Another Trip to Arkasouri!

 What a blessing to be able to travel back and forth between Florida and Arkansas/Missouri to visit children and grandchildren!  Especially in this season, I love the fact that we can go up to see the leaves change -- "leaf peeping!"  Before we left, though, I wanted to post a little of Florida's fall colors.  Above is a beautiful golden rain tree in the town near us, and every year, it turns glorious yellow in the fall. 

Shortly after, it begins changing to soft pink, above, or deep pink, and the blossoms turn into funny little Chinese-lanternish little blossoms. I love it -- it is so unique!  The tree above is the same tree as the previous picture, only a week or so later.  You can still see some of the yellow in the middle of the tree. Florida does have wonderful fall color, even though it's not maple or hickory or sumac!

The sweet Stricklen family (well, not sure where Mary is) and "cousin" Amanda saying goodbye as we get ready to leave. Below, we board the RV for another exciting trip!

The faithful cleaning and packing crew left little surprises we discovered all along the way.  When we opened the Lipton box, out jumped . . .!

Not sure what kind of trees these are, but we loved seeing them.

This was the best welcome, though!  Little sweeties (plus Sarah's new goat!)  And below, not-as-little sweeties, Kitty and Gracie, making things all autumny.  Beautiful girls! So glad to see you!

Granddaddy got his hands on a couple of little rascals.  Clay and Paul have grown so much since last we saw them!  What a contrast in personalities!  Clay is quieter (Ashley says not all the time!) and more placid than Paul, who is always on the go, banging on something!  What precious little men of God in training!

Markie's home-raised pumpkin anchors a wonderful centerpiece that says "Fall" to me!  Our trip was a perfect Fall adventure for this grandmother!  More to come.  Thank you, Lord, for traveling mercies and the blessing of family who welcome you with open arms!

La abuelita es Escurridizo

Well, I am finally the owner of a new camera, one I don't have to share with the "business"!  Hopefully, I will learn its ins and outs so I can take pictures like Mary! (As grandson Daniel used to say "airquotes -- yeah, right!") Anyway, I love the picture above, and think it is pretty good. It is our dear friends, Patrick and Kellipaige Franklin in our breakfast room one Sunday after church. What a lovely time we always have with them!

So, we'll see if  you can teach an old dinosaur new tricks, and if new cameras can make up for old incompetencies!   Oh, I figured if Mary titles her post in Spanish, maybe I should, too.  I mean, it will be especially meaningful to three young ladies who forgot I would get my camera back from them!

 

Molly and Chris stayed for dinner the same day, and I thought this was such a good picture of them! I love the clarity of this new camera, as compared to my phone camera!

Beautiful Callie Sue! Love your sweet smile and curly hair, girl!

O-o-o-kay! My camera ended up at a sleep-over, and I think we have discovered some hidden . . . ummm, talents??  Wackiness?? Latent tendencies??  Abby's true identity:  The Fonz meets ... Dr. Jeckyll??

 Mary, Lois Lane in disguise?? Nancy Drew's no-nonsense best friend?? Sarah Palin wannabee??

Mandie Sunshine -- what can I say?  Future Red Hat Lady?

Oh, my starz!!  You don't want to meet these women in a dark alley!

Don't mess with the Stricklen Girls!

Okay, ladies, if you are desperate at midnight, I will personally buy you a gallon bag of gumballs!

Let's end this whole escapade with the Charmer, Mr. Grins, Nathaniel!  He never fails to give you the most heart-warming smile!  Love you, little boy, and miss you!

 

Thank you, Lord, for the peace and blessings you have placed in my life.  Why would anyone not want to serve You with all her heart!

Hey, Guess What??

 (hopefully) These are the last pictures from my cell phone camera!  My sweet husband bought me a camera that I don't have to share with the business!  So, here's a little of what I have left on the cell phone . . .

 First day at the beautiful Englewood Beach cottage. I didn't spend much time out in the sun (hey, my prescription meds say "avoid sun exposure", okay??)  But this was the lovely view from the shaded patio.

Sweet Margaret Annie and her cherished sand dollar.  I think she said she collected over 80 shark teeth from the beach! Margaret Anne-style archaeology!

Adorable Nathaniel was happy inside the "donut" -- well, at least for a little while!

One of the fun restaurants at the beach -- it was actually very good homestyle Italian food. 

Nathaniel can't wait -- toes are just as good!

Last day -- a little relaxing after breakfast before packing up.

Load up the vehicles, time to head home!  For a beautiful shot of the family portrait right before this scene, and for many more wonderful pictures of our trip, go to the Stricklens' blog:  http://thestricklenfamilyblog.blogspot.com/

 

Back home, a sweet surprise after a morning yard-saling with the Stricklen women:  Lunch together out at the Barn/Back Porch! Here, we visit the gift shop, and Molly loves this clear platter with a poinsettia.  Nothing to get in the mood for the holidays like visiting the Barn!

