Beauties and the Beast.

The river creeping through the park and making way toward my house. Thank goodness the sand bag levy is there to hold the Mississippi back.

This is my side yard looking toward the river. As you can see the sand bag levy is in my front yard and the beautiful blooming Magnolia trees are just a few feet behind.

    Well guess what? The old Mississippi is at it again. We just can't seem to catch a break. Lots and lots of rain up north, snow melt and more rain coming. I guess it has to go some where. We are lucky here in my little town. We built a sand bag levy a few weeks ago when the river came up with only a couple days notice. It went down just about as fast. Well, we thought we might just need to wait before  we took all those sand bags away. Well, here it comes again. According to the weather forecast, Core and every one else with an opinion, we are not through yet. This  rise is not two high. Only about 5 foot over flood stage. I am really calm with it, as the last one was a foot more and we made it OK. They are saying we are going to have storms the next two days, starting tonight. The towns up north of us had huge rain falls over last weekend. 10 to 12 inches in spots. That makes the Salt River and Mark Twain Lake over flow and guess where they dump? Right into the Mississippi above us. We have a wonderful Mayor, who is sharp and on top of it all. We also have a couple of city employees that work endless and seem to be able to do most anything. Last time we had the National Guard and Americorp. I have not heard if they are coming back yet. They are a blessing as well.
   In between all the down pouring rain, wind and river rising, my yard has become a paradise. One of my favorite things in the world are my two magnolia trees. They were planted in 06 when I first bought, My Old Historic House. They were babies. Only about 6 foot tall and I could reach around them. They have grown to almost 20 feet now. This is the second flood they have been through. When I first planted them in the summer, we had a huge ice storm that winter. They were bent double. I thought sure they were gone. They came out of it and bloomed for the first time the next spring. This past April we had a 10 inch snow and it was very heavy and wet. It came in a total of about 9 hours. Again my Magnolias were bend double. I went out with a broom and shock it off. An hour latter it was back. I have a few small limbs that broke, but otherwise, they are doing great and starting to bloom. In the 08 flood, there was water all around them. I spend endless hours with pumps and there blooms brought me much happiness. They are so beautiful and the smell is a gift from Heaven.

This is the view from my front porch. Sand and sand and more sand and then the river

You can see the levy is only a few feet from my front porch

   Roses are loving this cool damp weather and they have been blooming there heads off. What more is there to ask for. Look out the window, walk out the door and see so much beauty. Then turn your head and you see the,"Beast." sand bag walls, loads of gravel, black plastic and right behind it all is the creeping river. Slowly it has covered the park and is edging it's way toward the wall. Some will creep under and pumps are required to get it back out. I make numerous trips out in the night to check them. They especially get a work out wen we get these  2 and 3 inch rains in less than an hour. It doesn't seem like we can get a nice , soft and gentle rain any more, we have to have a storm and a flood. This old world is a strange one. One never knows what might hit you next. I guess the best advice comes from the English. "Keep calm and carry on".That has been my new theory through this, my 2 major flood in less than 5 years.
    I hope you enjoy my flowers as much I am. I wish you could come some time for a tour. It looks a little sad to see the sand bag wall in the front yard, but then, It really is a good BEAST, as it so far, as kept the river at bay. Please come anytime. I will leave a light on and Sissy will always meet you with a jump and a big kiss. Richard

Red roses on the arbor

What are these?

A dark peach colored rose.

" The Beast."

Happy Memorial Day!

Hope every one was a wonderful and safe holiday weekend and a great Memorial Day! Remember ours and others that have passed and especially those that have fought for our Freedom.God Bless America
                                          Richard and Sissy the Beagle

Full size, hand made, vintage, flag quilt. FOR SALE, only $65.00. Will ship anywhere for $10.00.  Phone Richard 573 242 9688

Yes, we are open!

