Coolspring 2015 Fall Expo 4

Day Four

Quiet Grounds

When you look at the Coolspring Power Museum events schedule you see Saturday is the last day of the expos. Most visitors head home Saturday afternoon.  The volunteers and engineers and staff work Saturday afternoon and evening to prepare the engines for the winter. That group gets even smaller on Sunday.

The museum grounds take on an entirely different look and sound on Sunday. It gets very quiet without the engines running. 

Xyra reorganized the truck while Franz was rechecking engines in the Power Tech Annex and down at Sudlow Station. Then he helped Professor M move a few engines and put vehicles away.

While they were busy I checked out the chickens and ducks. 

They're funny. (giggles)

Then I took a hike around the grounds again. 

You know I had to climb on the jeep for a moment.

Then it was time to go.

Home Again

The trip from Coolspring home is between 4 and 5 hours depending on traffic, weather, etc. When we got to the highest point on route 80 east of the Mississippi there was snow on the ground just like there had been in Punxsutawney. Definitely not ready for that stuff. Otherwise the drive was uneventful.

It was nice to unpack the truck and get resettled. We had a lovely welcome too.

[Xyra note: The following photos are a little dark. The flash was too much, but no flash wasn't quite enough. I used Picmonkey to adjust two to be a bit lighter.]

Haley, Kaya, Kirsten, Lanie, Melody, 2 or more

Hey! Hi! Welcome home! How ya doin'?
(laughing) Hi! How is everyone?

Good here.
How are you?
Good.
The trip?
Loads of fun!
Is Louisa as cool as she seems?
You bet! She brought us a couple of games. Came in handy a few times Saturday too.
Wooly Willy!
And a magic 8 ball! Cool!

Who's this?
Found Madeline in the flea market. Isn't she awesome?

Yeah, but she needs some better clothes.
Agreed! We'll have to check The Toy Box Philosopher for ideas.
The pups seem to like her. (laughing)

It's good to be home. (sighs)

I like going away, but it's nice to be home too. how do you feel at the end of a trip?

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my trip. I made a list of the places we haven't shown you yet, so Haley has a mission for June.

Best wishes,

#CoolspringPowerMuseum2015FallExpo

Coolspring 2015 Fall Expo 3

Day Three

It Got Cold

A cold front pushed through late last night and was still moving through and over Coolspring. So while Xyra watched the weather and waited out the rotating sun, overcast, rain, sleet, sun - yes, you read that right sleet...ick - I got to hang out in the truck with Madeline. 

She didn't have any clothes when we found her, so I made and dress and stockings for her. I used my bracelet for a belt and hair ties for garters. Then we played with the magic 8 ball again.

And had ice cream too. Cherry today. YUMMY!

Once the tent was taken down and stowed and some gear taken to the bunk house, we headed down to Sudlow Station and spent the rest of the day there. 

It was pretty warm with the engine and the gas lights running. Sometimes I'd get a chill and step outside and back in to remind myself of the temperature difference.

It was a great day and a fun night.

Would you eat ice cream when it is 40 degrees or less out? What's your favorite flavor?

Best wishes,





#CoolspringPowerMuseum2015FallExpo

Book Review: The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams

The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams

by Rhonda Hayter

We've been reading up a storm lately even with homework.
These fun reads help us center ourselves and release stress.
Do you like to read for fun? Can you fit in fun reads over the school year?
This is one of the books Xyra and I picked up at the library used book sale.
On with the show!

Melody

Oh, Abbie! I'm so glad you were kind to that kitten! 

A super fun read! I'm glad Abbie figured out the mystery, I don't like to think what could have happened to all of our technological advances if she hadn't.

Haley

I was reaching for the dictionary a few times. 

I like when that happens - you can still learn things when reading for fun.

Kaya

Wow! Kind of hectic - what Abbie went through not the story. This was a great read filled with exciting situations.

Lanie

This was a fun, quick read. I didn't want to put it down and the chapters flowed together so well. I loved the chapter titles and all the lessons Abbie learned in her quest to find out what was happening and why the kitten acted the way he did.

Kirsten

Great story. Shows how much could go wrong if greedy people had access to time travel. 

It really is a good thing all the Time Turners at the Ministry of Magic were destroyed. Now they just have to find all the time travel spells and charms and take them out of action too. ;-)

Xyra

The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams by Rhonda Hayter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a fun read! If you have ever had an extensive conversation with a young person who is excited about telling you about his/her day or a recent adventure, then you will understand when I tell you this was stream of consciousness for the tween reader! It was cool!