If you know Margaret Anne, you know she has been collecting fake food for her little play kitchen for years (she may be outgrowing it, since she didn't beg for this!) Here, she admires a realistic slice of German Chocolate cake!

Okay, what in the world is this??  Well it's what is left of our very first muscadine crop!!  This represents about half of this year's total crop!  Well, the vines just got planted this year, so . . . whaddaya expect?  They ARE delicious, BTW!

Just added this to let Amanda know that we missed her while she was gone, and let her know that her cup is waiting for her. 

So, now to learn my new Sony camera and be a little more timely in posting new pictures!  God has been good to us and our family, and we will not forget His faithfulness.  Thank  you, Lord. (Okay, I'll be exploring what has happened to Blogger since I last posted and see how to increase the font size on the captions!)

More Cell Phone Camera Pictures from Arkasouri

Here is our primary reason for making the trip in July/August this year: precious little Hannah Frances Miller, born while we were there. We thank our gracious Heavenly Father for another providential addition to our family, grandbaby number 26. What a blessed family we are! For a complete account with lots of real pictures, go to the Discher's blog:

www.thedischerfamily.blogspot.com


Danny and I knew we were doing the big "rafting down the river" thing with the older ones, so we decided one day to take three little ones with us to town for some errands and . . .
BOWLING!! If you have never been bowling with a nine-year-old, a 4-year-old and a 3-year old, you don't know what you are missing! Rosie, Savannah, and Emma Jane will be happy to show you how to work those bumper lanes! Here, Savanna waits with great anticipation to see what happens with her turn.

Emma Jane just knows this will be the big one! They were fascinated!

Granddaddy shows Savannah how to hold the ball. Thank goodness, the lanes had the foresight to have some 5 lb. balls. Lofting them doesn't do quite as much damage to the wood!

Rosie caught on very quickly and had some pretty good scores! The men at the desk were just kept in stitches by the two little ones and their running commentary. What a nice thing that we had the whole place to ourselves! We loved it!

Every time we have been up for a visit, I have wanted to take a gravel road with a sign that says "Locust 2 miles". This time we did. It is a little community hidden in the bottom of a hollow, a very quaint little place with only a few cottages. Jason says it floods when the flash floods come, so I guess it isn't the best place to build. This is a picture of the old post office/general store. The sign says "Locust 1908 Store and Post Office" and it lists the Breeding family, founders of Locust.
Interesting.

"Big Man" Paul decides he is going to take us for a drive. He loves to make those Brrrrmmm, brrrmmmm sounds all little boys seem to be born knowing how to make! We miss you so much, Paul!

Silly girls! This must have been on the way to go bowling -- they are just too excited!

Well, the day for the big rafting trip came. The Missouri Frodges and Dischers (except Eddie) loaded up with Danny and I and off we went to the put in at Hodgson Mill, about 35 min. from the property. Kitty had been looking forward to this for a long time! So, everyone put in and left Grandmother (me) to drive down to the take out at Warren's Bridge.

It was an 8 mile run, which Danny assured me would take only a couple of hours. I had my doubts, based on a canoeing trip about 30 years ago! At any rate, what would I do by myself for those hours waiting at a strange, backwoods bridge, which turned out to be the local swimmin' hole for Darryl and my other brother Darryl (think "Newhart").

After about an hour or so wait, Beth, Ashley, and their babies appeared, thank God. when they had put in, the water was fast, and they just knew there was no way they could take those babies. So they joined me, and we waited. After another few hours, some kayakers got out, and we asked about the timing of the trip. They turned out to be experienced and they assured us our rafters would not be there until 9:30 pm or so! We had time, lots of time. So we went home to get Eddie and get dinner started.

About 8 pm, up pulled a pickup in the near dark with lots of girls waving at us vigorously. It was our girls! Granddaddy and 5 Discher girls had been smart. They saw lights near the creek and threw themselves on the mercy of a kindly couple, who drove them to the take out. "This isn't the first time", they assured us. Jason, Peter, and little Savannah had been ahead of them, so, after profusely thanking the rescuers, we knew the only thing to do was wait. . . . and wait . . . and, listening to the howling coyotes, wait.

At about 9:30, with truck lights shining on the creek, we finally saw and heard the long-lost rafters! Peter barely makes it from meal to meal as it is, but he was famished, so the peaches we had brought for snacks filled the need.

Jason was never so thankful for a towel! What a saga they had to tell! Little Savannah was quite a trooper -- of course, her daddy was pulling her in the raft, but he said she didn't whine or cry and trusted him completely. Home we went with the exhausted, but exhilarated, adventurers! Every generation needs an adventure story to tell the next, and this is this generation's -- until the next time!

