Scenes from Arkansas

We had a lovely Memorial Day. Relaxing and nonplussed C-Man, our daughter and I, oh and Cooper of course, took a small day trip to a local State Park. The weather cooperated wonderfully.

This is a small chronicle of our little trip. Warning, massive picture posting here. There are so many incredible places in this state to snap sections of natural beauty. I never tire of taking my camera with me.

This is Mount Petit Jean.

As you can see it is a giant plateau that rises above the valley about 600 feet. I realize this is only a hill when we consider the hills in the Carolina’s and those peaks out west. For us, this is mountainous and a ton of fun.

To get there, we traverse the mighty Arkansas River. After all the weather this part of the country has suffered, it is hugely swollen. All that water has churned up a ton of sediment, hence the brown color.

The second we hopped out of the car, with Cooper of course, we were mobbed by a crew of teenagers who descended upon the little fellow en masse. He loved it!

Then comes the scenery. The plateau gives us a huge vista, the river twining through the valley below. This is the southern exposure of the lookout.

Then to the north is a view of the river as it winds its way through farmland and cattle pastures.

Then there are these people with Cooper. They will be featured in quite a few of the following pictures, so brace yourselves.

Then there is a the stray little girl who just has to get her hands on Cooper. We can’t blame her.

And of course, my little girl has her moment of glory.

Our small excursion to the lookout with its short walk-ways and numerous visitors fondling little Cooper, wore him out. This is his spot in the truck. And this is Cooper – wiped out already and our little tour has only just begun!

We find a tiny sandwich shop where we can eat outside so Cooper can join us. I love eating outside.

Then we found this little treasure of picturesqueness. I’m a sucker for waterfalls and this is just downright lovely.

This is a waterfall from the water draining out of Lake Bailey.

Cooper takes it all in.

C-Man is content to stay in the shade and enjoy the view from afar.

Our next stop is the Cedar Falls. It is nestled deep in the woods and drops about 95 feet. I tried to get the bottom of the falls, but so many spring trees in full bloom bar the visuals that far down.

This is the walk way to the falls. It winds down the mountain slope at an easy grade. I love the tree cover and the plank boards beneath our feet. Wrought iron fencing protects the public from the dangers of slipping down the slope.

Love the play of light on my babies in this shot.

We did a number on ole Cooper. He sprawled the whole trip home. There is only so many strides 3in legs can bear and we put them through their paces.

That is big chunk of my piece of heaven today. I loved every second of it.

Love,
Jeannene

Cooper’s First Hair Cut

This post is all about comfort. Comfort from the heat. Comfort for the summer and mom trying to make sure everyone really is comfortable.
Do you get my drift?

As the mom here, I can’t stand to have my family out of sorts and that includes our little puppy. Shih tzu dogs are covered in hair. I mean it is abundant and it grows long. This is a good thing when living in the cold climates these little guys were first raised in. To have that much hair here in Central Arkansas can be dangerous to their health.

Cooper is no exception to this rule. His coat has been growing since birth and that means it is forming a perfectly wonderful form of insulation…. for the winter months, not for the summer. Poor thing pants and lies on the cool tiles to escape the heat. I just couldn’t let him suffer the heat. Solution: hair cut.

As you can see, Cooper is covered in hair. He is so cute and fluffy and huggable.

I took matters into my own hands and decided to thin his hair just a tad. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I had chopped it off pretty completely. Can you see the spiky pieces of hair standing up on end? I butchered the poor little guy. He doesn’t seem to take any offense though, you know?

His little feet are still rapidity. I have no idea how to trim them properly. He has so much hair and it is everywhere. He didn’t complain with the cut though. He flitted around the house happy as a lark to be free of some of that insulation.

But…. C-Man and my daughter don’t really want to take the little guy out in public like that. He has holes in his back and the cut is uneven all over.

Can’t you tell?

Get a load of those paws too.

And… can you see all those uneven ends all over. He is still awfully cute, though.

So I took him to the groomer’s this weekend to sort out the mess. We went to the Petsmart place and they were awesome. Cooper is a puppy with no experience at grooming. The girl who took care of him was outstanding and he stood for her like a trooper.

To see him, one would never guess the dog has never seen a grooming table and leash in his short life.

He just lets her move all around his little body with the clipper without a word of protest. She just shaves away. This was not the scene at my house a few days before, believe me.

It looks like he almost enjoys it. I am proud of him though.

He even caught sight of us through the mirror.

And now we have a perfectly groomed little dog.

Can you see his little feet are all trimmed up and there are no more fly away pieces. We can see all of his brown little eyes. His ears are all even too.

One last look.

He is a big slice of my piece of heaven nowadays. Who’d a thought.

Love,
Jeannene