Esau's Corn,,,,, No Kidding

There's a place just outside of Dumas AR that grows the most wonderful sweet corn in the world.  When you eat it on the cob, all you have to do is get it a little warm and add a little salt.  Its the best thing you've ever eaten, or at least we think it is.

The entire thing is a process and its the same every year.   Their fields are all irrigated and the corn stalks are treaded like movie stars I'm guessing.  They have to be happy stalks to make this sweet of corn.

Once your inside the process moves pretty quickly and the entire process is over less than 15 minutes.  Give you name and time and they give you your corn sacks. 

You have to call and order your sacks of corn in April or sooner if possible and you get a day and a time to come and pick up your corn.  Yep,,,,,be on time and come with the money because if you don't someone else will get your corn.

We got ours and we have it in the freezer waiting for you to come and enjoy, so come on down.

Curb Appeal,,,,, Its Getting Better

Well, the summer is here, the tomatoes are coming in and the flowers and grass are blooming.
Thought you might want to see an updated frontal shot of the place compared to the original pictures in the beginning of the blog.

We are so blessed to be here, we have enjoyed every minute of our efforts here.  Donald and Kay, Mark and Dawn, Donna and Lisa have all made us feel welcome and have been so gracious to us.

Lots of work left to be done, but, we're getting there.

Remember what it looked like back in November 2009?  Great opportunity and lots of creativity could be used.  Well, speaking for the work and leaving the creativity to Jane and Kay, the below is only the beginning or the before.

The front looks a little different doesn't it?  Jane's flower beds, new grass on the north side and a little paint on the front begins the process.

Below is a nice "short"bed on the north side of the front yard.  You can see the new bermuda grass on the right side of the flower bed.  Takes a lot of time to  cut and rake that puppy but it sure is pretty.

Just in case you couldn't see the sunflower plants in the aboe 

Looks pretty good from the road too.  A nice semicircular flower bed divides the large front yard from Curry Road. A lot more flowers down the north side, roses down the south side and "Wa-La",,,, pretty.

Pink Tomato Festival Brings Out The Real Local Spirit

Warren, Jane's home town is in Bradley County and is known for their wonderful "Bradley County Pink Tomatoes".  And they are delicious and juicy and wonderful.  They are with out a doubt the best tomato you will ever eat.  The first are now coming off the vine and its like a fire drill for every one top get some.

The town has a festival that lasts for a week and they really do put on some great events to honor their crop.  The area has lots of local artists, singers and general characters so its a great time to enjoy the area.

A little town just north and west of Rye is called Rison and its actually the county seat for Cleveland county.  Every year some real authentic county people hitch up to their horse drawn wagons and travel the 25 miles or so south to Warren for a day at the Pink Tomato Festival.  This year, Kay gave us a "heads up" that they were coming down Curry Road and allowed us time to get the cameras out and catch the wagon train on film.

This first picture is of part of the wagon train coming down Curry Road with riders clearing the way and meeting anyone interested in the wagon train.  Can't you just imagine this as a way of life back in the days of Dick and Vera Curry (Robert Donald's dad and mom)?  This was some special treat for us.

We followed them around the bend of the old Curry home place and down in front of the WG and Erma Curry home.  (That's the one Donald and Kay are letting us remodel for family use)

Couldn't help but stop the authentic chuck wagon model in front of the house and get a picture.  This wagon is built completely to the original specifications and is considered a trophy winner at all wagon events.   I don't have the owner's name now, but when he sees this if he'll email me I'l give him the proper credit.  Great people, remembering the old days and extending the memories.  

I bet ole WG and Erma would have gone out and given them some pink tomatoes and a cold drink of water.

Man, this is just getting too good for my emotions.  We love it here, and we are so glad to be a part of Donald's and Kay's interest in restoring the old place.

If you like some of these last few blogs, call us and come on down.  We'd love to have you.

Pick'n Time At Tinsman

There is this farm down at Tinsman that grows peaches, blackberries, blueberries, plums and all different varieties of peaches.  My favorite.

Jane, Kay and Donna spent took a day and went to pick some of the special fruit for eating now, canning and freezing.  Boy is this stuff great or what?  Jane didn't want her picture included as "eating while you pick, before you weigh out" is an art and she just didn't have her game face that day.  Next year, Jane is going with her pockets lined with alum-foil just to be competitive.

The blue berries are sooooo good and soooo sweet.  Makes you want to "slap ya momma" there're so good.   

They grow them every year and have for years as I understand.  The prices are unbelievable and the freshness is unbeatable.   Plus, it don't hurt to have some excellent Pickers to go them either.

They have a number of different types of peaches and they come in at different times of the year.  All are excellent and the juice just drips off your elbows when you really get into them.

Just another "perk" for being in Rye.  Boy it just don't get much better than this!

