Road Conditions

One of my least-favorite things about living in "the hollow" are the road conditions. Potholes big enough to house a family of four. Rednecks who drive too fast on the wrong side of the road. A lack of maintenance by the road department.


{Of course, I should point out that we are lucky: there's usually very little traffic, it's a gorgeous setting -- especially in the summer with the shady canopies created by the trees.}















No. 1 on the list of Thomas Hollow complaints has been a big dip in the road that's been there since March or April. And I'm not exaggerating -- it's like a giant reverse speed bump. When we had all that flooding this spring, a culvert was washed out by my house. The road grader stopped by a day or so later and pulled out the big steel pipe that lets the water run under the road (vs. over it). He set it by the side of the road, and that was the sum of the repairs.


And so it's been painful to watch out my kitchen window as people navigate their way through! Some are unfamiliar with the road and are going way too fast, risking breaking an axle. The UPS and FedEx drivers don't really care if they wreck their vehicles. And people pulling trailers for construction work or transporting cattle have to crawl through the dip, dragging their trailer through.

Finally, yesterday, relief! The road department came out and -- in the span of just a few hours -- fixed the culvert. No more dip in the road. It only took a few months to get 'er done.

Time flies

So Alisen brought it to my attention today that I haven't blogged in almost a week. It's not like I have the excuse of being busy (unless you count staying cool?) or out of town. I just haven't been motivated to sit at the computer and type!

It's been in the mid-high 90s the past few days. The only relief is to stay in the air conditioning or in the water. I've been staying occupied cleaning the house & rearranging some furniture. I moved my desk to create a cozy little reading nook, complete with a cowhide on the floor and a hand-me-down recliner in the corner.

But enough of that. I had a fabulous weekend! Saturday night was the first "Farm to Table" dinner event, created & hosted by the Wardlaw clan. It was quite a treat -- delicious food in a beautiful setting with great people. We feasted on foods made from local produce & meat: homemade bread, tomato-cucumber gazpacho, fresh green beans & baby potatoes, sweet corn on the cob, Jamaican rub chicken, deviled eggs and fresh-from-the-oven peach cobbler. I think I ate a week's worth of calories in that one sitting.

After stuffing ourselves, we were treated to a movie under the stars, literally. They had a movie screen & projector set up, so we watched "Ratatouille" as the fireflies came out. And -- as is tradition at Thomas Hollow parties -- people gathered around the fire pit to play music. I can't wait for the next dinner!

Sunday, I spent most of the day lounging in the water at the Blue Hole. It was a great way to end the weekend (thanks, Brandi, for inviting me along!).

That's the blog. Nothing super-exciting, which is fine by me, as the next couple of months are going to be busy.

Some like it hot...

But not me. It's hot. 94 F plus the humidity. Oh, the humidity. Even the dog wants to stay inside; as I write this, he's napping on the couch. We venture out in the morning and evenings to do yardwork; the mosquitoes here are not worth mentioning when you compare them to the gigantic ones in Minnesota!

It's a good week for local work on the horses. I've already worked on four horses and have three more later this week. I was supposed to go to the Buckskin World Show out in Tulsa this week, but did not have enough clients lined up, so I scratched that one. I do have an appointment on Thursday that I'm excited about -- I'm meeting an Arkansas vet and doing a massage demo. I'm hoping this will help me get more local clients.

I'm on a roll with indoor projects. Doing a major housecleaning, trying to reduce the amount of unnecessary junk that seems to have accumulated. Listing some items on Ebay (gotta finish paying for that car!). And I'm going full speed ahead on projects for the Art Festival, which is only two months away. I have four handmade journals/scrapbooks finished, as well as several other "secret" projects.

More Vacation Photos

Going through the 200 or so vacation photos - it's hard to choose just a few! A couple of my favorites from Maine and Boston:














This one was shot on a beach south of Portland. I'm going to enlarge & frame it!

The Portland Head Lighthouse. Funny: the foghorn was going off right next to us. I didn't hear or feel a thing.

The Portland Head Lighthouse, from another perspective.

I loved the mix of old & new in Boston. The old buildings look right at home -- it's the sparkly new ones that look out of place.

I learned a lot about Boston's history on my trolley tour (I would have done the walking tours but I only had about 6 hours!) For instance, there are cemeteries in the midst of the city that date back to the 1600s and 1700s. Very cool -- and yes, I know, I am morbid.

Trinity Church, dwarfed by the John Hancock Tower. This church was gorgeous! I wish I'd had time to go inside.

That's all folks. I highly recommend going to Boston to do some sightseeing if you ever get the opportunity. I'm glad I did it.

Welcome to the world, baby girl!

Congrats to Brenda & Bobby, who are the super-proud parents of Sophia Ellen Overton. I'm so excited for them & can't wait to meet the new addition.

Yes, I am home from my East Coast trip. I've been slacking off on blogging as I settled back home. I promise to be a more conscientious blogger, as I know some of you check my page often to see what my latest adventure is.

It's been a busy week, getting back into the swing of things. I'm working on some handmade journals for the September Art Festival & I'm excited about how they are turning out. I've also worked on a couple of horses this week and have a contact who is putting in a good word with an equine vet in Arkansas. Hopefully that will create some more local work for me.

Have a great day!

Lakes, Ice cream, fresh produce & lobster...a photo blog

So far, we've seen Lake Erie:

Discovered the true meaning of "Peace, Love and Ice Cream":

Picked out -- and ate -- fresh lobster, courtesy of Joyce's mom:


So far, it's been a delicious vacation! Tomorrow, we may head to the Portland area and take a ferry over to Peak's Island. Can't wait!

Maine!

We made it to our destination late Wednesday pm! After a yummy stop at Ben & Jerry's in Vermont, we booked it for Lewiston. Liam was pretty excited about getting to his Gramma and Grampa's, and it would have broken the kid's heart if we'd stopped!

We spent Thursday enjoying the perfect weather -- spent time in the backyard pool & then had a delicious lobster boil for lunch. I could get used to this. Joyce & her mom have plans to show me the Maine coast, including a day trip to Peak Island. I can't wait -- love the ocean.

I STILL have to upload photos, and I have some cool, geeky ones to show. I got sidetracked, big-time: woke up about 4 a.m. Thursday with the flu. It's now Saturday evening & I am just starting to feel like I belong among the living. Getting sick on vacation sucks.

'Til next time. I'm going to try some Moxie tonight. Goodness knows, I need more of that.