Keisha Pittman can be found over at bigpittstop, a blog started when she was brushing up on her superpowers kicking cancer’s butt. 5 years later, it’s a chapter book of a 30 something navigating life and learning lessons along the way. She is a self-proclaimed nerd and every once in a while lets us have a little glimpse into her recipes-for disaster, Saturday scenic drives and mindless thoughts of life in Northwest Arkansas. You can also follow Keisha on Instagram and Twitter.
I’ll admit it: I have a fascination with creeks. It seems there have always been creeks around, no matter where I lived. When I was a child, we visited my grandparents in Goshen, Arkansas every summer and my grandmother would take me and my brothers for walks in the seasonal creek behind her house. We would hunt for turtles and learn about lichen and fungi and choose rocks to take back to her painting studio to decorate.
In a way, a creek helped define my role as a female.
When I was nine years old, I lived on a suburban street in Little Rock. That summer, a little gaggle of neighborhood kids gathered daily as soon as breakfast was eaten, and we would spend the day in someone’s carport, then someone else’s basement, then someone’s backyard… but I was soon to learn there was also a creek.
Laurie at 9 years old. Judging by the coat, we were outside in ALL seasons back in the dark ages.
The yards behind the houses at the end of the street backed up to a large privacy fence, and on the other side of the fence were the Ash boys. There were three boys in the Ash family, and I honestly don’t remember their names anymore. They lived in an older house behind the fence, and they introduced the neighborhood kids to the joys of tromping through the woods.
Of course, I felt like an expert Woods-woman, what with all the experience I had at my grandparents’, so when we came upon a creek during our adventure I simply jumped from rock to rock to get across. But one of the boys was sweet on my friend, Paige, and when she was nervous about jumping across the creek, he held out her hand and helped her across.
A little girl-sized lightbulb went off in my head and I realized that I had committed a terrible error. I tried to double-back with the naive hope that he’d hold his hand out to me too, but it didn’t work… And thus began my life as the Funny Friend, rather than the Lead Ingénue.
We moved out of that neighborhood when I was 10 and my parents divorced. At the time West Little Rock was still a little bit wild and there were large areas of land that were still undeveloped between Rodney Parham and Cantrell Blvd. Our next two homes – an apartment complex and another suburban house – both had creeks behind them. For me and my Barbie dolls (and Marie, and Cher), they were roaring rivers with sandy banks that provided the perfect spot to park the Country Camper.
When my girls were small we lived outside of Fayetteville on two acres that were gifted to me by my grandparents. Following in my grandmother’s footsteps, I introduced the girls to the creek in all seasons as we searching for turtles and speculated on which of the gnarled tree roots and limestone rock formations would be the best spot for a fairy house.
For the last seven years we have lived in Springdale, and my son has been somewhat deprived of the experience of creek walking. There are creeks within driving distance, and we have visited a couple, but it has been difficult to make the time to seek them out when I just want to spend an hour tossing rocks in the water.
The young Boychild does a little creek walking at Devil’s Den State Park.
Thankfully, the city of Springdale and the Illinois Watershed Partnership have spearheaded a massive clean-up and improvement of Lake Springdale, which is just a mile or so from my house. The Razorback Greenway will be running right alongside the creek that surrounds the lake, and there are already walking trails completed with a staircase that allows access to the creek bed when we feel like doing a little rock tossing and wild-flower admiring. I’m hoping to make a habit of it. How are you getting outside this summer? Any creek walking in your plans?
You know, this time of year, when it is so hot you don’t go out to pick berries till 7:00 pm so you don’t fall down from heat exhaustion, and come dragging in with your berries at dark, then crave a cobbler but wild horses couldn’t drag you toward turning on the oven and releasing one more Btu of heat into the house? And so you make the easiest cobbler ever – so easy you can prepare and cook it outside in an old toaster oven you use for summer baking so you don’t heat up the house? No? Just me?
Well, even if you don’t resort to setting up outlandish outdoor cooking areas to keep the house cool, this super quick cobbler will still simplify your summer. It has only four ingredients – flour, sugar, butter, and berries – and is yummy enough to satisfy this berry-snob family.
