We’ve finally settled down into a routine and rhythm in our life at Dunnhill.  Both last spring and again this spring, we debated whether or not we wanted to continue to live in Baxter County, Arkansas.  We find the culture to be both delightful and challenging; we miss the opportunities available in larger urban areas such as dining, entertainment, and even the arts.  However, we profoundly enjoy the lakes, rivers, mountains, and forests surrounding us, and our 4 acres is truly heaven on earth for us.  We continually work on the flora, both natural and domestic, and creating good spaces for the birds and butterflies, notwithstanding the deer and turkey.  Having said all this, we think we have finally decided to stay put, at least for 5 years.  Consequently, we’ve been working with an added fervor, and are redecorating the house to more accommodate our lifestyle—we don’t entertain as much as we initially thought, and our family has grown considerably as each of the kids has a significant other, and we have two “new” grandkids.

Each morning, with coffee in hand, we sit out on the patio and watch the birds “come to life” after the weather warms a bit.  The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds take on sugar water for their busy day, and the American Goldfinches, Tufted Titmice, Pine Siskins , Carolina Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches, Robins, Mourning Doves, and Robins eat black sunflower seeds from the tube feeders, and the Pileated, Red-bellied, and Downy Woodpeckers, and even the Blue Jays, eat the peanut-based suet.

During the course of the day, we’ll see various species of butterflies sipping nectar from one plant or another.  It’s amazing how many butterflies there are around here, if we just look.

I have been chasing a Zebra Swallowtail all spring, but could never get one to sit still long enough to photograph, and then this week this particular butterfly stayed put for a long time, enjoying a small chunk of bark mulch.  It would fly off, and then return to the same spot.

We also have had several Spicebush Swallowtails around the garden, and this particular one really liked the periwinkle, though they also like the marigolds despite the repulsive odor marigolds emit.  If you look carefully, note that it’s right wing is a little frazzled, perhaps from a difficult journey as it migrates north, but it’s still one of God’s beautiful creatures with lots of color and the notable swallowtail. 

Each evening, weather permitting, we sit on the patio and watch the birds, especially the hummingbirds, zoom here and there.  There is always a male guarding each feeder, and Kay calls him the air traffic controller for that particular feeder as he will chase off any other males, but allows any and all female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds to sip away.  Already this year, they are emptying feeders everyday, and we have a half dozen or more. 

So, as you see, despite the challenges here in Baxter County, we love our little piece of heaven, and will stay put here awhile longer.

Today, Kay and I drove to Bentonville to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art to view the Norman Rockwell exhibit.  This is a special exhibit featuring his most famous paintings, sketches, and illustrations, and all the Saturday Evening Post magazine covers attributed to him.

Enroute, we stopped at Pea Ridge National Battlefield and enjoyed the short drive around the park.  The Civil War battle lasted only a couple of days, but was decisive in the Union maintaining Missouri—two CSA general officers were killed; the Pea Ridge battle was payback for the losses the Union suffered at Wilson Creek in the Springfield, Missouri, area.  Many improvements have been made to the grounds in the last few years, and the park roadway would be a great bicycle ride.

Over the years, I have heard much of the Elkhorn Tavern in northwest Arkansas, and finally saw it at Pea Ridge.  This is not the original, but an old replica.

At the Norman Rockwell exhibit, we found the parking lots to be full as the museum was packedl; I dropped Kay off at the door and found someone pulling out in the uppermost lot.  We waited in line about 20 minutes to get into the exhibit hall, but it was worth it. 

With the museum’s IPods in hand and earphones on, we really enjoyed each painting and piece of art in the exhibit.  Photographs were not allowed to be taken at the exhibit, but the flowers along the walkway back to upper lot were beautiful.

