Alley Spring Camping Trip - Part 2

I think the phrase "plumb tuckered" best describes how we all felt Saturday night. The little boys turned in and the big boys began the traditional bottle art by playing in the fire.
We've never mastered cooling the glass slowly enough to keep it from cracking, but that doesn't stop us from trying. This was Rob's melted glass masterpiece.

Before we left the area, we stopped by to look at Alley Mill. The mill wasn't open, but the grounds were still worth the stop. We ran into Derrick and Thomas who had stopped to do a little exploring of their own. We took this picture with the timer on the camera before we ran into Derrick and Thomas. Not my best work, but still proves we were there!

We got home Sunday afternoon and began the daunting task of unpacking and putting everything away again. Camp math is a funny thing...it takes at least 3 days to get ready for a 2 night camping trip and at least 3 days to clean up after you get home. But yet, it is still worth the effort. It was a great weekend!

Alley Spring Camping Trip - Part 1

We arrived at Alley Spring, near Eminence in plenty of time to set up camp and explore a little. Our campsite was just short walk from the Jacks Fork River, where the late afternoon sun was lighting the bluffs.

On Saturday, we headed to the river for a day of floating. For some of the little ones, it was their first long float and they did great. Amazing what a constant supply of snacks and juice boxes can do!The scenery is gorgeous. Here's some of our crew as little colorful dots at the base of one of the many bluffs. We saw tons of turtles sunning themselves on rocks.

Here's my groom and I, posing with the rocks. All in all, it was a perfect float. A few people ended up in the cold water against their will, but we did manage to return to camp with the same number of people we left with.

Guess What We're Doing This Weekend?

Stand By Me

If you haven't already seen this video, it is well worth the watch!


Stand by me from Vendée 1 on Vimeo.

If Walls Could Talk

When I was looking for the picture of the old toy collection, I came across a few others. What should have taken 5 minutes has now sucked up almost an hour as I look through the old pictures on my back up drive.
One day while I was teaching summer school, my mom, aunt, and grandmother started stripping the wallpaper in the guest room and my bathroom (thank you!!!). They called on the way home to tell me they had a surprise for me. I wasn't sure what they were talking about, until I walked in and saw this on the bathroom wall. It was there under the wallpaper! It's the beginnings of quite a farm scene and what isn't painted is penciled in. If you look closely, you can still see the rainbow a little as I didn't sand very well before I painted. Very curious! I wonder what the painter was thinking?

Before and After

I love before and after pictures, but didn't take very many when we moved in three and a half years ago. But there are a few - here is the guest room before. Note the charming (eek!) blue and white wallpaper and dirty blue carpet. Ah...so much better! The kitties are happier too!

Flea Market Find

Here's one of my flea market purchases from Saturday - the little bench. It was just the right size to hold some old toys of mine and David's. The circus wagon used to be high on a shelf at my Grandma's house. We could look, but I don't remember being able to play with it. When my grandparents moved into a smaller house, this circus wagon was the thing I wanted most from the old house. I think that it was made by one of my dad's cousins. I'm not all that original - I had a similar toy display at my old house. Looks a little familiar, doesn't it? :)

Easter Weekend

On Wednesday, I came home to find that David had gotten up early and done all the mulching in our backyard! This year required 6 cubic yards, which was 3 loads in the small trailer. He'd already spread it all out when I got home, so I didn't have to do a thing. I'm a bit spoiled, but very appreciative! The cedar smells so good! Saturday was the first day for this year's Farmer's Market. The weather was much better than last year when it snowed. Christina and I met there and then went to Spring Creek Tea Room in Ozark for her birthday. The tea room is part of an antique store, so after lunch we browsed a little. I had no intentions of buying anything, but I found an irresistible cheap bench, an ironstone platter, and a scrap of the prettiest quilt.

Sorry - another picture of the rotund brown cat. She loves a warm sunny spot, and I can't resist taking pictures of her furry and sizable tummy.

Saturday evening, we went to Jim and Patty's for a delicious supper. Patty was kind enough to share her hostas and I came home with several bags of new friends to plant. They're so pretty!

