Outdoor Wednesday - Tallgrass Festival 2006

My BFF, Yvonne asked me to come down her way to go to the Tallgrass Festival in June a few years back. The Festival is held at the restored farm and ranch of cattleman Stephen F. Jones, which is called the Spring Hill Farm and Stock Ranch. The home and grounds are available daily for tours and feature the 1881 limestone second empire house, and three story barn, as well as other outbuildings. The Tallgrass prairie is alive with color and scents, and is very pretty that time of year. For more information on the Tallgrass Prairie in Kansas, please search it out on the internet. It has a lot of history and is very interesting.

When we were there, they were having an art and craft show. They invite established artists to come and paint, draw, sketch or whatever medium they chose to use, and make an art piece that day. Later on in the afternoon, the pieces are auctioned off to raise money. One of Yvonne’s friends from work who is an artist also, had been asked to paint a picture that day, so we went to cheer her on!

Upon arriving the first thing you notice is this HUGE barn.

Upon closer inspection you notice that it has at LEAST 3 stories!. It’s built into the hill, so that makes 2 levels approachable from the ground. I’m thinking they must use the 3rd level for attic space or something, right?

No! When we get to the north side of the barn, we see that there are actually ramps for the tractors to drive up, unload their load, and drive out the other side. It was amazing!

The house is quite majestic, but we were surprised how small the rooms are. The family that lived there had several children, and the upstairs is not viewed by the public. The downstairs is really about 4 rooms, two of which are now a gift shop. Of course no indoor toilet, or running water, so there was an outhouse shown below.

There was a butcher shed that they used to slaughter the animals and cut them up. Even the ice house was a very nice building.

The grounds that day were covered with artists and their equipment, drawing, painting, and sketching the grounds from all directions. We thoroughly enjoyed the day, and our friend’s painting was purchased at the auction by a prestigious gallery in Kansas City.

Thanks to Southern Day Dreamer for hosting us today for a beautiful Outdoor Wednesday. Join she and the others at http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/ to see more outdoor fun!