And A Good Time Was Had By All!

Cave Mountain Road

There is an air of excitement in the mountains this time of the year. The colors are glorious! A main topic of discussion is whether the colors have "peaked" and how do they compare with last year's. Who cares! We don't complain! The temperatures range from cool in the morning to "just right" in the middle of the day. It is a great time to do anything in the mountains!

I was in Jasper this week, and the little mountain town was bustling with visitors and locals. I stopped by Emma's Museum of Junk (by far the best little antique store anywhere!). I am on a mission to rid our house of clutter and "stuff". Emma needs "stuff" to sell in her store. We both agreed it was nice to let go of things now and then. But, it is hard to do. These are little treasures that I fell in love with through the years as I shopped little places similar to Emma's. When we moved to the mountains, those things were packed away in boxes and they have just taken up space in the basement for seven years. I hope Emma's customers will love these old and nostalgic things as I once did and take them home to enjoy. Emma and I agreed on a price, and soon my "stuff" will be on her shelves. She has a way of displaying items that make you want to take them home. I just hope I don't walk in her store some day and purchase some of the same items I sold her!

The same day we took Mother out to eat at one of her favorite little restaurants, The Boardwalk Cafe. They serve only organic foods, most is locally grown, even the buffalo burgers and elk sausage (all meat is farm raised, not wild).

Joseph, the owner, was happy with the business they were getting throughout the week. We both wished for several months of fall weather that brings out the tourists. We ordered our favorite winter meal, Janet's Cajun gumbo. The couple are originally from New Orleans, and the seasonings reflect that!

Saturday was a good day to do some yard work. I always leave some plants standing for the wildlife in winter, but some of the grass had to go! Got one bed done with two more to go! For another day, no doubt! It was a good day all around with the Hogs winning and the cabins full of nice folks who came to enjoy the Ozarks.

We capped off the weekend with a hike to Hawksbill Crag up on Cave Mountain. I really prefer to call it by the name most locals use--Whitaker Point. We went with a group of friends from church and packed a picnic lunch. There were about 15 of us--all ages, from 3 to 63! Lots of fun, even though this was not your "quiet walk through the deep woods" sort of hike. Seems like everyone else had the same idea. This is probably one of the most publicized scenic areas anywhere in the Ozarks, and people come from everywhere to view it, especially when it is clothed in fall colors. We even met a group from Japan! This was our third time to hike there--only about 2 miles round trip--not too strenuous, but hold on to the little ones as they near the bluff line.

Today, it's back to school for Jack, and back to the cabin business for me. Looks like another beautiful week to be living in the Ozarks, or anywhere you live for that matter. It is especially a good one for me. I am having a birthday on Friday, and I plan to celebrate all week!

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

John 1:16

Welcome to my Ozark Mountain Garden

My Ozark Mountain Garden

When Jack and I married, our first house was duplex on a college campus--basic student housing. If those little houses were there today, they would be considered historic structures. The white wooden buildings were part of the Rohwer Japanese Internment during World War II. When we lived in them, they were a row of little one-story apartments just off to the east of the football stadium. An easy walk to campus. Our first spring there, Jack borrowed a shovel and dug up a little piece of ground just under the living room window for my first flowerbed--pink petunias. It was the beginning of a series of flowerbeds that have multiplied each time we have moved.

Today, Jack is still digging flowerbeds. The little borrowed shovel has turned into a new Kabota tractor--his pride and joy. Mine too! We can now move dirt, logs, rocks of all sizes, and anything else that isn't attached to the mountain.

When we first saw our 65 acres with the remains of a burned down house with an old fence surrounding the backyard, I had no idea of the joys that were in store for me! This yard was once a barnyard, and the soil is so rich that I usually don't have to add more nutrients. And rocks! They are mine for the taking! I have outlined beds, laid walking paths and patios, built stonewalls and steps, and have the beginnings of a water garden with a waterfall and fishpond. Only time and my aching back keep me from going crazy!

I love to share my garden with our guests. Most of my plants have come from friends and family, and many guests and friends leave with a seed packet of hollyhocks, Angel Trumpets, or Mexican Hats, or a clump of whatever is blooming at the time. Most of the flowers in my garden are "pass-alongs". And, so I continue the practice. I also have plants that I brought from my yard in Hamburg that have special family ties such as the dark pink phlox that grows by my fence just as I remember it growing near the fence in my grandmother's backyard when I was a little girl. It's roots are from those old, original plants. Also, the day lilies from Jack's mother yard, and the pink old-fashioned rose I call "Aunt Marie's Rose" have a special place in the garden.

Today, if you were to visit Mountain Springs, you could probably take home a clump of Butter and Eggs, a vigorous little yellow snapdragon-like flower that blooms from early spring to frost, and spreads like wildfire! Soon, I will be collecting seeds from Coreopsis, Blanket Flower, fever few, and hollyhocks. We have a sack of daisy seeds already. Along with these flowers, the hummers and butterflies and bees are really enjoying the lavender, oregano, garden phlox, butterfly weed, and butterfly bush blooms. The wildflower seeds that I sowed several years ago make a wonderful "natural" area outside the fence. The seeds are collected every year and planted each spring. And, outstanding this year, are my "Candy Stripe" zinnias. I have never had such a wonderful "crop" of zinnias, though I never miss growing them somewhere in the garden, this year they are something to brag about!

I hope you will check in occasionally for updates on what is growing in my garden. I love to walk around the yard and talk about my plants and flowers. We might even get our hands dirty!

Just living is not enough..

One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

Hans Christian Anderson