family home nature observations

Suburban Wildlife

After living in a rural town most of our lives, a little over a year ago, we moved to a suburban city. One of the biggest surprises about our new home is how much “wild” wildlife we see here. Sure, at our previous home, with its large backyard enclosed by trees and bushes, we saw plenty of squirrels, rabbits, birds, and butterflies. The robins had parties in our yard in the spring, plucking through the…

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family history museums travel

Darwin’s Big Ball of Twine – Don’t Blink!

Hubby and I visited Darwin, Minnesota, on St. Patrick’s Day. We were in the area of this small town (population around 337), which is known for its giant ball of twine, and I had to stop. For a fiber artist, it’s a must-see. According to the informational signage with the ball of twine, this won the Guinness Book of World Records in 1991 for the largest ball of baling twine constructed by one man, Francis…

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family ideas product packaging products reading

Clever Marketing of Banned Books

Hubby and I had occasion to visit San Diego last week. While there, we visited a shop called the Sea Hive. It was a combination of a maker’s market and antiques store, with the floor divided up among numerous sellers. One seller, whose area had a sign that said “Gentleman John,” was selling old books. Laying on a round table in Gentleman John’s space were numerous books wrapped in blue wrapping paper. By the blue…

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