Norfork and Dogtrots

We were driving through Norfork a couple weeks ago just before dark but stopped anyway so I could take a few photos.  I wish I hadn't been rushed... for such a small place, there are a lot of things I would like to get a shot of.  

I like how the fog is just starting to roll in in the background.

The Wolf House

If only these walls could talk....I would sit and listen for days!!

I've loved dogtrots since college when I did an entire semester of research on the Carpenter House, the dogtrot in Cave City (many people refer to it as the Pinkston House).

You can't really tell from this picture, but the stairs to the second floor are in the dogtrot. 

I wish someone would restore this house...it's basically in good condition, but things like the plastic sheets of fake rock around the bottom make me cringe and the mannequins (yes, mannequins!!) on the upstairs porch are just ridiculous!! I'm pretty sure I'll never move back to Cave City, but if I did I would love to have this house.  Brad, on the other hand, probably wouldn't even step foot inside it.  Function is much more important to him than charm!

My Girl

Emilee came to stay with us for a few days last week.  She usually comes to stay each year to shop and just hang out.  It's supposed to be for her birthday, but that was in April and we're just now getting around to it.  

She loves to shop and spend money.  Luckily, she doesn't have a ton of money to spend at her age or I wouldn't be able to keep up with her.  Three days of shopping with her almost did me in as it was!

We should have bought this hat for her.  She looked adorable!

We got matching sunglasses at Aeropostale for $5.

She was here on my birthday so we made cupcakes.  I though she did a good job decorating this one.

These sunglasses just take the smile right off her face but she likes to have her picture taken in them.  Crazy girl!

I'm lucky to have friends who are so willing to share their kids with me.  Em has been "my girl" since day one and I can't believe she's already 10!  I really enjoy spending time with her and try to appreciate it because I know in just a few years she will not want anything to do with "her mom's old-lady friend"!!

Sweet Summer Goodness

We finally got a Cave City watermelon thanks to my mom and it did not disappoint!  It was so big I was afraid we would end up wasting half of it so we shared part of it with Dawn and Chris.

I saw a little stand somewhere in Little Rock the other day advertising Cave City watermelons but I didn't see the white, oval sticker on any of them, so I didn't stop.  Fraud! 

And anyway, Johnson Brothers are my favorite growers.  I think it's because one brother was my teacher in high school and the other brother's wife was Brad's teacher.  That probably doesn't mean they grow better melons, but I'm always happy, so why switch??

I know this is weird, but I love the light pink part of the meat that is right down by the rind!  Everyone thinks I'm crazy but I think I like the texture of it.  I guess instead of eating that part, I could try this recipe for Pickled Watermelon Rind.  Yeah, probably not.  It might be good, but I'm not that ambitious.

Sweet Baby!

I got to see sweet Hadley this weekend!  She's so pretty and thankfully hasn't lost a bit of that beautiful black hair!  

I LOVE her dark blue eyes!

She's a big girl....12 pounds and 24 inches long!  And she still looks just like her daddy but with her momma's nose.

Happy girl getting ready to go for her first dip in the pool!!  Her little bikini was so cute!

Then her momma had to go and ruin her good mood by putting this super cute hat on her head!  She looked absolutely adorable but she must be proud of her hair because she didn't want it covered up.  I think she's pretty either way! 

Flowers

I have always been thankful that the original owners of our house must have had a green thumb!  We have a nice variety of flowers and shrubs that add color to the yard from early spring all the way through summer.

Every year Brad threatens to rip these up and burn the hole they come out of.  And every year I tell him that you can't kill a Crepe Myrtle so it would be a wasted effort.  I like certain varieties better than others but these are high maintenance.  We have one on each end of the house and all summer long I'm constantly cutting on them to try to make them look right.

I think Gladioli are another high maintenance flower.  Mine just fall over and lay on the ground.  I'm not sure if I have weak ones or what, but I am not going to the trouble of staking each one of them.  So I try to catch them at the right time and cut them to bring in the house!

Roses are not my favorites but we have two rose bushes that I actually like.  They bloom all summer long and don't take a lot of maintenance.  Probably about once a week I prune them and that seems to keep  them looking ok.  We have a light pink one and a coral colored one.  I like the coral one the best.  It's smaller and requires less overall pruning. The pink one will grow as tall as the house if I let it.

I love our Hydrangea bush!  Unfortunately, it is in full sun and is almost impossible to keep from burning this time of year.  It would be so pretty if it were in a more shady area of the yard.  In the spring I like to cut these and bring them inside.

I think my favorite plant in the yard is our giant Elephant Ear.  I love this thing!!  It doesn't like the heat and must be watered at least once a day or the poor thing will just hang over on the ground.  I've never been able to get a good picture of it and these two aren't any better.  It's so big, it's hard to get a good shot of it.   

I like the Crepe Myrtle behind it better than I do the pink ones.  I don't have to work on it all the time and it looks more like a tree rather than a giant shrub.

A New Hat

Toni gave me a hat on my last day at work.  Wasn't that sweet of her?  I'm going to need it when we move because what else can I do in a small town in north central Arkansas but be a farm person??  I'll probably at least need to have a garden and this will help protect me from melanoma.  Thanks Toni!!  It's the best going away gift ever!  :)  Every time I wear it, I'll think of you.  And laugh.

There's a lot that I'll miss about DIM.  Mostly, all the people I met while working there!

Could He Be Any Cuter???

I don't think so!!  :)