A wee wander down the lanes? As you know I am in central Illinois. It is flat here.. VERY flat. When you live on such flat plains, geometric shapes become more and more apparent.
Do you see what I mean?
And when we see a nice round bin it becomes almost restful to the eye.
Coming out of our lane I turned South. I have never tested how far I could drive in a straight line (I don’t have hours and hours to spare) but it is a very, very long way.
The wind came up yesterday. Strong winds, not too cold though. Just Mother Wind giving me a little slapping about the head. You have been too relaxed girl, she is saying. Wake up!
As soon as all this is in the can. Winter is coming.
Anyway, a while ago I said there were no wild unkempt areas around here but I found a few very close who have called me a liar. (No wild blackberries though.) This is the old service station at Three Mile Corner. I drive past it all the time. It is slowly being sipped and whispered into oblivion by the vines and trees.
I love decay. It has a special place in my record keeping. The Matriarch said that when she was a very young girl, wearing a navy coat with a white collar, her uncle and she would come down here on the weekend to eat breakfast as a treat.
As you know out here on the flat prairies the roads have been designed in unrelenting squares, each road is dead straight, each block is a mile square, a perfectly mapped grid. (If I was God I would be tempted to reach down my hand and muss it up a little!! Thankfully I am not God as the pressure would be enormous!) Anyway, many, many years ago, every two miles there was a little school. I know I have told you this before. They were always on a corner.
Most of them have been torn down now. But this one is about a mile and a half from our house. Forlorn and decaying, I document it every few months. It is one of my favourite places to go. Beautiful wide board pine floor! Huge East facing windows. Education is centralised now, little schools are scorned and anyway there are not enough kids anymore. I was told by an old man that each of these schools, two miles apart, taught a multi-level twenty or so kids. TWENTY! That is a lot of children in a room as big as your lounge. My pathetic maths tell me that is about a hundred school age kids in a two mile radius. Imagine the noise! What a booming area. Not wealthy, the farms were to feed the families, not much of anything to call their own for sure but fertile and alive and noisy.
The Matriarch’s mother was one of the teachers in one of these little one room schools. In fact she rented a bedroom from The Old Codgers mother so she could be close to the school she was working in. (Which in the present day was 15 minutes drive from her own home which is still standing and can be seen when I take those shots across the ditch.) Fascinating isn’t it. Did she ride a bike to school from the Old Codgers house? I think she may have but what about when it was freezing cold. I need to find out. I must ask him. I have many of her old readers and primers in my book case. This area used to be heaving with people. Piles of teachers, (no headmasters) and stores and farms and houses with barns. It fascinates me. Where have you all gone? Where have all your houses gone. Who were you?
But enough of the questions, I shall ask the old people for the answers. Everyone needs an old person. And then home for a drink. Why have one water container when four is better.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm, celi
ps, The laundry and kitchen drains are still Not draining, (grey water reigns supreme) my toilet is still not flushing, (Don’t go there – I have a back up in the Coupe) the fridge is still leaking, the big wind today turned the chicken ark/ hoop house into a kite! The mouse smell cannot be tracked down to a rotting mouse body but I have sniffed it to a WALL, A WALL – so I am going to invest in some aromatic candles which may or may not make it better, chickens are still escaping from the chook house during the laying hours, the gates are still tied up with string, Sheila, the Hereford Pig, who is so tall now she almost reaches past my hip and I am 5’8″, has been given the run of the place, (she asked so sweetly), I love that pig, the little piggies have black snouts from eating walnuts and the little Marmalade Cat is getting more confident and was caught playing with Boo today (not a good idea – the weight thing) but Playing. I had to smile. And I picked a bushel of the most enormous pears. Life is good.
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
68 responses to “Shall we go for a drive? Just around a couple of blocks.”
Love your images Celie of the quiet time on your side of the world – it seems you have had a short time of summer
summer is shorter here than at home, and it has flown by this year! c
I wonder too how you can live without the nearness of mountains – that must be strange as well.
It is strange, esp after growing up in NZ. But if you squint your eyes at night, it can feel like you are looking out to sea, and across the bay to the lights on the other side. c
That’s nice to know – the open plain has its own magic
It surely is good Cecilia hard at times but good. You would love our area here it is surly MESSED UP 🙂
Glad all is well out you way corn seems to be drying nicely in that stiff breeze we had 30mph here yesterday with temps. in the 60’s last night cold frost on truck window cold glad I covered my house plants outside lol yes if you live with me you have to learn to ROUGH IT sad to hear of your drainage woes though that stinks wait maybe it is that dead mouse 🙂 Have a great week!
stinks all round, but as i am washing the dishes in a bucket that i then empty into the garden, the flowers are happy! c
and bug free I suspect as it is soapy water I wash mine with you bring them in not sure that like baths any more than JT does 🙂
You know, the round shape was restful for my eyes. The people are gone because of huge corporation farms, maybe? That would be my guess. Let us know when you found out the reason. I’m glad life is good for you, C. You deserve it.