My sister and I grew up working at my grandparents’ pick-your-own strawberry, blackberry, and blueberry farm in Fouke, Arkansas. My grandmother had a variety of cobbler making techniques, and my grandfather’s favorite was a very complicated “berry roll.” Make a pie crust and roll it out, not too thin, into a long rectangle on a clean dishtowel. Then sprinkle with sugar and dot with butter, and top with a layer of fresh blackberries. Then, oh so carefully, use the towel to help you roll it up – wincing when the lumpy blackberries poked through the crust. Gingerly roll the whole thing off into a pan. Brush with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden and bubbly. He loved this cobbler because it had lots of crust. The crust was his favorite part. Can you tell I miss my grandparents? I start to cry just thinking about the lunches we used to have…
Anyway – although I do love that blackberry roll and have made it from time to time, I don’t have the mile long sparkling white tile countertop for rolling out pie crust, nor the talent for putting out a hot cooked lunch with dessert every single day at noon sharp, like my grandmother had. I have a hot and very busy day to come, followed by about 150 more in succession, and if I wait till a cool day to bake a cobbler, then I will be waiting till the berries are long gone. So I will take my four ingredients and my toaster oven and run with it. Truth is, I made this cobbler many times for my grandparents and they thought it was fantastic.
This is a good proportion for a square baking pan. Butter the pan and pour in the berries.
Sprinkle ½ cup sugar over the berries - feel free to use more or less sugar according to your preference and the ripeness of the fruit.
In a bowl, mix flour, ½ c sugar, and one stick of softened salted butter with a fork or pastry cutter until crumbly.
Sprinkle this topping evenly over the fruit in the pan. Shake the pan a bit to encourage the topping to settle amongst the fruit.
Pop it in the oven at 375F and bake 30-40 minutes until browned and bubbly. I
Notes
If you start with frozen fruit, it might take a bit longer.
This topping works with all kinds of fruit - with peaches it is wonderful! Youcan use any kind of flour - I used whole wheat pastry flour with these cobblers and it is delicious. Gluten-free, whole grain, nut flours, plain old white flour - any of it should work.
By Georgiaberry Mobley of Sunshine for Dinner
Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/
Enjoy!
Georgiaberry Mobley grows veggies in her hometown, Fouke, Arkansas. Since 2007, she and her husband, Kandan, have been selling their locally grown food in the Texarkana area through their Sunshine for Dinner subscription veggie delivery service. It’s the farmer’s market that comes to you! In her spare time, she teaches their two kids at home, is an active La Leche League leader, and helps out with their landscape design/maintenance firm. Find out more about her market garden and farm life, and how to sign up for Sunshine for Dinner at http://www.SunshineForDinner.com. Join the conversation on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SunshineforDinner. You can also find Georgiaberry onpinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/georgiaberry/ and Instagram at http://instagram.com/georgiaberrym.
This came up at a hangout with friends last week: “Where are you going on vacation this summer?” And for the first summer in at least a decade, my answer is “nowhere.”
Last year, I was away from home on a third of the year’s weekends, plus four full weeks. In May I traveled out of state three weekends in a row. One my first weekends home, I stayed put. I want to get reacquainted with my own home.
I swept and did other maintenance on my balcony and put the patio umbrella up. The rule for meals was “Use what you have on hand.” It yielded a lunchtime feast of a great salad and corn on the cob, and a delicious dinner soup of leftover rotisserie chicken, a bunch of sautéed vegetables from the fridge, a couple of cans of white beans and some secret seasoning. When the half-used bottle of salsa in the fridge turned out to be expired, lo and behold, that fridge also held most of the ingredients for fresh salsa. And it tasted better.
I’m saving vacation days for some events in late fall. But what is summer without the carefree feeling of going and seeing? This year, the summer weeks will sometimes end in the smallest kind of staycation: a daycation.
In downtown Little Rock, several things are on my list: the Arkansas Arts Center (the annual Delta show is coming); the Historic Arkansas Museum, where the exhibits are small but always interesting; the Saturday morning Farmers Market; browsing time at the coffee shop on the top floor of the Central Arkansas Library System’s Main Library; and the Chihuly glass exhibit at the Clinton Presidential Center. While there, I’ll also stroll down by the river to see that actual rock the city is supposedly named for. After too much walking, there’s the treat of riding the trolley over to North Little Rock and back. Across I-630, there’s the Esse Purse Museum; a place with an authentic old soda fountain; and the Roots Café, also a favorite place to eat.
In Riverdale, there’s the newly reopened Riverdale 10 cinema, and on an especially hot day, it’s appealing to plan a DIY film festival, two or three on one day. If screen fatigue sets in, there are sometimes weekend flea markets and estate sales in warehouses nearby, some favorite restaurants (Red Door, Whole Hog barbecue, Faded Rose), and a sunset stroll at the Big Dam Bridge.
But some daycations will be right here at home, opening the balcony door to the breeze, discovering forgotten treasures in the fridge and pantry, making things from scratch, editing some closets, letting some hours slip by with books I already own, cooling off in the neighborhood pool, inviting friends over to share it with. Because isn’t that the point? I love the places I go and people I see there. But I want to relearn to love what I have here.
