Author: Julia

I am a retired software solutions architect. I have been married to my husband, Bruce, for over forty years. We went full-time RVing for 3.5 years and saw much of the United States. After deciding to stop RVing, we bought a ranch house halfway up a hill on five acres. After Bruce and I talked about names for our five acres, we settled on Blackberry Homestead as a homage to the wild blackberries on the hill. We are working on creating our homestead. I love cooking and enjoy sharing recipes. I am also an artist, and I’ll share my current projects. Gardening and reading are my favorite hobbies.

A Lot to Say!

April 27, 2024 After my last post, I received this notification from WordPress: I had no idea I had published that many blog posts!

A Couple of Stops Along Hwy 65

April 27, 2024 After our visit to the Louisiana State Cotton Museum, we rode back along Hwy 65 towards the RV. We had passed a sign saying Hot Pepper Sauce, so on our way back, rode down the short gravel road and pulled into the Panola Pepper Company. We were excited and hoping to get […]

The Louisiana State Cotton Museum

April 26, 2024 We got a nice clear day in Lake Village on April 12. I wanted to go see the Louisiana State Cotton Museum in Lake Providence, Louisiana. Google claimed the museum was open, so we geared up and headed out. The museum is in Louisiana on Hwy 65 across the highway from Lake […]

Rain and More Rain, a Bit of Overflow at Lake Chicot

April 26, 2024 We got a lot of rain while staying at Pecan Grove RV Park. After the rain let up, we crossed the highway to see Lake Chicot. It was up over the bulkheads. We walked out along the pier and when we came back, there was a loud splash under the pier on […]

Current News, A Couple of Falls

April 26, 2024 I have had a couple of falls in the last few days. The first fall was on Monday (April 22). I was getting off of the motorcycle when I slipped. I was fully geared up and I fell on my butt and hands. If I hadn’t been wearing gloves, my hands would’ve […]

And Finally, the Reason We Went to Arkansas, the Total Eclipse of the Sun

April 26, 2024 The day before the solar eclipse (April 7), Bruce and I checked the weather forecast and decided that Hot Springs, Arkansas was still a good place to try to see the total solar eclipse. On Monday (April 8), we got up at 4:00 AM to drive to Hot Springs. We wanted to […]

Cornbread as a Meal

In reading “Ottolenghi Simple: a Cookbook,” I came across a recipe for Cornbread with Chedder, feta, and jalapeños. It sounded delicious and I had most of ingredients on hand. I made a couple of mistakes in making this cornbread, but it still came out wonderfully. My first mistake was not realizing that the thawed frozen […]

A Walk Around McGehee and Wiley A. McGehee Memorial Park

April 24, 2024 After our visit to the Japanese Internment Camps Museum in McGehee, we needed to walk around and process the information in the museum. McGehee has two pocket parks that we explored. After walking around for a bit, we geared up and rode towards Hwy 65. Once we were on Hwy 65, we […]

Visiting the Japanese Internment Camps Museum in McGehee, Arkansas

April 22, 2024 With the rain having stopped, we decided to ride the motorcycle to McGehee and tour the Jerome-Rohwer Interpretive Museum and Visitors Center. We decided to eat BBQ in McGehee before touring the museum as they have “Hoots,” which is on the Arkansas BBQ trail. We found Hoots to have outstanding BBQ and […]

Getting Information about the Solar Eclipse at Arkansas Welcome Center

April 21, 2024 On April 3 (Wednesday), we walked from the RV park to the Chicot Coffee & Cafe across from the Lake Village Arkansas Welcome Center. We had breakfast sandwiches; I had camomile tea while Bruce had a cup of coffee. The patio outback faces Lake Chicot. It has a pretty mural painted on […]