May 24, Deborah eagles, Bily Clocks, Barn quilts

Saturday, May 24

Beautiful morning with lots of birdsong.  It was light till almost 9:00 last night and we slept through sunrise, though it was bright at 6:00.  Saw a deer on the way back to civilization.  Passed a dairy with a big “Got Milk?” sign on the barn.

7:08 we are back at the fish hatchery and the adult eagles are hanging out in a big maple tree. 

Not much happening in the nest.  We watch for a while and one adult does visit the nest.  About half an hour later the adults fly off and one returns with a fish which it takes to the nest.  We talk with a few folks locals who are running  or biking on the trail nearby, and a few who are there specifically to see the eagles.

Adult returning to nest with a fish

Enjoyed watching these two building a nest too.

We have breakfast at the picnic spot and then head to Spillville.

The Bily brothers,  Joe and Frank, were farmers in the area who loved to do wood carving.  During the long winters, Joe designed clocks and Frank did the carving.

Their works were large and quite elaborate, often with music and moving parts such as the parade of apostles, cuckoo birds, a bride and groom who moved through a church, and many others.  With a fifth grade education, they resorted to many books for ideas and designs.  Woods included butternut, hickory, holly and some exotic woods they ordered.  They also ordered the actual clock works, mostly from Seth Thomas. Hard to appreciate the detail in these photos, but they didn't want photos taken so I just snuck these.

American Pioneer is 2nd from left

One clock is totally made of wood – even the gears were carved from wood. The masterpiece is a 9’ 10" tall  clock called the American Pioneer which features 57 separate panels depicting early pioneer life.  Supposedly Henry Ford offered them a million dollars for this piece, which they turned down because “what would WE do with a million dollars?”  The brothers also collected over 100 clocks. They planned to leave the works to their younger sister but she died so they left them to the city of Spillville.

In the same building there are two rooms upstairs dedicated to the composer Antonin Dvorak who spent three months in this house with his family.  He loved the Czech community here and wrote several pieces of music while here.  We got to listen to a little bit while we toured.

From here we headed back towards Wisconsin .  Greg notes that Iowa drivers on the back roads pass regardless of lines on the road.

We stopped at the library in Prairie du Chien but it closed at 1:00 so we only had half an hour or so to do some blogging and catch up on emails.

Lots of dairies and cattle among the fields here and the barn quilt trend continues.

A collection of wind turbines near Monfort – about 20, which is largest in the state. Tiny compared to many we've seen elsewhere.

We arrive at the Alp and Dell Cheese Factory in Monroe about 4:00 and purchase some cheese curds.   There are hundreds of cheese stores in the state and they make all kinds.  One place even makes Limburger.  The cheese curd are fresh chunks of cheese that are packaged and sold before the rest of the cheese is formed into wheels or bars or whatever. We have some cheddar and some brick. They must be fresh because they squeak when we chew them - that's the test, we've been told. Very tasty.

Others have told us we must try them fried - a delicacy yet to be experienced.

We go to the town square and walk a bit.  Some interesting shops and restaurants and quite a few people out.   Beautiful court house and lots of statues.  Someone explained later that they have a big cheese festival every other year (in September) with a theme, and the statues are from previous celebrations.  There is also a statue of an 18-year old local civil war soldier killed in the last battle of the civil war.

We have noticed many graduation parties going on today.  Lots and lots of lilacs  - hedges of them,  some along country roads and many in people’s yards. Lovely and fragrant.