Those of you who are both Laura Ingalls Wilder AND Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds fans may like this photo, even if the colors aren't outstanding. It's a garden at Rocky Ridge (not LIW's original garden area, I'm sure) that is planted and maintained by the foks at Baker Creek, to demonstrate the kind of heritage (old-fashioned, open-pollinated) plants that Laura might have grown. In the garden on this October day: summer-blooming annuals (including several varieties of Love lies bleeding amaranth, asters, and sunflowers), tomatoes, and okra.
I went through both houses again, seeing some things I missed on yesterday's visit and picking up some new material and a couple of books I didn't have. I spent some time at the library in Mansfield (which is named for LIW), appreciating once again the help of a friendly and accommodating librarian (thanks, Brandy Elliott!). I had hoped to be able to browse through the 1928 and 1929 files of the Mansfield Mirror, but Larry Dennis (long-time publisher) feared that the papers were too fragile. (I worked with those newspapers back in the early 1990s, but that was 20 years ago, and they were fragile then. I understood his concern.) I'll need to check with the library where they are held on microfilm.
We had a great lunch at Estrada's, on the square in Mansfield, owned by Karen and Dwight, who serve very good Mexican food. After lunch, we drove over to Seymour, where we found a dulcimer maker who also turned out to be a fan/friend of China's and Ruby's. That's Janis Hagen on the left (I'm incognito on the right). Janis and her husband Chas and Chas's brother Mark make strikingly beautiful dulcimers and other wooden objects at the Purple Turtle in Seymour. (They're sold through Cedar Creek Dulcimers in Branson.) Really exciting to meet a new/old friend in such a small town!
It's been fun to get away from Texas' heat/drought for a few days--and good to spend some "away time" with Bill. Tomorrow, we're heading south and west, to check out a couple of wood-working places that Bill is interested in visiting.
