I love deer but.....

I was so proud of my sweet potato vine.  It was growing by leaps and bounds.  Unfortunately, it must have not only looked beautiful but delicious also.

The deer love to come up in the front yard and eat all of the crab apples off the tree.   I guess they needed a salad to go with their meal.  That barrel was so full of green vine you couldn't see the petunias! Only good thing is that now the petunias are getting some sun and growing.  There are plenty of crab apples, leave my sweet potato vines alone!  We have golden delicious apple trees too, but the squirrels  try to eat them all before the deer so we don't stand a chance. Both trees were loaded last year and we didn't get a one.  One day they were loaded, the next day they were bare. Hmmm  They also love Hosta plants.  I think the deer think my front yard is a buffet.

Thank goodness they left the one on the porch alone.  Probably because the light came on when they got close.  LOL

Time to head home

We slept late (of course) trying to enjoy our last day here.

Then we headed for the Red Oak Fillin Station for lunch.  Yes we do eat a lot.

After checking things out, we went in to enjoy some Chicken and Dressing, corn, cream potatoes and gravy and a biscuit. All but Libbie, she had a hamburger and onion rings.
Unfortunately we had to pack up and go home.  Jim and Libbie moved on to Lake Catherine State Park for a night or maybe two.  He had to rub it in that we had to go home so that we could go to work.  They sure are enjoying their retirement!  Come on January!

In case you think this looks a little familiar, that's because it is.  We came to this place a few months back when we were checking out Catherine's Landing.  RERUN!
We are home, unloaded and Doug is doing what he likes to do best!

TRIP TO CATHERINES LANDING

We decided to go to Catherines Landing in Hot Springs for the weekend. http://www.catherineslanding.rvcoutdoors.com/  Here is the website for the campground/resort.    I didn't get off until 4 so Doug went ahead and left so that he could get set up.  Hot Springs is only an hour from where we live.  About 3 Doug called and said that we had a problem with the motor home.  He had no brakes!  He made it to the RV resort but only barely.  He was backing in and the motor home locked completely up! It wouldn't move at all. He had NO air pressure.  This is not a good thing.  He looked and looked trying to find a leak in the air bags or the lines and didn't find one.  He unhooked the dryer and still no luck.  There had to be a leak but he couldn't find it.  He decided he had no choice, he called Good Sams and asked them to find a mechanic that would come out.  It was getting late by then and Doug said "just put me on the list for first thing in the morning".  We went to bed last night wondering just how much this was going to cost.

Early this morning Good Sam called and said they had found a mechanic that would come look at it at 11.  True to their word, at 11 he was here. It took him about 15 minutes to find the problem.  We had a bad hose at the compressor.  He had to go back to his shop to make one.  They couldn't get it off and had to cut it with a saw.  That didn't look good.  Bottom line because it was a Saturday,  he had to go back to his shop 25 miles away, and he had us and he knew it, it cost us $559 to change a $50 hose.  We needed Steve (Karen in the Woods, blog) he can fix anything.

We did have a good weekend anyway.  We went to Bath House Row in downtown Hot Springs.

The Fordyce Bath House is set up as a museum so that you can see how it was when it was built back around 1915.

This is a stained glass ceiling in the Mens shower/steam room.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  Even after all this time, the colors are so vivid.

This statue was directly under the stained glass ceiling.

This was the parlor.  Notice the ceilings are stained glass. On each end of this parlor are separate parlors for just men and just women.  A lot of segregation of the sexes in this bath house.  LOL

Here is Jim, Libby and Doug in front of the Arlington Hotel.

Hope you can read this.  It tells of the history of the Arlington and some of its infamous visitors.

The hot water coming up out of the ground is REALLY hot!  It is suppose to have healing powers.  I guess that is why there is so many bath houses on bath house row. LOL

The picture isn't too clear but I guess you can tell that that's King Kong that Libby has an infatuation with.
Well after shopping a little while we decided to do what we do best, eat.

Almost forgot to take a pic for the blog.  There was more but Jim was hungry and ate it before we could get the pic.  Fried catfish, hushpuppies, slaw and french fries.  This place was a great find for us.  Thanks urbanspoon!  The food was great and they also had bread pudding that was to die for.  Oh yea, the name of the restaurant was Mr. Whiskers.  Sure hate to go home tomorrow.

It finally rained!

