Springtime in the Rockies?

Yesterday the weather was odd. In fact our whole Spring so far has been oddly cool and wet. There have been a few warm and sunny days, but it seems every couple of days, another storm comes in. Yesterday was noteworthy even this year. As we turned on the radio when we woke up, we heard of snow in some of the canyon areas and even some of the towns south of us. As we are usually cooler than down south, we expected the worst. With a school group coming to visit, we dressed for bad weather.

The storm seemed to be moving from south to north, so we expected the worst. It rained all the way to work and stopped just as we arrived. Luckily for us...and the visitors, rain didn't begin again until the kids got back on their bus.

The clouds stayed draped over the nearby mountains, lifting once in a while to show us glimpses of the descending snowline. Fortunately for us, the snow never reached the valley floor.

1917 Farm School Groups

When school groups visit the 1917 farm, they learn how families lived in our area during World War I. Once they get off the bus, they are divided into 6-8 groups. Each group goes with a different docent to visit a part of the farm. During their time at the farm, the children rotate through each station.

One group goes first to visit the summer kitchen...



where they learn about how laundry was done in 1917.



Next they go to the back porch of the farmhouse where they get to help churn butter.



The next stop is the farmhouse kitchen where they learn about cooking in the old days on a wood stove. They even get a cookie to eat there which was baked in the wood stove oven.



From the kitchen they go to visit in the parlor...



and see the parents' bedroom.





Then they head out the front door to go visit the barn, where they have a chance to help milk a cow.



On the way out of the barn, there are some other animals they can visit and learn about.





Next they are off to visit the farm shop where they learn about repairing farm equipment, leatherwork and blacksmithing.



After the work, it is time for some fun and games. These children are playing a rousing game of Run Sheep, Run.





The last stop for this group is the farm outbuildings....the chicken coop,



the root cellar...



the outhouse....



and the smokehouse.




It's always a fun day at the farm.

Pioneer School Groups

In September, October, April and May we host many school groups at the living history museum where we work. It is always interesting to interact with the children and hopefully teach the a little about the history of the place where they live. School groups can choose to visit 4 different programs. In the early spring, we mostly see younger children to learn about the baby animals. The rest of the time, students can visit Shoshone Indians and mountain men in the year 1820, pioneer settlers in 1860 and a rural farm in 1917.

Today I was at the 1860 site. Activities for students include:

Playing pioneer games, such as Graces...



and rolling iron hoops with sticks at the game station.




Visiting pioneer homes such as a homestead cabin...



and a half dugout.



Learning about processing wool....



Learning about cooking and food in the outdoor kitchen...



with its beautiful view of the mountains...



and about cooking over an open fire.



The children have the opportunity to attend a small session at our outdoor pioneer school.




In addition students have a chance to try pulling handcarts and visit an old-fashioned woodwright shop.

Generally it seems like they enjoy their experience. We try to do a lot of hands on activities.

Maybe NOT a badger....

Back out at the 'farm' today I checked to see if perhaps my friendly critter was showing himself. The hole is in a fairly isolated area near a little hillside above a nature trail. Nearby is a stack of wood covering a hole left from a fallen in dugout.





To my surprise, not only was he there, he had a buddy! After looking at him carefully though, I do have to re-evaluate my idea that he is a badger. I only had a small glimpse of him the other day from quite a distance away. Today I was able to get closer and get an actual picture of him rather than guess from a picture on the internet. Here he is!




What do you think? Rock chuck? Wood chuck? I'd really like to know because I saw another similar fellow running down a sidewalk near our house yesterday. It is hard to see his tail in this picture, but it is quite long and fluffy with a rather rusty color to it.

"What is that!? Is it a beaver?"

Last Friday for school groups, I was in charge of the pioneer school station. As I started my spiel, one of the boys raised his hand frantically. I called on him, and he stood to ask his question as I had instructed the children they must do.

"What is that!? Is it a beaver?" he asked me.

I was pretty sure we had no beavers living nearby, but to my amazement, there stood a good-sized animal of some sort. One of the parent chaperones told us it was a rock chuck, which is a type of marmot. I thought it seemed rather large for that, but let it go. Later I checked the hole it disappeared into. It was about 10 inches across.

I came home and looked for pictures of rock chucks to see if I could verify what it was. What I saw just didn't seem to fit.

This is a picture of a rock chuck. It is a cute squirrely looking critter.
This morning on the farm site, I was shown a whole family of rock chucks darting in and out of their holes. They reminded me of prairie dogs....but not of the animal I had seen on Friday.



After seeing those rock chucks, I was fairly certain my original critter was NOT a rock chuck. I think the picture below is much closer to what I saw standing outside that 10 inch hole.....a badger!

Mini-reunion

On Friday we left right after working at 'the farm' to go meet with most of my family. Only my youngest brother was not able to make it which was really too bad. Here we all are at the place where we had some dinner and time to catch up with each other.

Rogue Tulips

Some years ago, in our garden, we planted tulips of red .....



and yellow......




So where on earth did this pink one come from?....




Or this clump of spiky looking tulips...?




It is a mystery to us.

As the Ward Turns

When we left for West Virginia, we were told we'd probably come back to find a 3rd stake in our town. To our surprise, when we came back home, it hadn't happened although a new stake center had been built. Now that we've been home 18 months, suddenly the day came. Of course, this necessitates many changes. All members of the other stake and some invited from our stake met this morning and the new stake was formed. This afternoon, the remaining members of our stake met as almost all the ward boundaries in our town were changed. In addition, a new ward was organized. Our stake now contains 7 regular wards, a YSA ward, and a Spanish speaking branch. For the most part, our old ward...the 12th...kept the same boundaries, except for losing 20 families on the east side of the ward and probably that many to the new ward that was formed. We are part of that east side so now belong to the 19th ward. I guess that means we'll have lots of new friends to make as we really only know the ones on the other side of our street.

I have noticed in the past when wards divide, it seems like we always end up with my least favorite schedule...1-4PM. This time we came out smelling like a rose with the 11-2 schedule. Also...our old ward has to go to the building on the west side of the highway now, but we get to keep going to the building near our house. Happy Day!

Windstorm

A few days ago I went down to Layton to do some work there. While there a big wind started to blow all over the state, but from the news, it seems that our little town was hit pretty hard. Around our old Carnegie Library is a lovely grove of trees. You can see in the picture below, the library is probably 1 1/2 stories high....and the trees are more than twice that tall. In the summer they have music concerts there in the shade of the trees. I suppose those trees must have all been planted about the same time, as they are all about the same height.



Here on the corner you can see that one of the trees was a casualty of the wind storm. When the top came off that tree it landed right on Main Street. By the time I saw it, it had been pulled up onto the lawn, and the next morning it was hauled away. That corner looks a little strange now when we drive by.