The Conrad House kitchen

I am always interested to learn how people did the everyday things way back in 1895.  The everyday things we do today but with different tools and energy sources. The stove and oven is French and  cost   $125.

   The newest and greatest bread machine of the time. 

The instructions were embossed on the cover, add the ingredients and turn the handle for 3 minutes.

A butter churn that held 4 gallons of cream.  Table the butter churn is sitting on is a zinc table top and underneath is an automatic dishwasher of some sort. The large drum with a lid is an ice box.

The pantry below with the storage crocks and the newest carpet sweeper and floor polisher of the era.

The greenhouse just off the kitchen they could grow kitchen herbs and greens all year long.

The fireplace in the dining room and a wine cask below also in the dining room.

The house from a different angle, the grounds were beautifully kept.  --Ann--

The Conrad Mansion

The Conrad Mansion was built in 1895 by Mr. & Mrs. Charles Conrad who made his fortune in Montana in shipping and freight.  The house in its entirety was donated to the city of Kalispell in 1975.  The closets were filled with dresses from each decade along with housekeeping tools of the time.  A time capsule of treasures and a glimpse into life in 1895.  

The grand stairway in the front entry 

 

There was a tour group ahead of us so we just wandered through the house as the docents tried to keep us from crossing paths with the tour.  The attic was filled with treasures including the sewing room for making all the dress for Mrs. Conrad and her daughters.  There were closets filled with dresses and gowns for every occasion white/cream dresses were grouped together and black hung together.  With all those dresses which ones do they display..... the under garments of course.

About the time I realize this would make an interesting post the tour group is where I would like to go back and take more pictures 

That glass window is the bottoms of wine bottles.

These dresses are from the 1950's the fabric is nylon the newest and latest fabric of the time easy to wash quick to dry and a cool iron.

The daughters clothes made of lawn fabric.

another picture of the wine bottle window.  --Ann--

Wool gathering

I took a week off from blogging for no particular reason other than maybe it was cool enough to sit outside so I did and maybe I was wool gathering.   I always associated that phrase “wool gathering “ with daydreaming but when I see the wool caught in the trees it makes sense.

The mountain goats shed their coats by rubbing under trees, it would have taken a long walk to find enough wool for socks.   Send the small children out with a bag and collect the wool from shrubs, trees and fences, a good time to daydream.  My wool gathering is adding to the stash.

Local hand dyed yarn from a shop in Kalispell

  

We visited Whitefish again to see the Conrad Mansion (that post tomorrow) and found the Polka Dot Sheep Yarn shop.  The owner dyes the yarn and it was beautiful so difficult to choose.  Yarn for a sweater for me and a stocking cap and mittens for daughter.  I bought so much yarn I got a free mug.  We flatlanders were exhausted after 2 days of hiking so needed a day of art shops, museums, mansions and yarn shops and a sit down meal.  --Ann--

Wildlife

Cow moose and a woodchuck

Grizzly bear sniffing the flowers or eating berries my camera was zoomed to the max.  There was a lake some vegetation, a road, trees and the slope of a mountain between us.  He looked like the curve of a hay bale on the mountain side without my camera.  --Ann--

Mountain goats we saw 2 adults  who seemed to be having a disagreement and 2 kids they were so cute but I only got a picture of one.  The adults crossed the trail a couple times and could have charged at us but  fortunately they were more interested in their own dispute.

--Ann--

Hiking in Glacier

I remember going to the Black Hills in South Dakota for the first time, I was probably 5 back in the days when kids could sit on the edge of the seat gripping the back of the front seat and seeing the mountains on the horizon  the anticipation that each mile they were getting bigger and bigger, I had never seen anything that big except the sky.  Driving across Montana and into the mountains you didn't know you were in the mountains until they were there.  The haze from the fires hindered visibility  but one of the days the jet stream shifted taking the smoke further north and the view of the mountains was glorious.

I did not enhance the color of those pictures.  The wind blows the smoke away the sky is blue.  There are lots of little waterfalls from the sadly melting glaciers and snow.  When the park was established there were 135 glaciers now there are 26.

A marmet along the trail it was eating wild raspberries until I interrupted with my camera clicking.

I was so glad I wore my hiking boots on my daily walks for a few weeks before we left.  --Ann--

A little adventure

Darling daughter and I did a little road trip to western Montana and Glacier National Park.  After two days of driving we spent the first day in Kalispell and Whitefish.  I found a quilt shop and a few yards of fabric that I need for my next project.  The rabbits were just too cute and they have long ears like a jackrabbit.  They will find a place in a quilt someday.  That little moose is either fabric marker or crayon on fabric and machine stitched in black then wrapped around a wooden spool for my miniature shelf.   --Ann--