Talking to Myself

Sunday, March 25, 2012

A Beautiful Spring Day

Today was a lovely day. I slept a bit late and didn't go to church with Lynda. After lunch I did get some more shots of the flowers that are blooming.

Small cranes near a money plant. Azelea in background.

This is the area near the Baker Street entrance.

Azelea

Formosa azelea

One of our little rabbit statues among the aguga

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

More Springlike Weather

I saw the first azalea bloom on our bushes yesterday. The temperatures this week are supposed to 80 degrees are near. Of course we can probably expect a blackberry winter later in the spring. We hav

e reports that the bluebonnets should be pretty down in the Texas hill country this spring. We are hoping to visit Austin and points west after Easter, so maybe we'll be lucky again.

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Today was a typical spring-like day. Everything about it was nice, except maybe the wind. Some stormy weather is in the forecast for the latter part of the week. Here is a shot of the trumpeter swans that we saw about a month ago.

About two weeks later we drove back to Searcy to see some bald eagles that were hanging out there. We didn't see any. Next year we'll try to be a little earlier in January or February. Our drive wasn't a total washout since we did get to eat at Who Dat's in Bald Knob. It's a popular place so we had to wait a bit, but the food was delightful.

After the possum haw finally lost it leaves, it added color to the landscape with it red berries until in late February a flock of birds (not sure what) stripped the tree within two days. The daffodils, snowflakes, Carolina Jasmine, and forsythia have bloomed and have brightened up the place.

Our arbor with Carolina Jasmine

Forsythia and daffodils

Snowflakes and daffodils

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Checking on the Arkansas Swans

Yesterday we drove up to the Heber Springs area to check out the trumpeter swans that have been wintering there. Lynda and I, along with Mike and Betty, arrived at Magness Lake about lunch time. We watched the swans and ducks for several minutes, then drove into Heber Springs and had a picnic lunch at the park.

Friday, January 13, 2012

A New Year

I'm a bit late posting about the new year! Lynda and I drove to Paris, Texas on December 28 to be with our long-time friends, Ray and Carolyn. January 1, 2012 was the 49th new year's day that we had spent together. We didn't do much celebrating on New Year's Eve; just watched television and had a small glass of eggnog. I was in bed by 12:20! On New Year's Day we had our traditional noon meal. German sausages, red cabbage, black-eyed peas, German potato salad and cornbread make up our menu. David & Jeanie and Neal & Carolyn joined us for lunch. Eddene & Ann had planned to come, but had to cancel because of a family illness.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

A Visit to Springfield with Ray and Carolyn

Lynda, Ray, Carolyn and I came up to Springfield, Missouri yesterday. On our drive up US65 we sighted a lovely double rainbow. It was one of the most intense ones that any of us had seen. We came to Springfield so Lynda could go on a hot air balloon ride. Ray and Carolyn gave her the gift certificate two Christmases ago, but we've just gotten around to getting things lined up for the four of us to make the trip. The balloon ride was to have started a few minutes ago, but it has been canceled because of a thunderstorm that is moving in from the west.

But we didn't put all of our eggs in one basket. We had planned other things for Springfield in addition to the balloon ride. One of those was a visit this morning to Missouri State University where one of Ray's former students is connected with the drama department. Mark has been with the university for fourteen years. After he and Ray visited for several minutes, Mark took us on a short tour. We had a nice lunch at Schlotzskys then went on to the Bass Pro Shop here in Springfield. The store is the original and the world headquarters. It is huge. Ray had arranged to meet another former student at the store. J.T. (the former student) is instrumental in the design and construction of the displays at Bass Pro Shops. He took us on a tour of the main building pointing out things we probably would have otherwise missed. The tour included some back scene areas and some details of how items were made.

Sunday, October 09, 2011

Harvest Time

I enjoy looking out over the fields of cotton, rice, soybeans, and grain as the crops mature and reach the stage for harvest. I drove up to the Wynne the other day, but I forgot to take may camera so I didn't get shots of the different crops. I did go back that way today just to get a shot of a cotton field.

A cousin that I haven't met yet posted the following picture on FaceBook. She is a retired English teacher, so the posting was understandable. Most people who know me will understand that it is also appropriate for me to repost her note here.