Special Family Weekend

Hi blog friends,
Today I'm not posting a card for you to see, but rather some photos I thought you might like to see of a trip my hubby and I went on last weekend in Aroostook County, or more familiarly known in Maine as "The County".  If you've ever eaten a Maine potato, chances are it was grown in "The County".  It's a big agricultural area and is located in the northern most part of the state.  As is so many areas in Maine, it's a beautiful area and the people embrace their farming life and they make a visitor feel right at home.  

First a little background - when my husband retired a year ago, he began an interest in genealogy.  Quite by accident, he found he had family in The County and a contact with them was made.  We were invited to come to "Mapleton Daze", a summer celebration of a town and their agricultural roots by our new found "cousins" and we couldn't wait to go.  It's a 5 hour trip by car from where we live in Maine to The County, but the entire trip is gorgeous. 

We also met up with my husband's uncle who brings his horses to a farm event every year in Mapleton.  It was good to see him again - he treats his horses as if they were puppies and they adore him.

So, here are some photos I wanted to share with you of the area. 

This photo is my husband's uncle Elmin Mitchell and his prized Belgians. 

They're huge! This was at Mapleton Farms where antique farm implements are demonstrated by very skilled men, women and work horses.

This is Elmin again after his horses were hitched to an antique potato digger.  He is 85 years old (not sure if he'd want me telling you that, though).  He was demonstrating the digger and how, a century ago, the farmers dug their potatoes with it and horses.

This is a panoramic view of some potato fields and a farm house.  The vista goes on forever in The County

A second crop being raised in The County is canola.  The yellow flowers are blooming canola and there are thousands of planted acres of both potatoes and canola, as far as the eye can see.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.  Have a great day!  I'll be back this weekend with a fun challenge from the CAS DT at Outlawz.  I hope you've all had a chance to join in on some of those great challenges....the celebration ends Saturday, July 7.