Saturday Hike/Hobbs State Park

One of my favorite things to do is go hiking.  One of our favorite places to go hiking is Hobbs State Park.  It is close to us and we can do hikes without driving very far.  There are several hikes in the state park and I am trying to do all of them.  So far, I have hiked most of the trails there one time or another.

This hike, the Shaddox Hollow Trail, was one of the hikes I had not done.  It is only 1.5 mile around a loop trail.  You start at the top and walk down to the hollow and then back up the hill.  It was a good choice today because we just wanted a short hike and it was a pretty warm day.  The hike only took us an hour to do, but was long enough for us today.



At the bottom of the hollow, you see part of Beaver Lake.



 

After viewing the lake, we started our climb out of the hollow.  It is a nice little hike.  I would love to come back and hike it when the leaves are off the trees and the weather not so warm.



Day two of the front porch transformation

This is the "before" picture this morning. 



Here I am hard at work on the love seat.  I like working on the front porch and listen to the birds and other wood noises.
Some times there is no noise which is nice also.



I am about mid way through with this chair and the love seat.  I needed to let the love seat dry some before turning it and painting it some more.



This is after working for about 2 hours.  I am done for the day.  Hopefully will do a little each day until I am done.  Always ready for a fresh new look.



Redecorating the front porch.......

This is the start of my current "project"  I am painting the wicker furniture black.  It, I have found, is a slow process.  I do have to say, I like redecorating and having a decorating project.  I don't know how good I am at it, but I like to paint, pick out accessories, and see how things go together.  And of course, enjoying the finished project.  I started with the foot stool so I could get an idea of how things would go.  I got about half way through painting the stool when I decieded to let what I had painted dry.

This is the love seat and chair of the set. I started the love seat and just got a little done before I had to stop.  As you can see at the top of the picture, the stool is not finished, but I am letting it dry before going on.



Another view of the love seat that I started.  This is the end of day 1 of the project.  Not sure when I will finish, but will work on it a little each day.



Back Porch

I have already decorated the back porch and Don and I spend a lot of time there eating and enjoying the quiet outdoors.

This is a "before" picture of the table I bought at helping hands.  The chairs were bought just after we moved in the house and I just brought them from the front to the back.

 These are the "after" pictures after I added a couple of rugs, pillows, and dishes, etc....

 I went with bright colors with a lot of red for the back porch and added yellow, orange, and green accents.

Reel to Real: Gone With The Wind

An interesting collection at the HAM. (Historic Arkansas Museum) 

 

 Some of the props of the movie.... Scarlet's hat for the BBQ and the shanty town scene.

A couple of Oscars.......

This is an example of a wooden cantene.

This is an example of an officer's mess kit of that time period.

Lunch and Exploring in Little Rock

Lyndsay and I met her Mom, Kathy, lunch at the Maccaroni Grill in Little Rock.  The food was  good and the conversion better.  We had a really nice lunch and I enjoyed meeting Lyndsay's mom. 

After lunch, we went to the Historic Arkansas Museum.  I had been there many years ago, but Lyndsay and Kathy had not.  I think there was a new visitor's center built since I was there.

This is a picture of a type of bed that folded up.

 This is a picture of a corn cob broom.

 

 A well with water in and and the garden on the property.

Kathy and I poise in front of the garden and the back of the smoke house.

Lyndsay and her Mom in front of the garden. 

running in NLR

I am here visiting Kelly and Lyndsay.  I plan to do some shopping, visiting, running, and oh yes, meeting Lyndsay's mom.
I got here yesterday afternoon after an uneventful drive :)   We just hung out and tried to stay cool.  It is hotter here than in NW Arkansas.  Kelly cooked pork chops on the grill and Lyndsay did brocolli and a side.  It is nice to be waited on.  Food was good.  After dinner we relaxed and watched a movie.
This morning both of them had to go to work.  I did a 2 mile run on the streets of North Little and Park hill.  At one point, I could look out over the houses and see downtown Little Rock.  It is fun to run in a different town.  It is a good way to explore the streets and see the houses up close.  I am now back at the house and going to meet Kelly for lunch and Lyndsay in the afternoon for some shopping fun or whatever.

Getting on the river(s)

We were lucky enough to get on the river twice this week.  Sunday we floated the War Eagle creek with a group of nice people who get together and hike and paddle.  Today we went with some friends on the Kings river who mostly fished and paddled.  I did some fishing and so did Don.  Both days were great and we love getting outdoors anytime we can.

Relaxing on the War Eagle

 Some beautiful bluffs on the War Eagle

 Another relaxing day on the Kings River.... notice the new nail job.....

 My "Big" fish I caught!!!

Don did catch a nice one!!!

Rainy Sunday Morning

I am now sitting on the back porch listening to the rain.  This "room" has become one of my favorite places to be.  Sometime I sit here listening to the country noises like birds and squirrels.  Other times, I watch the deer as they cross the property.  And, like today, I sit and listen to the rain as it falls on the leaves.  This is a peaceful, relaxing feeling... Not sure what the rest of the day will bring, but for now I will just sit here and listen to the rain.

My Birthday

I celebrated my birthday by doing the Zip in Ponca, AR.  Coming down can be a little scary... but all was fun...