Happy Easter

George and I just wanted to wish all of our Blog Friends a very Blessed and Happy Easter.   Alleluia!  Christ is Risen!   Christ is Risen INDEED!  Share the JOY.

God Bless ALL of You,

Arkansas Skies --February 2016

I told you in THIS blog post that I would share more sky and sunset pictures from this year's wonderful vacation to Mt. Nebo State Park in Arkansas.  Except for one day --we had fantastic weather the entire week.   AND---the skies gave us colorful beauty almost every time we were outside --both during the day and in the evenings.

The neat thing about SKY pictures is that the sky is ALWAYS different from one day to the next.  Sometimes,  there are lots of clouds around and other times,  not so many...  Hope you enjoy seeing some of the beauty we saw while in that cute little cabin on top of the mountain!

The picture above was taken from the back of our cabin on 2/22/16,  our first night there... I just watched it and cried with JOY while seeing such glorious beauty.

This photo was taken on 2/24/16 from Mt. Magazine (where we saw all of  the SNOW).   I love seeing the sunbeams popping through the clouds,  shining on the Petit Jean River in the valley below.

A very clear sky with no clouds on 2/24/16--as opposed to 2/22 and 2/25;  

At almost the same location,  here was our sunset on 2/25/16;  This was my favorite sunset simply because I love seeing all of the colorful clouds... You????

After the sun disappeared on 2/25/16,  the sky was still showing off all kinds of beautiful colors.

Another shot from 2/25/16---showing the trees around our cabin PLUS the clouds/sun;

Here's another picture from our 'clear' (cloud-free) sunset --2/24/16;

Here's a daytime view of a pretty sky on 2/25/16 taken  at a viewing area on the other side of Mt. Nebo.

I like this picture with the trees framing the sunset on 2/25/16.

Before the sunset on 2/25/16,  we enjoyed seeing the sunbeams lighting up the mountains in the distance.

Here's another one from 2/25...  I chose a vertical one to get the tree branches as a frame.

Daytime picture from the back of our cabin on 2/25/16;

Going--going-------  almost gone!!!  Sunset on 2/25/16;

Here's another picture showing some of the sky colors after sunset on 2/25/16

Here's one MORE on our last day in Arkansas,  2/25/16; 

Well Friends.....  I could show you a million more I'm sure --but you get the idea of how gorgeous the sky was while we were there.  Here in Tennessee,  we live down a hill --and would have to get to the top of the hill in order to see such beauty.  And even there,  there are mountains and trees in our view.  However,  when we walk on the golf course early early in the mornings,  we can see beautiful sunrises similar to these sunsets.

One of the neatest things to think about is when I am watching a sunrise or sunset wherever I am,   YOU may also be watching them too!!!!   That makes me feel closer to you.  A blog friend,  Jo from Memorable Meanders, in South Africa  walks on her nearby golf course every morning there --like we do here.  She will post sunrise pictures like we do... Makes me feel as if she is NOT that far away!!!!!  Neat, huh?

Well---I hope I brought a smile to your face today!!!!   My hope is that all of you can get outside and enjoy nature including beautiful skies all around!!!!!

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes to George... We had a great week celebrating and I will blog about that trip soon.  

Hugs,

Gorgeous SNOW on Mt. Magazine (2-24-16) ---AND a Birthday!!!!

Mt Magazine Snow --2/24/16

On our recent trip to Arkansas,  one of the highlights was seeing some beautiful snow on the top of Mt. Magazine State Park.   On our annual trip,  we always stay at our favorite cabin at Mt. Nebo State Park.  BUT--we love to visit Mt. Magazine each year, one of the days we are there,  to do some hiking (when possible) and to eat dinner at their wonderful lodge restaurant.  This is a 'tradition' for us.  Mt. Magazine is higher in elevation than Mt. Nebo --so it's usually colder there,  and through the years,  we have encountered different weather up on that mountain.  This year was a FIRST though for us---SNOW and quite a bit of it (only at those higher elevations)...

As most of you know,  I truly LOVE snow and never see enough of it where we live in Tennessee.  George, on the other hand,  grew up in Indiana --so he's had his fill of snow, and would rather not see it... BUT--even George liked this snow (since he didn't have a driveway to clear)....

This was truly a pretty snow --a 'wet' one clinging to everything.  The roads weren't bad --and our Prius did great on the overlook roads... It was VERY cold up there (the wind would cut one in half) --so we didn't stay out of the car for long!!!!! ha...

BUT--even though we didn't hike,  we did enjoy the snow and taking LOTS of pictures.  AND--we did enjoy dinner there... GREAT day for us!!!!!

Get some coffee or hot tea or cocoa,  sit back,  and enjoy seeing 'our' snow in the comforts of your home!!!!!! AND--even if you don't like snow,  just know in your hearts how much "I" LOVED it.

ONE MORE THING:  Wednesday,  March 9th,  is George's Birthday...   I have some GREAT PLANS for him --which I'll have to share at another time!!!!  BUT---you can either wish him a Happy Birthday here (since he does read my comments) --or you can go to one of his blog posts: Click HERE and wish him a Happy Birthday...  Thank him for making ME so happy!!!! He is SUCH a wonderful wonderful man!!!!

Have a great week my friends!!!!

Hugs,

Here's George taking some snow pictures... Be sure to wish him a Happy 74th on Wednesday....

There was snow clinging to EVERYTHING... SO beautiful --and so white and peaceful!

Our Road ---which really wasn't as bad as it may appear!!

