly beautiful and very spirited. They are not spooked by the traffic.



Yes, they get stuck in traffic.



Parking lot at the animall auction barn.



Let's go into Yoder's because there's something special going on today.

Yoder's is a food/department store. Think an Amish Super Target. It's so cool. There's food on one side of the store, including that awesome Amish peanut butter and apple butter.

The other half of the store is dry goods and fabric. Tons and tons of fabric. I need to come back with more money.



There's a quilt show in town and Yoder's is hosting a book signing. There's Eleanor Burns, author of many quilt books, signing for her fans. She was selling A LOT of books. Good for Eleanor.



Look up. Flying high above the town is a vintage windmill. It's a Aeromotor, made in Chicago, Illinois.



This man is preparing the buggy to take his family back home.



It's time for us to leave also. I leave you with this.



Indeed.

Field Trip - Pioneer Fest, Day Two

There's more to do at the Pioneer Festival. Let's get going!

This camp has a candelabra for serving a homecooked dinner by candlelight.



Throughout the festival grounds there were opportunities to try activities such as throwing a tomahawk, tossing an atalatal or using a crosscut saw.



There are interesting vignettes set up throughout the grounds.



Aren't you getting hungry? There's plenty of food. No corn dogs or fried twinkies at this fair. There are sample of homemade apple butter. Here a young volunteer is stirring the batch in a large copper lined pot.



There's homemade pie but I forgot to get a photo of that. This young girl is tending the buffalo stew.



It's delicious!

We're going to make our way over to the Pottawatomie Indian Garden area where my sister is working. There she is.



She's got a pot of vegetable stew cooking over the open fire.



Here's her lean-to shelter. Don't mind the bright colored strips of fabric. That's so that people won't trip over the ropes.



This is her beautiful display of handmade tools and garden crops. The beautiful hollowed out gourds are used as dippers and food containers.



This is a sacred circle.



Here's a traditional wigwam, constructed of pliable branches. Traditionally it would have been covered with hides. Here they've used a large fabric tarp. This is a roomy structure, certainly tall enough for a man to stand inside.



Let's go inside the wigwam. You can see how cozy it feels. The fire pit is in the center and there's a hole in the roof where the smoke is drawn up and out.



I hope you've enjoyed our field trip to the Autumn Pioneer Festival. There are a few more coming up in the next month, possibly some Voyageurs and an Indian Pow Wow. Would you be interested seeing those events?

PIONEER FESTIVAL GIVEAWAY - The organizers of the Boone County Conservation District's Pioneer Festival have given me a copy of their Cultural Heritage Gardens Cookbook for a giveaway. It includes traditional recipes based on the five heritage gardens: Native American, Yankee, Scottish, Norwegian and German. Please leave a comment and I'll enter your name into the drawing. The winner will be announced at our Monday Morning Staff Meeting.