Can You Believe It's June?

The last of Mississippi. This is where I spent part of the birthday. In Tupalo, Mississippi at the birthplace of Elvis Presley. I have not ever been to Graceland where he lived but he was born in this very house. I sat in the swing on the front porch.
Don't know who was sitting there when I took that picture. It is what is known as a shotgun house. The front door and back door are straight from each other.

A statue of Elvis at 13. His mother bought him his guitar that year I believe. He wanted a gun but she bought him a guitar. He learned to play it on his own.

This is the little church that he first sang in. It was moved on to these grounds because the land it was on was sold for commercial use. It is a cute little Assembly of God church.

This is the memorial chapel in the museum. It looked and smelled like a funeral parlor. Not my favorite place there.

Good by Mississippi. I had a wonderful time.

This is crossing the Tennessee River at sunset. We had been through a corner of Alabama and then into Tennessee. We were on the Natchez Trace.

I went to walk down closer to the river to take a picture and realized a guy was camped down there. I didn't go any further. It was so beautiful there.

This is Penny. She is about 11 and guards there entire neighborhood. She is a good old girl. She always acts like she remembers me from one visit to the next.

My niece Tina and her angel Jimmy. He is 6. Jimmy has Ceberal Palsey. He is a sweet loving little boy and a funny sense of humor. He is getting more verbal all the time and its wonderful to hear him talk. One or two words at a time. You never quite know what he will say.

He was telling me HUG Hug so I was hugging that sweet little boy. Don't know how I got two of these so just pretend the next one isn't there.

Spike is the cat of the family. He loves Sharon, hates Brownie. Its funny.

Tina's older son Riley. He is a real character. He loves us and calls Bob Uncle Bobby. We all laugh our heads off except Bob. But that's OK. And he loves my dog Skeeter. He wanted them to both come with me.

And this is Liam. He has more energy than the entire family put together. Sharon's grandchildren have all picked out their names for me. Caroline calls me Grammy. She started that when she was 3 and still calls me that. Liam calls me AnnaLea. Loved it. The flowers were for his Whammommy which is what he calls hims Grandma. Aren't kids funny?

This pond is down the lane from Sharon's house. Penny loves to swim in it. Sharon, Liam, his mama Kat and I took a walk around it. Everyone got ticks on them but me. I was combing my hair and itching just thinking about what might be on me.

I am so disappointed in my progress with Sage. She is needing me to almost start from the beginning. I touched her shoulder today after rubbing her with the stick and she swung her head around with her mouth open. I kept the stick between me and her head but it scared me a little. Bob is working on the round pen so I can get her going. The little pen is good for gentling but not good for really working. At least not for me.

The remaining two of the four we bought and were sick are doing great. One is sharing Candy with Snickers and the other is going to be a bottle baby. Well a bucket actually. His name is Jack and the other is Joe.

Life is busy here on Calico Acres Farm.

Blessings

Memorial Day

This is Memorial Day. My pictures are still of Mississippi. I think tomorrows are the end of these pictures. Then, comes Tennessee.

Cricket running in the pasture. Sure is a mustang isn't she. I just love her alot.

Isn't that a mustang post though. She is such a character.

Maybe I will just eat a while. I could have sat there and took pictures all day I think. I miss her but know she is right where she is supposed to be. She and Carrie have a very special bond. I love that. You know mustangs pick their people and she picked Caroline.

Now Caroline is on Baby Dash practicing barrels. She flies. I thought I uploaded another picture but it is not here. It was just more flying around.

Caroline and I on the balcony of a bookstore in Oxford, MS. She was about tired of having her picture taken.

Carrie and her mom Suzy. She had had it with the camera. I told her I was going to plaster her face all over the Internet.

Another Carrie in the bookstore.

This little poster was on the wall of the ladies room. I want it but no one knows how to get the poster. I got a copy off the Internet of the writing but I wanted that with her picture on it. Her name is Nadine Stair. She is 85 years old or so.

This is Ole Miss where Caroline is going to college in a year. I believe she has already been accepted. Its a beautiful campus.

Just liked that. Caroline is a dancer not a band girl. I do believe she plays the flute but that is not her priority right now.