Kay and I had a full week.  After church and Sunday school, we worked on the property for a few hours doing odds and ends such as cleaning up ditches, raking leaves, and cleaning out our “dry” creek in back.  A couple of local high school boys helped us by doing all of the heavy lifting and hard labor—character building.
The poison ivy consequence of our fern foray is taking its toll—my left arm is practically covered in a
rash, the right arm is broken out in several places, and the upper part of my left leg and stomach have some rash as well.  We use an OTC product called Tec Nu Extreme, and it helps tremendously in relieving itching and drying up the rash.
One of only two surviving Dunn aunts (an in-law) died early this week.  Aunt Banty, known more properly as Evangeline, was Uncle Tommy’s wife and they lived next door and down the hill from us.  Having a car, she drove her kids to school each day, and always provided me a ride.  The last of a generation, she will be greatly missed, but leaves a magnificent legacy.
Anyway, back to yard work, we hung an oriole feeder I built last week; it has wooden dowels to hold orange halves, and two cup holders for grape jelly.  So far, there have been no takers even though we’ve played Baltimore Oriole calls each morning and afternoon to attract them.  In addition, we installed a moving water feature to assist in attracting birds, comprised of a garbage can lid and a solar pump.  It works great, and the birds and other animals practically drain it each day.  It’s located next to a pile of brush to provide some cover.

And our work last weekend revealed that the “dry” creek is too low in one section, allowing soil and mulch to cover it.  We dug a trench along side it, and installed upright cedar logs, effectively making a short retaining wall.
We also planted red salvia and lantana to provide nectar for the birds and butterflies and to add some color to the yard.  American Goldfinches and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have practically been swarming; we feed about 50 pounds of sunflower seeds each week, filling the tube feeders daily, about 5 blocks of suet, and are now having to refill 7 hummingbird feeders daily.  That’s in addition to 50 pounds of corn per week for the deer and turkeys.  But it’s all worth it, at least to us, for the inner peace and solitude provided.
Ron and Kaden came up Friday evening to spend the weekend with us, celebrating Mother’s Day.  We fished Saturday afternoon, but it was crowded where we like to fish as one of the local guides has begun trespassing on private property, bringing in clients to fish, violating not only “No Trespassing” laws, but also subdivision restrictions preventing commercial and business activities within the subdivision.  Oh well, someone else’s battle to fight!  Fishing was difficult, though Kaden caught a couple, out fishing his dad who only had one.
We all enjoyed a quiet time on the patio watching the hummingbirds swarm a couple of feeders.  Ron bravely held each of the feeders via his outreached arm and saw them feed up close and personal.  He grilled lamb for our dinner meal, and it was delicious, making for a great weekend.

Kay and I were scheduled to participate in the Ozark Ridge Runner’s rolling rally to Pella and the Amana Colonies in Iowa this week, but changed our minds because of the distance, weather, and significant down time during the rally—this proved to be a fortuitous decision, at least weather-wise.  Consequently, we had a hole in our schedule for the week.  On Wednesday, we hunted ferns at our favorite fern digging place, and filled the Explorer with wild ferns.  After planting these, we dug up, separated, and replanted three Quince shrubs.  After our bridge lesson, we picked up more plants and resumed gardening Wednesday afternoon into early evening.  The pollen is so bad that I had a fierce allergic reaction, and slept very little Wednesday night.  We had ordered a replacement burner from Bass Pro Shops for the electric smoker and received notification that it had arrived in the store.  With some down time and bad weather forecast, we drove to Branson for the day and evening.  After lunch at Olive Garden, we walked through the Butterfly Palace and stared in wonderment at all the beautiful butterflies.  (More photos of butterflies can be viewed on our web album.)  It wasn’t the same as seeing them in the wild, but sufficed until warmer weather brings them our way.  Kay shopped and I took a long nap at the motel.  We attended the Bald Knobbers show in the evening and laughed almost the entire two hours at their silly, corny comedy. 

During the night, freezing rain, sleet, and snow began falling, though the highways were clear.  We drove to Springfield to have maintenance performed on the Honda, and several inches had accumulated on windshields of cars in the lot—crazy weather for May 3; Kay snapped this photo via her cell phone.  It was odd watching cars pull into the maintenance bays covered with snow—on May 3!  A few of the overpasses in Springfield were slick, and there were several fender benders.  Leaving Don Wessel Honda, we picked up the replacement burner at Bass Pro Shops, and Kay bought a pair of shoes.  We made our last stop at Sam’s Club for groceries and a few other odds and ends before returning home.  On Saturday, I discovered a poison ivy rash on both arms, no doubt from the fern digging on Wednesday.  No good deed goes unpunished.