It has been terribly dry here.  We have not had a decent rain in months.  Yesterday and today we finally got a good slow steady rain.  Since it rained most of the day yesterday, I spent part of the day catching up on my reading blogs.  I have recently started reading RV-a-go-go and I needed to go back to the beginning and catch up. I love the recipes and beautiful pics that they post.  If you don't read their blog, I recommend them highly.  I think you will enjoy their posts.  There are several blogs that I like to follow, Karen in the Woods is another.  I am very jealous that their new adventure is starting soon.  They have sold their house and next month when it closes, they will officially be fulltimers!
While I was soaking up all this knowledge that I gleem from all of these blogs, I started to wonder.  How do you decide what to keep and what to give up?  When down sizing from a stick house to a much smaller RV something has to give!  My biggest question is the closet.  I have alot of clothes and shoes and shoes and more shoes.  How do you decide how much is enough?  Since you are moving from area to area, reruns on clothing shouldn't be a problem.  You can wear the same clothes over and over, I guess.  Is 5 shirts, 10 shirts enough?  Is 3 pair of shoes enough?  A pair of blue jeans, slacks and shorts?  I got to looking in my closet and I realized that I don't wear half of whats in there! So now I know I can cut my wardrobe in half, no problem.  But this still doesn't get it down to RV closet size. It seems like every trip we take I waffle back and forth between taking way too many clothes and not taking enough.  It's hard to find just the right amount.  What about different seasons?  Is there room for both winter and summer clothing? So my question to you is, Just how much clothing do you really need?
Another thing I was thinking about is a dishwasher.  I like to cook but I sure hate to wash dishes.  I think one would fit fine under the cooktop.  I don't have an oven and I have plenty of storage.  I don't think I would miss that one cabinet under the cooktop. I am afraid to price this little goody.   Is there something in your stick home that you really don't want to give up?
Looks like rainy days really get my brain to working.    I have til January 31st to prepare.  Even though we won't be selling the house right away (I am still working on Doug) our first trip should take us 4-5 months to complete.   Now I need to figure out what I need and live with it.  LOL

A Fallen Soldier Comes Home

Today was a very sad day in our community.  One of our young men serving in Afganistan was brought home and buried today.  If it wasn't hard enough for this young widow and her babies, to say goodbye to their loved one, the Westboro Church, if you can call it that, posted on their website they were coming to  declare that his death was God's doing as a punishment.  I believe they were out numbered today and even though they were seen in town,  they did not disrupt the funeral of this fine young man as they have others across the country.

People from all over town came and lined the streets on both sides. Most carrying American Flags.

This fallen hero deserved our respect.

When the family heard that Westboro members were coming to demonstrate, they asked the Patriot Riders to please come.  Over 200 came.

The demonstrators stayed at their hotel.

My thoughts and prayers go out the the Strachota family.  God Bless America, Again

Sgt. Michael Joseph Strachota

Happy 4th of July

I hope everyone had a safe and Happy 4th!  It wasn't our usual 4th.  Our family usually gets together and we cook out and have lots of food and home made ice cream and finish off with fire works.  This year it was just Doug and I.  It was a quiet day but ok.  Doug helped me cook supper, and it was great.  Wasn't the usual fare but that's ok it was delicious.  We had pork chops, corn on the cob, fried squash, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers.  I have to thank Nancy Walters over at RV-A-GoGo (rvagogo.blogspot.com)  She supplied the recipe for the pork chops and they were wonderful! Thanks Nancy for posting and making up the recipe for these pork chops.

I used all the rub that the recipe made and so they look dark but are not burned I assure you.  It was just a heavy coating.  Even heavier than the pictures that she showed of her pork chops.  My rub is on thicker I guess because the recipe called for 4 pork chops and I only used 2 and yet I used all the rub. I don't know if it was right but it sure was good.  I will definitely use this recipe again.
here is her recipe:

Grilled Spiced Pork Chops with Maple-Balsamic Glaze

Serves 4

4   pork chops (about ½-inch thick)

1   tablespoon allspice

1   tablespoon cumin

¼   teaspoon cinnamon

¼   teaspoon oregano, dried

¼   teaspoon salt

⅛   teaspoon pepper

½  cup balsamic vinegar

¼  cup maple syrup

2   tablespoons honey

Combine allspice, cumin, cinnamon, oregano, salt and pepper.  Coat pork chops on both sides with spice mixture, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, place balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, and honey in a small saucepan.  Place over low heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes until syrupy.  Reserve to glaze on the chops when they are done..

Place pork chops on a preheated grill over medium-high heat.  Grill pork for approximately 4 minutes per side or until cooked through.  Spoon a couple of spoonfuls of the sauce over the chops while on the grill.  Transfer to plates and spoon more sauce over pork chops. 

I was so proud of myself because I did as she said and only cooked them for 4 min per side.  I am afraid I am one of those people like she mentioned in her blog that think you have to cook pork to death.

Now that I am full and resting while I enjoy my iced tea, I think I had a good day after all.

Have a safe 4th and remember Freedom is not free!  Our men and women are fighting for us each and everyday.  Thank you to all the Service men and women and their families that sacrifice so much for our freedom.

Our Dog Children

Today very good friends of ours lost their dog-child, Tootie.  She was 13 1/2.
I know from experience just how hard this is.  We love our pets as part of our family and when we lose one we hurt just the same.  Unlike our human family, our pets give us unconditional love.  The don't care if we mistreat them, forget to give them more food or water, didn't praise them when they did something good, they love us still the same.  They are always happy to see us.  They greet us with exuberance whether we were gone 2 hrs or 2 minutes.  They are just always happy to see us.  They really love us.  We love them.
Tootie may be gone but she won't be forgotten.  The love she gave will always be remembered.
Good girl Tootie!