I do hope you are not completely bored with my pictures yet. Am just hitting the high spots.

We had a really good day today. We went into Big R this morning and got some horse stuff because they had a wonderful sale today. We went to Walmart and got some stuff and 12 tomato plants, 2 pepper plants and a lemon balm plant. I don't know what you use it for but love the smell of the leaves. Now I have to go back and get tomato cages. I only have one.

Hope your weekend was wonderful. I am so thankful to have born in this wonderful country. We hear the phrase "Freedom isn't free" and I am so grateful to the families who have sacrificed so much so we can be free.

Blessings.

A good day

At last I have my "new" car. Ever since I drove a Toyota Camry last year when my car was being repaired after I got rear ended, I have wanted one. I knew I was going to get a car with the settlement when I got it. It came while I was visiting my niece and my sister and their families. We had gone looking just before I left but could not find one in our price range. So yesterday there was one in our paper, Bob called about it, we went to see it, I drove it. We came home and talked about it. Bob called today and made them an offer and they took it. We went out and in no time at all I was driving my car home. No its not brand new but it is to me and I love it. It has every bell and whistle that I wanted including the color. I wanted red but that was not a deal breaker unless it was grey. I did not want another grey car. Anyway, here it is.
Back to Mississippi pictures. This little shop is in Carrollton, MS. I loved the name of it. Carrollton is a sweet little town.

Caroline and I after we got home from church. Isn't she beautiful. She will be a senior this fall at Kirks Academy in Grenada, MS.

A turkey buzzard. I guess the proper word is vulture. The are huge birds and they just float in the air currents. Not too pretty to look at up close but I loved to watch them soar.

Lake Grenada. It was much larger than I thought it would be. No one is allowed to own beach property and there is no businesses on the lake shore.

The house. I think it is stunning. The balcony on the second floor on the right hand side is the room that I got to call mine for a week.

If you are country music fans and know Brooks and Dun's song "Red Dirt Road" it must have been made because of this road.

I really got a giggle out of this building. Isn't that funny? At least I thought it was anyway.

So did this this place. It wasn't in operation any more but the sign is still there.

Chief Duck. I would be rolling my eyes too. I think that is what it looks like he is doing. The town of Duck Hill is named after this guy.

And we are standing together.

Cricket rolling in the dirt after our ride. Carrie had hosed her down and this is the thanks she got.

I loved that pose. She just sat there a few and let us take her picture. She is a character and am so thrilled that I got to see her all grown up.

Church was especially good this morning. I am so glad to have been there. The message was about running from God. Pastor Monte had a difficult week because it was just a year ago this weekend that his 17 year old son died after his 4th or 5th. open heart surgery.

Some sunshine today, that was a relief after a very wet week. Blessings to you all.

Trying to catch up

I think I loaded these backwards this evening but OH well. I have had a busy day and backwards just seems OK.

This is the pond at my nieces place in Mississippi. The dog is Rosalie. She does not like the water a whole lot but it was so hot that she jumped in. I don't know if there are fish in the pond or not but its a nice spot.

Caroline and I heading riding up the little hill toward the pond. I am riding Baby Dash and she is riding Cricket. Baby Dash is an awesome barrel horse but is a calm trail horse. She is calm until you ride her into the arena and she is like a rocket. I didn't do that. The trail was just fine for me. The stirrups are a little short but that was OK

Across the field we went. It was so hot that day. Carrie got a bad sunburn. I don't burn very easily. The doctor would probably have a fit but I have always been out in the sun.

One of the things on my Bucket List - to get to ride Cricket. I adopted her at about 4 months old and gave her to Carrie when she was 3 I think. I always have wanted to ride her at least once. I did not ride her on the trail ride because she has way more up and at em than I was ready for. I did ride her in the arena for a while.

Beautiful Cricket.

This is not what it looks like. This is in a row of sharecropper shacks that a family bought and brought here. They redid the insides to include AC, frig, microwave ect. It is called the Shack Up Inn. There are 8 of these little houses. They rent for 60.00 a night if you stay more than one night. 72 if you don't. There is a gift ship and a place where they have Blues groups - they call it a Juke Joint. Not at all what it sounds like and they have church on Sundays. It is near Clarksburg, Mississippi on the Delta.

