Mammoth Spring State Park - Part 1

I really wanted to stay home but it was Amy, Sam amd Grayson's last day and it wasn't too hot so we went.  I'm so glad I did as I saw things there I hadn't seen before and we had a picnic.  I LOVE picnics!

This is the Visitor's Center where they have all kinds of pamphlets, gifts. books and treats.

This is the view from above the dam...seemed like a holding area of some kind.......

This is the origin of the spring where it comes out of the ground.  It is a beautiful bluish green color and clear "spring" water.............

There are a series of small "stepping stone" dams that it traverses and then the big one!

In the late 1800's they had a hydroelectric plant here that generated electricity.......

 

In 1972 it got hit by lightening and they determined it was not economically feasible to repair it.  Really?  They were way ahead of their time and now it's just a park.  It seems to me they're going backwards.  Look at all that power they could be utilizing instead of fossil fuels.

Here's the generator...languishing.......

And other equipment..........sounds more like politics to me.........

I loved the stones and "mortar" used here.  It looked like someone used a toothpaste tube! LOL!

This was a sign near the "lake" telling everyone if they ran across this salamander to put it back in the lake.  It is a protected species.....the Ozark Hellbender".  We didn't see any but we kept our eyes open!

That green patch on the other side of the water was where we had our picnic.  It was nice and cool by the dam but so loud we could barely talk.  Of course, we were stuffing our mouths anyway so it wasn't really a problem. LOL!

There were lovely wildflowers blooming everywhere you turned too. 

Tune in Monday for Part 2.  Tomorrow is YOP Sunday here on my blog.

Yesterday I:
caulked around the foundation but need a couple more tubes to finish
sanded and painted a coat on the front door frame
painted 1/2 of one side of the attached "shed"
fixed banana peppers in garlic and olive oil and had them on toast for supper
for dessert it was fresh peaches and ice cream
Managed to "knit a bit" and crocheted in the evening while watching 3 back-to-back episodes of Murder She Wrote on the COZI channel.

I hope you enjoyed Part 1 of our visit to Mammoth Spring State Park.
Happy Trails!

The Birthday Party for 4 birthdays!

Yes, you heard right!  All the grands were born in July and my daughter too!  So we celebrated all at once...together.   And I did manage to finish all the gifts for them...whew!  Here's Sam with his giraffe...(I'll have better pictures on Sunday when I post my YOP progress)

Uriah with his quilt................

and Grayson..for some reason I did not get a picture of his blanket I made him but my son said they did and will send it.  I was very pleased with how it turned out as I backed it with a dark brown minky fabric and it turned out really nice....I was SO surprised! LOL!  I only give books and handmade items that I call "heirlooms".  I can't keep up with sizes or toys they're into plus my budget
can't always handle it so I've decided that's what I will give.  They all seemed really appreciative and genuinely liked their gifts from me which definitely warmed my heart for sure.  There were other gifts from Aunt Amy and Uncle Ben and Aunt Amanda too.  Grayson loves dinosaurs........

 Sam got a new back pack for school which he tried to put on his head...but of course!

 Uriah loves anything to do with sharks so he got some shark books.....

We had gluten free cupcakes with cream cheese frosting since Grayson is allergic to peanuts, gluten and soy.  Amy made them and they were really good but we were so busy stuffing our mouths evidently we forgot to take a picture of those but trust me they were tasty!
Every night, Grayson would come into my room and visit Grandma after his bath as Grandma was already in bed (don't ya know...lol) and every morning he would come right in to say good morning to me.  I had to take this picture of him.....what a cutie.  He feel asleep in my bed every night and then Amy would come in and take him to bed.  Before his cousins arrived, Uriah slept with me each night but Grandma didn't get much sleep! LOL!  When his cousins arrived they all wanted to camp out on the floor together and Grandma once more had her bed to herself....ahhhhh.  But they are all sweetie pies and I love them gobs and gobs!

Tomorrow I will post about our trip to Mammoth Spring State Park if I haven't bored you too much already. Oh, Amy, my daughter got from me 2 Hummel decoupaged plates, a crocheted flower brooch that I made for her and a Victorian "fan" birthday card that her great grandmother sent me 40 years ago that I ran across and thought she would enjoy having.

Yesterday I:
took Nitty to vet for her allergy shot
stopped at the new liquor store (huge!) and bought some grenadine to make Sonic Cherry Limeade and some Fat Tire beer....my latest favorite served in a glass with an orange section
went to Walmart to get some rocks for landscaping but they've stopped selling for the summer/fall now...stupid, as it is cooling off when people are wanting to do that type of work....but I did get concrete caulk and eggplant and a few other groceries
I paid a few bills
stripped the remaining guest beds
cleaned up the house (which involves making the bed, washing hand dishes, unloading and loading dishwasher and cleaning up the kitchen)
I cleaned the Keurig with their descaling solution
made a batch of bread dough
picked a load, hung a load and washed another load of laundry
made another quick supper of leftovers:  tomato soup, leftover taco meat on toast with avocado
knit a bit on a Christmas present (I do this during the day when I take a break)
crocheted another square for blanket in the evening
also ordered a purse/tote bag pattern to make for Amanda for her birthday in September

I write this list on here because I love to read Katrina's posts ( Pioneer Woman at Heart)  
because she lists her chores and her daily projects and it always makes me feel good to know I am not the only blogger out there that has a household to run and a "regular" life.  Some bloggers seem to only blog to get on Pinterest or make money.  I love to read blogs about REAL people and their REAL lives.   Don't get me wrong, I love the DIY and craft stuff too but those aren't the bloggers I get close to.....you guys are!  It also makes me feel like I'm not such a slug when I look at how I spent my day.  You don't have to read it but I thank you for indulging me! LOL! 
Happy Trails!

