Affordable housing

Who says you can't find a nice home at a good price, and not inflated as they were in the late '90s or early 2000s.

I pass by this place at least once a week, and its still vacant!  The location is on a nice highway that they're improving upon as I write.  They're widening the road, and even straightening it.  Right across the street there's a gas station-convenience store, and they even sell bait.  Remember threre are two lakes quite close by.   Of course, there's a bank on the other corner, for convenient local financing. 

You can see from the picture that the highway department put up a drift fence so you don't have to worry about all the street dust and dirt flowing down to your doorstep.  And look at the trees around you.  Shade and seclusion.  This picture was taken in the very early spring; they're much more green now.

Road construction should be finished before the year is out, so get packing!  But don't forget to bring a few tools.  As the sign says, this is a "fixer-upper."

Thank you, Alice Walton!

She's the power behind the new art museum, in of all places, Bentonville, Arkansas of course!  It's called "Crystal Bridges."  And unfortunately, there seem to be too many people who live in the area who know nothing about it, or how to get there!

We went a fewSunday s ago, and everything went "swimmingly" (it was pouring down rain), except the closer we got, the more we knew our directions were spotty.  So we stopped at a few gas stations to ask directions.  Almost no one knew what or where we were walking about.  Although obviously, we did get there.

The museum is all about American art and artists.  A few were immigrants, but they probably came over on the Mayflower, so we can excuse their lack of a birth certificate!

To me, the best exhibits were the original Rosie The Riveter, by Norman Rockwell.  The guard told us an interesting story too.  Seems Rosie was portrayed by a 19 year old girl.  Then Rockwell looked towards Michangelo's painting of "The Creation of Adam" for the musculature he wanted to depict.  Needless to say, Rosie is a bit too mannish, and supposedly Rockwell apologized to the original model for the way he portrayed her physique.  There are also some areas of the painting, that were omitted from the Saturday Evening Post.  I'm not going to say what...if you go see the painting, you'll know!   (...depending upon your age...)

My second favorite exhibit(s) were the Alexander Calder mobiles.  I just love them!  So simple and yet so unique. 

And the buildings and grounds are amazing.  Pictures cannot do them justice, so just go there!  I know Bentonville is NOT a destination for most, but if you're in the general area, or passing through, or passing close by, DO go there!  Oh...did I mention it's ALL  FREE???!!! (Closed Tuesdays.)

Again, THANK YOU Alice!

A case of mistaken identity.

We have mice in the country.  Of course there are mice in the city too, but in the country they seem to get into things, like your car!  And they do things, like chew on the wiring.  And that means a trip to the car repair guys, and lost time, and money spent, etc. etc.  Well, you get the picture.

So when I got in my car the other morning, and looked at the passenger seat, I thought I saw mouse droppings!  Oh no, not my new car!  Damn them...

I got out, went over to the paasenger side, opened the door, looked really really closely at the little black things (turds?) and realized...that they were thistle seeds that fell out of the bag that I bought the day before.

BIG, big sigh of relief!

They're baaacccccccckkkkkk...

The hummingbirds, that is.

Dennis went out the front door (where the hummingbird feeders usually hang) and said one flew up into his face.  I told him that's the way they tell us they're back, and want something to eat!  I had already cleaned out the feeders, and so it was a small matter to make up some food for them this morning before I went to work.  Never did get a chance to ask Dennis if he saw any more today.  I watched the feeders for a while, when I came home from work, but no one showed up.

At our old house, I had a window above the kitchen sink, and they'd hover in front of it when they came north for the summer.  Again, signalling they were back!

Interesting story about their arrival times...we have a local gal who is certified to band hummingbirds.  She gives demonstrations at the local Nature Center a couple times every summer.  She said the earliest she ever saw a hummingbird was in February, and NOT this past February, when it was so warm, but last year, when it was in the teens and twenties.  The hummingbird had probably, she surmised, come up with a load of flowers destined for Lowes' or some other big box store that get their plants early.  Not a totally unusual occurence. 

When it showed up at her house, she rigged up a light for warmth, and a feeder to keep it going.  The bird survived, and when the weather finally got warm enough, and the local plants started blooming, the bird left. 

Don't have hummers?  They need adequate nesting areas (think lots of trees and cover), and seem to prefer cedar trees (or at least those are my observations) as they can be preyed upon by a lot of things, including dragon flies!  No kidding!  And I saw a big dragon fly this afternoon...

Nothing is more relaxing that sitting on our covered deck, reading a good book as the sun sets, and listening to the buzz of the hummers' wings as they feed and fight and fuss over each other. 

Retractions and corrections...

If you've read my previous posts, you know I said nothing eats a skunk. Well, skunks are everywhere these days, dead on the road. And for the most part, they just seem to disintegrate, rather than be torn apart by a carrion eater. That being said, I did see a group of crows gathered around a dead skunk. I wonder if they were just curious, or if they actually took a couple bites. They will eat other dead animals. Maybe it was mom and the kids, and she was showing them what to avoid!

I also said, in an earlier post that I saw some turkeys eating on a dead deer. At another deer carcass, I noticed what I thought were the same type of birds. Turned out they were not turkeys, but black vultures. We have two types of vultures in SW Missouri, turkey and black. The turkey vultures are bigger, and uglier, and they migrate, whereas the black vultures stick around, or at least that's my best guess, and I'm sticking to it!.

So many similarities and coincidences...

...it's almost eerie.

I went to a 50th wedding anniversary this past weekend, and caught up with some of my relatives, whom I stay in contact with, but living 600 miles away, but not closely (think once a year or less.)

It was interesting, to me, to see how my family, although living far apart, have so many things in common.  Don't know if it's genetic (can't be as some of the relatives are only through marriage) or it's the water, or the environment.

I found out my cousin has similar tastes in art, and has the same "couplet" of pictures from a particular artist, that I have.  I found out another cousin works for a Subaru dealership, and drives a Forester, as I do.  Wish I knew that before I bought my Subaru...might have made a better deal.  Found out the person who "sponsored" my grandfather (and may have been a cousin, or uncle) when he emigrated from Germany, had the same first name as my nephew, even though we never knew this other person existed, until my cousin started her genealogy search.

It was almost like living in a parallel universe, and it was definitely a fun weekend!

My newest find...

THRIFT SHOPS!!!

My heavens to Betsy, I never went in one until a few months ago.  Now I turn in to one like some people turn into Garage Sales! 

I was working and needed to "kill some time" so I espied a "used clothing" store across from one of my jobs.  I went in and...wow...  Not only was it a bit "upscale" and well stocked, but the clothes were cheap, cheap, cheap, AND they have regular sales! 

So far I bought two blazers, a blouse and a coat, and haven't even broken a $20 bill!  PLUS the clothes are "American Made"  (a real plus in my book), and if they were brand new, would have been out of my price range.   I guess people who spend that kind of money on clothes, don't wear them threadbare.  Thank you for that!

I have to say that I did stumble upon one little store, that bordered on nasty, but that's primarily the fault of the people who manage it.  There's really no excuse.  Even Good Will or the Salvation Army keep their places neat and clean.  They just don't have the panache of the little gem I found in my travels. 

It's now an automatic stop when I'm in the neighborhood.  I have my eye on a leather coat, but I'm waiting for it to go on "sale!"