Christmas Lights

Lynda and I drove to Hot Springs with Mike and Betty to experience the Christmas lights at Garvan Woodland Gardens. We left Forrest City a little after 2 p.m. and arrived at the gardens a few minutes before 5. We ate sandwiches in the van and then proceeded to the visitors' center.
The lights were fantastic!

We had expected a colder evening, but welcomed the brisk yet milder temperatures.

On our way back home, we made a slight detour to see the lights on the square in Benton, AR.

Christmas Party

Lynda and I hosted our yearly Christmas Party last night. Of course we had friends who were a lot of help in getting things ready for the event. As usual, Dan helped Lynda with the outside decorations and he also put the lights on the live Christmas tree that we got from Green Thumbs. Betty came the next day and put the decorations on the three. Joan came over one afternoon and helped Lynda with the inside decorations. Beverly made a dip that always goes over well at our party and Normadell brought some fudge that she made for the party. Dennis and Gwenda provided much needed last minute help by arriving Saturday afternoon a few hours before the party. And Betty put in extra duty by keeping an eye on the table to be sure the serving dishes were restocked.

Fifty-five or so invited guest braved the dreary, rainy weather to come to our party and I believe the vast majority of them enjoy it.

Thanksgiving Season

We had a good Thanksgiving. Had the opportunity to visit with friends and relatives--and partake of some good food.

Lynda and I are getting geared up for a trip to Texas for a wedding and also for our Christmas party. Lynda takes care of the decorating and I do the cooking.

Trying to Catch Up

I let myself get a bit behind in posting to this blog. I'm not going to promise that I will do better, because with the busy holiday season coming I know I'll most likely fall behind again.

I still waiting to hear from the insurance company on how to proceed getting the van repaired. I know that I didn't post anything about being rear-ended on that trip to Memphis, but we were. No one hurt, and the damage doesn't look too bad--the van is drivable.

I am in the process of scanning the scrapbook that my grandmother kept. I promised two nieces that I would get it done for them. I borrowed the scrapbook from my niece Jeannie several years ago, but always found more interesting things to do.

A Trip to Memphis

Today was the day for Lynda's appointment with her surgeon. We had some shopping to do in Memphis so we went over this morning and did that before the appointment. Of course, we had more to do than the time we had alloted so we postponed lunch until after seeint the doctor.

We had country fried steak at Chili's for lunch, then had two more stops before we went by to see Lauri at her place of work.

We visited for a brief time then headed out for W. Memphis. At Riverside Drive and W. Carolina Avenue, we were rear-ended. The guy who hit us was blinded by the sun as he pulled away for the same stop sign that I had just left. He didn't see that I had paused to allow a car to go by. Since he had just started up from the stop sign, he wasn't traveling at a high speed. The damage to the back end of the van doesn't look all that bad, but that doesn't mean it will be cheap to repair.

The guy does have insurance.

Raining Again

We awoke to some more rain. Of course, it was no surprise since a friend in Texas had told us to expected it. (The TV weatherman also mentioned it.) I just hope the extra rain isn't too hard on the crops that may still be in the fields.

Lynda, Betty, Mike and I took an excursion to the Harrison area on Tuesday to see some elk. And alone the way there was quite a bit of scenery to be seen.

In addition to the elk, we also got a glimpse of some of the trumpeter swan that have been brought to the area.

In all we saw twenty-six elk. They were not very close to us, but with zoom we were able to get some decent photographs.

Crisp, Fall Weather

Today was a very nice day. We went to Sunday School and church this morning and then went to Memphis to visit Lauri and Jeff.

The church service was Youth Led. We have some talented young people who willingly took part in conducting the service. (We also have some wonderful adults who spend much time and effort in providing guidance for the youth.)

Cooler Weather

We have a cool front that has come through the area. I think that today will be cooler and maybe a bit drier. We need a break from the rains that we've had the last several days.

I spent several minutes looking up and listening to a song on the internet. Stephanie mentioned Bob Dylan and "A Satisfied Mind" on FaceBook. It has been an old favorite of mine for years, but I remembered hearing it as a country/western song. I checked on YouTube and listened to Porter Wagoner, Mahalia Jackson, Johnny Cash, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Gram Parsons, the Byrds, and Bob Dylan.

Well, I got side tracked again. I guess listening to music on YouTube can be addictive.

Another Day in Paris

We are still in Texas at Ray and Carolyn's. I hope that I will be able to post some more photos from our trip.

As we turned westward at Trinidad and then headed over La Veta pass, this was our first view of snow topped mountains. The snow was from the previous week.

Here are some photos of the views around South Fork, CO.

