Around the Corner!

Red fall is just around the bend in Galla Meadow.
Ingrid starts to kindergarten. Astrid will be in
the 2nd grade. Siggie will be in pre-school with
the bigger kids. Laura, Eric, and I will all return
to our classrooms. We should cherish each season,
each year, each day. I hope I do something today
to create a good memory for someone...especially
myself!

Easy Eggs!

Chickens are not much trouble. I have a big

feeder hanging in the hen house. I have nests

and a big waterer. I throw them a coffee can

of corn each day and get the eggs. Truth is

they are easy animals to care for. I love hearing

the roosters crow in the morning and the eggs

are the best. Eggs are good for us again, too!

Still have several chicks!

I still have about 24 chickens in my pen.
I can't wait to get my new ones Wednesday.

Chicks in the Meadow!

Patsy, today I worked 3 hours catching my 6 game
hens and the bigger rooster and a black chicken
with feathers on his feet, and a few other black ones
that might be roosters. No I had help...Siggie was
with me all the way. I moved about 12 or 14 chickens
and now I will have room for my 6 more yellow
old English banties. I want to come up this Wed.
if it will work for you. If Fleta has not gone back to
work...we will go out and harrass her. And then
come back and load my gold!

I will post a photo of my pen and my chickens left
in it day after tomorrow or maybe tomorrow so you
can see what I have left in it. I still have a bunch of
chicks. I have about 15 that you gave me. I think
3 or 4 are roosters and I have about 10 of my older
yellow banties.

I told Siggie we were taking the chickens to put in
her bedroom and she was all for it...but then we
decided to take them to Galla Meadow!

Is the Grass Greener on that Side!

Galla Creek Sunset!

The sun is setting on my summer break. I have
two weeks left before I return to work. I am
not upset at going back....but I will grow tired
as the year progresses. I have to go this week
to the Sheriff's office and be finger printed and
have a background check ran so I can renew my
teaching license. Now, all AR teachers have to
have a background check...it is a good thing, but
something I have never done. I hope my fingers
are not so old that they can not print them! I
have taught 35 years!!! I may try to make it
to 40. Well, just one year at at time.

Crepe Myrtle Tree

I usually trim the Crepe Myrtle's back in the
fall or early spring. Patsy said they did not
do well in north Ar where she lives and where
I grew up. I am a 100 miles or a little more
south of her. They grow into Crepe Myrtle
trees here. I like them better trimmed but
this one looks very pretty this year!

Sigrid Stays the Night!

Laura and the big girls went to Erin's to spend the night.
Siggie said she was staying with Pop. We had the best
time and she was so good. Here she is telling us that she
likes pink! She has a lot of pink outfits so I think she really
does already like the color pink. She and pop went to
the Dollar Store and bought new coloring books. This is
a book for bigger kids, but who cares, we just let her do
what she wants. It pleases her and pleases us too! She is
only two but can carry on a conversation like an adult.
You can see we are biased!
Here are photos of what the big girls did!
http://waterfallfreak.blogspot.com/ Erin's Visitors!

Not Alone!

We were bream? or brim fishing...someone else was
there. Wonder what they were catching?

Saw you in the distance
And knew I was not alone
I realized your existence
Then softly, you were gone!

Daddy~Graceful 'til the End!

Here is a picture of my father...only a few weeks
before he was gone. You can see he was a kind and
graceful man. He always thought of others. In his
last days, he did not want much to eat, but often asked
for watermelon. He loved cantelope, watermelon, and
all fruit. He loved it cooked fruit and homemade biscuits.
He would sop his biscuit in the fruit. He would be 92 if
he were here today, but has been gone 19 years. His
memory is still fresh in my mind as though he were
still here with me....and sometimes I still talk to him
when I am alone...or just lonely. I am a little lonely today.

Grandfathers!

I never really had a Grandfather. Grandpa Powell

died when I was four, and had just turned four. He

would have been a great one! But I missed him--

Patsy told about him marking her walk to school

when she was little and Daddy was off in the Navy

(WWII). Grandpa Gaddy did not even know our

names...I don't think. He should not count as a

Grandpa. I think he had built a shell around his

heart for some reason.

If I could have chose a Grandpa, I would have

picked one like my husband. His Grandchildren

are first in his life. Last week he took two of

his girls, one at a time, to the park and let them

play. He still has to take Ingrid. What he gives

best to his grandchildren is his....time.

Used Puzzles~Gamble!

Astrid and Pop like puzzles. I bought a table from walmart
where they can set one up and work on it. When I went to
Harrison to see Erin, she took me to the auxilary used store
the Hospital Auxilary ran...the money goes to something at
the hospital. I bought several used puzzles. This one is
missing one piece...so I guess it makes it more of a puzzle.
I picked it because Astrid loves horses...most of it was the
same colors so it was really a hard one.

Weeds along the way!

For three hours yesterday I scrubbed the front
porch. I pulled and tugged a water hose to it.
Had to put 3 hoses together for it to reach. I got
rid of the cob webs, dirt dobber nests, dust,
and even where the swallows try to build a mud
nest each spring. It looks better, but I still
feel that I need to clean...Helen mode is on!

He Hideth My Soul!