Me at one of the overlooks;  That wind was SOSOSOSOSO COLLLLLLDDDDDDD!!!

Many of you know how much I love seeing snow clinging to the shrubs/bushes.

At one of the overlooks ---looking at the mountains/rock formations around us

Another picture taken from the car --at all of the snow clinging to the big trees

The Crazy Woman who LOVES snow!!!

From the lodge George was taking some sunbeam pictures down in the valley below....  We had just finished an amazing dinner!

A picture I took from the lodge --looking at how interesting the snow looked clinging onto EVERYTHING in its sight

One of the cabins on the top of Mt. Magazine;  There are several cabins up here for rent --but they are all HUGE cabins --and we love our 'tiny' one (for 2-4 people) at Mt. Nebo.  BUT--the views up here are wonderful.

A view from BELOW (as we were leaving the mountain) that day;  Click on this picture --and you can see the lodge on the far left on the mountain.  Some of the cabins are to the right of that lodge toward the middle of the picture...

Here's one last picture of US in the snow.  A security maintenance man stopped when he saw us --and offered to take our picture.  He said that he had been awake all night--and was headed home for some sleep!  Wasn't that nice of him to stop?

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of our pictures from Mt. Magazine..... My next blog post will be showing you some beautiful sky and sunset pictures from that trip!!!!!  Love to all!

P.S.  Is anyone having trouble with Blogger?  I had the worst time in a LONG LONG time trying to get this blog ready to publish....  Even had trouble with the curser disappearing.   CRAZY.

Awesome Arkansas Vacation -Feb. 2016

Hi Blog Friends,  Is there a special place where you visit once a year or so --and love it even more every time you go back?  For me ---that place is our little cabin on the mountain at Mt Nebo, Arkansas.  George and I have been going to Arkansas in February or March for about 10+ years now.   I absolutely love everything about being there--even though we mostly  do the same things from one year to the next...

However,  to me,  each year just seems to get better and better.  AND---each year,  Mother Nature provides lots of differences for us..  Some years,  we have lots of rain or ice.  Other years,  it is very warm--or very cold... Some years the sky is prettier than other years,  etc. etc. etc.   You get the idea!!!!!  It's the same yet different.  I LOVE it no matter what.

This year --we visited from the 21st-26th of February.   Except for one day,  the weather was perfect (sunny and seasonably cold)...  This year,  the skies around us all day long put on a SHOW 'just' for us!!!!  We saw three of the most beautiful sunsets that week that I can remember.  My sky and sunset pictures from this year will be a blog post soon I hope.

We love hiking ---so we got to do some of that.  AND---as you know,  we love waterfalls --and enjoyed seeing several this year.  There are three state parks fairly close together in that area of Arkansas.  We stay at Mt. Nebo--but we always visit Petit Jean State Park and Mt. Magazine State Park during our stay...  This year was no exception.

Today I will give you a few highlights of our stay at Mt. Nebo.... The picture above is of us sitting on the top of our picnic table on our back patio --enjoying the view of the valley below --and patiently waiting for the late afternoon sun to brighten up the area followed by a sunset...  What an awesome setting!

This is the back of our little cabin --with the late afternoon sun hitting the area.

Our fabulous wood-burning fireplace in the cabin which we enjoyed the entire week while there

They have had a very mild winter in Arkansas this year --so they definitely were having a very early spring!  I love Daffodils...

Our favorite hike and waterfall of the week was at Petit Jean State Park,  when we hiked to CEDAR FALLS.  I hopefully will do an entire blog post on this area/hike soon.  What a gorgeous waterfall!!!

We love seeing the deer when we go to Mt Nebo.  This little lady was in a group of about four I think--but I chose this picture because she was posing nicely for me in the late afternoon sunlight.

Tuesday, the 23rd, was our rainy day--so on Wednesday, the 24th,  we took off for Mt. Magazine.  The high mountain cascades/waterfalls were really pretty this year.  This beauty is Hardy Falls--on the road up toward Mt. Magazine.

This waterfall/cascade is near Hardy Falls --and its name is JESTICE CREEK Falls.  Oh how these two people LOVE waterfalls--and each other... 

Here's another picture of our cute little cabin on the mountain.  What a wonderful view we have when we are there.

On our last day in Arkansas,  we headed north on Scenic Highway 7 to check out some more waterfalls... This little cascade is named Bowman Hollow Falls.. We loved this area and the creek... Even though it was quite cold that day,  I sat on a big rock and just enjoyed being in this gorgeous place.

The biggest surprise of the week (and such a huge JOY for me) was finding lots of SNOW on the top of Mt. Magazine on the 24th... This was one of the prettiest snows I have seen in years and years.  And even George liked it --since he didn't have to clean it up!!!!! ha.... I'll do a blog post with many more pictures soon.  It was the kind of snow that clings to everything... BEAUTIFUL.

Sunset --2/24/16

Finally,  besides seeing the snow at Mt. Magazine and hiking to Cedar Falls,  the other highlight of our week was being able to see 3 beautiful and unique and very different sunsets while there.  In fact,  we got many sky pictures that week with lots of colors,  sunbeams,  etc...   Don't forget to check out my big header post at the top --and also a couple of pictures from this trip on my Photo Blog.  Click HERE.

Hope you enjoyed seeing more from our wonderful little vacation to Arkansas.  As I said,  there will be at least 3 more blog posts coming, featuring more from this gorgeous area.  IF you ever get to Arkansas,  check out Mt. Nebo... We LOVE it.

Hugs,