Leaf Peeping

We didn't know where we were going when we left, but we ended up driving to Yellville, AR, leaf peeping and taking photos along the way.  Galen took all but one of these photos.

We had a pretty good lunch at this spooky looking restaurant in Yellville.  The building was once a bank and there is still a vault inside.  There was a mummy guarding the door.

The Yellville Courthouse.

Paws for the Cause and Beanfest

The Long Ago String Band playing at Paws for the Cause.

One week later - Beanfest.  These folks, many of who got their chairs in place on Friday night, are enjoying music and dancing on the courthouse lawn.

These folks are waiting for beans and cornbread served free at noon.  There were 34 beanpots fired up at 7AM to cook beans.

These folks are playing and listening to music in the pickin' park.  That is our friend Roger on the washtub bass.

Dead Refrigerator

The cooling unit on our fridge gave up the ghost and we without refrigeration while we waited a week for an Amish made unit to be delivered and a repairman to get here to install it.  As he dismantled the old one he came across these scorched places and said we were lucky there hadn't been a fire.

Several Cemeteries - Geocaching

Harness Cemetery

The gate closure at Ramsey Cemetery.

One of the Ramsey Cemetery Graves.

There wasn't really a skeleton trying to escape from this grave.  I just couldn't resist a bit of Photoshop foolishness.

Blue Mountain Cemetery - Geocaching

A broken heart

This pleasant place is at the edge of the cemetery.

Blue Mountain Missionary Baptist Church.

Alco Cemetery - Geocaching

I went geocaching, mainly in cemeteries, today with Larry and Lu.  According to the person who placed the cache in the Alco Cemetery, there are 150 cemeteries in Stone County and he has tried to place caches in all of them.  Getting to some of them can be a challenge because they are hidden away on bumpy back roads.

Two grave sites had baskets of smooth stones like this one instead of flowers.  I would much rather have stones like this than plastic flowers.

I don't know what kind of tree this is but it sure has interesting bark.

This metal plate attached to Amanda Mills gravestone tells about how she tried to prevent men from dragging her father outside so they could torture and kill him.  They ended up killing her, too.  Amanda and her father were two of the first to be buried in the Alco Cemetery.

The Lazy Goat String Band

Samuel and Emily

Galen, Scott, Emily, and Samuel playing on the daytime stage at the Folk Center.

The Gathering

Bill M helping a new player.

All the classes for the day were posted on the board and labeled beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

The Gathering includes a raffle of some very nice items like this handmade wooden basket by Buster.  Proceeds from the raffle go to three local charities.  $5000 was collected this year!

Cindy, teacher of many excellent classes.

An ongoing class.

This was another favorite at the Gathering.  It is a possum board painted by Billy Martin, an excellent artist and fiddle player.

Ooops.  This photo of a morning smoothie got mixed into these photos and I'll leave it because it is pretty.  :-)  This particular smoothie has kale, oranges, and watermelon in it.  I forget what else.

Another favorite at the raffle.  This beautiful stained glass dulcimer was made by Karen.  She doesn't play dulcimer but her husband does.

Another ongoing class.

As you can see, we lucked out with wonderful weather the whole week.

More raffle items.  I really, really wanted to win the quilt on the left but I didn't.