Where am I going on vacation this summer? Home. This home.
Paige grew up in South Arkansas knowing that her mission in life was to help people and she’s spent the last ten years figuring out how to make that happen. She believes in the power of curiosity, kindness, creativity, and red lipstick. She blogs at approachingjoy.com and has a brand new site at paigemeredith.com. She’d love for you to come say hi.
A Few Fun Photos From Mauritius: TL- Sally and Flea, TR- Beach Sunrise, BL- Sally and Flea Para-Sailing, BR-Our kiddos jumping in the pool
by Alison Chino
Y’all! Remember how I said that every once in a while you get to do something amazing as a result of being a blogger. Well, last month I got to travel all the way to Mauritius, a place I did not even know existed a year ago. I got to share this experience with another blogger in England name Sally Whittle. Sally runs the largest network of bloggers in the United Kingdom, with at least 10000 bloggers registered and she speaks regularly to bloggers at conferences.
So while we were lounging around by the pool and watching our kids play on the beach, I asked Sally if she would be willing to share her story and expertise with Arkansas Women Bloggers and she kindly obliged.
Interview with Sally of Tots 100
Hi Sally, Can you tell us in a few words about yourself and the business for bloggers that you run in the UK?
I am a journalist by trade and had been writing about the Internet and social media for more than a decade when my daughter was born. I’d always blogged about the media and PR, but increasingly found I wanted to use social media to capture our family story – the little everyday moments that otherwise get lost. So I started my own blog at whosthemummy.co.uk. Soon after, I found that there were dozens, maybe hundreds of other people writing parenting and family blogs just like mine – but there was no one place where you could find them all. In the mainstream media, there are lots of media databases, and I used that knowledge, with a few of my IT connections, to come up with Tots100 – a directory of parenting blogs that would provide one place to find lots of parent blogs, and which would provide some independent metrics about blogs in the same way media databases provided circulation figures for newspapers and magazines. At the time, nobody was doing that in the UK, and the business grew very quickly. Over time we’ve added new services, and launched two other directories – one of food blogs, and one for homes and interior blogs.
In the forever evolving world of blogging, what advice would you give to bloggers who are just starting out? And to veteran bloggers? Or what mistakes do you notice that bloggers are making these days?
Whenever I speak at a conference or in a magazine, I see lots of people giving very technical advice to bloggers, or advice on how to sell sponsored posts on your site. But honestly, I think that’s missing the point. For new bloggers I advise them to blog what they enjoy. Blog something you’re passionate about, blog with feeling, enjoy what you do – and ignore everything else. Don’t feel you HAVE to use this platform, or use THAT camera or whatever – have fun, write from the heart and then even if your blog doesn’t become an all-singing, all-earning multimedia platform you’ll still be doing something worthwhile that you feel proud of. But the irony of blogging is that this is the best way to grow an audience, and that audience, combined with authentic content, is the best platform if you DO then want to partner with brands.
As for mistakes, I think providing someone is enjoying their blog, I wouldn’t assume to tell them what to do differently. Some bloggers write to be creative, some to add money to the family finances, some to build a professional reputation – if there’s a mistake to be made, it’s thinking there’s one sort of blog, or one right way to do things. I get so frustrated by the whole idea that, “If you’re not doing it the way I do it, you’re doing it wrong”.
Your company offers opportunities for bloggers to work with some amazing brands! What advice do you have for bloggers about working with brands?
Two pieces of advice. First, remember that people do business with people. We’re all busy and occasionally have bad days, but I know that when I sit down at my desk to recruit blogs for a campaign, alongside stats and influence, I’m looking for people who are reliable, flexible and good fun to work with. If you work with a brand and deliver the content on time, with great photos, and you’re positive and friendly to chat to – then word of mouth ensures you’ll get more opportunities. Second – don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. I don’t mean bombarding brands with Tweets asking for free stuff, but by ensuring your blog is listed in directories, that your Twitter feed carries your blog link, that you have a nice contact form on your site, and a PR policy that explains what you’re interested in.
What’s your favorite social media channel? Why?
Probably Twitter – I think it provides those few minutes of chat at certain points of the day that I used to get from being in an office, and I now get on Twitter. I love that the 140 character limit can really highlight people’s humor and wit – on a good day – and lots of the people I follow on Twitter are just ridiculously smart and funny and interesting. What’s not to love? I like Instagram to a point, but I get frustrated easily by my own ineptitude with a camera, and Facebook can sometimes feel a bit too much like looking at the Martha Stewart version of my friends’ lives. And I’m about as far from Martha as you can get, so I get a bit depressed about all the crafting, cooking and general outdoorsiness that everyone else seems to do with their kids.
