Grandma's Spinning Wheel

This is my grandma Elsie Dahlager's (1872-1959)  spinning wheel.

She had said that this had come from her mother-in-law,

so it was not only grandma's spinning wheel,

but it first belonged to my great-grandma Sigrid Leikvold Dahlager  (1853-1942).

Great-grandma's father was Ole Leikvold (1830-1916).

Ole was a wood lathe operator and carpenter.

He made lefse rolling pins, cupboards, benches, chairs and. . .

spinning wheels.

Ole made this spinning wheel for

his daughter, my great-grandma.

So how old is it, then?   One can't be absolutely sure, but if it was made for her when 

she married Christopher Dahlager in 1874, it would be 143 years old!

The spinning wheel is obviously hand-made.

All the parts appear to be included.

The foot pedal is discolored from grandma's (and great grandma's) 

foot pumping the pedal which caused the wheel to turn.

One can imagine these women sitting at the spinning wheel, 

making the sheep's wool into yarn in order to make

mittens, sweaters, or scarves.

I am honored to have this family heirloom, which will
hopefully stay in the family for years to come.

Grandma

Great-great grandpa

Great Grandma

Mini Vacation

In June, I took a trip with Pam, Drew & Dylan to Kentucky.   What is in Kentucky, you ask?    We went to see the Ark Adventure.   It is a HUMONGOUS structure, built to the specifications of Noah's Ark as told in the Bible.    It is definitely worth going to see - they have depicted what it might have been like on the ark - the animal cages, the living quarters, food storage (for animals and Noah's family), and much, much more.  

We even spent an evening at Churchill Downs!   What fun to see the horse races.  I didn't bet on any horses, BTW.

We went to the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory.  Very interesting and fun to see.  I even got a (free) miniature Louisville Slugger bat.   

We also walked along the river in Louisville, and visited a garden of a mansion that was gorgeous.

FUN! FUN!

Flowers

This year, my flowers are especially beautiful - the blooms are colorful, the greens are healthy.  It's not that I do anything special - I don't have a "green thumb."    I basically just plant and hope for the best.   This year, I didn't  spend much money buying new plants.   If I had know this was the "year for flowers" I would have gone crazy at the nurseries.

I love Dahlias!

Cosmos are a no-fail for me - just scatter the seeds and watch them grow.

These are the flowers of my Elephant Hostas.

More Dahlias.

Pansy.   My Mom always liked these.

In front of the house.

Phlox.