In Clarksburg at the Ground Zero Blues Club. Its quite a place. We would call it just a bar but its a club there. Morgan Freeman the actor owns half interest in it and they say he is almost always there. Well he wasn't this day.

Again, the Blues Club. There is not a square inch in the entire place that does not have a signature on it. And we did not have a pen to write with. It was a fun place to visit.

The road to Alligator, Mississippi. Its just a little mostly black community on the delta.

Another little town like Alligator or I liked the name better. Wouldn't it be fun to be from a town named Sunflower?

Cotton fields on the delta are many. They are getting ready to plant for the next crop. The soybeans are growing well. We saw lots of them too.

Joey, Carries kitty telling me he wants in the house NOW. He is an elder statesman and expects instant attention.

Are you getting bored with my pictures yet: I have many more. Will be putting a few on each night until someone yells ENOUGH.

We did alot of spending money today. We got the plywood to fix the roundpen so the fence is high enough so I can work Sage in there and the other mare too. We got the laminate flooring to put in our bedroom and a bunch of other lumber for projects Bob has going around here or hopes to have going anyway. I got the paint for our bedroom yesterday. Now to ring someone into helping me paint it.

This morning Katie came and caught all the kittens and we moved them to our spare bathroom. They will just be wild if we leave them down in the barn. Their mothers were taking them out of the grain bin and we have been rounding them up. One is missing. Can't help it. They are cute little buggers. If they would only stay kittens and not grow into cats.

So that's my day in a nutshell I guess. My book and I are going to bed.

Blessings.

The fog is clearing

Mississippi

The Confederate flag flies with OLD GLORY above the square in Greenwood. There is a lot of segregation history in this town. Martin Luther King marched to this square if I remember correctly. Suzy told me several stories about the happenings during that awful period of time in this country. I just can't remember the details of them all.

The courthouse in the square in Greenwood. It was really a beautiful building. That is a magnolia tree on the right side of the picture.

And this is a magnolia blossom. Have never smelled anything sweeter in my life. They are stunningly beautiful.

Cotton is certainly king in the Mississippi delta area. The cotton gins are huge. Guess I didn't know that.

The Yalobusha River. That is a mouth full huh. I had to write it down so I could remember it.
All of the rivers are so muddy. Suzy said its because its close to the MS River and it is muddy. I don't think I would even want to eat a fish out of it. There were people fishing. ICK.

This was in an old cemetery. Lots of Civil War graves too. The time frame was awesome to me. The thing that really ticked me off was that so many of the old graves were desecrated - the stones broken, knocked over and scattered. Why would someone do something like that?

This was in Greenwood. It made me laugh.

People really do live in this house. There were a lot similar and I would have taken pictures but there were people on the porches and I would not embarrass them for anything. Poorer than poor people.

The Greenwood swamp. I would not even open the window of the car. I could just imagine the bugs. I kept looking for an alligator but did not find any. Too far north I think, I don't know. They can stay hidden if they were there. The Cypress trees were very interesting.

Caroline trying on her new toe shoes. She has taken ballet for a long time. I wanted to see her on her toes but that never worked. She has a recital Fathers Day weekend in Grenada.

This is a cemetery near Suzy's. I don't know why the fences and roofs over the graves. Does anyone have an idea. Very strange to me.

This is a little stream on Suzanne and Lindsey's property. It was so cool looking., Loved it. It just runs out of the brushy area.

Elvis's eye. He was so sweet. He is actually a pinto I think, grey and white. He is about 30" at the withers.

They call these buttercups but they are not like buttercups here that grow close to the ground the very early spring. They were pretty though.

I know this is supposed to be about horses but that will come again. Today I went down to work some with Sage and every time I touched her shoulder she tried to bite me. Not nice about it either. Tomorrow we are getting the wood to fix the round pen so I can really work her there. We do have another mustang mare here to work too. She is a pretty thing but aggressive.

Hope your Memorial Day weekend is wonderful

Blessings