Hills & Hollows Gardens now closed!

Forsyth MO - Located at 20130 US Hwy 160 near the intersection of Hwy 160-76 and just across from the Taney Center is a small greenhouse called Hill and Hollow Gardens. It's run by a nice lady by the name of Rachael and is open just about every day of the week during regular business hours.

I stopped in on a lark to see what was being offered and saw that there was a good selection of both vegetables as well as flowering plants and herbs! I was also amazed to see other cars pulling in while I was there, so the establishment was fairly busy. I'm guessing there are a lot of folks who are itching to get something planted in the ground even though it is very early April.

While there, I noticed a selection of tomatoes I was not familiar with called MarGlobe. Evidently they are a well know heirloom variety that offers a good old fashioned tomato taste! Each four pack was priced at just $2 and so I bought a tray of those as well as a 4-pack of Better Boy tomatoes which are a variety I've grown before. I was also pleased to find that Rachael accepts all forms of payment including visa, debit, checks and cash.

If you get a chance, make it a point to stop by and take advantage of plants that are just the right size for early transplanting. Update: I believe they are now closed for the season and will be returning next year!

Charlie's endless cup of coffee dilemma!

Let's see now, the word dilemma means the following according to some dictionaries:

'a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives, esp. equally undesirable ones.'

That could well describe the current situation at Charlie's Ribs Steak and Ale located in Forsyth Missouri where a program whereby patrons could buy a plastic mug and get an endless cup of coffee for a buck has come to an end. Or, has it??

The plastic mug pictured above used to be available for something like $7 at this very popular eatery and it afforded the purchaser the ability to get free refills of coffee for only about a dollar. However, starting in January 2014, there has been a severe shortage of coffee beans which has meant the prices have doubled due in large part to a continuing drought in Brazil! So, without further ado, the owner pulled these cups from display and is no longer offering them for sale. However, that still leaves a small group of customers who eat there on a regular basis and who still have their mugs! The question on their minds is whether the deal they made when they originally bought their mugs is still good?

As one of those customers who owns a mug, I will be anxious to find out for myself....

The entrepreneurial spirit is not dead! Yet!

I stopped, recently, at a booth located in from of the Country Mart in Forsyth and bought a cross from a young lady who had informed me that God had saved her from a life of drug addition!

It's good to see that the entrepreneurial spirit has not been completely destroyed by our government. At least not yet!

Charlie's egg, hash brown and toast breakfast!

A good, nutritional breakfast starts any day off on the right foot. Today, I stopped at a local eatery for just such a meal!

Charlie's Steak-Ribs and Ale is located in Forsyth Missouri on Highway 160 just across from City Hall. They serve up a full menu breakfast including their menu item #1 selection, aka eggs, hash browns and toast. At just $3.49 (effective price as of this post), I feel this is a real meal deal.

Service at this establishment is brisk and professional. I love the relaxed ambiance and how clean everything is. Charlie's also features a full service bar, takeouts as well as lunch and dinner service. You can reach them at (417) 546-2011.

One word of caution: If you order anything other than scrambled eggs, they will hit you with a fifty cent extra charge! That's a 14% increase in the cost of this meal!

Auto detailing available in Forsyth area!

There's a young man here in the Forsyth Missouri area, by the name of Matt Lynch, who is advertising auto detaining work that he can perform. The work includes such items as a car wash, interior vacuum and windows among other services. Matt can also perform oil changes,fluid inspections, power washing of boats, home siding or driveways.

Anyone interested in this form of service can reach him by calling 636-388-2477 during regular business hours!

Troubled bridge over Bull Shoals!

Just this morning (January the 28^th) on Hwy 76 as you cross the Bull Shoals bridge near Forsyth Missouri, there is a lit sign advertising a meeting at the local High School concerning the 'Bridge Project' to be held Tuesday, February the 4th at 5PM. Interestingly, no one at the local Bridge and Planning office seemed to know anything about it. I then contacted MoDot in Springfield at (417) 895-7600 and was told by the person who answered that they also had no idea of who erected the sign, but that they would get back to me.

Jann Clark of the Taney Country Times was the only person I contacted who seemed to know what

was going on. Yes, evidently a District Manager (Modot?) would be available to answer questions at the school cafeteria on that date presumably concerning some of the impacts that would result as part of the extensive renovation efforts that could see the bridge closed down for many months.

Fortunately, an article published, last Tuesday, in the Branson Tri-Lakes News on January the 21^st went into better detail as to some of the particulars concerning this effort. The bottom line seems to be that Mo-Dot is just beginning to look at the entire project, slated for 2017, and may even elect to push it back in time if needed.

Update: I'm not sure who I heard this from, but a person I know that went to the Bridge Project meeting held at the Forsyth High School on February the 11^th told me that one idea was to just leave the old bridge standing even after a new one is built. The old bridge could then be used exclusively for foot and bicycle traffic for pedestrians. I like that!

Empire Electric and a two hour plus outage!

At least the outage was in the wee hours of the morning!

I just have to give it up for Empire Electric. They win the outage race hands down! I've lived for decades in other locations and could count the power outages on one half of one hand. Living here, in Forsyth Missouri, it's like living in the Wild West! 'You just never know when that pesky old sub station will up and quite on you'! Dag nab-bit!

And so it was during the morning hours of October 31, 2013 that the power went out yet again... this time for over two hours! Was it a sub station problem? I don't know. Empire doesn't make it a point to let its customer base know what's going on, unless there is another rate hike in the offing, that is...

Well, perhaps this state of affairs won't last much longer. I'm sure that Obama and Hilliary are even now looking at a National Power Bureau that will allow for our government not only to be a single payer entity for healthcare, but which will also allow them to become your only source for power. What a wonderful world we are living in....