Stone House

 
This is not a house I was doing a survey on, but I drove past this on a back road. I had no idea there was any place like this nearby. I turned around and went back to get a picture. I won't complain if someday I am asked to take more pictures of this place. For now, I'm just glad someone is keeping it in good shape.



This really looks like it should be in the east, where houses were built with cut stone. More often, here, you see fieldstone. Built about 1890-1910, I'd guess.

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Shrek- the Musical

 
The quality of theatre in our small town region continues to amaze me. Tonight I went to Shrek the Musical at the Ramsdell Theater in Manistee. The only fault I really have to find with it was that the volume was so loud I had trouble understanding the words a lot of the time. But I tend to have trouble with that at a lot of places. Here are a few scenes.

If you've never seen the movie or the play, I highly recommend it. The story is like a fractured fairy tale, but it's not just (or even truly) for kids. It's a story of how real life isn't a fairy tale, but it can turn out with a happy ending for everyone, even an ogre, if we practice love and acceptance. And, it's hilarious as a spoof.

Here, the fairy tale characters find themselves in Shrek's swamp after being evicted from the woods owned by Lord Farquad.



Lord Farquad is a foppish, bossy little dude. His mother was a princess and his father was a miner (Grumpy the Dwarf). He can become King if he marries a princess. And he knows where to find one. The Princess Fiona has been imprisoned in a tower by a dragon. He just has to find someone who can successfully conquer the dragon and bring Fiona to him. Shrek agrees to do this in exchange for the actual deed to his swamp so he can get rid of all those crazy people. Of course, he's stuck with his sidekick, Donkey, who never shuts up.



The dragon is fierce, but Donkey out-talks her (yes it's a girl dragon) while Shrek climbs the tower and rescues Fiona.



On the way back to Farquad's castle, Shrek and Fiona discover they have feelings for each other, but there are problems. Shrek is well, an ogre, and has no clue how to express his feelings. The Three Blind Mice encourage him to "Make a Move."



Fiona knows that the fairy tale is supposed to turn out with her marrying the Prince. But she confides in Donkey that she has a really serious issue. A curse was once placed on her and every night at sundown she becomes a horrible ugly person, and the curse can only be broken by a kiss of true love. Then she will remain in her true form for the rest of her life. Shrek overhears part of this but mistakenly thinks she has called him horrible and ugly. Hurt and angry, he delivers her to Farquad, and collects the deed to his swamp. The wedding is hastily planned because Fiona knows she has to make it legal before sundown!

But, Shrek shows up and kisses Fiona. Much to her surprise and his delight, it turns out that Fiona's true form is green and chubby with little ears, just like Shrek! However, Lord Farquad is not so happy.



Shrek and Fiona find true love and learn that "beautiful ain't always pretty."



And Donkey will always be there to help. And to keep on talking.



The finale- Shrek, Donkey and Fiona- with Peter Pan, the Shoemaker's Elf, Fairy Godmother, the Ugly Duckling, the Mad Hatter, the Three Little Pigs, the Three Bears, the castle Guards, the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Gingerbread Man (Gingy), the White Rabbit, Humpty Dumpty, Pinocchio, and Grumpy the Dwarf.

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Too Tall Greenery Causes... What?

 
This flamingo fun began as a joke, but I keep finding so many perhaps it should be its own blog. I now have a backlog!

At first, I thought this white flamingo looked demure, but now I think she's only embarrassed. How would you feel with prickly greenery up your, um... well... you can see for yourself.


And, good grief! It has caused the growth of an extra toe! (Normal flamingos only have three.)

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Crown Point- the British Fort

 
So, the French fled, and destroyed Fort St. Frederic rather than give it up to the large British force of 10,000 men. The British preferred a site slightly farther back from the water. Possibly because they needed a bigger fort, and possibly because there were natural rock formations that allowed them to construct the trenches partially of bedrock.

This was a star-shaped fort with five bastions.



The earthworks enclosed nearly five acres of land, barracks were constructed for 500 men, officers and enlisted soldiers.



This looks over the soldiers' barracks to take in the Adirondacks, across Bulwagga Bay on Lake Champlain.



We wondered why the soldiers' barracks had fireplaces and the officers' didn't. That didn't seem to make much sense. Then we found another interpretive sign that explained the officers had stoves, and tile floors.

This looks northwest, and shows the Princess of Wales Bastion; the star points of the walls are still intact.



And this view is east, toward Prince Edward's Bastion, with the modern bridge beyond. You can see the exposed bedrock forming the outer wall of the trench, called the revetement. You can see some work is being done to stabilize the inner wall, the scarp.



This fort is considered one of the finest remaining examples of an early British Colonial fort. It was in full use until 1773 when a chimney fire in the soldiers' barracks spread to the armory and blew up the powder magazine. Part of the timber fort walls also burned. Only a small force remained on the site after that, and the fort was surrendered to the Americans, under Seth Warner, in 1775.

I really will get there to see a reenactment one of these years!

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Flamingo x Jaws

 
How about flamingos with shark teeth in their bellies? I guess only towels have to beware.



BTW, did you know that the plural of flamingo can be either flamingos or flamingoes, although without the e is preferred? Or you could just say we have a flamingo pair.

If you really can't live without these, they were at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

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