Trouble brewing!

Trouble brewing but
Hope remains constant
Gods in his Heaven
All's right with me!

Still on the Lap Top

I am still using this laptop...not
good at it either. I will get a new
computer and the tech is trying to
get my docs and pics off the old one.

I looked through my yahoo mail and
found a few photos and other stuff.
I smiled when I read the email
Fleta sent me about a 1948 reunion
at Green Forest and one Helen sent
saying she and Patsy were blogging.
That was Feb. of 06 so soon they
will have been entertaining me for
two years and I like their show
better than any on tv.

Well here is the old newspaper
clip.
Green Forest Tribune, Thursday, June 17, 1948

Reunion Held at R. M. Powell Home
A family reunion was enjoyed at the
R. M. Powell home, near Sunny Lane,
last weekend.
Those Present were: Mrs. George
Reed and son, Jimmy; Mr. and Mrs. Harold
Merk and Winnie Jo, all of St. Louis, Mo:
Mr. and Mrs. Charge Knight and son, Robert
Lewis of Oakland, California; Mrs. Tom
Gawltney, Tommy Lou, Bobbye, Barbara Sue
and Larry of Alton, Mo; Mr. and Mrs. Truman
Powell, Jimmy, Donnie, Virginia Lee and Frankie
Rea of Denver; Mr. and Mrs. Willis Powell,
Patsy Ann, Richard, Clayton and Fleta Mae
of Douglas; Mrs. Bill Brannick and son,
Mike of Berryville; Mrs. Iva Knight of
South Green Forest; Mr. and Mrs. Jesse
Powell and family of Green Forest and
Floyd of the home.
Sunday was spent visiting and taking
pictures. This was the first time the
grandchildren were ever all home at the
same time, and all the in-laws, except
George Reed of St. Louis, and Tom Gwaltney
of the Vet's Hospital at Little Rock.
Many pleasant memories remain of this
get-to-gether.

In 1948, my grandmother Powell was the
age I am today....57. Time marches on.

Computer Problems

We are having computer troubles so I
guess this will be called a vacation. I can
still post to your blogs with the lap top.
But I am slow with it and until we get
going again "I'll be on vacation!"

Butchering Day

The picture is of Pat McCormack 1951 at
Falling Water, AR on butchering day. When
the November cold finally came all families
butchered one or two hogs. I remember the
day growing up. The hog had to be scraped.
The skin was left on the meat. After it was
butchered and cut up, it was salted down
and put in the smoke house where it would
keep during the cold winter. Momma would
cut bacon from the side of bacon to fry each
morning. We would have bacon, oatmeal,
homemade biscuits, and fried eggs--Mom
never scambled the eggs. Butchering day
was a lot of work, but it was a happy time
where there was a lot to eat and lots of
laughter. We always had tenderloin as
the first meal she cooked from
the hog. We did not ever cut pork chops
from the hog. I bet Patsy has lots of
memories of butchering day!

Sky Watch Friday

Falling Water November 21, 2007

Here is Falling Water Falls...taken yesterday.
Erin has to work tonight. So we will have Thanksgiving
twice--today and Sunday. Today, we are having
dressing and with chicken in it. Laura is making
something...she saw in a cookbook..with turkey
breast. I made fresh apple cake. I cooked the
cranberry sauce. I found a recipe I like in the AR
Democrat, but I threw it in the trash by mistake.
I remembered it had maple syrup in it. So I found
one on the net...but I can't go by the recipe so I
added orange marmalade to it. We are having
mashed white potatoes and gravy because 3 little
girls like them...and their Papa does too. We are
having Aunt Helen rolls, but it took an hour to
find where I had put the recipe I copied off her
blog. But Eureka! I found it ...and I better get
going because she said hers were rising and I
have not even gotten the mixer out for mine.
Wish Erin were here. She is sick to her stomache
a lot! She has to work 12 hours tonight. I am
thankful all the brothers and sisters and my own
little family most of all!!!

Then and Now!

Falling Water in 1924, 1951, and 2003!

Sycamore Tree

Green Forest Grade School 1956

I started school this year. Now, Arkansas
is saying that Green Forest needs to upgrade
some of their structures, but Green Forest
will not pass a milage. The patrons feel
broke....like most of us.

Rule of Thumb

In the 1400's a law was set forth in England
that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a
stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have
"the rule of thumb" !!!

First Place!!

