Boat float

Each day is just delightful as summer winds down. The temperatures are in the 80s and today Chris and I enjoyed a float with Kay on her boat. We rode down Lake Hamilton to an easy geocache on what they called Goose Island. However if you had no boat there would be nothing easy about it! Then as we meandered up the Mazarn we noticed a fellow trying to paddle his seadoo. We offered to tow him home and he was most grateful. He did not live that close! We also offered him some veggies and wine but he declined so we got even and declined the money he offered.

After a fine ride we went over to daughter Kay's house for a short visit. Then as I headed home I was diverted by the fact that there were nearby geocaches and what better time to go then on a peaceful Sunday evening. Had I known I was going friend Kay and I could have gone together. She was there shortly after I.

When I got home Leon had finished the clothes, put up the dishes, bought some groceries, and eaten supper. And to think he could have been on a boat ride. What a guy!

Moving day for Kay

The new dog in Kay's life is her housewarming gift from the girls' group, also known as the Maids.

I arrived at Kay's at 7:00 am and we filled the van one last time in an hour. The real movers then showed up while I went to the new house and unloaded. I was delighted when Darla came over to help. By 12:30 all of Kay's possessions were unloaded!

Leon went to Little Rock to a gun show. He later wondered why but lunch at Pei Wei made it all worthwhile. He came to Kay's when he got back and changed the connection on her dryer, hooked up the washer, and added a ground fault receptacle for the jacuzzi that never has been used. Kay was delighted.

Darla is the door knob whiz so she and I installed the new brushed aluminum door handles. I started with dummy knobs and worked my way up! Mel joined us and brought her new great cranberry salsa recipe and fritos! Mary stopped by at 4 and we stopped for a pizza party! It was a busy day but with friends pitching in it was also an enjoyable one!

Moving weekend

Friday evening was a busy time helping Kay move to her new home. Leon and Jeff took a heavy trailer load but lost the iron patio table at one point. A nice policeman pulled Leon over and let him know. By the time he got to the table two guys were loading it into their truck, but Leon was there in the nick of time.

Speaking of Nick, he was a little confused by all the moving and I am sure he wondered why he was sitting under the flowers but there wasn't much room left. Tomorrow the movers will get the big stuff and we will finish the day with pizza at the new place.

Mary brought her garden cart and was a big help also.

Fall flight

The hummingbirds are busy getting ready for their flight south. It seems all they need to do is eat a lot. We have been trying to get ready for a flight north to enjoy the fall foliage in New England. True, we eat plenty but we have also been working on Hernando to get him ready. Yes, we are going in the van; otherwise, I would need to sell it! He has had a bubble bath, now if only the generator would run and the hot water heater would light. So much for neglecting him for so long. But most importantly, the refrigerator is working!

No shiny brass

The better part of the weekend was spent helping Kay get her home ready for it's new resident. All outlet covers and vent covers are back in place, the towel racks are up, as are most of the light fixtures. Leon got the new ceiling fan hung yesterday while I worked through the list that included replacing the house numbers. No more shiny brass in that house! I haven't even worked my way up to shiny brass at my place. Today the flooring people will arrive. How exciting! There is such a chill in the morning air that we will wait a little while before going for a walk.

Just a Wednesday

Yesterday was a busy one for sure. We went to the ex father-in-law's funeral and it was nice to run into so many people that I have not seen in a long time. Leon has no idea who was who he met so many people.
Afterwards I stopped at Weldon's meat market for some beautiful bacon wrapped filets and got giant baking potatoes to save a trip to Walmart.
Then a visit with the hygienist took an hour before a trip to get my haircut. Funny how these roots aren't dark anymore! Not a good sign for me! No, I will not gracefully go gray.
Jeff, Kay, David, Mary, and Ed joined us for a cookout. Just as the steaks were ready we heard a loud clap of thunder as if it were a dinner bell, but we got only a few drops of rain. It was a most enjoyable visit. We should do it more often and would if it were cooler.
Today it is cloudy as if we might get some rain. Leon has gone to get new tires to replace his new tires! He bought some at Walmart two weeks ago only to find out that they are out of round. Walmart has offered to replace them but all that they have in stock are also bad. So he has decided to go to Sears and get a different brand. Beware of Uniroyal tires! The Walmart guys surely knew they were bad when they put them on, but it turned out to be a blessing. When he went to an automotive shop to have the alignment checked they found a loose tie rod.

Kay's daze

Saturday was designated a "work day" to help Kay get her house ready for the painters. We began by meeting at Burgers 'n More for nourishment and an opportunity to celebrate Darla's upcoming birthday. Then we descended upon Kay's new home where the for sale sign was falling out of the way.We waisted no time in getting to work. Darla, Chris and Kay began in the kitchen. It is nice to have someone who can stand upright on kitchen cabinets!

