Treasures Are In the Eye of the Beholder

The other day when we were beach combing on the shores of Kentucky Lake, it got me to thinking about the different little "treasures" we find there.

We find a lot of sea glass, or maybe I should call it lake glass.  I was asked why we find so much of it here.  I mean, Kentucky Lake is not an ocean, so why do we find so much of it here?  There are actually only 2 specific beaches here that we seem to find it on.  At one time there were several different towns on the land where Kentucky Lake is now located.  Starting in 1938 they built the dam, emptied the towns and flooded the region to form Kentucky Lake.  I'm guessing that some of the glass is from the homes and businesses that used to be in this area.  Another possible explanation is that this is a very recreational lake.  There is a lot of camping on the shores, tons of boats on the lake, and lots of people who, unfortunately, toss their pop and beer bottles in the water.  At any rate, here's some (just a fraction) of the pieces we've picked up....

This next picture shows what looks a lot like an arrowhead, crinoids, (which we find by the hundreds) and a piece of quartz.....

The crinoids are interesting.  They are fossils and you can read about them here.  They look like little cheerios.              We take the crinoids and string them into necklaces, which we found out are actually called "St. Cuthbert's Beads."

We also find a lot of shells, although they aren't nearly as plentiful or as beautiful as the ones I find in Florida.  We still use them to decorate picture frames and wooden boxes....

We also find geodes on occasion.  It's fun to look inside them and see the tiny crystals.

But my absolute favorite find so far is this hunk of sea glass that my son found a couple of years ago.  I know the exact spot we were at when he found it and I can still picture him running out of the water, clutching it in his hand, so excited at finding this for me.    It's the bottom of a Diamond Crystal shaker salt jar, it's a beautiful green color and you can clearly read all the words....

We have gone back to that same spot numerous times, searching through the water, trying to find more, but so far, no such luck.  I just think it looks really cool.

I also like driftwood, so we made this with a couple of pieces and a huge clam shell that we found.....

Another favorite find is my turtle shells.  I placed a quarter there so you could get an idea of the size of them.  We found all of them around the lake, after the turtle had died, and in various states of decay.  We place them in the garden for a few months and let the ants pick them clean, then wash them up.  I love looking at them.

So there you have it - a glimpse at some of my treasures.  Some day I'm gonna be dead and gone and people are probably going to say "What the heck was she collecting all this crap for?"  LOL!  I don't care.  It's what I like, it's interesting.  I'll find stuff and then look it up on the internet and learn more about it.  I just never know what I'm going to find on my next little excursion around the lake.

Beachcombing in Kentucky

Beach combing in Kentucky is a little different than beach combing in Florida.  For starters, there isn't miles of beautiful white sand.  Second, the shells here are way smaller and a lot fewer.  On the bright side, we do find a lot more sea glass in Kentucky for some reason.

Today we spent over 2 hours walking the shoreline, picking and poking for treasures.  The water level is extremely low yet, in fact, it's probably still at winter pool, so we like to walk the shoreline while we can.

In some areas the lake is so low that we had to climb down the swim ladders to get to the beach...

I love this tree.....

The lake is still rather empty and quiet.  I don't think we saw another person the entire time we were out.

We found a cute little turtle.....

We also found 3 fishing lures and some sea glass, but I forgot to take a picture.  We wash the lures and hang them on a seining net in the basement bathroom.

I also found a brand new pair of needle nose pliers, laying on the beach.  I snapped them up quickly too.  These are going right in my tackle box and will be perfect for removing fish hooks.  I was really quite excited about this find!

Afterwards we admired my azaleas, which look beautiful....

Then we dragged the kayaks out.  Like I said, the water levels are really low, so our dock is still sitting on the bottom of the lake, except for the back end of it, which is on about 6" of water.  Just barely enough to launch the kayaks, but we made do...

We paddled around our bay a bit, happy to just be out on the lake.....

We also had to do some work around the house.  It was 86 degrees and the A/C wouldn't go on.  My husband took a look at it and wisely decided that he had better call the "A/C guy."  Some things are just better left to the professionals.  Anyway,     $ 130.00, a new thermostat and a new sensor something or other, and we were back in business.  Altho I swear, the minute it got fixed, the temperatures dropped and its about 50 degrees now.

Also on the agenda was a new faucet for the sink in our bathroom.  This is something we have been putting off for forever!  The biggest reason being that this is an old lake house.  Things are rusty.  Like the pipes under the bathroom sink.  Louie didn't want to mess with the water lines under there.  So here was the problem.....  the faucet dripped.  Badly....  We tried taking the handles apart numerous times and tightening the nuts.  We installed new washer thingy's.  It still dripped.  Then the drip turned into a slow, steady stream of water.  I had a hammer next to the sink and I'd bang the handles until the dripping stopped.  Then the next time I wanted to turn on the faucet, I'd have to use the hammer and bang the handles until the water came back on.  Finally I got fed up with it and just filled up a gallon jug of water and left it on the sink to use to wash my hands and brush my teeth...  for the past 8 months!   God, I hope you all aren't laughing at me now!    So when we got here this time and turned on the main water supply, the water started dripping out the faucet and no matter how much I pounded it with the damn hammer, the steady stream of water was not stopping.   I just looked at Louie and told him he was going to have to fix it.  So out came the saw zaw, which is never a good sign in this house.

