 |
| 16 of the 103 Varieties of Tulips in Bloom Minnesota Landscape Arboretum May 2014 |
I had no idea that so many varieties of tulips existed until last Thursday. My mom and I timed our visit to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum perfectly. Although a few tulip varieties were past their prime and a few weren’t even open yet, the majority were in full bloom.
For more wonderful photo collages, please visit Mosaic Monday.
Last Saturday was Museum Day Live! and my Mom and I went to the American Swedish Institute (ASI). If you’re not familiar with Museum Day Live!, here’s the description from Smithsonian.com.
In the spirit of Smithsonian Museums, who offer free admission everyday, Museum Day Live! is an annual event hosted by Smithsonian magazine in which participating museums across the country open their doors to anyone presenting a Museum Day Ticket… for free.
The current exhibit at ASI is Push, Twist, Blow – Transforming the Kingdom of Crystal which showcases innovative pieces by eleven Swedish artists including Fredrik Nielsen (shown in the top right corner).
ASI is located in the historic Turnblad Mansion. The other photos above are:
Top left: Detail from a stained glass window
Bottom left: Detail from one of the 11 tile stoves the Turnblads imported from Sweden.
Bottom right: One of the “barbarians” holding up the fireplace in the grand hall.
Click here to see many annotated pictures of the Turnblad Mansion at the Digital Public Library of America.
We also had lunch at FIKA, the cafe at ASI, which was voted best lunch in Minnesota (2013) by the StarTribune.
We split this salad and an open faced salmon sandwich. It was really delicious.
Check out other collages at Mosaic Monday sponsored by Little Red House.
Yesterday I played mini golf with a friend at Walker on the Green: Artist Designed Mini-Golf. This is the third summer there has been a mini golf course set up by the sculpture garden across the street from the Walker Art Museum, and I finally managed to make it there and play.
The course was crowded, so I didn’t take pictures. You can see a slideshow of the course here. Previously there was mini golf at the Walker the summer of 2008 (pictures from that course) and the summer of 2004 (pictures of that course). It makes sense that I missed playing in 2008. I have no idea why I didn’t go in 2004. I love mini golf.
While there, I took some pictures of the 25 year old Minneapolis Sculpture Garden planning to link to Mosaic Monday. I forgot that Mary at Little Red Ren is on a “blogging break” until I tried to link this post. (There’s no Mosaic Monday this week to link to.)
 |
| 3 of the 4 houses at the corner of 3rd & Hill in Red Wing, Minnesota |
I took quite a few pictures in Red Wing but failed to take a picture of the house at the northeast corner of this intersection. Google street view has mapped out so many locations around the world ( the Grand Canyon, Hanaumu Bay, the Van Gogh Museum, etc.) that I thought I’d be able to grab a picture of the house on the northeast corner. Unfortunately, Google street view has not yet made it to Redwing’s West Residential Historic District.
According to Footsteps through Historic Red Wing (copyright 1989, City of Red Wing Heritage Preservation Commission). “The Third and Hill Streets intersection has been termed the most architecturally significant intersection in Minnesota.” The three houses I took pictures of are described in this brochure, the house on the northeast corner isn’t mentioned.
A. In the top left corner of the mosaic (and located in the northwest corner of the intersection) is the Philander Sprague House (1868), a classic example of the French Second Empire style.
B. In the top right corner of the mosaic (and located in the southeast corner of the intersection) is the James Lawther House (1857). This octagon shaped house is now a bed and breakfast inn. Some interior pictures are available at the link.
C. At the bottom of the mosaic (and located on the southwest corner of the intersection) is the E.S. Hoyt House (1913) which was designed by Purcell and Elmslie. This house is currently for sale, many interior pictures are available here and detailed information about the house is available here. Unlike the Purcell-Cutts House, the kitchen of this house has been extensively remodeled and updated.
Linking to Mosaic Monday.
I took Angie over to Minnehaha Park the other day. She met 10 dogs, 3 little kids asked if they could pet her (which of course they could), and I got into discussions with 2 different families about what kind of dog they thought she is. This picture was taken after she had met all but 1 of the dogs so she’s a bit tired.
I let Angie lead the way most of the time. We parked in the free lot a bit upstream from the falls. Angie wasn’t interested in going down the path so I could get a better picture of the statue of Longfellow in the middle of the field.
 |
Goldfield Ghost TownMarch 13, 2013 |
On our last day of our Arizona vacation, Jimmy and I ventured out to the beginning of the Apache Trail (at the foot of the Superstition Mountains) and spent an hour or so at Goldfield Ghost Town. The most interesting part exhibit on the Lost Dutchman Goldmine in the Historic Museum (admission $1).
The Lost Dutchman Goldmine is, according to legend, a very rich gold mine hidden in the southwestern United States or maybe in Mexico. The most common belief is that the mine is in the Superstition Mountains, near Apache Junction, east of Phoenix, Arizona. . There have been many opinions about how to find it, and each year people search for it. Some have died on the search.
The exhibit at Goldfield Ghost Town included some maps that are supposed to show the location of this mysterious goldmine. I took pictures of a couple that represent the type of information available on these maps.
 |
The Purcell-Cutts House2328 Lake Place, Minneapolis
|
A couple of weeks ago, my mom and I toured the Purcell-Cutts House near Lake of the Isles. The house was designed one hundred years ago by William Gray Purcell and George Grant Elmslie. It is considered one of the most significant examples of the Prarie School style of architecture.(The firm of Purcell and Elmslie was the second most commissioned firm of the Prarie School style of design, Frank Lloyd Wright was number one.)
The Purcell family only lived in the house for a few years. In 1919, Purcell put his house up for sale and moved with his family to Philadelphia.
The house was purchased by Anson and Edna Cutts. They realized the house was architecturally relevent and lived there for 66 years without significantly altering it. In 1985, their son, Anson Cutts Jr. bequeathed the house and funds to use for its restoration to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
The Purcell-Cutts House is open for guided tours one weekend a month. It’s much.prettier than these pictures show. If you can’t see it in person, an online tour is on the Minneapolis Institute of Arts website.
All the highlights of the tour are there, including:
This is my first link up with Mosaic Mondays where the post may be about any subject as long as it includes a mosaic of photos.
 |
| Peabody, the Desert Tortoise Reno’s Animal Ark |
Another picture I took 2 years ago at the Animal Ark animal shelter in Reno. Peabody is a male tortoise and is approximately 57 years old. He was brought to the animal shelter 26 years ago. Before that he had been a pet.
To check out pictures of cute animals from around the world, just click on the image below.
 |
| One of the mountain lions at Reno’s Animal Ark |
I took this picture 2 years ago when Jimmy and I visited the Animal Ark animal shelter in Reno.
Since I love posting pictures of animals I decided to participate in the Camera Critter Meme. The rules on this are very simple. Every Saturday I will be posting a picture that someone in my household (that would be either Jimmy or me since we haven’t equipped Angie with a camera yet) took where the main subject is an animal.
To check out pictures of cute animals from around the world, just click on the image below.
|
|
Just click on the Secret Door and you’ll be whisked away to some of the most fascinating places across the globe. The Secret Door uses random images from Google Earth. You can click on the arrows in the middle of the picture to look around. Maybe you’ll find a place you want to go on your next vacation!
Here’s some of the places it took me:
 |
| a candy store in British Columbia |
 |
| an underground pub in London |
 |
| the White House |
If clicking on the above door doesn’t work, click here. In case you are wondering what else is on this website, lots of doors and windows. Safestyle UK is a door and window company with 40 branches throughout mainland England and Wales.
Donna's New Day 