Journeys With Judy: Backyard MO Birds and a trip to Hannibal and Louisiana MO

June 9 – 2014
Well it has been a while since my last post and so much has happened.
I found a house in MO near most of my family and hopefully will close on June 19. This has involved tons of time and energy not to mention paper work. I just hope I can take care of health insurance changes without too much hassle and cost. Then there is the vehicle registration and license to deal with. It’s all just a bit overwhelming at times.
I attended my first outing with the mid-America chapter of RVW. It was held in Hannibal MO. That was only a couple of hours for me to drive.
While I was there I took a ride down to the little town of Louisiana MO.

Have you ever wondered what buttons were made out of before plastic was invented? Almost all buttons were made out of wood, metal, or the much superior pearl. In 1902 a company was started in Louisiana Missouri that made buttons out of pearl (mother of pearl). “Shell-diggers” would go out onto the Mississippi River and collect mussel shells from the bottom of the river. After cleaning the mussels, the shells were bagged and taken to the Nord-Buffum Button Factory. At peak production, Nord-Buffum had about 100 employees and produced about 72,000,000 pearl buttons annually. This was in the 1930’s
http://bghsmissourihistory.wikispaces.com/Nord-Buffum+Pearl+Button+Co.

I have not been able to do much bird photographing as my lens shade has been in for repair. I did manage one day at my sisters feeders before I took the duct tape off and sent it in for a more permanent repair.