Let's Shift The Boat

That day morning, we drove to the farm to pick up a boat for helping out Brian's the fishing activity. I joined Carla and her father to the farm chicken house, where we have to pick up the boat from. Yes, the farm is in the house premises, but we had to go in the truck to get it.

All dressed up for clearing the pond. But I didn't do anything other than clicking pictures :)

That's a serious warning in Texas. You'll only realize it when the first bullet hits the body :)

I don't know what he was looking for. But it was for some information for sure.

Some rakoon's foot prints in the chicken house

A Safari In The Backyard

Brian asked me, "Do you want to go and see some deer?". I thought  he might be talking about some zoo near by. I never thought of spotting some bucks in the backyard. It was fun, a lot of fun.

The sun was about to set when we started off for the little backyard safari. We hoped onto one of the truck, with my camera and a binocular.

It was getting dark and I was kind of liking that journey. There isn't the hassles of city life anywhere, no noise pollution. Just us and the nature. With the cool and comforting breeze, my mind was fresh and I was excited looking out for some bucks around.

These are not the bucks. Cows in the farm, enjoying their evening.

One of the many ponds in the farm. 

Hey, the buck spotted.

Brian looking out for some more

A hunter's skill to spot a buck is incredible. I admired that in Brian.

Summer in Arkansas turned the hay in the farm to the perfect golden colored portrait. A perfect camouflage for the bucks to hide. The hay was so tall that it was tough to spot the buck. But Brian's eyes were sharper than a binocular.

I was shocked when he spotted a buck from a far distance. When I asked him how he could do that, I was amazed with that little trick - "Look for the difference. Something whitish in the midst of the golden hays around". Yup, that works!

We found 6-7 of them around. Gazing with their families, they were too having a perfect evening.

The whole trip was awesome. A perfect mini safari in the backyard...

Cabelas - A Hunters Passion

Brian was excited, and I was over excited when he planned for an evening shooting fun. So what we have to do next, was my question to him. Let's go to Cabela's and get some shells and clay shots. When responded with an 'Okay', I had no idea about the place am getting into.

The place looked like a perfect destination for a hunter, with all kind of tools and gadgets for hunting and fishing. Of-course, I was shocked to see the gun section they had. I felt like a jewelry shop in Bangalore, with an exception that, instead of jewelry, they had guns, rifles, pistols and bullets. 

I never seen a gun shop in my life before. And when the sales person heard about the same, he was excited to show me the things around, which ended up with hands on experience with the best hunting guns in the world.

The first thing to learn about hunting is to identify the various types of deers. And the shop had a section which displays the common replica of those animals. Never seen the most closest replicas ever.

Ethan & Rowas was excited about the place. And they were my guides inside the shop :)

The hunters watch tower. Tied to a tree, the hunter can watch for the prey. 

The shot gun collection. I have only seen those in GTA games :)

While trying out some pistols, I felt like its better to go to a gym than carrying these around. So heavy it was.

What a collection. I have only used these in GTA series

Discovering the collections with Ethan

Poor animals.

Brian checking out his favorites

I would prefer to go to a gym than holding this for a minute. 

Some oldies. As the saying, they are gold.

It's Baking Time

I was tired because of the long drive. The GPS took me through a crazy way to the destination. 

Ani was on the car speaker phone, providing info on the things around, on the way. All of a sudden, the mobile went out of range. The call got disconnected and I was through way, with woods on the both sides. 

Was little scared inside. And the route made me to stay at a speed of 35 mph, which took an extra hour to reach the destination. All these made me to sleep tight that night. So deep I slept on that day.

Isn't that looks like a place with out rain for years. I was thinking how she made this design on it. Which she took one small metal ring and showed me the trick behind.

The  next morning when I got up, this is what I saw on the kitchen table. I was wondering what it was. Is that a cake is what I asked Carla first, which then she told that its Biscuit. I took a piece and tasted it. It was soft, like a sponge cake and bit sweet. 

