Spring is Here #2

Took a walk in the Gorge yesterday and took 150 pictures, hope you enjoy some of these. Spring break is almost over, and it's time to really get after it. I have enjoyed some time off, and now I am ready for some action. Although I have enjoyed this year immensly, I am ready to finish and move on to something else, like trails in the gorge. Peaple think I'm crazy when I tell them my plans for trails in the Gorge, but I am determined to have a footprint in this rugged place so we can enjoy more throughout the year. It really is perfectly situated for my plan, just alot of hard work. Painting will be finished next week, and I will pick up our hardwood floors for Scott and Mike to begin installing a week from monday. I will be putting in the stairway this week, and begin on window trim when I complete the stairs. 2 months of hard work should get me either complete or very close, I  really need to stay in tune and focused. I will order cabinets and countertops this week, and all of our tile has been ordered for flooring and showers, not alot left to choose. Well, I hope everyone enjoys this spring, get outside and experiance it. RJ

Spring is Here #1

massive oak gaurds the gorge

front soffitt and can lights finished

outdoor fireplace mantel supports in place

ready for hardwood floor

painter is getting done

one of the rapids below our place

sitting on a cliff

the deck rapid

The power of floods

not a place for a novice

Big Rain Event

Had about 4" of rain over the past couple days, and it created a monster in our back yard. No one came to try and tame it though, but man it was perfect. So perfect that I decided to sleep on the deck and let it sooth my sleeping. It was awesome!, just something about sleeping beside a raging creek. The little waterfall across the gorge from us made a big showing yesterday and you could see it as you walked onto the deck. Wow, what a spot  when it rains. Me and bro Scott enjoyed a soak listening to the creek and waterfall, then warmed by the outdoor fireplace, I can't wait to share this place with a bunch of family and good friends as soon as we are complete. We got the painter going, and are fast approaching hardwood flooring. As soon as our spring vacation at home ends, it will be an all out push to finish this project. From now on, I will take spring break off with Matt, and we will spend all week paddling and camping with Scott and Cooper and Lucy. A vacation at home in our backyard!  The next couple of months will bring an end to all this work, and we can spend more time enjoying this wonderful area we call home. I know I really needed to take this time off and recharge my batteries, even though there is so much to be done. Sometimes it's just time to get your yaya's. Next projects are; 1) front porch and posts, 2)hardwood flooring, 3) stairtreads, 4)rockwork, 5)interior woodwork. A few more days of fun, then it's back at it, so maybe, SYOTRNOW

Paddling Fever

It's spring break! An awesome time to live by the Buffalo River. We had 14 people on the river saturday, including Matt in his kayak who soloed the whole river and showed good boat control. Robyns good freinds from south Arkansas came up for a couple days, and we just had a great weekend. Everyone was in awe of the house and where it sits, and it sure made me proud to hear their comments. I will get as much done this week as possible, but I also want to do some river camping, you just can't ignore the river when it's this time of year. I wish I had some pics of our trip to show, but I need a river camera. The Osage is ripping, and I have let everyone know it is ready to go, hopefully we'll get a chance to watch some folks run the Gorge from our back deck. --------Just got back from looking at the creek and I am salivating becouse it is perfect for me right now, the first drop now merges into one long rapid with the second drop becouse of the damn being blown out by last years big flood, and it looks like nothing but fun. With more rain on the way, it looks like I might get some paddling in this week. Yeehaw-----oh yea, the house, I guess it will have to wait.