Dear Sunday Letter friends,
Greetings from the Bat Cave! I’m home on the farm this morning—just a quick trip, long enough to sleep in my bed and have lunch at the Wilson Cafe. If you are new to GGG and don’t know of this Bat Cave I mention, click HERE. If you aren’t from around the mid-South and haven’t experienced the Wilson Cafe, it’s worth a drive for the purple hull peas alone.
Little Lucy
I’ll get my sad news out of the way. Our sweet little Lucy girl hasn’t been doing very well. The past two weeks have been tough, and honestly, there have been a couple of nights we didn’t think she’d see another sunrise. Lordy, it’s hard to watch a pet grow old and sick.
Lucy just turned 12. She was diagnosed with a heart murmur last year. (Evidently this is common in schnauzers.) This year, it’s worse and has begun to affect her breathing. Of course, the horrible humidity hasn’t helped.
The good news—on Tuesday, our veterinarian put her on a heart pill. After only three doses, she seemed more like her perky, spirited self, playing with Annabelle, digging into their new Bark Box.
Fingers crossed extra tight that this pill will work its magic for a while longer.
County Fair
Who doesn’t love the fair?
All week, I’ve been working with the Arkansas Master Gardeners at the Washington County Fair. We work in the horticulture building taking entries for cut flowers and potted plants, crops and entomology categories. Many entries are from 4-H kids, but many are submitted by adults. What a fun thing to see all the beautiful flowers and produce grown in Northwest Arkansas.
I’m not a flower judge (now that would be an interesting job!), but my favorite cut flower won Grand Champion! (Can I pick them or what? LOL.) This is a Lemonade Sunflower.
The highlight for me has been seeing all the kids who are so into gardening and farming, the kids that come back after judging and are thrilled to see a friend’s ribbon, or the kids who are awed by the various insects on a display. It does the heart good to know there are kids who still dig this sort of thing. (Pun intended.)
Oh, and with this week’s volunteer hours, I have achieved all my required hours to officially move from Trainee to Master Gardener in December. Whoo-hoo!
Pollinator at Work
The bees love my milkweed, and I love watching them. I snapped a picture of one of the bees a few days ago. When I enlarged it, I realized the little guy was covered in pollen.
How cool is this!!??
This is pollination at work, y’all. What an incredible, hopeful, miraculous thing.
Hotel DeSoto
I ran across this picture of Hot Springs from the 1950s (I think it’s the 1950s, but it isn’t dated). How serendipitous since John and I spent last weekend in Hot Springs. Yes, we drove around the fountain a few times.
This is the sort of thing that can send me tumbling head first down a rabbit hole.
See the Hotel DeSoto sign in the background? Hotel DeSoto opened in 1926 and was a popular destination in its day, known for its mural room and bath houses. Named after explorer Hernando De Soto who visited Hot Springs in 1541, Hotel DeSoto was a favored hotel for the FBI who could watch Al Capone from the top floor. During WWII, the hotel served as an overflow army/navy hospital for rehabilitating soldiers.
See what I mean by rabbit hole?
Last weekend as we walked along the storefronts, stopping for breakfast and window shopping, we were mostly oblivious to what happened even a few decades before us. But every building has an incredible story. I bet if I tried, I could find a compelling bit of history on the Downtowner and the Wheatley Motel, too. The fact that we can glimpse such history in black and white is a powerful thing that always fascinates me.
Maybe I’ll start including an old photo with my weekly Sunday Letter? Lord knows I’ve got a bunch of them.
And now what you’ve all really been waiting for…
Things Momma Says:
Every time I come home, there’s an escaped convict! They need to keep better track of the prisoners.
***
Bye for now, Sunday Letter friends,
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
Been to Hot Springs a few times. Enjoyed your Hot Springs story, but didn’t see the Hotel Desoto sign in the picture. Eyes aren’t what they used to be. I would like to visit the Wilson Cafe. Where is it?
Hi there. The Wilson Cafe is in Wilson, Arkansas (Northeast corner of the state). Thanks!
Sorry to hear about your little Lucy but glad she is getting some relief. You were really in your element at the county fair! I hope your momma keeps her doors locked and her protection handy. When I read your blog to Tom he commented that he thought President Franklin Roosevelt died at Hot Springs. He asked me to google it. Turns out it was Warm Springs, GA. Haha Thanks for another interesting Sunday letter.
Thanks, Colene! Yes, Momma learned her lesson about keeping the doors locked after the shootout in the carport…
Even a quick trip to God’s Country(Mississippi County) is better than none!!!
I agree!
Looks like my kind of lunch!
Glad others had good luck with their gardens – I didn’t this year.
We were in Hot Springs three years ago, walking down Central Avenue, and some man walked up to us and pointed out a tall building on the west side of the street. He said that it was the building used at the beginning of the old Superman television show, where they showed Superman flying around a tall building. I don’t know if that’s true or not.