... let us rejoice and be glad in it

Last weekend we decided to see a couple things in Branson we thought looked interesting. The shows are not our thing but the zoo and the Duck ride were right down our alley. The Duck at Branson Landing takes off on land, tours historic downtown Branson, then dives into Lake Taneycomo. I took a few pictures along the way.
The big pipes you see are on the lake side of a grand fountain, created by the same folks who put the fountains at the Bilagio in Vegas. The pipes are fire cans and spew flames coreographed with the water.
I can honestly say the fisherman was there first. ha ha ha  He must have the right idea though, because the bird was there even after he left. Lake Taneycomo connects the White River to Table Rock Lake ......... I think. The water is very cold and it is proported to be a great place to fish for trout. Mom & Dad are coming down the last week of October and we're gonna give it a try. 
This is Captain Jed. He's a retired school teacher from Branson and has been guiding the Duck tours of Branson and Lake Taneycomo for some time now. He was a real joy to tour with and made me laugh out loud many times. 
Some of the leaves are just starting to turn and some have already fallen. The weather is HEAVEN on earth! 70's in the day and 40's & 50's at night. Some days are just in the 60's and thats even better. 
The absolute simplest dessert recipe I've ever made, but it needs something. It needs texture or a variation in flavor or something. Its good, don't get me wrong, but I'm trying to figure out how to tweak it. If you try it and figure something out, please let me know. 

4 cups rhubarb  ( I used frozen and thawed it just enough for the pieces to separate)

1 package strawberry jello

1 cup sugar ( I used Splenda)

1 stick of butter

1 1/2 cup of water

1 white cake mix

Butter a 9 x 13 pan

Spread rhubarb in the pan

Mix sugar & jello and sprinkle over rhubarb

Sprinkle cake mix over the jello

Carefully pour water over all

Slice butter evenly over all

Bake @ 350 for 45 minutes

Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream if you wish. Who knows, that might be what its missing.   ;-)  

More later .......

PRAY OFTEN

LIVE WELL

LAUGH OFTEN

LOVE MUCH

On and on

I finally captured the beautiful, elusive, little nut hatch. This bird is so quick, he was always gone by the time I turned the camera on and was ready to snap. It took three tries with this visit to the feeder. The first shot was the only time he sat still for a moment and by the second he had his seed and was about to launch off the feeder.

This is number three for the Special Olympics Scarf Project. The pattern was shared by our friend the Crochet Dude. I took artistic license and added a little chain loop fringe. Hope you don't mind, Drew. It was quite an interesting pattern to complete. The blue cables are crocheted side to side and the white ruffles are stitched end to end. 

Sometimes you get an e-mail that simply makes you laugh out loud. I had to share this one. Thanks Cecilia  ;-)

More later ......

PRAY OFTEN

LIVE WELL

LAUGH OFTEN

LOVE MUCH

The second of many

I finished this one last week and am in the middle of the third. This was fun. It was my first experience with the classis wave and I like the way it turned out. Again, I'm trying to stick to the 5" x 60" format as much as possible. I went a little longer on this one so it can be doubled around the neck.

More later .........

What a fantastic weekend!

While out rambling about the Branson area we stumbled upon one of our favorite attractions!

With the help of Dory

We found NEMO!

They look so cuddley ..............  through the glass

Fantastic

SAY CHEESE!!   :-)  

Hollywood villains

Bizarre & beautiful while deadly

Nose to nose curiosity

Amazingly venemous

Striking beauty!

Cutie pies.

Prehistoric giants.

Stuff that stimulates my imagination.

The stuff of nightmares!

We love a good zoo and love an aquarium even more. This place had amazing numbers and varieties of fish and animals for the size of the facility and the location. Except for the snake house we really enjoyed our visit to this "Predator City & Aquarium" in Branson West. 

More later today .......... 

PRAY OFTEN

LIVE WELL

LAUGH OFTEN

LOVE MUCH

The first of many

This is the first of many to come. I'm crocheting scarves for the Special Olympics Scarf Project. They request that the scarves be approximately 5 inches wide and 60 inches long; crocheted or knitted with Red Heart Delft Blue #885 & Red Heart White #311 in any design or stitch that you wish.

This one is made of an extremely easy and lightning fast shell stitch pattern. I'm having fun deciding on scarf and stitch patterns and adjusting them to the size request for this project. 

For those new to crochet this project is a great way to practice new stitches without getting overwhelmed with the mass and time required to finish an aphgan or larger project. 

In case you haven't noticed, I've linked another blog that I read regularly; the Crochet Dude. I first found Drew's blog in 2005 when I was selling my crocheted goods on a web store and on eBay. We emailed a couple times about making a career out of crochet and it appears he has become rather successful. I had lost touch for some time but was glad to run accross him again. I'm really excited about his accomplishments and think you might get a kick out of his sense of humor too. Check him out if you get a chance.

An Angel Says ...

... be thankful for the special people who walk through the triumphs and trials with you. 

Bubba caught this one

This time Bubba came back to the coach for his camera. I was in the shower while he snapped this picture of a male Texas Brown out "looking for love" behind our neighbor's SUV. 

I read about Arkansas tarantulas on the internet. I needed to calm my overwhelming fear......... They're a throw back to when this area was much more arid. Scientists are only aware of one species, the Texas Brown, living in this area. The females burrow up to 24 inches into the soil or under a large rock and build a web at the entrance. They do not go out and hunt, simply feed on what gets caught in their web. The females hibernate in the burrow in the winter and lay a large egg sac. Late September and October is mating season and the males are searching for females to propagate. After they find the female, lure her out of her burrow, control her fangs and inseminate her, they make a hasty exit. The males then typically perish either from starvation or cold. They are not venemous but, if provoked, can bite with the verocity of a bee sting. They also have short, barbed hairs on their abdomen which they can rub off into the air which can do damage to your eyes if you're close.   

On the shiny side; they're not venemous and they're large enough that you will likely see them and be able to avoid them if you're paying attention. I sure keep a closer eye on Mijo now. I can't imagine what it would do to his big brown eyes if he picked up those barbed little hairs. He's curious about everything and thats how we discovered the first tarantula on the night we pulled in. 

Well, I better put my shoes on and get ready. We're making a Sam's Club trip today. We're longing for more beef and pork than we typically get in an Angel Food box and distribution is still nearly 3 weeks away. 

More later ........

PRAY OFTEN

LIVE WELL

LAUGH OFTEN

LOVE MUCH

Attention all knitters & crocheters!

http://www.crochettoday.com/pdfs/CTSO08scarf.pdf

Put your hooks to work

to stitch up some support for

the Special Olympics World

Winter Games

Please, please check this out. You, obviously don't have to use the pattern they published here but what a wonderful thing to crochet a scarf for the Special Olympics! I plan on it as soon as I can get my hands on dome "Delft Blue" yarn or one that matches it. 

While here in Arkansas I've been a busy little crocheting beaver. Just this week I've finished two scarves and am half way through a big prayer shawl. 

More later ............

PRAY OFTEN

LIVE WELL

LAUGH OFTEN

LOVE MUCH