She can make it ready in 30 minutes and a good breakfast item. Along with the beef and cheese gravy, it was a perfect breakfast dish for me. 

It was kind of watching a cookery show. Carla was mentioning about each and every step in potato baking. With some secret tips which makes the dish a special one, it was a truly insightful session :)

Isn't those looking cute. Guys, you are going to get baked :)

For those who want to try out making the above biscuits, use the below recipe and enjoy a wonderful breakfast.

Biscuit Recipe:

2 1/2 cups (325 grams) all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar (optional)

1/2 cup (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup (180 ml) milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Topping:

1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk

Venison Burger Making

Well, I tried Alligator meat in my last visit to Texas. But I never tasted a deer meat burger before. 

So when I came to know that Carla was planning for Deer Meat Burger for the breakfast, I was excited. Sat and watched how she prepared the filling. Then made a custom burger with own choice. That was tasty. Tender and yummy meat.

With BBQ seasoning all over, the meat getting cooked inside out.

The custom venison deer meat burger. Yum yum!

The Flea Market Visit

The first day at Arkansas, Carla and I was on the way to rent a motor to drain the pond for fishing. I noticed Carla mentioning about the Flea Market couple of times in the conversation.

When she came to know that I had no idea about the flea market, on the way back home, we got into a flea market.

I never seen something of this sort in India. And I found that interesting and something I love to do back home.

For those people who don't know what a flea market is:

A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of bazaar that rents space to people who want to sell or barter merchandise. Used goods, low quality items, and high quality items at low prices are commonplace.

You can rent a space for say, $30 and keep the items you want to sell out. It can be the things which is eating up your space at home, not much used for the past few months, or you created as a hobby part. Sell those things or exchange it for the things of your interest.

A recommended place to visit.

The whole room was divided into sections and you can rent a section to show off and sell your stuffs. 

The presentation skills matters at this place. What I could see was the efforts to catch the attention of the customers first. That's a tough competition around. I spend lot of time wondering at the way they have decorated things all around. It was so captivating.

Looks like a used jacket with some attractive designs on it.

The Cow 'Girl' boots. I wanted to get this for Ani. Visualizing the boot coming on to my face back in India, dropped the plan of getting it :)

The home made soaps. An example of simple decoration with an attractive view.

Things for the living room. I believed those as junks. But not everything. They can add colors to the room for sure.

Loved this wooden chair. 

The memory tower. Someones creativity. 

The wooden wind mills

This is definitely Ani's are of interest. The stitch kit section.  

Gone creative with the reusables... 

This room has an ambiance of a night time. Probably a good time for a story.

With a Troll Toy...

The Arkansas Saga

First long weekend in US. While trying to hard to figure out how to utilize the days. Carla extended an invite to her home in Arkansas. When asked about hows the place looks like, she readily shared a activity schedule on the plans for the weekend.

135 acre farm, country side, fishing - I knew in heart that it's the place to celebrate the weekend. But what I have gone through was beyond my expectations. Pistols, Rifles, Shot Guns, Deer Safari - that was an experience of a life time...

Thanks to Brian, Carla & their sweet family for taking care of me well. I ENJOYED the stay at Arkansas as a country man :)

Posing like an Arkansan

A fun filled 383 miles, 6 hours drive from Texas to Arkansas. 

Who took me all the way through...

Three days of country side living and joyful time with a wonderful family as an Arkansan. 

Why did I select this place than the wide variety of city life around?

Peace and Serenity - that is the reason why I selected Arkansas to be this weekend destination. It is a shared taste for me and Ani. We always prefer the places which are into the nature, far from the city life and serene in all aspects. 

That's the dream design of our future home. However, that seems to be a tough situation at this point (not impossible though). We continue to think and cherish about that dream home, in liaison with the current possible options :)

And for all these reasons, I enjoyed the trip with all my heart.