   It has been about  10 days since  all the  excitement of a flood in my little town, Clarksville,Mo. We had three days warning that the Mississippi River was going to rise about 15 feet in 3 days. I had never heard of a flash flood on this river, but we got one. At 25 foot the river begins to flood. At 32 feet it is in the street out front of my shop. At 34 feet it is at the edge of my yard. We built a  flood wall out of sand, gravel, plastic sheets and sand bag. It had never been done before. Who knew if it would work. It was done and it did work.. All was safe and dry.I  had a lot of faith, I moved nothing in the shop nor my house. Now we go into that wait stage to see if the river is going to act up again. When it is below flood stage at 25 feet, I am told they will start taking all this away. In the mean time, I need to be open and doing some business. There was about 10 days there when all the work was going on,  there was no way to be open. I did sell a bistro table and chairs to one of the National Guardsmen that was sent here to help. He bought it for his wife for mothers day. Helped him and sure helped me.
   There is a 5 foot tall sand bag wall about 2 feet from my shop. It is a good 30 foot long. People have to park and brave coming down here. There is no danger, but looks  a little like a war zone. I fixed up this old wicker chair as an open sign. I put it on and off the wall daily. It can be seen from the road and I hope it gets a little attention. It will be awhile before all is back to normal. Not as long a it might be, if that Old Man River behaves himself and keeps rolling on.
  I wish you all could come shop. It really is an adventure. I'd sure appreciate the business and would be so much fun to have you. I can promise you that Sissy Dog will meet you at the door with a jump and a kiss. You're always welcome.
   PS. I was just thinking. What would have happened a hundred years ago when no one had computers, telephones, radios, TV and anything else, that would have given the people here in this town ,on that river, any warning. It would have been sad. I guess they might have had some time to move things as the water continued to rise. I am glad this is the 21st century and we continue to get better and better electronic devices to help warn us of weather and floods.

Happy Mothers Day!

   I miss my dear mother daily. I tell so many stories about her. She worked hard. There was 7 of us kids and we lived on a farm. Lots of cooking, cleaning and washing, I am sure none of us told her enough that we were grateful and loved her, I do remember getting and giving hugs, especially when I was a youngin. My mother taught me a lot of things. One thing I have always remembered  was, to be a gracious host. We often had company, most often ate in the kitchen. But, we always had a fine table and treated our guest with respect and much love. Sent them home with left overs, home made treats and flowers from the garden. My mother always had a centerpiece. She was very creative and that has since worn off on me. I remember some of the things she would do, like dig up wild violets from the yard and put them in pretty china cups. After the dinner they would go back to the yard to grow and bloom again .
   My mother was very much religious. I no so much. Not that I am proud of it, but it is how I have grown o live. No excuse, just reality. I grew up in the Southern Baptist Church. We had Sunday school and sermon on Sunday morning. Training Union and sermon on Sunday nights. There was pray meetings on Wednesdays night. I often would go to bible drills where we learned to find bible verses and complete with others.It not only made you know the bible, but also be social with other Christians. My mother learned she had cancer. It was bad. She took the news hard. She just could not understand why God had done this to her. It was one of the hardest and saddest moments of my life. I had to pull out all the faith I had ever known. I told my dear, sweet, dying Mom, it was not the Lord doing this. It was the old devil trying to test her. She smiled and said I was right. A few minutes latter she had gone to the Lord she loved so much. And I just set there crying. I hope I said the right thing and some how made her passing a little easier.
    I know none of us are perfect. Some of my siblings would say my mother was not. I guess I could say that for some things as well. But, she was my mother, the one and only and I loved her and miss her very much. I think Mothers day is a good thing. With out the love and devotion we get from our Mothers, life could be a tough place.
   If you have your  Mother, be sure and make an effort to tell her you love her, appreciate her and how special and beautiful she is.  It doesn't have to be in the form of an expensive present, maybe just a hug. If your Mother is gone, like mine, take a few minutes, close your eyes and look for that beautiful face. I just know my Mother is in Heaven by the God she loved so much. I just hope I might get to see her again someday and tell her once more that I love her,
   Happy Mothers day out there, Come by anytime for a tour. I will always leave the lights on and Sissy will meet you with a jump and a kiss.