Wednesday, October 08, 2008

A Day Away.........



This is the front & back of this cannister.



This is the two sides of the cannister.

Isn't this a beautiful ceramic cannister....and it has SUNFLOWERS on it. This is something I purchased in Eureka Springs, Arkansas yesterday. Wayne and I took a day trip with our local YMCA. This is the first trip that the "Y" has planned and taking, and we were asked to be a part of this trip. There were 43 "Y" members on this trip. We left the "Y" at 9:30 a.m. arrived in Eureka Springs at 11:30 a.m. Lunch was served to us at the Basin Park Hotel, which is in the center of downtown Eureka Springs. Now, this beautiful town sits on the side of a mountain and is VERY HILLY. It is sometimes referred to as "Little Switzerland", and I can certainly understand why, as I have been to Switzerland. After lunch we were on our own for about 2 hours to shop, visit the museums and historic churches. The cannister above was what I purchased at "Back Porch" shop. A very cute two room (very small rooms) with loads of beautiful items stuffed into it.




This is what I purchased at the cross stitch shop...3 Pine Mountain kits and 5 pieces of 16 count Aida fabric.

The photo's below show the inside of the fabric shop we visited. Elizabeth, the owner, opened the shop 36 years ago. All of the stitched designs on display in the shop are ones she stitched herself. You can certainly tell she loves the craft and she is a very lovely, gracious lady. She and her DH are wanting to retire and travel, but finding good help that knows how to cross stitch is not easy. I do believe she has a chart from most every designer. The shop is just full of everything.



The name of the cross stitch shop is "Fleece and Flax". I'm sorry the photo is not very clear, but we had a very cloudy day.










Well, what do you know...here you have me and DH, in the photo below, aboard the Belle of the Ozarks, cruise boat. Which was part of the trip to Eureka Springs. It was a cruise on Beaver Lake. It was very enjoyable, but it was COLD. We saw the Ozark Bluff Dwellers burial ground, a submerged homestead (the owner plants his gardon on his roof), and we cruised around a 200-acre game preserve island. We saw a beautiful bald eagle sitting on a dead tree and finally took off in flight, and he was beautiful in flight, so very elegant with his wing span. We also came upon a Blue Heron, and a deer. The foliage was just beginning to turn. Even though it was cold, this was the highlight of the trip. Oh, we also saw Beaver Dam. You can check some of this out at www.belleoftheozarks.com.





This is the 200-acre game preserve island.




Eureka Springs is a very old town and the city fathers have tried to keep the town authentic. It is said that the Basin Park Hotel and the beautiful Crescent Hotel has ghosts, but I don't think I want to find out! There is much to do and much more to see in Eureka Springs. We also made a stop at the Fudge Shop for some much needed sweets for then and some to bring home. We also needed coffee and doing all the shopping, so we stopped in at the coffee shop for cappuccino's and a yummy, very large peanut butter cookie, which we shared. Wayne also stopped in at the Leather Shop and purchased a new wallet (I'm not suppose to tell, but he washed his other wallet in the washer!) Shhhhhhh, don't tell, or I'll get in trouble!

All-in-All, it was a very enjoyable day and DH didn't have to drive, no parking to worry about, as the bus dropped us off in front of the hotel for lunch, and came back and picked up there. The people traveling with us were very friendly, many of whom we knew, and some we had not seen in a while, so we had some good visits.

I hope I didn't bore to much, but thank you for reading and looking at our day. Please leave a comment, I would love to read what you have to say.

Blessings,
Barbara

5 comments:

Nancy said...

A very enjoyable post to read Barbara. Eureka Springs looks like such a charming town, and the needlework shop - WOW! I would love to get lost in there. The game preserve sounds like such a peaceful place - one that you could walk through for a few hours. I'm so glad you had such a nice time, and what a gorgeous photo of you and Wayne! You look so in love!

Tanya Willis Anderson said...

Lovely post, Barbara. The picture of you and Wayne is wonderful - nice to put a face with a name!

Tanya

Nancy said...

That shop is great. What fun to browse through it. I love the patterns you picked. I bet you will stitch the Halloween design first. That was a really nice picture of you and Wayne. I love bus trips. It sure is nice to be just dropped off at the door, and no planning.
I am at Myrtle Beach now. The condo is really nice but they are working on the beach with bulldozers. I hope they will quit for the weekend. We are watching Mary Poppins now.
Nancy

hazel c UK said...

Hi Barbara, Such lovely pictures to view and how nice your sunflower cannister is, I know how you love sunflowers so this has certainly gone to a very good home. I love your photo of you and your DH.

Thank you for sharing your special day.
Hugs, Hazel

Elizabeth MacGregor-Kirkcaldy said...

Oh, what a lovely post, Barbara and the photo of you and Wayne is just precious! :-) The look on Wayne's face as he's gazing at you is so sweet... he looks so in love and you look soooo loved, happy and blessed! :-)

Love the Needlework shoppe... I could stay all day and still not be done browsing and shopping! lol

And your cruise on the Belle of the Ozarks must have been sheer bliss! Cold or not, I would love it! :-)

Thanks for sharing your lovely day with us, Hun! :-)