Abbie Adams tells the reader the ups and downs of being a young witch including asides; vocabulary words; visits to the principal's office; encounters with her little brother, loving aunt, understanding best friend, an evil witch, a very unique kitten, etc.; disobeying parents; time outs; lessons learned, and more.

In many witchy worlds we are told magic should not be used for personal gain. Other worlds, like this one, allow for magic use in many more instances with a few rules about the type of magic that can be used on non-magic folk. In this story we encounter a bad guy who crosses that line and tries to change history on a major level.

[I chuckled shortly after starting this book because the main character is named after the second president's wife - Abigail Adams. I had to chuckle again just now as I was going to start a paragraph, "The Adams family..."]

This was a great story to see someone come to terms with a lot of different things in their life. Not super deep things, but the things that are basic life essentials when dealing with friends and family. Great chapter titles too (Egg on My Face).

Yes, this is for grades 3-5 but it's a fun chapter book with some nice 5-dollar and 10-cent words, lots of action and adventure, and lessons learned.

Kid Lit Blog Hop

A great way to find other fun things to read is by visiting the blogs of other reviewers or authors.

A friend pointed us toward the Kid Lit Blog Hop and we've enjoyed being a part of the hop. We've even found books to give as gifts. Do you do book reviews in your blog? do they fit the criteria? Then jump in the hop. It's very easy to do.

Happy reading!

#KidLitBlogHop68

Coolspring 2015 Fall Expo 2

Day Two

Yikes! Well, I suppose I shouldn't have invited you "back tomorrow" on the day one post. Things got nutty around here and none of us could get to the computer. Bummer. But today is better and I can tell you more about this fall's Coolspring Power Museum trip.

Meeting New Friends

It's neat to have meet ups. In June Kirsten got to meet Flo and Shivan from Say Hello to My Little Friends. Flo and Xyra were able to coordinate another meet up. Sadly, we were running a little late and were just finishing breakfast when they arrived. But, boy, did we hoof it up to the General Store as soon as we were done! 

Guess who we got to meet this time? LOUISA! She's awesome!

We really wanted to see the big 600hp Snow engine run, but stopped for a few photos along the way.  One of the paths to the Snow has a bridge over a small stream.

Then a set of stairs to get up the hill to Exley Station. The staircase has a bench on the landing between flights. Smart move. Lots of people like to sit there and chat. So we stopped there too. Don't you just love Louisa's boots? Maybe for Christmas...

Then we climbed the rest of the stairs to the top.

We listened to a talk about the Snow and got to watch the crew start it up. Fascinating! I know it wasn't my first time seeing it run, but I'm still amazed by all the moving parts and their size! We posed for a photo next to the fly wheel.

Next we went down to the center of the museum grounds for ice cream. It was so good. I had a combination of chocolate and maple nut. Louisa had chocolate. 

The ice cream is one of the best treats for visitors. Summer or fall it's super tasty.

Then it was off to get warm in the Windy City building. The gas lights make a huge difference. It was running and we could hear the rhythmic boom of the exhaust. 

The engineer let us take a photo on the rocking chair. 

This is the original chair used by Jim McCauley during his 43 years as maintaining engineer. From when it was an in service air lease to its arrival at the museum to when he retired in 1989.

While there we posed in our matching shirts from Nonna. 

Looking good, Louisa; I like your style. (giggles)

We walked through the flea market area. didn't find much there. Sadly, I think June's rain and the weather predictions for last weekend kept many away including the boutique Kirsten found. Oh well. We did find one thing and had to text Nonna for some help. I'll show you more in the next post.

Off to Sudlow Station to rest in some very comfy camp chairs.  We chatted there for quite a bit. (giggles) But we forgot to take any photos there. Not sure how that happened.

Just before Louisa and Flo said goodbye we visited the Aaron Nagy Eclipse building. 

We tried to get our photo on the wood porch while the sun was out, but it was in and out so often we missed the brief window. 

Still turned out nicely.

Rest of the Day

After Louisa and Flo headed home the rain started. Not a lot. Rain was part of the weather rotation: sun, overcast, wind, a bit of rain, restart. It was neat to hear the rain on the roof of Sudlow Station. 

Later in the afternoon, Franz started the Parmaco and we didn't hear the rain anymore. 

Soon it was time for dinner. Xyra walked up to the Community Center and brought back spaghetti dinners. Yum! 

After dinner we hung out in the station. Watching and listening to the Parmaco. 

Xyra read. I read, but I also had fun with the goodies Flo and Louisa brought. Wooly Willy was funny! 

I kept asking goofy questions to the magic 8 ball - it gave goofy answers. (giggles)

That's all for today. I hope to bring you more tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Best wishes,


#CoolspringPowerMuseum2015FallExpo