What are some of the benefits you’ve experienced from blogging? Or what do you love about blogging?
Blogging started as my hobby and it’s now my job, so that’s pretty amazing. I earn a decent living, and my job is flexible enough that I can spend lots of time with my daughter so I’m very blessed in that regard. And of course blogging means we get sent a lot of stuff – although that does get old pretty quickly, believe me! I now don’t really do many product reviews (there’s only so much stuff you can fit into a Victorian terraced house, in my experience) but we love the opportunity to travel, to try new experiences and meet new people. We’ve ridden rollercoasters and met famous chefs. We’ve gone to previews of new films, stayed in amazing hotels and traveled to fantastic places. For me that’s the benefit of my personal blog – the experiences it’s allowed us to have. But even without all of that, I love to write, I love to share stories, and I love to capture memories. I love that those conversations I had with Flea when she was two and three years old are always there for us to look back on – because I know if I didn’t blog, I’d have long forgotten that Flea used to imagine that puppies were lurking round every corner waiting to steal our biscuits, or that she used to pretend to be a dog when we visited the doctor. That stuff’s so precious.
Thank you so much Sally, for sharing with us! You can connect with Sally on Twitter and read stories about life with her sweet daughter on her blog, Who’s The Mummy.
Thirty years ago this month I was in France living with the Granet family and wasting an amazing opportunity to learn about that beautiful country and its people because I was a naïve, immature 18-year-old who didn’t study nearly hard enough in French class. It was many years later before I realized just how wasted that trip was, probably around the time my passport expired. But I still have lovely memories of the Granets and their extended family who treated me significantly better than I deserved.
Well, the Granets, and the bread… O.M.G. the bread!!!!
As many of you know, summer is typically vacation season. We will be packing the jeep and driving to Austin this month to meet my new niece, but aside from that (looooong) road trip, the next couple of months are going to be challenging as I try to meet writing deadlines while keeping my 9-year-old son entertained.
To keep us from driving each other crazy, I’ve decided to create a list of local places to visit (good thing we live in a state full of amazing things to do!) and make a point to take a Staycation day every couple of weeks. To keep track of our “travels” without the need for a generous scrapbook, I thought it would be fun to make a little passport to help us record the things we see and do this summer. This is a great way to make a vacation-free summer just a little more fun.
I pulled out my desktop paper cutter, some used file folders, and my pitiful collections of ink pads, stamps and stickers. I am a terrible scrap booker – I buy the paper and take the photos, and that’s as far as I get – so I was pretty sure I would need to run to the craft supply store, but as it turns out, I had stickers and stamps that were a good fit for a travel theme. The craft gods were smiling on me!
TIP: If you would rather not create a notebook from scratch, a small spiral notepad can be purchased for less than $1.00 at a grocery or drug store, and it can be transformed with some pretty scrapbook paper and a glue stick.
I cut the file folders to size with the fold of the folder, creating a fold for the cover of the passport. Blank paper was cut ¼ inch smaller than the cover to make up the pages. (I made sure that the size allowed me to insert the cover and pages into a standard stapler.)
The Boychild and the Grand-Cuteness enjoyed picking out stamps and stickers for the covers of their passports. Other options for decoration are maps, photos and vintage images printed off the internet, or the kids can simply draw their own pictures. Keep it simple – the fun part will come later as you fill your passport with stamps and stickers to record all the awesome things you do this summer.
I left the inside pages blank to fill in with stamps and stickersand to make notes about the place we visited. If you’re really ambitious, you could create pages on your computer with travel-themed quotes and clip art. I am an “instant gratification” crafter, so I don’t mind the blank white pages. You could also collect small items like ticket stubs, printed selfies, and other small souvenirs to attach to your passport pages to remember your summer activities.
In the words of Dr. Seuss…
“Oh the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done!”
Keisha Pittman can be found over at bigpittstop, a blog started when she was brushing up on her superpowers kicking cancer’s butt. 5 years later, it’s a chapter book of a 30 something navigating life and learning lessons along the way. She is a self-proclaimed nerd and every once in a while lets us have a little glimpse into her recipes-for disaster, Saturday scenic drives and mindless thoughts of life in Northwest Arkansas. You can also follow Keisha on Instagram and Twitter.
Laurie at 9 years old. Judging by the coat, we were outside in ALL seasons back in the dark ages.
Paige grew up in South Arkansas knowing that her mission in life was to help people and she’s spent the last ten years figuring out how to make that happen. She believes in the power of curiosity, kindness, creativity, and red lipstick. She blogs at 