Ahhhh....the lake!

Well, I'm slowly but surely getting back in my routine.  With no dryer I am still catching up with laundry and linen washing.  One load a day to hang in the basement, one load to pick and fold and another to wash but it will all get done eventually.  I have clean underwear and that's what counts! LOL!
Yesterday it rained and I did:
laundry
vacuumed my bedroom
cleaned up the house
blogged (finally!)
started knitting a Christmas present
in the evening I'm finishing up some crocheted squares for a throw/blanket
made a supper of tomato soup and grilled cheese (with avocado and bacon on it too...yum!) and had the last of the watermelon.   I also finished the last piece of strawberry rhubarb pie.  I'm eating up the leftovers from when the kids were here.
I made out some bills and caught up with finances 

After all the hard, heavy and hot work the kids did we all headed for the lake!  It's across the street from me but the beach is on the other side of the lake from me so we loaded up the kids and the floats and the coolers and off we went!  We went every day just about but grandma doesn't own a suit so I sat in the shade and took pictures and had my eye on the grand kids as there are no life guards.  I am not a great swimmer but I made sure my kids were from an early age!

Uriah just turned 7 and he swam all the way out to the float and back!  What a fish he is!  This is Amanda, Sam and Uriah.  Amanda is like an olympian swimmer as she dived off the float doing back flips and jack knives.  I thought I got pictures but evidently not.  I was probably too busy watching her! LOL!

Here's Grayson taking it easy.........

 Uriah.....fish boy....I'm surprised he doesn't have fins!

 Grayson..........this little guy had Grandma in stitches the whole time he was here....a natural born comedian....Amy would sometimes tell me it wasn't so funny but I thought he was hysterical! LOL!  He and grandma are 2 peas in a pod!

The boys loved Uncle Ben throwing them into the water!

Amy did her fair share too as the boys pretended they were beached dolphins and she had to get them back in the water........

After awhile they were all "beached"...there was also a lot of "butt crack" jokes being tossed around and oh how the boys giggled at that!

Amanda........taking advantage of the empty float...........

How you can have this much energy after working in the hot sun all day is amazing to me but back in the day I can remember having energy but I must have used it all up back then because I sure don't have much nowadays! LOL!

Grayson, Sam and Ben.............Amanda in the background on the float............

 Grayson.......

Well, I'm sure you've seen enough by now but they had a ball together and it was just as much fun for me to watch them.  I'm off now to take Nitty to the vet for her allergy shot, pick up a few things at Walmart and so much more!  Hope you all have a great day!
Happy Trails!

They came, they saw and they conquered!

I missed all of you but I am back "online" now and will be blogging about what I/we have been up to the last few weeks...some good, some not so good! LOL!  Ben, Uriah and Amanda (love that girl!) arrived a day early....SURPRISE!  They're lucky I didn't have a heart attack!  They got right to work despite the heat (90's) and heat index (70's).  My yard/weeds got away from me in the Spring with all the rain and then it got so hot and I didn't have a weed whacker etc. so Ben brought his "tools" and after 3 days of non-stop except for hydrating..........they transformed my yard!  Amy and her children, Sam and Grayson arrived 3 days later and helped finish while Grandma "supervised"! LOL!

This is Amanda...what a worker she is!  I had poison ivy, poison sumac and poison oak climbing up the house.  Ben was the only one that got it on him and he had to get on steroids when he got home.  I tried organic weed killer which did not work so I am having to go back to the chemicals unfortunately but I can't have that stuff in my yard.

Here's the "worker bee" of the family..........his shirt was soaked with perspiration...they all worked so hard and I sure appreciate it!

Here's my daughter Amy getting to work right after she had gotten up at 3:00 a.m. and driven for 10 hours!  Ahhhh, to be young and energetic again! 

Meanwhile, Grandma had "pool duty"..........

Just last month they were 7, 6 and 3 but now they're 8, 7 and 4.....where does the time go? Uriah is the one without the shirt, Sam in the bigger one with the shirt on and Grayson's the littlest facing the camera.  They had a ball together!

Uriah........

Sam..........

Grayson................. 

That's all for today....I'll be busy trying to catch up with all of you....I truly have missed you so much!

Tomorrow is the birthday party installment! LOL!  And yes, I did manage to get all the presents done....whew!  It was close and the house didn't get all clean but they had fresh linens and beds, food and presents!  TTYL!  

Happy Trails!