Morning Sabra, there are many reasons why the people left the country, the big corporations like Walmart cannot be blamed if people sold out to them. We all do have choices.
However I think there is one partial reason that I am only formulating. These country families worked like crazy so that their children could go to school and then away to college to get an education so that they would not have to depend on the land and work as hard as their parents. Parents in America feel duty bound to pay for their kids college education and they impoverished themselves to do it. Farming poor is a miserable proposition and the mums and dads would have done everything they could to help the kids do better than they did. So the kids left, got themselves an education and never came back to the land. I see this in home after home out here in the country. Aging parents living alone in the farmhouse while their educated kids live far away. A whole generation or maybe even two were encouraged to get OFF the land. Now we are trying to claw our way back to the soil and we have lost so much of that real earthy farming knowledge now.
Anyway that is my thought. I am still working on it. c
You have ‘hit the nail on the head’! That is exactly what happened and is still happening. Even Terry, who was raised on a large dairy and farm and I raised on an large orchard (farm) were so encouraged to GET AN EDUCATION! Turn your back and don’t look back.
But we are farm children born and bred and couldn’t turn our backs. So we got ‘town jobs’ and bought our farm (without any help from families) and bought our own equipment and fixed the house gradually, raised our children — and of course, none of them farm.
We are the aging parents on the farm now…but at least we extended it one more generation.
Farming is an art, a talent and a gift, but can all be learned, it just takes time and season upon season. The biggest thing it takes is money…sadly lots and lots of money to not make much money.
We also have a country block…a mile wide and mile long … laid out in squares. But here we have mesas, and mountains, and hills, and dales, and knobs and valleys that get in the way so people don’t realize it.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
I live in a community of small family farms…some larger than others. Not too long ago the farms were just a quarter section. I love the old photos showing homesteads dotting the horizon and faces of people who once led lives here. So far there are no corporate farms in my state. I pray this never changes. I think this is because of the disasterous Bonanza Farm failure.
Today farm kids join the National Guard to pay for a college education and we lose them to the world. Farm kids see their parents struggle and save, with hardly anytime off and want no part of it.
Not everyone born to farm life loves it. the work is hard labor with long hours. Before sun up and after sun down. No matter how hot, frigid or deep the snow. No sick days or paid vacations. Livestock had/has to be fed and cows milked. Crops planted and harvested even on a Sunday if the weather permits. Work can’t wait. The kids want all that life in the bigger communities have to offer and choose different careers that interest them. We want them to be happy and live the lives that interest them.
Farm land was and is sold now because farmers can survive one or two years when times are bad, but not four or five. Loans must be paid. I hate to see the land grab that is going on. I dread the day when Kevin and I can no longer farm and I hope we get one grandchild who wants to farm our land. I hate for it to end with us.
Low grain, corn, beef, pork, and milk, etc. prices and a global market are a huge challenge. Farmers cut costs, think efficiency and hope to pull through. That has been and still is the life of the small farmer. So yes, small farms have been and will continue to disappear. Urban sprawl is at the door.
I wonder… if we are buying apples from El Salvdor in our markets, are they buying ours apples in El Salvador? Hmmmm…ya think?
We are pretty isolated out here now…farmsteads are miles and miles and miles apart. The sense of community still exists though! The people are caring and always lend a helping hand to their neighbors! I love farm life! There is always the lure of the city…but for me? I never want to live in a city again. 🙂
I appreciate your thoughts, C. I’m sure you know better than I, because you live that life everyday. I can say that where I am from, the taxes were raised so high on farm land that the farmers could not afford to pay the taxes and so were forced to sell. We have a policy of taxing to the highest and best use of land and so our local government would tax farm land as if it were commercial property because they considered commercial the highest and best use. We drove farmers off their land here. And of course, there is always the situation you mentioned…parents wanting their children to have an easier (and to them, better) life.
Listen to the old buildings. They will tell you the stories.
