Birthday Visit to Garvan Woodland Gardens

On Monday, 27-FEB, Rosie and I celebrated her birthday by first going to the gym to exercise, heading to Hot Springs for our biannual eye exams, stopping by Garvan Gardens to see the tulips and daffodils and finally heading to lunch at a Chinese buffet.  Since we don't have many exciting photos from the gym, doctor's office or the buffet, we'll share pictures of the flowers at Garvan Gardens.  

Some of the first flowers we saw were blue, yellow and white hyacinths.

Just up the hill, the tulips started.  The various colors were beautiful.

Periodically, we'd see a misplaced tulip.  This didn't happen often, but really caught your eye when it did.

We also took several close-up pictures.  Some turned out really well.

Here's Rosie, the birthday girl, in front of some yellow tulips.

Here I am by the orange tulips.

The daffodils were a little past their peak but still pretty.  Here's Rosie sitting in the daffodils.

We also enjoyed the camellias.  Here are some close-up photos of red and pinkish-white camellias.

Here's a "self portrait" in front of a camellia bush - luckily I have long arms.

We had a great day at Garvan Gardens.  Also, since Monday is their least busy day, we almost had the Gardens to ourselves.  I think Rosie enjoyed her birthday outing.  We hope you enjoy the flower photos.

Walmart Visitor Center / Bentonville, AR / 25-FEB-12

After leaving Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, we drove to downtown Bentonville to see the Walmart Visitor Center.  The Visitor Center is located on the Bentonville square at the site of Walton's 5-10 opened in 1950 by Sam Walton.  The Visitor Center contains basically a timeline of the development of Walmart; the development and growth are very impressive.  The Center also houses Sam Walton's office as it was before he died and his 1979 Ford F-150 pickup.  Here I am by Sam's truck.

The entry to the Center houses Walton's 5-10.  This area lets you take a trip back in time with toys, books and snacks from the 1950s.  Rosie and I had a hard time resisting the snacks; they were very familiar.  Rosie enjoyed the bench in front of the Center.

If you come to Bentonville to visit Crystal Bridges, we highly recommend the Walmart Visitor Center also.  Yes, it's not Crystal Bridges in its scale and beauty, but it's very interesting in its own way.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art / Bentonville, AR

On Saturday, 25-FEB, Rosie and I drove from HSV to Bentonville, AR, to see the newly opened Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art funded by one of Sam Walton descendants, Alice.  As a short overview, we both agree the facility is well done and very impressive.  As you approach the Museum, a large metallic tree grabs your attention; it probably has a name, but don't ask me!

Here are a couple of pictures from around the Museum.

The Museum is built around a pool.  This give you a sense of "floating on water" as you walk through the various displays.  It was designed to become part of the natural environment, a la Frank Lloyd Wright.

The art styles are grouped (e.g. classical, impressionistic, abstract, etc.) so it's easy to see the changes and contrast from one style to the next.  This was fun and interesting to see.  We got a few shots of our favorites from the Museum.  We had to take a picture of Rosie with Norman Rockwell's "Rosie the Riveter."

We also liked the abstract horse.  It appears to be made of wood, but it's actually bronze.

This rendition of the Last Supper was really neat.  First, the picture is actually upside down.  You have to look through a small viewer in front to flip the picture.

Next - the scene is done entirely with different color spools of thread.  This close-up shows the individual spools.  Is that cool or what?

The Museum also has multiple clearly marked walking trails.  Some of the trails also have art exhibits beside the paths.  Here's some bronze work of a pig and hungry bear.

 

These trails will be outstanding in the Spring and Fall.  We hope to return just to walk the trails.

We can highly recommend the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art - especially to art aficionados.  However, even if you're not an art fan, the building itself is worth the trip.  Importantly - your visit to the Museum is free.  Enjoy!    

Historic Washington State Park / 16-FEB

On Thursday, 16-FEB, Rosie and I left HSV and headed southwest on I-30 to Washington, AR.  Since Washington is further south, we expected to see daffodils.  Also, this was the weekend for their "Pioneer Day" activities.

As a little background, Old Washington Historic State Park shows what life was like in Washington, AR, from 1824 (when the town was established) until 1889.  The park visitors’ center is an 1874 courthouse.  There is also an 1836 courthouse, a blacksmith shop, weapons museum and multiple historic residences.  Washington was also the capital of Arkansas during part of the Civil War when the Yankees invaded Little Rock.

Here's the 1874 Courthouse:

One of the first things we saw in the courthouse was a quilt collection (very old!).  Here's a neighborhood quilt.  Each flower represents a family.  The names of the family members start in the center and go out with successive generations. 

Another neat quilt was the "war quilt."  Supposedly, a lot of the material came from Civil War uniforms.  It sure looks that way.

Upstairs was the courtroom.  The wood was really neat.

Here's one of the historic houses.  It wasn't open while we were there.

Here's the local church, the oldest Methodist church in Arkansas:

A docent is helping a homeschooler learn to weave.

Inside a local merchant's house, the table was set with really Blue Willow china.

The local blacksmith was making a knife.  Looks like hot and hard work!  Old Washington is the home of the Bowie Knife.

Following a rain the night before our trip, most of the daffodils were a bit droppy, but still beautiful.

If you're ever in southwest Arkansas, take time to visit Old Washington State Park.  It's a short trip from the interstate and well worth the time.  Also, lunch at the local tavern is delicious.

   

Fishing on Granada / part 2

Rosie and I fished on lake Granada - in the wind again! However, I did manage to catch a 3 lb bass. Fun!

Pileated Woodpecker Visits Our Backyard

The biggest woodpecker in our area - the pileated woodpecker - has visited our backyard several times over the past week.  Maybe the colder weather has them looking more places for food.  Pileated really likes the peanut butter mixture in the log feeder - smart bird with good taste!  The pileated woodpecker is about 16.5" from head to end of his tail; a good sized bird.


Here he is on our log feeder.

By accident we got a picture of the pileated flying away from the log feeder.

This one is working on the pine tree.  Bark really starts flying when the pileated is hard at work hunting for food.  Don't you love his hair"do"!

Rosie got some good pictures with her phone camera of two pileated woodpeckers on a tree in the back.

Looks like they're playing "peek-a-boo" in this picture.

Pileated is an awesome looking bird; almost like something out of prehistoric times.  Glad they decided to visit our area.

20-JAN-2012 / Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge w/ the HSV Audubon Society

On Friday, 20-JAN, Rosie and I traveled with the HSV Audubon Society on a field trip led by Maury and Barbara Baker to the Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge.  Holla Bend is about 60 miles from HSV (up AR Hwy 7) and near Petit Jean State Park.  The weather was rather overcast/foggy and cool; we expected the fog to burn-off, but it never did.  However, in spite of the weather, we had a pretty good birding day.  We saw 47 species of birds.

We saw a lot (est. of 1000+) of double-crested cormorants on the Arkansas river.  They formed up in a V-shape and flew close to the water.

In this picture, the cormorants are flying up and over the little peninsula that sticks out into the river.

It was also interesting to see a lot of white pelicans flying with the cormorants.

We also saw a lot of snow geese, mallard ducks, eastern meadowlarks and red-winged blackbirds.  One of our HSV members, Paul Winberg, got some good photos of a hawk and bald eagle.  Great job Paul!

Holla Bend seems to be hawk heaven.  We enjoyed watching them hunt.  We had a great day trip with the Audubon group.  Thanks to Maury and Barbara for leading the group!