latest updates: Wisconsin

• 
  2011

  Dec 3
  1
  Uncle Bob

  

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  Wisconsin Traditional Barn - Watercolour
  During our visit, to this wonderful part of the world, we saw many examples of farm architecture like this Gambrel roofed barn. This particular one is a massive structure. The shape owes itself to the early immigrants. Its roof is designed to shed weather, especially snow, while at the same time maximising storage attic space. We were here at the best time. The trees were changing colour - and what colours. A week or so later the weather got much colder and some snow fell.
  tags: Barns | trees | Wisconsin
   
• 
  2011

  Oct 27
  0
  Uncle Bob

  

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  Going for apples – Watercolour

  John suggested we drive to Gays Mill for some apples. He suggested there might be some trees in their Autumn colours. He was correct. This scene, near the start of the journey, attempts to show how trees play an important part in the Wisconsin scenery. These particular one are just starting to turn. Later in the day we saw some spectacular colours which will test my meagre artistic abilities to reproduce.

  Incidentally just “going for apples” meant a round trip of 200 miles. Distance seems no object to these folks.
  tags: trees | Wisconsin
   
• 
  2011

  Feb 5
  2
  Uncle Bob

  

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  The Land Remembers - Watercolour

  This is the title of a book kindly presented to me by John during his recent visit to Scotland.

  (The Land Remembers by Ben Logan ISBN 978 - 0 -9761450 - 5 - 951700
  A story of a farming family on a West Wisconsin ridge farm in the 1930′s).

  The painting is my attempts to copy the photo on the front cover for the reason that this could be any number of farms in parts of Scotland. John once said that our countries looked very similar and here is the proof. Do beg, borrow or steal this book. I believe it is considered to be an American classic. If not, then it should be. My apologies for copying the front cover but maybe this just might encourage others to buy this book.

  Apart from the adventures of the young hero of the story, there are many fascinating scraps of information such as the method of uniformly spacing out corn seed by “Checking Corn” a method of allowing a small trapdoor to release seed when it is actuated by a “knotted” trip wire stretched across the field. This aroused my engineering curiosity and led me to a short study of bygone farm implements. For those, similarly inclined see:

  http://www.bartbeck.com/page31.html

  http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe40s/machines_03.html

  Then, talking about seed, there is a section which describes an attempt to see how long seed remains viable. Samples were buried in glass bottles, and samples were, and still are, being dug up to check the seed. Read about this here:

  http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/reprint/89/8/1285.pdf

  What a fascinating book, a great read and a wonderful present. Thank you John.

  tags: Farming | Wisconsin