My friend Stella Capek helped to organize Conway’s first annual EcoFest this past September. She convinced me to give a tour of Covington Towers. Concrete is not a very sustainable building material, but once it is up, if the internal structure is kept from rusting, it is up for good. I also gave a tour of our raised bed vegetable garden.
It was great to get to share our home and our garden with the Conway community!
My mother told me to update my blog when I called her last. That is really encouraging!
I’ve been battling bugs. Ty thinks the chiggers got my shins when I was out picking blackberries. I’m convinced they attacked when we went out to Beaverfork Lake, went swimming, then sat on a blanket in the grass. There were 30 seconds where my ankles were in contact with the grass, and I think they spread from there. The itching has been constant ever since.
I’m not going to post the picture here, but you can click through to this image if you would like to feel my pain. The bites are much darker and gross looking now, but at least they’re itching less. I used a combination of AfterBite, ChiggerX, Calamine Lotion, and Benadryl pills (at night) to fight the itch.
The other bugs I’ve been dealing with are squash borers. My new favorite blog, Little House in the Suburbs, is located in Memphis. That’s about the same latitude that we are at. They had a warning post, a fighting post, and a losing the fight post. The bugs have taken over my spaghetti squash and yellow squash plants. They apparently don’t appreciate cucumbers. The plants have yellowed off and died except for the new growth on the tips. We got 3 yellow squash, and may still get a spaghetti squash before everything dies.
The only way to get through all of this trauma is to relax on the roof. Here are some pre-fireworks/dinner pictures from our roof to put you at ease.
Both NPR and friends on Facebook suggested going out and looking at the moon last night. Tyrone made some fried rice, and then we went out to look at the moon. I took a few pictures
When I was young, we would make the same sugar cookies every year. Mom would help us roll out the dough. Later that night, or the next day we would put icing on the cookies along with sprinkles, red hots, all colors of chips and colored sugars.
As I got older, these cookies appealed to me less and less. One year we started making gingerbread houses, but we’d never really eat our creations. After I moved out on my own, I started making sugar cookies in star shapes that piled upon each other to create a tree. All of my cookie making had focused upon construction and visual appeal rather than taste.
Now that I’m hooked on tasty cookies, gourmet.com has posted 67 awesome cookie recipes, one for each year since 1941! I hadn’t realized I’ve made quite a few from the 2000s. The multimedia cogs must be doing their job. I’m also excited by all of the sambuca and anise flavorings. The 1990s have a nice flourless cookie. Gourmet.com also doesn’t hold back with the rum, burbon, and brandy cookies! Start out in the 1940s, and find your own favorite. YUM.
Tyrone and I were watching this fly around Conway last night at dinner. We live a block away from the municipal airport and the building next door is in the landing path, so they cut by a few times. Yes, we waved.
Bonus shot of the tower/moon. You have to click it to see the entire thing.
If you are looking for sustainable housing in Conway, AR, send me a message through the comment system. We are looking for neighbors who would like to live in an energy efficient, non-traditional, industrially reclaimed structure. Multiple single bedroom apartments are available with plenty of outdoor space (two side decks, one covered rooftop deck), and plenty of parking.
The spaces are located within one mile of Hendrix College and UCA (University of Central Arkansas), and the three times weekly farmer’s market. It is also within one half-mile of Axciom, downtown Conway, and Central Baptist College. Great for people who prefer to walk or bicycle to work or the grocery store. City services include high speed internet and recycling.
This weekend we walked across the block to St. Joseph’s school. They were having their yearly fundraiser featuring an extended flea market and “old fashion midway”. We had seen them setting up behind the church for weeks and we were glad to finally walk over.
There were no thrill rides, but there were many “games of chance”. We had no luck with bingo. We also had no luck with “Ham & Bacon”.
How does “Ham & Bacon” work? There is a wheel of fortune marked with all sorts of numbers. You buy a paddle or two for two spins. Each paddle has at least one number on it. All of the booths had different prices. For pork products (and cheese), two paddles for two spins were $1, but for the cake booth, you could get six paddles for two spins for $5.
Finally, the food was awesome. The BBQ was tasty and the carnitas burritos were so juicy. Sorry no pictures of that, my camera batteries died. We had to take these cake pictures when we got home.
Here is a preview post on our new house in Conway, Arkansas. These pictures were taken from outside the single tower, and from the top of the longer tower down onto the single tower:
Last reminder about our show tomorrow night at Knickerbocker’s (see next post), AND first warning about a garage sale at the dome Thursday May 15 through Saturday May 17th.