He ran to town, got a new faucet and water lines, hooked it up and ... ta-da.....

Please ignore the rust spot in the sink.  I love this sink - it's big and deep.  Maybe one of these days we'll be able to afford to fix all the stuff that needs fixing around here, but for right now, I'm thrilled to have a bathroom faucet that works!  Next on the list is a new toilet, but I don't think Louie really wants to hear about that this trip.

Scarborough Seashells

I recently found another blog I liked, called "Scarborough Seashells."  When I jump around reading different blogs I like to look at their blog rolls and go visit more new blogs.  I've found some really good blogs that way.  I'm usually attracted to a blog by the name.  And since I like and collect seashells, well, you can guess why I clicked on this one.

Tara is hosting a give away to celebrate her 300 th blog post.  Way to go Tara!  Check out the pretty bangle bracelets she made and she's giving one away - It's sterling silver and you can get one with a silver sand dollar or a silver scallop.  Either one is very nice.

She also has an Etsy shop which you can visit here.  A lot of her jewelry is made with seaglass that she picks up herself on the beaches of Rhode Island.

So go over and check out her blog and her Etsy shop.  Hum Simon & Garfunkle's "Scarborough Fair" while you do!   Are you going to Scarborough Fair......

Caching, Lake Michigan and Hot Dogs

Look at the title of my post and what's not to love?  It's a gorgeous day here in Chicago - deep blue skies, a stiff breeze and temperatures hovering around 60.  We had to meet a client who lived near the lake this morning, so I grabbed my caching bag as we breezed out the door, hoping   insisting, that we hit the lake front for some caching afterwards.

I love unusual or big art, and the first place we stopped provided plenty of interesting things to look at.  This was at the park entrance.

I don't understand the big pencil, but it sure was different.

I don't know if these were cement benches or a breakwater wall, but I loved how they were painted.

We had to walk out to the end of this pier....

And find the cache on this search light.....

The views of downtown Chicago were wonderful....

The next cache was hidden on this sailboat...

I would love to own this house overlooking the lake.  What a view!

Hey, is there a cache hidden in here???

Lou finally spotted this nicely hidden cache.  You can't see it in this picture, but I promise you it's there...

This was a great beach because we found some sea glass and a really pretty rock.

As we were headed for home, we spotted a street vendor selling hot dogs.  There is just something really yummy about a Chicago style hot dog with a steamed bun, so of course we had to stop.

If you are ever in Chicago, you HAVE to get a Chicago style hot dog.  They are the best!  I know I cheat and put ketchup on my dog, but then, I put ketchup on a lot of stuff.  You can read all about the history of Chicago style hot dogs here   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago-style_hot_dog
Be sure to get them with a dash of celery salt - it just adds a little something extra. 

One of my favorite hot dogs are at Gene & Judes in River Grove, IL.  I actually like the fries better than the hot dog.  They are nice and greasy and they dump them right on top of the hot dog.  Read about them here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_%26_Jude's

Another favorite of mine is Superdawg in Chicago.  I have been going there since I was a kid.  The top of their building sports 2 giant hot dogs and people from all over the world have taken a picture of them.
http://www.superdawg.com/    They have 1950's style car hop service there and it's just a fun place to visit.

Who has a taste for hot dogs tonight?

Lake Michigan Caching

One of my favorite places to go is the beach on Lake Michigan.  We live close enough to hit several different areas within about half an hour's drive.  The water temperature in July usually averages around 70 degrees.  Personally I prefer warmer water, so I don't swim there too often.  But I do like to visit the lake at different times of the year.  Here are some pictures taken last winter.

We have some beautiful lighthouses dotting the lakefront.

Last summer we went caching at a wonderful park down on the lakefront.  It's called Millard Park and it's in Evanston, IL.  The park is built on land that once belonged to the Robert Schaffner Estate.  This was also the location of a multi-stage geocache and had us hiking all over this vast estate.  On the property were beautiful gardens, a gazebo, an old abandoned building, ravines and gorgeous lakefront beaches.  We had to visit 5 separate areas and find clues to tell us where the final cache was hidden.  The geocaches have been hidden by permission of the park.

The gazebo...

Here we are at the abandoned building.  I could just imagine how beautiful this building once was, with its floor to ceiling windows.  I think they must have held parties out here.  What a fantastic view of the lake!

Hiking to the gardens, where they often hold wedding ceremonies.  There was a clue written on the bottom of this rubber snake, which we found in the garden.

3 hardy souls in our group stripped down to shorts and tee shirts and braved the cold water to swim to the end of this breakwater wall.  I was not one of them.  A clue was attached to a metal wire on the end of the wall.

After 4 stages we had collected 4 clue cards.  We had to figure out how to line them up properly in order to figure out the co-ordinates for the final stage.

It took us about 3 hours, but we finished it and it was a lot of fun.  Here's a photo of part of the happy group!

We ventured further down the beach afterwards.  Lake Michigan is lined with huge boulders.  We had a lot of fun climbing all over them.

I even found some beautiful sea glass and a geode on the beach.

All in all, Lake Michigan is a wonderful place to spend the day.  The next time you're near the lake, be sure to take the time to stop and explore.