Interior shots: new house

We are still combing through boxes and trying to get more organized, but have progressed enough to offer some pictures that should adequately capture the interior of our new home. We really like all the wood we were able to incorporate:  alder for door and window trim and cabinets, hickory and cherry for the floors.  We used slate for bathroom and entry floors. 

Sample pics of exterior; new house

We're still sitting on a construction site dirt pile, stonework to be completed, garage door to be put on the "toy" barn, landscaping to be done, etc.  but we are in!  We are extremely pleased with the home we ended up with.  Architect Richard Brenner, Contractor Bob Crider, and Charlcie and I combined to end up with a house that exceeded our expectations for architectural detail, quality of construction, and functionality. Richard and Bob were very accommodating in every regard and offered many suggestions along the way that added so much to the final product - while being very patient with our fickleness - both are great guys.  Charlcie and I even managed to survive each other during this mostly exciting process!

 

Celebration time!

Ben and Myka made the trek from Little Rock to Mountain Home to see our new house - we kept our promise that they could be our first guests. We think they were impressed. We also used the occasion to continue Myka fest, July being the month of her birth. And for the past four years we have also had the pleasure of celebrating the anniversary of Ben and Myka. And we naturally had to dine at PJs to mark the special events.

Morning Walks

It is really nice to wake up and take an early morning or late evening walk in the country. Since we are in our new house, we manage to get in at least a couple of miles each day, and sometimes double that. But, it is really not that grueling considering all the wildlife, the cool morning air, and some mornings we have the mist off the river. We always see many deer, a variety of birds, and sometimes wild turkey. We have landed in the place we need to be and we're diggin' it.

Anniversary #38: Goodness Gracious!

Celebrated our anniversary with dinner at PJs, our favorite restaurant over here, in a very nice setting on the banks of the White River. Les and Julie provide great food and make the dining experience very special. As we were going back to our car, a couple of beautiful horses entertained us - one trying to impress, the other remaining unimpressed - fine looking animals enjoying the perfect summer evening.

Tami's Birthday

Enjoyed another trip to Branson to celebrate Tami's birthday. Too much dinner at Lambert's (Home of the throwed rolls), followed by an evening cruise on Table Rock lake, and then home to open presents. We always enjoy spending time with Charlcie's sister and her husband Kevin.

Crooked Creek Clean-Up Float

Charlcie and I joined the Friends of the North Fork and White River group on a float on Crooked Creek, with the mission of picking up as much trash as we could haul from a stretch of the creek. Had a great time, and hauled out 38 automobile tires along with bags of other trash. The tires apparently were washed downstream from a Harrison tire shop that was flooded. Ended the day with a fantastic crawfish boil and blues music, until it was interrupted by a storm. A bolt of lightning struck nearby when Charlcie was in the Porta-Potty, eliciting a loud scream. Shared a few chuckles about that - only after being assured she was OK, of course. A fun day with a lot of nice folks in great natural Ozarks setting.

Critters

                                          Creepy crawler

                                          Tree swallow in our bluebird nesting box

Myka Made It!

We are proud parents-in-law of a new graduate of UAMS Pharmacy School. Myka persevered the long, gruelling challenge to earn her PharmD. Congratulations to Dr. Myka Rogers Tabor! We had a great time celebrating this accomplishment with our "kids".

Two Rivers Trail

Spent the week-end in Little Rock for Myka's graduation and Jessie Miller's wedding. So we had a great week-end celebrating! Charlcie and I found some time to enjoy another of Little Rock's trails across the Arkansas River. This is the newest and is in west Little Rock. The bike/pedestrian trail goes from the "mainland" to an island and circles around the island, mostly through the forest of many tree varieties.

Mark's big brown

Pics of friend Mark Koehler's nice brown trout. He makes a habit of catching the big ones, so I am hanging around him to pick up pointers :)

Smallmouth Bass Class

Got to participate in a smallmouth bass flyfishing class at Dally's Ozark Flyfisher. The morning was spent in classroom and then we were paired with guides for actual fishing on Crooked Creek. Although we didn't catch fish of any size, I learned a great deal and enjoyed the time on this classic Ozark stream with guide Ben Levin and some other fine folks.

More fish

Luckily I was able to grab a few hours to get in the river this week-end. This is setting up to be a great year for fishing. The ones I've caught lately are so healthy, colorful, and plump. Many in the 16"-18" range. Sorry to bore with all the fish photos, but this serves as part of my fishing journal :).

Big brown trout

Fished with friend Mark Koehler at Rim Shoals on Monday and set a personal best record. Among the many fish caught, the highlight was this 20 1/2 inch perfect specimen brown trout. Justified the relocation to this area :)

Ben and Myka return

Ben and Myka returned to Cotter this past week-end for a visit.  We enjoyed showing them the progress of our home construction.  Also enjoyed meals at Shady Grove store, KTs BBQ, and 870 Bistro.  Most of all, it was just great to spend time with our kids!

Road trip to hear Condoleeza Rice

We had never been to Batesville, Searcy, or many points in between, so we used the occasion of attending a speech by Condoleeza Rice at Harding University to complete a road trip. We toured the campus of Lyon College before enjoying lunch at Josie's overlooking a lock on the White River in Batesville - very nice campus and a neat place to grab a meal. The campus of Harding University is also very nice, but the highlight of the trip was the opportunity to hear Condi Rice speak. We were rewarded by the best speech either of us have ever heard. This lady is intelligent, classy, and humble, and gives a great talk without the aid of teleprompters or notes - her message comes from the heart. A great American success story and her personal and professional journey is an amazing example of achievement against all odds. A vivid and positive contrast to some of the rhetoric that is swirling around in the political atmosphere today.

Pileated and snail

Coming back to our house one day, we were able to get very close to a pileated woodpecker that was so focused on his food source that I was able to get close enough to grab a quick pic - ain't he pretty? It did not require as much stealth to take a picture of the snail on the trail.