Cissy was caught taking some solid brass knobs off the bathroom cabinets! Kay is not a fan of shiny brass and has chosen some new knobs to replace them.

Mary was a whiz at patching nail holes. She also managed to maneuver the sheetrock nails out of the wall to be replaced and patched!

Darla's expertise in all things regarding paint is most appreciated. She took care of the blemishes on the kitchen cabinets.

This was only the beginning of many times that we will gather around the kitchen counter. And hopefully the toolboxes will be replaced with low fat snacks!

Now where is that Leon? Oh, he was outside putting up new light fixtures and missed the photo shoot.

On Sunday Kay removed the kitchen cabinets as she had located and ordered new hinges online! She was pleased to finally have everything ready for the painters and felt so blessed to have friends and family to help.

Not a sandbox!

When the border was down and the city pit inside I must admit Jeff was right. It did look like a sandbox. But now that the pavers are in place it works for a tiny patio. Now I will not have tall grass tickling my ankles when I sit in the shade, nor will I have to move chair to weedeat. I am pleased with the project.

Paul Michael

With everyone on a decorating high, whether it be remodel, new house, or spiff up the yard, it was time for a trip to Paul Michael's. We do procrastinate for a bit because it is a 3 1/2 hour trip each way, but Monday was the day. We took the truck just in case and probably should have pulled the trailer also. We left at 7 am and before lunch we had toured the building getting ideas. The buffet across the street was another chance for superfluous activity. We did start with salad and left off the dessert for the most part, but the fried catfish, chicken, meatloaf, and turnip greens were irrestible.
After fortifying ourselves Cissy, Chris, Kay, Darla and I went back to fill our carts. That was the easy part. We finally managed to get everything in the truck and thank goodness we had a tarp to cover our treasures and keep Cissy's ceiling panel from blowing away. We only had to stop once to readjust the straps and by a small miracle nothing was broken other than those items already broken in the scratch and dent room. There are some really good prices in that room! Kay's lantern with the broken glass will make a fine bird feeder. She did win the prize for the most purchases but she is the one with the new house.

Patio project

I went outside yesterday to mow but the grass was too wet! I did not want to waste a pleasant morning outdoors and decided to build a patio instead. Everyone should have a trailer load of city pit sitting around for just such uses. I dumped a few loads and when Leon got back from getting the truck washed we were off to Lowe's to get it dirty again with a load of red bricks. Something has to hold the dirt in place on the slope! Now to let it settle.

Leon went to gallery walk with a back ache last night while I went to Cissy's birthday dinner. We actually planned to meet for gallery walk but he apparently got his Mexican dinner much faster than I got my seafood. It was indeed a fun filled day although a little hot.

Just another different day!

I never thought I would be attending a memorial service at a mental health treatment center and what a pleasant experience it was. We traveled to Little Rock for just such an occasion. There was a room full of delightful people from all walks of life, many of them clients of the program. Two of the clients conducted the service and made a beautiful tribute, including a touching poem written by one of the ladies in the program. It was interesting to hear her include "taking her meds" in the poem. That was a common theme for most of the friends that were there.
My cousin Bonny had spent most of her adult life in a rehabilitation center after the onset and diagnosis of schizophrenia. She had survived brain surgery and breast cancer before being sabotaged by lung cancer. She was a beautiful young girl with cornsilk hair who had a happy childhood. She had a dry wit and good sense of humor. Her hope chest, filled to the brim, was an obvious clue to her dreams for adulthood. But her dreams changed as anyone's can due to just one small gene. It could have happened to any one of us.
We had a nice visit with her brother Andrew over lunch at Pei Wei. He can be such a funny guy! We will miss him coming through town to go visit his sister. Hopefully, he will continue to visit.

To end the day we celebrated the arrival of Sam's in Hot Springs. An early soft opening for those who already purchased cards brought an outpouring of bargain hunters and curious folks to the old fairgrounds! We actually went for supper and were fed pizza, eggrolls, pie, ice cream, coffee, cake, and more. It is funny how people see a line and get in it. All they wanted people to do was walk in the front door! So we skipped that line; we asked and they said, "Just come on in!" We will go back at a less crowded time for a giant container of blueberries! We left Kay in line getting her card.