All there in the joins.. c
so happy to hear that the marmalade kitten is fine. sorry about the other two…
when my drains dont drain i pour in some (about half a cup to a cup) and then about the same amount of vinegar. then you have to be quick and close the drain so all the fuzzieness goes down the drain. works every time. sometimes i do it twice to make sure.
miserably this is not a quick fix, we have a septic tank out here and you cannot send laundry water into a septic tank as it will flood, so in the old days (but not too old) they built a separate little tank for the kitchen and laundry. This little tank and its adjacent tile has collapsed. So any water I run down the drain is going nowhere fast. My whole system of drainage has to be re routed. But I have to wait until someone has time to do it. So ’til then I am emptying buckets of water into the garden.. of course this will be fine until the ground freezes, then something will have to be done.c
Morning Celi, the smell of the dead mouse will go I promise. As soon as the flesh has rotted away, the bones left wont smell any more. I know that isn’t much consultation LOL
Frost here this morning, so cold the kittens don’t want to leave the warm kitchen. To keep it warm I am drying apples and blanching spinach for the freezer. If I must use electricity then I like to have something at the end of it! I must confess though, I did turn the heating on for the first time for a couple of hours this morning. Time to get the winter curtains out and swap my summer ones. New routines to be followed now, closing curtains to the cold, opening them up for the sun. Old houses have lots of gaps where the cold wiggles in don’t they?I even have a big old heavy curtain that I pull across my front door as I have no hall, and door opens straight up into my lounge.
Wish i had a fire place. I do have a chimney, put who ever reconstructed this old cottage, put the heat pump where the fire place used to be, so the chimney can’t be used any more.
My Mum used to have a heavy curtin across the lounge door, in fact if memory serves me right i think It was a beautiful red blanket! She hated draughts! c
Good morn’in, Celi
Your drive past the little school house brought back so many memories for this old person…you see I spent grades 1-2-3 in a small one room school about 1/4 mile from my home….I did walk everyday and bundled up with many woolen layers, earmuffs, socks, boots to stay warm on the walks in winter. There were 25 of us and one teacher, Mrs. Fisher, who we all loved so dearly we planted “goodbye” kisses on her cheeks at the end of each school day. On days of big snows, my Dad would drive me over to school on our little red Case tractor…what fun, but a bit shivery. There was a large woodburning stove in the schoolroom and it kept us all toasty…..of course lunch was packed in a “fancy” metal lunchbox with peanut butter sandwiches, fruit and a thermos of hot soup. Fourth grade was quite exciting since I then got to ride the big bus to another country school named Oakland…I felt quite grownup then…….After 4th grade , all the little country schools were closed and we all bussed into the BIG schools in Carlinville, about 15 miles from my farm..instant culture shock..LOL!
Thanks so much for your post which gave me a great trip back to what I still call “the good old days”! 🙂 And so happy that Marmalade is getting faster and feisty! Yay! Nanny Boo may have a hard time keeping up!
Have a wonderful day today!! 🙂
It must have created a wonderful feeling of community, walking to school together, the Mums out chatting to the Mums. Those dads with their tractors bringing kids in on snowy days. Sounds cold but kind of right in a way. My Mum and her brothers went to a little country school, they all rode on one big horse so the story goes. If the Cunninghams could not get through the snow then school was cancelled!! c
Febreze products do work. They are not ‘natural’ – but when trying to mask dead animal smell – sometimes – you have to make a small sacrifice and use a chemical.
Love the old locations. We call those “Black-n-White Photo Opportunities” (BWPO)
Yes they would look moody in Black and White. Though i was looking for fall colour, but there are not enough trees around here for any great show. c
Your story of schools reminds me of a school that I went to in the 1950, s so I might write my next blog about it but thank you gor the memory jog…you too have a good day
Oh I look forward to reading that one.. c
done today
Great pictures and nice to have a look around. That dry corn looks beautiful 😉
The man who crops out here tells me that he might be harvesting next week.. Heres hoping. i don;t mind the curtain comng down!… c
Ooo, hope you get to asking them questions soon – I am fascinated with history like this – and you do relay the stories so well Celi.
Happy to hear our Marmalade is still doing well.
Have a beautiful day.
🙂 Mandy xo
Very neat! This post reminds me of all the old buildings I used to snoop around as a kid. I grew up in Southwest Wisconsin! I grew up in the country and there was several old buildings in the woods I would always snoop around, they are long gone though. It also reminds me of my father’s family. My father and his eleven siblings went to school in a one room schoolhouse that was RIGHT next door to their family farm. Now my uncle owns all the property and LIVES in their old school house!
