What Gran Gran gave me

Work has been INSANE busy….I have to keep reminding myself that I love my job. And I do, but I am missing the bloggy world.  I’ve only been able to visit 1-2 blogs each day, and then just for a quick look through.  I have really been surprised at myself by how much I enjoy seeing what other people are cooking, fixing, creating or just doing. That sharing and connecting is really cool. Thanks to everyone that takes the time to share.

And, on to some sharing of my own! Ever since we finished the office, I’ve been looking for some kind of bookcase or something for one of the walls.  While I was visiting my grandmother in Jasper, Arkansas, I saw this great piece she had stuck in the corner of her basement and was using for storage.  I asked her if she would loan it to me, and she said YES! 

But, alas, it wouldn’t fit in our car for the ride home.  So, my super sweet mother arranged to get it the last time she was visiting and bring it to our home.  How great is that!?!






It is in need of more work than I originally thought when it was covered with items in Gran’s basement. The original(?) finish is full of runs and uneven spots and then it’s faded and dinged in spots, too, but the size and look of it is EXACTLY what I wanted.  And even better, now I have a project!.  Ryan thinks we should paint it, but I’m really considering stripping it and staining it.  I really like the current color, and was hoping some clean up and Liquid Gold would save the finish, but that’s not going to fly.

What do you think?  Paint?  Strip? Embrace the drips, fades and imperfections and do nothing?

My New Camera in NW Arkansas

We went to visit my Gran in the Boston Range of the Ozark Mountains over the weekend.  It was great! AND I got a new camera.  Here are some pictures I got.

A tree in Ponca.

 

A bluff reflected in the Buffalo at Pruitt.

Tanner and Ryan climbing down from Cobb Cave at Lost Valley.

The view NE from the Scenic Point tower on 7 Highway, south of Jasper.

This was GREAT!  There were TONS of wasps flying around at the top of the tower.  I have no idea why they were there, but these two fellas flew right in front of the camera as I was taking pictures of the vista.

Sunset over the Jasper School.

There wasn't a ton of fall color, as they've had very little rain, but the weather couldn't have been nicer.  It was a fantastic visit.

Headin' to the Hills

We are heading out of town for the weekend.  Destination: Jasper, Arkansas.  It's about a 5 hour drive from here - going to visit my grandmother.  Gran-gran will be 85 in January. She's great!  I was looking through old photos, trying to find some pictures from Jasper and ran across these.

My dad passed away 5 years ago this November 1. He was 62.  He died from a Glioblastoma Multiformae--a brain tumor. yuck.  I was very fortunate that we lived close by them through everything.  He was a wonderful man and I miss him very much.

He was buried at what I consider one of the prettiest places on this earth: Low Gap, Arkansas.  We'll be visiting there over the weekend.  It's just a few miles from where Gran-gran lives.

My pictures don't do it justice. 

 This is the entrance to the cemetary.   My Great-great-great grandparents are buried here, too.

The Low Gap church, across the road.  At one time this was the church and a one-room schoolhouse.  My mom went to school here in the early '50s, I believe.  (Don't worry! She'll correct me if I'm wrong. :-D)

The kids goofing off on a pile of dirt after the funeral.  It was a beautiful day. wow! Look how little they are.

My MIL is going on this trip with us, and I'm really looking forward to showing her all the sights of the Ozarks!  



Just call me Heather!

I am most popular and won a Major Award!



Rules to acceptance of award:

1. Thank and link to the bestower.

Thank you, Bub!

2. Tell 7 things about yourself
3. Give away to whomever you want to

First, I'm giving to

Renee at Modus Operandi Designs
Dani at Gardening Under the Florida Sun
Brandy at You Don't Know and
Lori at Projects Plenty

My seven things.

1. As great as I think I am, as I start to write this I am realizing I may not be my most favorite topic. I'm kind of boring.



2. I like puzzles of all kinds: crossword, sudoku, ken-ken, jigsaw. I especially like substitution cyphers - like the cryptoquip in the Kansas City Star.





3. We have three cats, a dog, two hamsters and a fish. Trooper, our oldest cat is 17. We got him from underneath a real cat lady's porch. He's the best cat in the world, but he's getting old.

He will go into our bedroom, stand in the corner and meow at the wall. It cracks me up, but then I feel bad about it. But I still keep laughing at him. sweet guy.

He's the reason why we got the other two cats, Sonic and Sugar. Because he is such a great cat.

The fish, Angel, is a gold fish and is officially Harper's, but I clean the bowl. Angel is going on 2 years old. For a gold fish in our house, that's like living to be 108.

4. I love plants. I like to read about them and pronounce their names like Martha Stewart does. CLEH-ma-tis and PEE-uh-nee, rather than cle-MAH-tis and pee-OH-nee. I do draw the line at pronouncing Herb with the H sound.

I like digging in the dirt, walking through the yard and checking on my plants. But I don't like to pay for plants. When I pay for them, they die. When I get free ones, they do great. My mom doesn't like to garden, but my grandmother does.


5. My grandmother and my mom rock. My mom's just plain awesome. In so many ways.

My grandmother, Gran-Gran, will be 85 in January. She lives in a small town in Arkansas. She has her own home and still takes care of her yard. I love to hear her talk. I used to spend several weeks in the summer with Gran Gran and PaPa. They lived on top of a mountain.

For real.

They'd just let me go and I would roam the hills all day.

And my dad's mom, Granny, lived in a REALLY small town in Arkansas and would give me the soda bottles to return for the deposits to this old store for candy. She didn't have running water. So we had to carrythe water in pails and use an outhouse. And this was in the late '70s/early '80s.



6. I like to data mine. I love, love, love doing SQL queries and writing reports with Crystal to pull data out of tables. It's one of the things I get to do for my job.

I work for a group of Emergency Room Physicians. And they are awesome. It's amazing to sit in a meeting with them and they are discussing how they saved someone's life the night before. And not bragging about it or anything, just talkin' about how their shift went.

They are really, really, really good people.

7. Seven is my lucky number. And I'm a bit superstitious. I hate chain letters and stuff, and I read my horoscope.

I'm also claustrophic. Oh my gosh! A few summers ago we went to the Lake for a week and went to Aunt Angie's Haunted Hotel.

Not really scary, BUT, they turn out the lights and you have to make your way through this place in the DARK! All they give you is this little flash light with copious amounts of red duct tape over the light. Believe me, you cannot get the duct tape off.

Even with your teeth.

gross, I know, but I was desperate.

Me, Ry, Harper and Tanner.

Tanner was fine, Harper was scared and I was a wreck. Ryan would have been fine, except for Harper and me hanging on to him, panting and crying to get us out. We spent like 20 bucks to RUN through this pitch black place in about 5 minutes. AND! they locked us in. The gal that took our money was also working the old timey photo shop across the street.

Hah! Now that I started, I think I could go on all day. Only seven things, really? Maybe I'll re-award this to myself. Oh - that's one more thing....I think I'm really funny.

And, Bub, thanks, again. this was actually fun! For me!