This week yielded subfreezing temperatures for a couple of days, followed by rain late in the week.  Our weather this spring has been maddening!  It seems that we’ll have a couple of warm days and a couple of subfreezing days, and then rain, and then a repeat, almost weekly.  Occasionally, when it warms, we’ll see butterflies sipping nectar from the flowers near the house.

After church and Sunday school, we drove to Quarry Park and “collected” Jerry and Karen for lunch at Chen’s in Mountain Home, followed by a tour of the James A. Gaston Visitor Center in Bull Shoals-White River State Park–nice, but worth $5 million in tax dollars?  A short hike through Gaston’s Nature Trail rewarded us with many birds, including a new “year bird” for Jerry and Karen; both have over 300 species for the year so far.  We also saw lots of butterflies, including these.

With some daylight left, we drove to Buffalo Point where we saw a bald eagle and Jerry and Karen got to see the high river bluffs first hand.  By the time we finished, dusk had begun to set in.  We returned them to their RV at Quarry Park, having completed a full day.

Kay had a couple of medical appointments Monday morning, so I prepared breakfast for Jerry and Karen.  Upon Kay’s return home, Kay, Jerry, Kay, and I drove our favorite road in the Ozark National Forest and along Leatherwood Wilderness, stopping to view the short “hole in the wall”.

We then drove to Blanchard Springs and quickly walked to the spring’s exit from the cave before touring Blanchard Springs Caverns.  The caverns are one of the top 5 exhibition caves in the US, and overwhelmed us at every turn with magnificent formations.  We were all hungry afterwards and stopped at Cody’s in Fifty Six, AR, where Jerry and Karen treated us to an early dinner.

I’m really our of practice preparing heavy breakfast, having been dieting for the last 18 months, and the breakfast yesterday for Jerry and Karen was substandard.  Tuesday morning I made biscuits, sausage, sausage gravy, and scrambled eggs for them and it was good.  Jerry really likes sausage gravy and probably won’t get anymore until they return through here this fall on their way back to the RGV.  Kay and I both had appointments in the middle of the day, but prepared dinner for them in the evening–pork jambalaya, asparagus, salad, and French bread, with Karen’s Key Lime pie for dessert.  Yum, yum!  

Jerry and Karen were leaving on Thursday, making their way slowly to Wisconsin where they spend the summer.  They returned to our house Wednesday eveing for a farewell dinner, preceded by bird, deer, and turkey watching.  I prepared shrimp creole, and we accompanied it with salad and French bread.  It was sad to see them go, but we’ll visit again perhaps in the early fall, and then over the course of the winter in the RGV.  I have learned a great deal from them about birds, and am thankful for their friendship and our time together. 

Friday and Saturday were quiet days for us, but we did attend a Sunday school party at the Burr’s despite rain in the morning and a chill in the afternoon.

Monday, April 15 saw our first Indigo Bunting arrive in the morning.  Kay and I had appointments at the ophthalmologist that afternoon, and the news from me was not good.  My eyesight has always been exceedingly good—better than “perfect” in fact and my left eye has been the better.  Almost unbelievably, I could hardly read the letters on the wall with the left eye, a real shocker!  Dr. Wright did not recommend glasses or contacts just yet, but advised that the time was coming soon!  And a self-test of hearing revealed that my good ear, the left one, is almost completely deaf except with a hearing aid—sad times indeed.  Despite all these maladies, growing old is still a hoot.  On a happier note, the dogwoods showed their first blooms on Tuesday, April 16, and on Wednesday, April 17, the columbines bloomed along the road into our subdivision.  After our bridge lesson Wednesday afternoon, Kay drove to Little Rock for Book Club.  On Friday, Karyn, Matt, and Ridge arrived for their annual “turkey hunting” visit.

With great weather, Ridge played outside on the patio, and loved ringing the chimes hanging from the “vertical element” in the corner.  He also enjoyed his car and other toys.  He’s definitely an outside boy.

We had our first ever visit on Saturday, April 21, from a Red-Breasted Grosbeak and a Blue Grosbeak.