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock

That shadows a dry, thirsty land;

He hideth my life with the depths of His love,

And covers me there with His hand,

And covers me there with His hand.
A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,

He taketh my burden away;

He holdeth me up, and I shall not be moved,

He giveth me strength as my day.
Fanny Crosby

Cone Flowers and Butterflies!

If I can get my Cone Flowers to grow next
year...I will also get butterflies. I can't wait
to see if I can get them to grow. They come
up from the seeds that fall to the ground.
After the Cone Flowers are planted, they
will come back if I let the seeds drop to the
soil.

Behind my House!

There is a flower garden in the woods behind
my house. I don't tend it....wonder who does.

Glory in the Morning!

Took this behind my house. I think it is a
Morning Glory!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

One of Erin's photos. I think this is in rural
Boone County near Quinton Griffin's farm
where they go to fish in his pond.

Not too old to learn!

On Saturdays, Larry is taking a body
and paint class at Pulaski County Vo-Tech.
He has been rebuilding this Jeep. It was hit
in the front and a big mess. He almost has
it ready to bring home!

Mountain Wild Flowers!

I scanned this from the AR Demo Gazette.
I want Patsy to tell me what it is. They grow
along Hiway 7 south. I picked a sack full to
save as seed. I guess the flowers will go to
seed. Next year I plan to plant them, but I
am wondering what they are called. They
look just like the orange flowers that grow
wild here, but they are purple.

Yesterday's Visitors!

Yesterday, two ladies kept coming by to
see if I had any handouts. I snapped this
photo of one to show Sister Fleta that the
girls have been showing up at my house
just like at hers. I am growing a little tired
of them as they live ticks lying around where
they have been!

Rain, Rain!

This has been one of the rainiest summers that
I can recall. I have enjoyed the rains and all the
green grass. Mushrooms are everywhere. There
are white ones in my front lawn...looking out my
window Siggie said my chickens were out of the
pen for they had laid eggs in my yard.

Another view of Myrtle!

Siggie's boots match my Crepe Myrtle bush.
She is very stylish in the short shirt and cowboy
boots!

Crepe Myrtle!

My Crepe Myrtle is starting to bloom. It
should bloom in June but my yard is so
shady that it does not get enough sun until
July. It is a prettier pinkish purple than the
photo shows. I have been told that the color
has to do with what kind of soil you have.
Of course and pink will be pink and purple
will be purple, but the shade has to do with the
soil.

Siggie's New Friend!

Siggie has a new friend, her Great Grandmother Merle.
Merle is in her early 80s. Siggie knew that Grandmother
was going to sleep in her bed. She keeps telling Merle to
"come in my room and play" which Merle is glad to do.
Siggie told her 'you can sleep in my bed'. Merle's father
was born in Norway and she can sing little Norwegian songs
to Sigrid...her little Norwegian babe!

Memory

Our kids are having company this week. Eric's father
is coming from Utah and going by Nebraska to bring
Eric's Grandmother, Merle. I know they will have
a busy, enjoyable week. We will have to be patient for
our little ones to return up Galla Road. It will be a lonesome
time! But we have a few memories to sustain us!

Galla by Water!

My friend (fellow teacher) sold us her boat. It is

just a 14 foot flat bottom, but it is going to give us

a lot of pleasure. I am even naming her..."The Little

Wren".

Pebbles in our sidewalk.

We built our own sidewalk in 1989. Larry
put pebbles in the concrete so we would not
slip and fall...can you read what he said?

Mud Baby!

When Astrid and Ingrid went to stay with
Aunt Erin, Siggie stayed with Pop and I. We
went down to get the paper ...I told her to
stay out of the mud holes! The hands on her
hips comes from her Mother!

Sisters!

Astrid and Ingrid remind me of Fleta and myself
growing up. They stayed with Erin and Greg this
week and Erin took them to Silver Dollar City.

Patsy's Hand!

I love this photo that Old Sister posted...not
the flower but the hand that grew it. You
can see the labor of her life in her hand and
her strength!

Dug Tators Yesterday!

We dug one row of our potatoes yesterday.
They were huge. It rained us out on the 2nd
row. I pulled all the tops off....I hope they don't
rot before we can get them out of the ground.
My entire body hurts from all the bending over!

Make your own moss rock!

My husband said that Granny Renfroe told him
that you could pour buttermilk on a moss rock and
the moss would grown. She said put the rock in a
shady, wet place and the buttermilk would grow
into green moss! Wonder if that would work. Lots
of stuff old-timers say holds true. Granny was born
in 1908. She raised Larry. She lived until Feb. 23, 1999.
She made a big garden each year. Unlike many older
folks, she lived until she died! Going strong until late
fall of 1998, when Doc Jones told her she had cancer in
her pancreas. She asked him what she should do....he
was wise...he told her to go home and do whatever she
wanted to. She was only down about a month before
she died.

1956~2007

When I went to see Patsy at Chicken Ridge,

I went by Aunt Una Powell's house and Grandma's

across the street. They lived as neighbors after

their husbands passed away. They were sister-in-laws

but also cousins and friends. They were not very much

alike, but shared things in their lives and loved each

other. The house had changed over the 50 years span

between when the two pictures were taken.