A Good Trip

We are back in Texas. Our visit with David and Jeanie was wonderful. Each day that we were there, we went on drives along mountain roads. Usualy we were in the jeep with its four-wheel drive. We didn't see much in the way of different wild animals, but the scenery was great.

I plan to post more when I get to Ray and Carolyn's in Paris, TX.

West Texas Wind Farm

We are in Floydada, TX visiting with Bobby and Noma R. Noma and Lynda were roommates in colege.

Today we drove out to the Whirlwind Energy Center that is nearby. There are 26 turbines located there.

Busy Week

There are several things to do this week. We had Mike and Betty over for supper yesterday. Tonight I will help with the election (school board) returns and Lynda has a DKG meeting. Tomorrow evening is our Family Night Supper at church and Thursday at noon we have Prime Time Seniors. I can't think of anything that is scheduled for Friday, but on Saturday Lynda has a meeting in Jonesboro and then we have parts in our church worship on Sunday.

On Tuesday of next week we are leaving for a trip to Colorado.

Almost Fall

The weather has been great. Well, we could use some rain, but the temperature and lack of thunderstorms has been pretty good. I've even been able to sit out in the back yard without the heat and mosquitoes getting the best of me. Usually when I'm in the yard, one or more of our cats are nearby. They seem to really like human company.

 

 

 

It's nice to sit and enjoy the colorful blossoms. All to soon most of them will be gone.

 

 

 

Lynda has progressed very well and only occasionally uses the cane. An indication that she is much improved is the fact that we spent several minutes in Chico on Wednesday as she shopped for new thing to wear.

 

 

 

We got to see Lauri again on Wednesday when we delivered the lime that Cynthia and Clayton had sent her. We took it by her workplace.

A Birthday

To day is Lauri's birthday. Lynda and I drove over to Memphis this afternoon and took a gift and a birthday pie. When I asked Lauri what she wanted me to bake her for her birthday she said Shaker lemon pie--made with sugar. I ended up baking two pies: one with sugar and a second using Splenda-sugar blend.

We had a nice visit with Lauri and Jeff and came home around 7 p.m. I hurried around and got some chicken ready to go in the oven. I also got a pot of rice cooking so I could fix some green goddess rice that Lynda had requested. That along with some asparagus completed our supper.

Back in the Routine

We got home on Tuesday evening from our visit to east Texas.

A Trip Back

Lynda and I left Forrest City Thursday morning heading for Texas. We spent that night with Neal and Carolyn in Arlington. On Friday morning we drove down to Palestine. We had a quick lunch at Whataburger and checked into the motel. After napping a bit, we drove the short distance to James & Jimmie's. After visiting some, the four of us went to El Toro for Mexican food.

We are here for a reunion of some of the Elkhart High School classes from the 50s.

Lazy Days of Summer

The second fig crop is ripening. I pick twelve or so ripe ones this morning. The birds, mockingbirds and blue jays, have already had a few.

The guys came on Wednesday and took out most of the tree that could have fallen on the driveway or house. We've decided to leave part of the main trunk.

Another Good Week

This week has been fairly uneventful. It's been a good week, but no spectacular events took place.

We did go to Allison and Shane's wedding reception in Memphis Saturday evening. The room was nicely decorated and Allison was lovely in her wedding dress. Shane looked nice, also.




The food was very good and the wedding cake looked lovely. I did take a taste of the cake and its was good.

Allison gave Lynda one of the center piece arrangements. If we can keep Neko from chewing on the grass, it should look good for some time.

A Wet July

According to our local paper, this has been one of the (and maybe the) wettest Julys on record. We have had about 9 inches of rain this month. And the last several days have been more pleasant than the typical "dog days" of summer.

The service at Rich Mountain was very good. Neal read a poem relating to Byron that he had written. Each of the daughters had at least one story to tell and Eric (grandson) told some of the things that he had learned from his grandfather. Other friends and relatives also had stories. We sang along as David played and sang "In the Garden". We had a brief shower that kept things cool. And a young bear came for a visit.

A Trip to Mena

Lauri is coming over this morning and the three of us are driving to Mena. There will be a service for Lynda's Uncle Byron Saturday afternoon. We plan to drive back to Forrest City on Sunday.

Pleasant Weekend

Weather wise this has been a good weekend. Lynda is improving right along and may need to continue physical therapy for only one more week. Her Uncle Byron dies early Friday morning. We plan to attend a service for him this next Saturday.

I finally got around to baking some Ciabata Bread today.



I probably didn't get the crust as crisp as it should be, but I'm pleased with the appearance. We'll check the taste a bit later.