How cool to Love in the school house that he went to! This one has a lovely huge airy room, I bet his does too.. c
Such beautiful photos! I love especially the first one & those of the corn field. Thanks for sharing nature’s beauty 🙂
fascinating. I have always lived in undulating landscapes, and I find yours absolutely stunning.
I’m glad there are still a few wilderness corners, for the sake of the wildlife.
The dead mouse behind the wall: the smell will go after a week or so, if you can put up with it that long. Otherwise, start demolishing the house!
Love,
ViV x
I guess I have to wait it out. sigh.. c
You have just described our area in North Dakota. When I first married my husband…I used to get lost all the time! Everything looked the same to a gal who was living in the Bay Area of San Francisco! Yikes! Talk about culture shock! LOL
Endless flat country with gravel roads and all going east, west, north or south! I brought my mountain bike that I used to ride in the hills and it was nothing compared to the strong buffeting winds here and slippery moving gravel beneath my tires! Ditches along all the gravel roads with culverts that could suck you in and spit you out on the other side if you didn’t use all your strength to keep possession of your bike! In the spring they are filled with deep fast moving ice cold water! And I swam and sailed in the Pacific and Altlantic Oceans!
I’ve hiked moutains on both coasts and was never afraid, but coming face to face with a huge moose on a neighbor’s farm was entirely something else!!!! He looked at me! I looked at him! And up a tree stand I went! Stayed there til it got dark and oh was I cold! He finally left and I climbed down and haven’t gone out walking the shelter belts alone since!
Nor do I drive in the winter! White outs blow across the highway unexpectedly and you can’t see a thing! White fierce wind driven snow with chilling freezing cold that can kill you in a heartbeat!
Just like you say…this used to be a bustling community too. We live west of two little towns that are quiet and each have a cafe, post office, gas station, bank, small country store, mercantile, bar, and elevator! Also three churches each! We live to the west, smack dab in the middle of both! We have one town’s address and we are in the other’s township! Go figure!LOL
At one time there was a farm on every quarter section. Most are gone leaving signs of those who once lived there. I take photos and think of who they were and how they lived too. All gone, but the old homes or part of a barn or silo looking so forlorn.
Progress…modern machinery and equipment has changed farm life. Older folks died, children sold the land and then followed their dreams to the cities. Even our kids all moved to the city. We will be the last I think. Kinda sad to think about this. Aways hopeful that we will have a grandchild who will love the life and want to farm.
Now I know the subtle landmarkings and can locate where I have ended up if I get caught day dreaming as I meander along with my trusty camera! I love black and white photography! Especially for old buildings and old faces! Easy enough with my computer! I can enjoy both! You have to have color for a lovely wheat, corn, flax, sunflower, mustard, or soybean field in all it’s glory and majesty though! Beautiful photography above!!! 😀
We have shelter belts here in farm country to prevent blowing of the top soil. The dirty thirties had the dust from the plains blowing into New York they say. So the government planted cottonwoods and this helps. Do you plant snow fences where you live Ceci?
The wind rarely stops blowing out here. When we are in drought dust covers everything. I have never dusted furniture and window sills so much in my entire life! My mother-in-law said that during the 30s they could not keep the dust out!!! It was in the food and everything else imaginable! And I think this is bad! LOL
You bring so much to life Celi! Lots of people just don’t know how interesting farm life can be!
I thoroughly your posts and look forward to them everyday! Thank you!
(((hugs))) Mere 😀
Oh the dust, we don’t have air conditioning so the windows are opened all summer long and all the dust! Not many shelter belts here, they rip them out so they can till straight through, sad . so sad.. I plant as many as i can.. Can’t do better than that! c
Me too! I am a tree planter! I was on the board for soil conservation for my area a while back and I learned a lot about soil erosion, the importance of cover crops, proper drainage, crop rotation, snow fences and shelter belts. I have received quite an education married to a farmer! 😉
Some farmers here are greedy too and don’t replace trees. They don’t care and just want profits. They will pay the costs in the long run…or dump the land on someone else one day. None that I know pers0nally…but I have eyes!
I tell Kevin that I live to weed, dust, and vacuum!!! Oh yeah…and wash dishes!!!!
Everything else I do I love!!! I have weeds here that are so fast! They are back the very next day!!!!!! There is one that is like an octopus! Spreads out it’s tentacles and chokes what it can! Grrrrr…:(
I love your place! During harvest I run like a crazy person and close up all the windows! Or I will be doing the breast stroke across the floors! Yikes! LOL
Had some downtime today so I am doing squash and pumpkins! Can’t work in the fields because it is too wet.
If I was your neighbor I would gladly give you a hand today! 🙂