Once More, Thanking the Lord . . .

. . . for cell phone cameras! We left our "good" camera at home again, so the phone camera was the only option to capture so many memories. Blogger is letting me post only these photos, so this will be one of those theme posts -- APPLES!

The Dischers have become bold in their quest to glean throughout the community. If there are wild berries by the road, they hurry home, gather containers and a few bottles of cold water, and off they go. It's berry jam time! They saved me a variety of early berries in the freezer, and what a delight they were! Mulberries, dewberries, gooseberries, blackberries, black raspberries -- gathered wild and wonderful. And of course, the wild strawberries. How excited I was to hear them tell of finding them! It brought back memories of gathering wild strawberries when I was about 5 years old and my mother making a strawberry pie for my brother's birthday.

They are also on the lookout for fruit trees. Many people have them in their yards, but don't want to bother to pick them. (Just as they do with citrus trees here in FL) So the Discher girls boldly (but politely) march to the door and ask in their most enterprising way if they can pick their fruit, offering to share the bounty.

One day during our visit, they discovered two loaded apple trees, obtained permission from a very nice gentleman, and off we went!

Beth and Danny get a little father-daughter time while gleaning.

Peter and Danny decided the best course for the high branches was for them to shake the tree. Then little Rosie and others gleaned from the ground. These apples were set to be processed right away, so the fall wasn't too injurious.

Gracie had her own method and her own artistic "picker bag".

Danny loves finding unexpected treasure as much as anyone!

Peter graciously scaled the heights to reach the many fruits no one else could get to.

Kitty in her own inimitable way proving that girls in skirts can do anything they need to! Markie, left, stayed on the ground

A truckload of future applesauce! Thank you, Lord, for your bountiful provision, where you least expect it! I believe the Dischers are off to pick wild plums today . . .!

You Know What . . .?

You know what? I decided (at least this time) to just do it! I mean to just get some pictures on here with no rhyme or reason. I mean, for goodness sake! It's been 4 weeks again! I usually think up a theme, ponder over great words of wisdom for the generations to come, plot out the order for pictures to appear, etc., etc., etc. . . . Pondering tends to take me a long time! So here are some random pictures of the recent past. There is a lot of activity coming up in the Frodge family, so maybe another theme post or two will get put up in timely fashion. Til then, here is more "this and that!" (All taken on my phone camera -- I am not a natural photographer, so I usually think of the camera after-the-fact! Thank the Lord for phone cameras!)


What a wonderful surprise met me today when I stopped by the Stricklens today! Margaret Anne had just made fresh cinnamon rolls with glaze, and she had one waiting for me. Mmmm, mmmm! What a treat! And what a blessing to know that all of my darling granddaughters, even down to the very young ones, are accomplished bakers, among their other many talents! Thank you, Margaret Anne! (Notice the refreshing glass of Southern iced tea in the background!)


Ummm . . . Latte's last morning. We are blessed to have a traveling abattoire nearby. Hicks Meats comes to the farm with their refrigerated truck, and butchering is done in the most humane way possible. We have been very thankful for their service. To see this man work is like watching an artist. There will be fresh, grass-fed beef in the freezer soon!

When Granddaddy says "Roadtrip!", everyone scurries to get ready! Recently, he decided he needed to go tubing in some nice cool water, so Rainbow Springs was the chosen destination. It was a beautiful overnight trip, and Molly's family has some wonderful pictures up at www.thestricklenfamilyblog.blogspot.com My phone camera came out on the way home at the steakhouse. (you knew this was from a phone camera, right?) Margaret Anne, CJ, and Mary patiently waiting for good steak.

Sadie, enjoying her turn with Nathaniel, Abby and Callie anticipating

I love this picture of Molly and William getting in some sweet face time. William is blessed to have older sibling to have a turn with Nathaniel, so he gets to be mama's baby boy again for a few minutes!

Molly always likes to make sure she gets plenty of pictures with her parents, and we oblige her, maybe a little bit begrudgingly. But hey, we do want our great-grandchildren to know we were part of their family!

The Berean Baptist crowd came out to the country one day to do a little shooting, and Julia Doolin had not met Nathaniel yet. What a blessing to see how God has worked in sweet Julia's life!

Danny enjoyed the opportunity to practice his shooting skills. He has great aim, when he is practiced up. Once he won me a turkey in a turkey shoot, so he is my hero forever!

Michael Doolin shooting. The Stricklens are so hospitable when anyone wants to spend the day in the country. Well, graduation for two of the grandchildren is next! The Dischers should be here in a couple days for that, then I am off with them to spend a couple weeks in Arkasouri, and the birth of little baby Miller is due August 3! Exciting days await . . . Thank you , Lord for my blessed life.