A Rainy Sunday

We've had some good rains today. There were some thunderstorms that came through during the early morning before I woke up. It came down again around noon as we were heading up to Wynne to eat lunch at the Chinese food place. We were back home and settled into our Sunday afternoon routines when the rain really poured. I went to Walmart later and there were bucket sitting around where the roof had leaked. Things have simmered down a bit now.

Proud To Be American

And thankful for our men and women who serve in our armed forces.


Have a safe fourth of July.

A Birthday

Today is Lynda's birthday. She received a beautiful bouquet just a few minutes ago from our daughter. She has also received several cards from friends and relatives. And a few email greetings.

This evening we are going to our favorite local restaurant and have supper. Then we will come home and have some of the chocolate cake that I've baked for L.K.'s birthday.
We had an enjoyable dinner and then drove home the longer way via HWY 306 and HWY 284. We took a turn down by the County Courthouse to see the new flags that have been place on the front of the building. Then we came home to have coffee and chocolate cake.

Good Ole Summertime

Thank goodness for air conditioning!
And thank goodness for the flowers of summer.

I took a few photos this morning in the garden. Here some of my favorite blossom for late June.

Summer Fruit

The only fruit tree that I have in my yard is my fig bush. I do have one blackberry vine that produced about a cupful of berries this year, but the fig bush is a great thing to have at this time of year.
Lynda and I both love figs and the fig bush keeps us supplied for several weeks during the summer. And, we have figs to share with friends. Of course the mockingbirds and blue jays get their pick of the crop.

A Special Day

Today is our 49th wedding anniversary. We plan to celebrate by going out for dinner this evening with Mike and Betty.


We were married in the Methodist Church at Water Valley, TX. The Reverend Green, a Baptist minster, officiated.

A Nice Saturday

I just watched the Belmont Stakes. Will try to write more later.

Memorial Day

We watched the PBS Memorial Day Concert tonight. It was very moving.

A Good Report

I took Lynda for her first post-operation appointment with Dr. Grinspun on Wednesday. After examining the x-ray that he had taken, he said that she has a perfect hip. Her blood count has increased during the past several days and he was pleased with that.

This morning Lynda completed the third session with the physical therapist here in Forrest City. And this afternoon a friend took her to get her hair done! I believe that she is well on the road to recovery.

A New Hip for Lynda

Lynda had hip replacement surgery on Monday, April 27, 2009. Everything is going along o.k. and she may get to go home today.

We checked into Methodist North (in Memphis) at 6 a.m. on Monday. After the preliminary procedures, Lauri and I left Lynda in the Pre-op holding room. We went to the main Total Joint Center waiting room where our friends Mike and Betty joined us for the wait. We were contacted by phone to be kept informed about the progress of the procedure.

Lynda went into surgery around 10:30 and it was around 3:00 that we got to go to her room and see her.

During the past three days Lynda has been a good patient She may get to go home today.

Happy Birthday Texas

Lynda and I moved from Texas when we came to Arkansas 34 years ago, but we still have deep feelings for Texas.

Cold Front on the Way

The cold front has already come through, but the temperature isn't too bad. It is supposed to get down to freezing tonight, but for now it's just the wind that is bothersome.

There are a few flowers that are blooming. C.L. came and worked in the yard some the past three days. He has it looking pretty good.

Cold Weather

Today has been a pretty day, but it is cold. After Sunday school and Church we came home and pretty much just had a lazy day. I have an appointment with the optometrist tomorrow.

Valentine's Day Coming

We had a windy night and day! Last night the wind howled for hours, but there was no damage that I notice around the house. A few dead twigs from the oak trees were scattered about the driveway. I did go out last night and move the van back a little. I didn't want to have a limb fall and wreck it.

Lynda and I went to visit Ray and Carolyn over the weekend. The Paris Community Theater presented "The Mouse Trap" and Ray was the director. We had never seen the play and had a enjoyable time with it. We spent some time planning our trip to the Big Bend area of Texas for early spring.

Mid January

We had a good Christmas holiday season. For Christmas Day we went over to Lauri and Jeff's for brunch (can you still call it brunch when it's served at 1:00 p.m.?). Lauri cooked some ham and I did cheese grits and Swedish tearing.

Lynda and I drove down to Canyon Lake to spend the New Year's holiday with Ray & Carolyn at Robert & Olivia's. It was a pleasant retreat. On the way down we spent the night at a motel in Waco and then stopped by to see Inez in Austin.

On the way back to Arkansas we spent a couple of days with Neal and Carolyn and one night with Ray and Carolyn. Watch the Fiesta Bowl at Ray and Carolyn's. The Texas Longhorns beat the Ohio team 24 to 21.