Stolen from Laura's Blog!!!
Astrid won first place for the Keep Arkansas
Beautiful contest across the state. She received
a $50 gift card to wal-mart. She bought herself
and each of her sisters something. She is a darling
girl with a sweet spirit. Her picture will be in the
paper soon. The artwork will hang in the rotunda
of the Capitol building in April for Keep Arkansas
beautiful month and will be used for promotional
items. We are proud!!!!

My home is in the hills!

I was born in the hills and the hills
are my home. I wonder if one born in
the desert feels about the dry sand ...
the way I feel about the soft rolling
mountains of my birth?

Sky Watch Friday

School Days 2007

Erin

Erin at her little church in the Wildwood.

Old Saw Mill Photo

This is a picture of one of the old saw mills
in Searcy County, AR. The late 1800s and
early 1900s were a boom time for the timber
idustry in the mountains near where I live.
None of the timber had ever been cut...it
is hard to imagine how big the oak trees
were. They would set up the mill near
to the forest and then move on when the
timber was cut. Men and mules were
very valuable workers.

Under the Gum Tree

There are no Sweet Gum balls under my tree

because it is a Black or Tupelo Gum. It grows

in lowlands which is what our Meadow is.

Black Gum is one of the most elegant trees of

the North American lowlands. Like its name, nymph

of the woods, the black gum or tupelo grows more

graceful as the lives of those who fall in love with it

move on from generation to generation. Its fall color

comes early and is unmatched.

Berry Picking

I remember going berry picking as a child. Mom
canned the black berries and they were stored under
the bed in the back bedroom. It seemed like it took
forever to fill the bucket so you could go to the house.

Road less taken!

I guess the best thing one can do for a child
is teach them to think for themselves and
not just believe it because someone said it.
The Sisters Dad taught this lesson well. I
hope I have been able to teach my own two
to think for themselves. Following the piper
is worse today than 50 years ago...because
there are lots of pipers.

Sky Watch Friday!

Grandma Bess

This is another shared jewel. It is Grandma Bess
and she had gone to the neighbors to visit. The
neighbors were Christopher Columbus Casey. They
lived in the old Falling Water School. I think I
remember us having a rug just like this one on the
floor. The back ground was purple. Mrs. Casey has
a picture of her Grandson on her sewing machine
and a scarf over the top. I see a spit can by the fire
place. I think this was taken after Bess lost her
husband, Charley. It is one of the favorite pictures
that I have received by internet recently.

Patsy Chris Casey moved to Newton County, AR from
Taney County. His wife was a Kissee from Kissee Mills.

I may have told a lie!

Dot, got me to thinking...these trees
in the meadow maybe Black Gun
trees as I don't think they have those
little balls drop to the ground like
Sweet Gum do. Is the a tree called
Black Gum?

Ben Hur, Arkansas

This is the big town where Erin got married
in 2005. This was taken in 1946. The store
was owned by Frank Reese. Erin, it sat in
that field where Glendon Garrison is fixing
up the old house. Frank married Buena Vista Casey
b: 23 Jul 1886 in Kissee Mills, Taney Co., MO.
He got killed in a car wreck and the little store
died too!

I guess that dog is keeping an eye on things at
the store!

Frank Reese got to Ben Hur, AR in a unusal
way. His mother was a mail order bride of
Jerry Standridge. Rhoda Reese was married
to Will Reese who died. She had little Frank
and some more kids and lived in Missouri.
She advertised in a magazine for a husband.
Jerry Standridge lived near Ben Hur, Ar. He
was old, had already been married twice
and had a houseful of kids. Anyway, Jerry
was the husband that Rhoda ordered and
she brought Little Frank to Ben Hur. I guess
that would be the rest of the story!

Sweet Gum a little bare!

Our big Sweet Gum tree is not hardly as pretty
this year. The yellow tree between the two Gums
is a Syamore. It will end up being a really tall
tree. I don't like them in the yard, but in the
pasture they are pretty.

Younger time!

This is Bess Standridge, the stooped back Grandma,
at an earlier time when she was straight and tall. This
is from a tintype so it is not very clear.

Grandma and Grandpa

Another new photo shared with me from a
internet friend! I know the internet is a dangerous
place but it is also an awesome adventure
where we can learn anything we want and
find folks who we could never found without
it. I would not know Annie, Dot, or the person
who is sending me all these old photos.

This is my husband's great Grandparents. The
lady, Bess, has arthritis of the spine. The photo
was taken about 1949 and the car is a big Buick.
Bess was his other Grandmother's first cousin.
So Bess is his grandmother and his 3 cousin!

Searching the Sky!