Trellises and more trellises and more

What a fun day! Darla, Chris and I made a 30 minute roadtrip south to check out the sales at Atwood's in Arkadelphia, a first visit for all of us. They had marked down the patio furniture 50% and I do love a good sale. I am always looking for tacky stuff to make my woods look unnatural and to incorporate them into my yard. I got this cedar one and will now try to choose the perfect location, although it will be easy to move when I change my mind. I thought about some wisteria but why cover up a pretty trellis? We loaded Chris' Suburban as well as we could with chairs, shepherds' hooks, trellis and trinkets and headed north.


After we stopped at Cracker Barrel for some nourishment we visited a little roadside flower stand. Darla got a beautiful pale pink angel wing begonia for her shade garden and I got the piece that broke off to try to root. The pleasant surprise was to find baskets of Arkansas peaches inside the store! They are most delicious. It was just an excellent day.

The next morning Chris called to let us know that Lowe's had their patio chairs on sale. I bought a few more and took a photo of my next trellis project. I think I can build this one. If only it weren't in the upper 90's outside each day now!

Open houses

Daughter Kay has found her new home! She selected a cozy patio home but oh what a little patio. That can be corrected. It is in a good location close to her workplace. She, Darla, Chris and I decided to visit a few upper-end open houses for ideas yesterday. It was a great success! Darla has ideas for her kitchen table, Chris has decided how to decorate her remodeled home, and I will perhaps someday have an idea. I can't wait to see all of this unfold.

Today Chris, Darla and I will go on a 30 mile roadtrip to check out Atwood's in Arkadelphia. We are always in seach of a bargain!

After days of no a/c and delightful weather the warmer summer temps are expected to return. The mid 90s and mid 70s with little rain will seem more like summer. And the grass will probably get dry enough to mow again.

Face to face

Leon was surprised when he was skyped by his daughter recently. She was keeping her grandson, Leon's great-grandson, in California. What a way to meet.




Robert was winding down his week long visit in Hot Springs yesterday and we had another nice visit. We fed him well at La Hacienda before he went across the lake to hang out with his younger friends. Then Leon and I wandered out to 2 Boys and a Dog to try their ice cream. The line was long and we watched as they combined everything imaginable on the marble slab .. pecan pie and ice cream? peanut butter cups and cherries and ice cream? We kept it simple..a black lab for Leon..other places that would be a hot fudge Sunday.

Oh thunder!

I am planning my day while watching the sun light the cloudy, hazy sky as the thunder rolls across just above the pines. I must make my annual trek to the POA meeting at the condos. The meetings always last too long and I must resist donuts. Often there is entertainment from loony condo owners. I will walk out at 12:15 if they are not done to go on an adventure.

Darla, Chris, and I are going to venture 30 miles down to Arkadelphia in search of on sale patio items. We have never been to Atwood's and first thought it was in Malvern. Now that we have the right city I think we can find it. Darla is "fixing up" her back yard and I, of course, will take her trash to put in my woods. I hope those Adirondack chairs aren't too heavy and too worn out! Maybe we will find some bargains.

Then I will fix supper (or pick a destination) for supper so we can have one more visit with Robert before he heads back to NC. That is more than I usually do in one day so I am looking foreward to it!

Leon has been busy rewiring his trailer attachment that fits on the back of the 5th wheel. It is good that he got it done yesterday. I think the rain might keep him inside today. He has been looking for 1 1/2 years for his socket set. Two weeks ago he broke down and bought new ones. Yesterday, while trying to rearrange the utility room, I opened a black box and there the old set sat. He had forgot he put them in that box. He thought it was some of my junk.

Crystal Springs tour

Friday noon found Darla, Kay and me venturing out to Crystal Springs to check out Chris' remodel. It looks fabulous! And to think only a few weeks ago we were scraping popcorn off her ceilings. Her new red sofa had just arrived and was the only piece of furniture on her beautiful, just refinished oak floors. The crown moulding really pulled everything together to top off her newly painted walls. There will be no lack of light in that house with so many new spots and light fixtures. Soon her new and beautiful antique furniture will blend together and sit side by side in splendor. That home, sitting quietly above the gentle flowing creek in the middle of the woods, belongs in a magazine.

We then went down to the marina at Crystal Springs recreation area and enjoyed lunch while looking out over the bay on Lake Ouachita. We even toured some of the back roads, still dirt, that many don't realize exist. Homes are built all along the crest of the mountains and the older section is filled with trailers and houses as you wind along the mountainside. Crystal Springs is a very old rural community, just a dot in the middle of the highway, surrounded by the Ouachita National Forest. Many of the early settlers came for the mining in the area. When Lake Ouachita was created in the 1950s many newcomers built cottages or brought in house trailers for weekend retreats to the lake. It is a real eclectic mix of folks. It belongs in a magazine too! I am just not sure what kind. But I sure love to go out there.