Let the blues begin!

The 106 year old Ohio Club is still a pretty popular night spot in downtown Hot Springs. Each Wednesday night they have a spa city jam but this Wednesday was special so away we went. After a delicious supper we listened to the band and visited friends. There was an amazing crowd.

We had just about given up on Lee Oskar showing up but his plane had been delayed an hour. Show up he did and what a musician. I have never heard an accordian sing like his did! And I did not know about Scotty Harris on sax but I do now!

The Spa City Blues Society will be keepin' the blues alive in Hot Springs beginning tomorrow! Check their website for a list of the performers and location of the venue. We will see you there!

Lee Oskar and Scotty Harris performing at the Wednesday night jam at the Ohio Club! What an evening.

A little shopping flurry!

I seem to have a pretty good reputation for doing all my shopping at once. I might not shop for months and then .... and then .... well my friends know the rest.  So I had to go get a new basic black dress as mine just seems to keep shrinking. And what did I spot but some UGGs.  My friends also know I rarely shop anywhere but TJ Maxx so they seemed like a good deal ... kind of like a half price sale! Come on winter!


I then stopped in next door to check out the new Home Goods store. I don't really feel a need for much new in the home goods department but there was the chair I have been looking for! Today after Leon and I hauled some tables for my sister and just happened to have the trailer hooked up it was time to nab it! Well if I don't spend the winter on the Florida beaches I will be all comfy in my new chair donning my new boots!

Marcus, Arkansas

I think I have always had a passion for old buildings. I just like old wood, old metal and stone. The highlight of a recent geocaching loop was coming across this old homeplace.

The old well and outbuildings were still there and I wondered what must be in the house, but I did not trespass.

Marcus was an old community on highway 84 west of Bismarck. There were many families living in the area and it was pretty decent farmland.

Further down a dirt side road we passed this old barn. The house wasn't much newer but there were folks living there. Just good country living I guess.

And I thought July was hot!

July started out with a bang as usual but turned out to be one of the hottest I recall. It is usually hotter in August. So that I won't be disappointed the heat index yesterday was 109. The temperature should be at least 104 for the next three days and when it is only 98 on Sunday perhaps it will feel nice.

As soon as it does get cooler we have some trees waiting to be cut. While out marking trees we noticed this very long black snake and he noticed us. Now how does he know that he blends with that coax cable?

Up in NWA (Northwest Arkansas) my nephew is feeling the recession crunch I guess. He has a recession garden, a goat for milk, and now some Dixie Chicks. He was surprised one night when he went out to gather sticks that Nibbles was giving the chicks a ride. The sticks in July were for his prototype heating system that he was building.

So life goes on in Arkansas and I look at photos of my friends kayaking on beautiful mountain lakes in Oregon and wonder why we are still here. Last year when the temps were like this we ran to Michigan. Oh yeah, the dentist appointments! It is his fault that we are still here!

Arbor at last!

Several years ago I got creative with a leftover piece of plastic tubing to see if the muscadine vine in the yard would grow on it. And grow it did. All looked well until it got too heavy for my arch.

I backed the van up to the drainage canal from the church parking lot and managed to get my new materials to the constuction site.

Leon to the rescue with the post hole diggers. In no time, one post was set.

And then another. It appeared that it was actually going to happen!

Now we can go sit under the new arbor which I think might never fall! 

On the way back to the house I stopped to study this unusual tree. No wonder, not a leaf on it except for poison ivy. That will be another project, maybe for August.

Hanging out!

Sometimes it is nice to stay home in summer and enjoy what so many others come here to see and do when on vacation!  We have been taking lots of early morning walks at Garvan Gardens before they open. Members can go in the delivery entrance as early as 6 am and if one isn't walking by 8 they should forget it! Hot weather seemed to arrive early this year. This was one of the many whimsical art pieces we saw in the children's garden.

Downtown we went one night to take in the Wednesday night blues band and listen to Greg join them on his harmonica.  What a treat. All sorts of talented musicians showed up this night and we were out way after dark!

Don came down for a visit at the end of June on his way from Tulsa to Houston. We did not let a 98 degree heat index keep us in the house all the time! This is not what I expected to find at our first geocaching stop at McGill Cemetery. Thank goodness he had jumped out of his skin..I almost did too!

After a while Don and I realized it was easier to just climb on the running board of the truck as the caches were only .1 mile apart.

 

 We were excited to come to this cooling spot about half way down Huddleston Springs Road. We did not find the springs but this was good enough. We took the wet way to the cache!

There is just something refreshing about a shady spot on a country road in July. OK, I admit we did not even know what road we were on until we got to the end and ran into Mtn. Pine Road.

Summertime

Welcome, summer! My pentas have really put on a show. I have them planted where I can sit in the a/c and enjoy them.

Then I go out the front door and what do I spot...the uglies of summer! This guy was very small and hopefully non poisonous so I left him alone. When he gets big I hope he will leave me alone.

 While strolling across the back yard I noticed this 20 foot tall dead tree...but alas, it has turned into a poison ivy tree! It won't be around long.

Kay, Flave, and Flave, Jr. came to town for the weekend and a baseball tournament. We had a great visit, much of it at the ball field, as Flave approached third base.

 After their Saturday morning baseball game, 96 degrees did not seem to hot to go geocaching. Flave is at the boot tree near where he found the cache that Leon and I had looked for several times.

You never know what you will find under a guy wire cover...

or under the edge of a railroad track...

After seven caches we stopped at the park so Flave could check out the old tank. I was baffled as to why they have put a fence around the tank, but glad they left the lock open.  Is it now unsafe for kids to climb on tanks? might there be a lawsuit? can a kid really damage a tank???

 So how does one end an outing on a 96 degree day? Our next stop was the Gulpha Gorge for a wade in the creek, then on to Nom Nom's for ice cream. A fun weekend indeed!

Dog days in June??

So what have we been doing lately? Not much. It has gotten hot and humid too early this summer. But the veranda of the old Hale Bath House provided a nice place for some friends to visit while having lunch.  I now know why old ladies are fat! We go out to eat too much but if not, then we would have no excuse to shop!

We did go out to Garvan Woodland Gardens one morning to walk out and see the new wildflower pavillion. There was plenty of color and it felt cool under the tall pines. We did learn that we can go as early as 6 am and go in the service entrance. Next we will explore the children's section. I will bet we will see no children! I love all the shades of pink.

The hydrangeas are especially showy this time of year.

Most of our time has been spent over on Woodlawn fixing up "this old house" for renters. Leon thought that I could not make a back door out of this junk one but I was determined.

We have gone to several geocaching events. This one was held at Lake Ouachita State Park and it was too hot to be out in the woods and not in the water. I did have a nice visit with lots of people and meet some new geocachers.

Baseball

Now this is how it should look after 5 games.  We were excited that Reid was in Hot Springs for baseball this weekend.

Reid did an outstanding job in the outfield and even hit his first homerun in one of the games. We look forward to watching this team play again!

Don't try this at home

We just never know what the day will bring - Tree and a friend were practicing in the church parking lot behind the house! Their skill is quite impressive.

Moving on......

Kay and Laryssa are both leaving National Park Community College to pursue other careers. When they got word of the theme for their party I think they got the last laugh. They are a couple of angels indeed.

Their coworkers had a funeral theme for their going away party.

Kay made some excellent wings from coffee filters. At least she did not cut her bangs to within 1/2" of forehead like she did the last time she was an angel..oh,  but that was grade school!