Saturday afternoon our friends Jerry and Karen Smith, full timing RVers who winter in the RGV, arrived at Quarry Park for a 5-day visit.  Both are world-class birders, and we look forward to spending a few days with them.  In addition, Matt and Karyn’s friend, J.B., came by to spend the night, and the 8 of us all enjoyed a steak and potato dinner at Dunnhill.

We had rain early in the week, and I discovered that the leak is coming from a tiny gasket near the bottom corner of the window, seeping in like water being sucked through a straw.  I applied just a dab of silicon and it did the trick; had I known earlier, I would not have had to take the molding off, and all the other work that ensued, and saving about 6 hours in the process.  On Tuesday morning, April 9, our first Ruby-Throated Hummingbird of the year arrived.  For us, this marks the beginning of spring.  While in the RGV, we resumed playing bridge after an almost 30-year absence.  Parts of the bidding and playing strategy came back; other parts did not.  Consequently, we vowed to take lessons and on Wednesday, April 10, we started a series of lessons on the strategy of playing bridge.  Interestingly, when I called about the lessons, I mentioned bidding using the Goren system and the instructor laughed and said that was a bit outdated.  A Northern Parula Warbler stopped by on Thursday, April 11; this is the second consecutive year they’ve visited.  With a few days of sun in the forecast, we drove to Quarry Park on Thursday to “camp” for a few days.

This was a quiet week, thank goodness, allowing time to continue my springtime chores.  Kay traveled to central Arkansas to meet with our tax preparer and get in some KK time with kids and grandkids.  Kay returned on Thursday and got her yearly physical on Friday, and is doing well.  With a few decent weather days in the forecast, and I washed the motorhome on Friday.  Regrettably, the leak is still there after all that work!

Kay came down with the CRUD on the next to last day of the cruise, but she never complains, and made the drive home from New Orleans, via Benton, coughing almost the whole way.  Our weather is pretty funky at home this spring, and as evidence a 6-inch snow fell at our house while we were cruising, but it had almost all melted by the time we arrived home.  During the week, Kay was in recovery mode, but is a quick healer.  She was called for jury duty on Tuesday for a murder trial, but enough jurors were seated such that she didn’t have to report. We had decent weather part of the week, and I worked outdoors a couple of days, burning some brush piles and killing weeds.  We discovered a leak in the driver’s side window in the motorhome during recent rains, and I undertook a major repair after calling our Winnebago dealer in Forest City, Iowa, for instructions as to how to remove molding separating the window from the windshield.  On Saturday, we drove to Memphis and spent a few hours with Jenny, Brian, and Harper Ann.  She has grown a bunch and is very mobile.  We go to Costco while we’re in Memphis, and Saturday was no exception.  Harper Ann got all dressed in warm and snuggly clothes, and accompanied us to the store.  She loves shopping, so the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree; she’s like her mother in that respect. 

On the drive back from Memphis, we stopped at Sam’s Club in Jonesboro and picked up a couple of 6-volt batteries for friend and neighbor Wayne who has installed a large solar system on their motorhome.

Kay is suffering from a full blown cold.  She slept poorly last night, but did get relief from some allergy medicine Ron had.  We awoke early, already packed and ready to disembark.  The ship docked in New Orleans at 6 AM, and we grabbed a cup of coffee and moved our HUGE roller duffels downstairs, via the elevator.  Fortunately, there was little elevator traffic at that early hour.  We met Ron and Kaden in the dining room, our area of disembarkation.  After about 30 minutes, the door opened and we quickly made our way off the ship, through US Customs and Border Protection, and to the parking lot.  Within a few minutes, we were on our way north out of New Orleans.  Kaden slept the first few hours, having burned the candle at both ends.  For Kay and me, the trip was well worth the money just to watch him experience his first cruise and first time out of the country.  And, he made the most of it.  He’s a great kid, good looking, and meets people easily.  We’re quite pleased to be his grandparents!

We arrived at Ron’s at 3 PM, after an 8 hour drive, dropped him and Kaden off, picked up a few things left from last weekend, and departed for home.  The temperature kept falling, and coming from 82 degrees every day, temps in the 40s were cold!  Some snow was still on the ground near Mountain View, remaining from the 6 inches that fell Thursday.  We arrived home at 6:15 PM, and Kay went to bed immediately, glad to home in her own bed.