Check Out The Landscaping and "Yard Work"

Remember this picture of the Curry Home the day we we blessed to come down here?

Well, Jane's been busy and I've been a help'n and boy does the yard look alive.  As you can see below we added two flower beds down the main entrance walk and you may not be able to tell but we added Zoysia grass on both sides of the walk.  This part of the front yard doesn't get enough sunlight, thanks to the 90' plus tall Oak tree, so we sowed the Zoysia grass for this part.  The mulch was purchased from a local saw mill that mills Cypress wood and has a huge chipper.  Pretty good stuff and we don't get it from Walmart.

Jane also required a flower bed on the north side of the front yard so we just put'er in.  Soon, all these flowers showed up and popped right out of the ground.  (Ya right)  Hours of digging, scratching and stuff later, its looks very good.

In front of the tall Oak tree and just off the road we also built a semicircle planter bed to help define the drive way and to add a special appeal for the often discussed "Curb Appeal".   Only problem is the only curb we have is when "Tubby" comes by with the grader to smooth out the road.   Oh well, it looks great anyway.  Where's Tubby when you need him.

We also gave Jane another area to work on to help cover up the butane tank.  She's well on her way and the result completes the north side appearance.  She's really pretty good at this stuff!

Shoot fire, we like flowers so much, we put them in the garden.  The tomato plants like them too I guess.

A lot of hard work and creativity has gone into this part of the remodeling.  Jane has worked very hard and done an excellent job.  

So,,,, come on by and see us,,,, we'll keep the light on for you!

Just a Few Updates, Nothing Really New,,, Kinda

Well we took a few days off and returned to Gulf Shores AL with our great ole friends Jane and Curt Rowland.  It was great to get away, visit with old friends, eat a lot of seafood and play some golf.  But, nothing like being "home" now here in Rye.  Jane and Curt were our first overnight guess since we now have completed the guest bedroom.

We finished the floors, painted the walls a bright Country White and the ceiling a lively white.  All in all turned out very nice and is now open for visitors and friends to come and see us.  We had to do major surgery on the ceiling since the original ceiling was falling in, so we just built a support section in the ceiling, put in a ceiling fan and light and saved the rest of the ceiling.

Just one of the things you have to do when you are restoring a lovely old house.  Never a dull moment and you have to keep an open mind to fixes.

We also added a few more things to the kitchen that you may be interested in.  Added a couple of smaller shelfs on the wall to match the design of the large shelf close to the ceiling.  Jane put the final touches in place with some excellent decorations and creativity.  The kitchen is our central place to hang out and we spend a lot of time there,,,,,,,,,eating a lot,,,,,, more than we should,,,,,,, tomatoes will be in shortly,,,,,,,, makes you hungry don't it?!

Come on down!!!!! We'll keep the light on for you !!!

First Good Story From The Cope Group, David Cope That Is

As you remember, David Cope and his sisters came by for a visit a short time back.  They promised to share some stories about the old place and I've received the first one.  Its a good one so, enjoy and keep'm coming.

Just for understanding, "Uncle G" was W G Curry the owner of the old Curry house we're remodeling.  Donald and Kay Curry bought the old house from Royce Curry, WG's son and is responsible for the restoring of the old home.  Uncle Coke's house was just up the way and you may recall seeing the old house as it is now.  The first picture below shows David and his sisters with Donald Curry.  I'm also including a picture of Uncle Coke's house.  We'll be removing the bricks from the chimney to make our entrance walk and we'll take a few of the old boards and use them on the walls of the sun room. 

Back about 1992 we had our last reunion at Uncle G’s. All the Curry’s came and we had a great time discussing all the “old times”. Uncle Coke’s house had pretty much fallen in by then but all the kids wanted to go look at it anyway. A bunch of them took off and went to “explore” the old house. My daughter Melissa (who was about 12 or 13) didn’t go on the first trip.  When the kids got back telling about what they had seen Melissa decided she wanted to go and asked me to go with her. So, here we go again, all the kids and me, back to the old fallen-in house. It was the first time I had been to the house since it had collapsed. Now, it was well known that Aunt Lillian had lost both her legs below the knee to diabetes and had artificial legs. When we got to the house the back part of it was still partially standing and you could see jars on the stove and her creamer and butter separator on the table. We looked around and I saw many things I remembered as a child while visiting them. Someone asked what was that laying on the floor on the other side of the room. I replied “That’s Aunt Lillian’s leg” and the kids wanted to go look at it. After they were all satisfied that was indeed what they were looking at, they all ran back to Uncle G’s house telling everyone about how neat it was seeing Aunt Lillian’s leg. All the kids are grown now and some have children of their own but Melissa still remembers all about Aunt Lillian’s leg.

David

David is in the middle, Donald is on the right

Uncle Coke's Old House

2 rooms, kitchen and a small bath

Sits at the corner of McKinney Rd and Curry Road