Arachnophobia part 2

Just a picture of a new neighbor. We have a small fenced area next to the shop and this as moved in! They are really beautiful, but they are also very large. This one is about 3 inches long. (Including the legs). It's called a golden orb weaver.  Their venom isn't harmful to humans, but I imagine a bite from one would smart!

My posting is haphazard at the best of times, but seems to have gotten worse over the summer-hot, humid weather makes me just want to sit and read or surf the internet. (Which is embarrassing, because we have air-conditioning!)

Hubs has been away painting and hanging ceiling fans for our son and daughter in law. They have just closed on their new home and he wanted to go help them out with their move. He also got to keep our newest grandbaby which was a treat for him. Baby C is 6 months old now and is a very happy baby-all giggles and smiles (except when he's hungry-he takes his meal times very seriously and doesn't tolerate them being late!).

This was taken several weeks ago at our place

I had a Dr. appointment so I had to stay here. Spent the last two days with our daughter and the other grands which was fun, and hubs got back home last night.

Guess I should get out of this chair and clean house today, since I've been playing instead of working this week!

We've All Enjoyed As Much As We Can Stand...

We've had the grands here for the last 3 days while their parents ran away from home for a long weekend. We had tea parties, played games, baked cookies, made homemade ice cream and then they went to our church's Vacation Bible School every evening. We took them back home tonight and as much as we all enjoyed it, I think we're all ready to get back to normal!

Watching the ice cream freeze.

Love those big blue eyes!  

Watching the rain-a rare event!

So tonight, Mimi and Pop (that's us) are crashed out in our recliners catching up on blogs and facebook. Plan to sleep in tomorrow and then start putting the house back together. The weather has been strange for mid-July, high only in the 70's today and rained all day, which we've needed badly. Supposed to do the same tomorrow-we definitely aren't complaining!

Wonderful Week part 2

We spent Saturday and Sunday driving through Arkansas. We traveled through the Ozark National Forest, and it was beautiful. There are amazing rivers and lakes with clear, cold water in them. Not like our muddy rivers here. The green hills and wildflowers were so pretty.

This was an old settlement on the Arkansas River.

Buffalo National River Park

White River

Lookout over the Ozarks

My  husband standing under a natural bridge. Usually there is a waterfall  there, but it  hadn't rained in a  while.

Monday, we came back down through Texas and were able to locate the cemetery where my husband's great-grandfather and great, great-grandfather on his Dad's side are buried. His great-grandfather died from a spider bite in 1899 when my husband's grandmother was just 12 years old. It was a sad place; I couldn't help thinking about that little girl standing there with her mother and siblings in the Texas summer heat as her beloved father was buried.

It was a great trip and a wonderful break, but it's good to be home!

Wonderful Week

We are back home after a trip to Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and back through Texas. The weather was gorgeous and unseasonably mild and the roads uncrowded. We drove through Texas and Louisiana to Vicksburg, Miss. last Thursday and visited the Civil War battlefield there on Friday. I have an ancestor that was killed there and it was interesting to see where he was and to find his grave.

We also saw this iron clad gunboat that has been raised from the Yazoo river and restored, You can walk through it on a raised platform and it was fascinating. We then crossed the Mississippi back into Louisiana and followed the river up into Arkansas.

Mississippi River

We treated ourselves to a steak and frozen custard ice cream that evening to celebrate our anniversary-it was yummy!

More tomorrow...