Me on the old bridge at Barkshed





Wild Turkeys crossing the road

   Had a great time yesterday (2-13) riding around down in the Sylamore forest area in the Ozarks . I love the area right now , as it is near deserted for winter ... it is like we have it all to ourselves. I got a trail map online , and set out with Penny to cross directly thru the middle of the wilderness area ( it looked like a good road on the map) in my lil Ford Ranger . Well, it was great ..... saw a hold herd of deer , several flocks of wild turkey ..... we got about 7 miles off into the boonies and came to a point where they had gated the road off..... and had to go back . Bummer . But , we had a picnic lunch at a really scenic overlook and I spotted about 25 other trails I want to go on when I get a Jeep . We got back out on the highway , and looped around thru Barkshed Rec area and then went to Mountain View to look around for a bit ... had a great day . I LOVE the Ozark Mountains .

Started working on the roof cover for the deck off the back of the house ....

It'll be nice when it is done , and we can sit out there in the evening and grill , or have a nice

roof cover to sit uder during a spring rain ..... Oh YES ... it actually does RAIN here in Arkansas  :)

      Spent today almost entirely located in my worn out blue recliner ( taking breaks to eat ... LOTS ) .
I've been toying with the "Jeep " idea again ........  looks like my style , doesn't it ?

        Had a great hike today .... weather was perfect , and scenery was beautiful. These are some shots of the Dogwood Trail , near our home in Lakeview , AR . It' s about 3.5 mile round trip and makes for a great afternoon hike. Im so lucky to have such great places to get outdoors , so close to where I live now.
       I have recently decided to discontinue using statins to control my elevated cholesterol .... after studying and learning how the side effect is severe muscle pain , and then damage . I am going to go with a red yeast rice supplement with CoQ10 , and a Joint flex supplement instead . So far so good .... Ive had less shoulder pain , and my knees held up good on today's journey with no knee braces worn . Im going to try it a while and see if my joints improve . My mother had the same reaction to generic statins , so maybe it is something in my "jeans"  :)  Happy trails !

Today it was cold ... spent too much of it lazying around . I did get two small projects done .... hung up my Father's tapestry rug that he bought in Morroco when he was in the Air Force . I hung it in the stairwell to the basement , which replicates where it hung for decades in my grandmother's stairwell going uo to the upstairs bedroom on her home on Davis Street in Conway , AR .
Second item was to add some wood to make the pantry shelves deeper .....  I want to begin a new project      of a can storage rack system , so I can start my preparedness buildup of food water and supplies . I want to end up with something like this .... :) I now have a nice cool basement area to work with that I did not have access to in Texas .

Tonight , we got a nice warm fire going in the stove and I can ponder and dream ..........

Our back deck .....

Nice place to watch the squirrels and listen to the crows calling . I am going to build a roof over it so it will
be protected from the rain .

Our new home

A shot of the dam of Bull Shoals lake , about 2 miles from our house .

This was taken in the Sylamore forest area in the Ozark national forest at Gunner Pool

I want to start a online journal to record our lives as we adjust to our new home in the Ozarks in Arkansas.

Penny and I both left our jobs in Texas and made the move in mid December 2012.  We have been dreaming and planning to move to North Arkansas for some time , and finally decided the time was right .

  So far , we really love it and have been getting outdoors to the trails and seeing the back country .

I have aalso started the job hunting process , with an application in at the state park down the street , and also I applied for a position with an electrical company in Mountain Home.

   Yesterday , we drove out and found the site of the resturant and cabins that my Grandmother's sister and husband ran back in the 60's (?) . I remember them as Annie and Odie . The resturant  is still going strong (Fred's Fish House ) but , the cabins have been torn down .... just the slabs remain where they once stood . I can barely remember the place from when we were up here on Vacation when I was 3 or 4 . Im going to have to ask my Mom if we actually stayed in one of the cabins back then .