Sunday morning, I was very surprised to find that David had left me an Easter surprise. This bunny was part of it. He sings and dances and drives Gracie mad. It's really fun to watch. When I found my surprise I will have to admit that my eyes got just a little damp thinking about what a lucky girl I am to have married such a thoughtful man. Thank you David! You were missed at our Easter celebration today.

I went to Monett today to celebrate Easter with my Mom and Dad and Grandmother. We had a great time and ate way too much. Lunch was scrumptious! My mom made these cute bird's nest treats - I'm still too full to eat mine! I'll post the recipe over at the Fremont Kitchen blog in the next few days.

How was your Easter?

Grumbles

Grumbles today to dog ticks that fall off the dog and onto the floor. ICK! No worries - the tick in question is now just a messy spot on the sidewalk outside. More grumbles to the icy blast of Canadian air. Oh Canada, you can keep your nasty cold April air. We don't need it! It's extremely windy and I wonder how many of our old sheets will still be there in the morning.

You Know It's Spring When...

I wonder how often the neighbors talk about us and question our sanity. I'm sure it was an occasional topic of conversation last year when we planted the two large trees. And maybe again yesterday when we raked. "What so odd about raking?" you may wonder. Well, nothing if you're raking the yard. But our yard was already pretty leaf free. Yesterday, we raked the mulch. Mulch is a tricky thing. We like the look, but it breaks down. Every year, a little more needs to be added to keep it looking nice. In the meantime, the old mulch has acquired a blanket of leaves and pine needles. And the decayed mulch provides fertile ground for dandelions and other weeds.

Another problem with mulch is that the dog brought a cubic yard or two into the house during the winter on his fur. So we raked the top layer of leaves and pine needles and left as much mulch as possible. I'm sure the neighbors wondered. One of them came over to say hello and said something about our youthful ideas and making everyone else look bad. I think it was a compliment. :)

Pet Pictures

I looked through the pictures on my camera, hoping there'd be something to blog about since I am out of ideas. But, no, there wasn't anything exciting on there. Just pictures of the pets. Lots and lots of pictures of the pets. For lack of a more interesting topic, here you go - some pictures from the Home for Wayward Creatures.

Art Walk

On Friday after supper, David and I left the house for a little drive. I'd seen an old brick house for sale that I knew David would like, so we set off for the north side of town to have a look. I don't want to mislead - we are NOT moving. I just like to look. I never ever stop looking. I've thought, although never seriously, about getting my realtor's license so I can snoop a little more effectively. But I digress...David realized that it was 1st Friday Art Walk downtown, so after admiring the old house (built in 1881), we drove by the square to see how many people were out. I convinced (whined and cajoled) David that we should park and walk around for a little while. There were tons of people milling around the square and surrounding area. We watched a couple of girls hula hoop (is that a verb?) for a while while a man played a guitar. It wasn't so much just twirling the hoop as some sort of interpretive dance that happened to include a hula hoop. I hadn't been in the new library downtown and it was open and full of people, so we wandered through. It's an interesting place - with strangely few books considering it's a library! There wascertainly a wide variety of humanity in that place. We went a few other places - the Gillioz Theatre, an eclectic shop called Ampersand, and the glass blowers shop - and were ready to call it a night. Rather than take the shorter route straight back to the car, we went back to the square for one last look. I was glad we did. The steady beat of drums began to gather a crowd as a young woman began to light some attachments to her hula hoop. I craned my neck to see over the crowd as yes, in fact, the girl began to hula hoop with the hoop on fire. It was amazing. Another crowd had gathered on the other side of the square, so we moved that direction to see why. A black and white dance floor had been set up with a small boom box next to it. Kids were dancing - break dancing maybe - taking turns in some sort of dance off. They were momentarily interrupted by a guy in a gold plastic full-body suit with a megaphone, but soon continued. We were among the oldest people in the crowd, but for a few minutes, we were a part of the youthful creative energy. It wasn't until we were back in the car and heading past strip malls and car dealerships that I realized how quiet the rest of the world seemed in comparison. We headed back to home, in the land ruled by SUVs and yard work. We're happy and comfortable here, but for just a little while I wondered what it would be like to be one of those fiery hula hoop wonders.