Wisconsin Countryside Friday

I've been thinking that I might try to alternate between 'Anglophile Friday' and 'Wisconsin Countryside Friday'. We'll see how it goes.

In Wednesday's Hodgepodge, I mentioned visiting Westby again, and this time, instead of driving out into the countryside east of Westby and Cashton, we drove south to Viroqua and explored the area west of Viroqua (see route below). It was just as beautiful, and fun to take a different route.

Traveling south from Westby, we took 27 (14, 61) to J. Turn right onto J, Turn right onto C, turn right onto B, turn right onto 27, turn left onto 82, turn right onto N, then there will be a jog onto Norwegian Hollow Road to N again, jog right onto 56 until you can turn north again onto O, turn onto K into Chaseburg, then 162 into Coon Valley, turn right onto 14/61 back to Westby. Besides Westby and Viroqua, some towns (or settlements) you'll go through are
Folsom, Towerville, Fargo, West Prairie, Purdy, and Newton. All of this is just in case you happen to be in SW Wisconsin and are looking for some beautiful scenery, including lots of barns and little country churches.The whole trek, with a break for lunch, took us about 3 1/2 hours because, as you can see, there were a few stops for photos. More coming in another post.

 I always thought it would be fun to have one of these in our backyard.

 If you happen to have attended Folsom School,
your reunion is coming up this summer.
Put it on your calendar.

And about two minutes down the road is
Franklin Lutheran Church,
which you most likely attended if you attended Folsom School.

 There are no Anglicans to be found in this neck of the woods.

 Why did the raccoon cross the road?
I don't know, but evidently at some point in the past
he had tried, and it didn't end well for him.

I mentioned in Wednesday's Hodgepodge that Tommy & Smokey had their annual wellness checkup scheduled for Thursday morning.

 Well here are Tommy & Smokey at the vet's office.
Yes, it worked fine to put them both in the same cat carrier.
The vet put them both on a diet. Oh the indignity of it all!

 'Never let them take me back there again, Tommy!'

They were so beautiful!
And curious.

Linking to Saturday's Critters

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Woodside Country School, Barron County

 Woodside School

The day I took the photos of those cute goats, Click HERE in case you missed it. I had actually gone to that site to take photos of this old country schoolhouse. The goats were just a bonus. 

Back when the earth was young, I attended first and second grade in that schoolhouse - but not at that location. After the country schools consolidated c.1956, a nearby farmer bought the building and hauled it to his farm to use as a granary and later for storage. As you can see, it's a little worse for wear.

Some of you may be surprised to learn that I'm not the only person still living who attended country schools like this.

At the front of the building was the cloak room. You can see the door there in the middle. We entered by that door, hung our coats on hooks along the wall, got a drink of water from a galvanized metal bucket and dipper, and managed to get all our contagious childhood diseases out of the way at an early age.

Interior of a Country School

Barron County Historical Society Museum

The interior of our school looked similar to this one, except I remember ours being more crowded and not nearly as neat. Maybe that's because ours was full of kids.

Like this one

I don't remember if my mother cut my bangs or if
my brother cut them with his jackknife.

What I remember most about country school:

1. Getting to sit at a double desk, next to one of the big kids who helped me with my spelling words.

2. The teacher making popcorn in the basement and serving it in colorful cottage cheese cartons on days that it was too rainy or too cold to go out. 

3. The cute boy who got to raise the flag in the morning. I think he ended up in jail.

4. The nice kids who gave me their chocolate goiter (iodine) tablets. Loved those things!

5. Neighborhood parties and softball games held at the school

6. My lunchbox lunch: a tomato, a boiled egg, and tiny Morton S&P shakers to use.

7. Getting hit by a line drive to center field, by one of the dads at the end-of-year school picnic.

8. Falling out of a swing and breaking my arm because a mean kid jerked the chain on my swing. (Don't worry, I got a ton of mileage out of that one.)

9. Walking the mile to and from school - uphill both ways, of course, 
with my mean brothers running on ahead. ;-)

10. Workbooks. I liked them!

 The Bell Tower of Woodside School

Unfortunately, the big old school bell is no longer in the bell tower.  I hope someone's enjoying it. I kinda wished it were me.

Woodside, sign above the door

Every time I drive to Rice Lake, I pass another of Barron County's old country schools, one that's been converted to living quarters. But when I was a kid, it was a school. Africa School. I have no idea why it was called Africa School, but even today, I enjoy telling people that I drive past Africa on my way to Rice Lake.

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