My Arkansas Vacation Part I

So, every February my mom, dad, and myself travel to north east Arkansas to be with my sister and niece for our February birthday's. See, February is a very busy month for my family. My sister was born on the 3rd, my cousin was born on the 12th, then there is Valentines day to throw in the mix, my mom was born on the 15th, my niece was born on the 18th and I bring in the rear on the 21st.

When traveling with my parents, we always leave bright and early because my dad likes his ship to sail at the crack of dawn. On Thursday at about 5:30 am my parents pulled up and we loaded all my stuff up. I came to a revelation while packing that no matter how much I try to lie or rationalize to myself, I am NOT a light packer. I required a different outfit for every day which also consisted of a different pair of shoes for every outfit. I managed to narrow it down to 2 coats, 2 sweaters, and a hoodie too. Oh, then I have to accessorize which meant that I had to have lots of jewelry and scarfs. I certainly could not forget to my spinning wheel, roving, and spinning accessories oh, and then of course, my latest knitting project, crafting books, magazines, ipod, and dvd's. I also needed snacks for the road so I had a bag full of groceries too. You should have seen my dad's face when he realized all the stuff I was going to take! Classic.

To back up a bit, our trip was threatened when my mom received a call the Saturday before we left informing her that our cabin reservation had been cancelled. See, about 2 weeks ago, Mountain View had an ice storm which left many people without power for many weeks so, our cabin was given away to one of the Entergy workers, our cabin with a 5 month reservation, our cabin that is surrounded by about 60 other cabins. So, we were very confused as to why our cabin was cancelled and really really disappointed to say the least and thought our trip was ruined. But, to be understanding, Arkansas having electricity is much more important than us having a cabin, but nonetheless, we felt sorry for ourselves. So, after countless hours, my sister found a cabin about 9 miles outside of town, along the white river. This sounded perfect! We were all excited and relieved that our trip was not ruined by the evil pine wood cabin people (ha, just kidding, they are not evil)!

So, back to our 5:30 ship off. About half way into our 8 hour drive on Thursday, my sister calls me and says "Um, I just got to the cabin but the road is washed out. I don't think you can get down it. Should I tell Daddy?" Um, what do you mean washed out and yes you should tell Daddy! Where else will we stay!?! So, lets skip back to a week after the ice storm, tornadoes hit the same area the ice storm did. The storms associated with the tornadoes washed out the road and prevented us from staying at the this cabin that we reserved at the last minute because the ice storm prevented us from staying at the pinewood cabins. What the heck is up with all the natural disasters in Arkansas? Geeze!!!! Come to think of it, this time last year when we went to visit for the annual birthday trip, there was a tornado that just hit the area and basically devastated it! Um, Sis, it is time to relocate! After realizing that we were halfway into our drive and now had no place to stay, my sister once again save the day and found a cottage for us just 2 blocks from the square in Mountain View! It was such a lovely little cottage and I think it was meant to be! I had my own little space which I referred to as the "tree house". It was a great big room on the second floor with 4 beds! There was a teeny tiny spiral stair case that lead to a teeny tiny door that led to the room. I felt like Alice (you know, Alice in Wonderland). It also had several lovely windows which I opened every morning for fresh air and a balcony, not to mention cable T.V. ! I caught several old school movies with Audrey Hepburn while I was in the tree house. It was fantastic! Here are a few shots of the little cottage that I took.

The "tree house"

This is the sun room. We had coffee and tea out here and it was fantastic! I am inspired to close my back porch in to make it look like this!

The living/dining room and kitchen:

I think those are all the shots I got. My mom took some great shots outside. I am going to pillage her camera for pictures and I will post those later.

After we arrived on Thursday Carrie and I had a class to attend at Ritzy Rags (that is me using Renee's fancy quilting machine). We learned how to make quilted zipper bags. It was tons of fun. I got way too involved in my project and was not able to finish but, I think I will be able to take a few minutes this weekend to finish it up. So far, I am pleased with the way it is turning out. I will post pictures of the finished project later!






On Friday my mother, sister, and I took another class at Ritzy Rags and learned how to make quilt squares. I have been interested in quilting for a while now and after taking this class, realized how easy it can be! I think I may be whipping out quilt pretty soon but I am still waiting for that quilt that my sister owes me from this past Christmas! Just kidding Carrie! I think we all did a pretty good job on our squares.

After our crafting we did a drive by to the Pinewood Cabins where my mother soon realized that there were in deed vacancies via the vacancy sign hanging on the office door. We were done wrong!!! My sister was driving and innocently followed my mothers directions past the cabins. My sister was telling us a story about something and then out of nowhere my mother bellowed "Nanny nanny Boo-boo" as we past the cabins. No, I don't think there is any bad blood there at all. So, for the rest of the evening I inevitably had to tease my mom with repeating the "Nanny nanny Boo-boo" phrase. After the drive by stalking at the Pinewoods, we went to a great little antique mall where I found some great Pyrex! Oh, how I love Pyrex! This print is my absolute favorite! It is the Amish print. The color is absolutely fantastic.

On Friday afternoon while we were crafting and stalking, my dad, Kalin, and Violet were out fishing. Once they got to the river, my dad said "whoever catches the most fish gets ice cream.". My niece took this to heart and caught the most fish and was subsequently rewarded with ice cream. She came back to the cottage with a cup full of ice cream and strawberries. When she got home after her fishing extravaganza, she joined my mom, sister, and I upstairs for my mother's very first tarot card reading!! Very exciting!

Friday evening my sister and I decorated the dinning room table for Valentines day. We had tons of fun getting things together! Here is a shot of the table:

Oh, also earlier Friday evening, I spoiled my Valentines day gift and gave everyone their marshmallows early. My sister made hot chocolate and topped it off with a nice fluffy homemade marshmallow.

Stay tuned for the rest of our trip!!! To be continued!

Cheers!