Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Flea Market Gardening

If you aren't already a fan I urge you to check out the Flea Market Gardening website. 

You will find lot of ideas for cheap and easy ways to bring character to your garden next year.

Stop over and check it out.  And if you use facebook, they have a page on there also.

http://www.fleamarketgardening.org/

Enjoy!

Myra

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Ziplining, repurposing, caving, and miscellaneous

I know I've neglected my blog lately.  There is so much more to do in the summer that I want to be outside as much as possible. So, here are a few things we've been doing the last few weeks.

Hubby and I went to see his brother who was visiting from Europe.  He and his wife have a house on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas.  Road trips are the perfect opportunity for adventure.  Once we knew when we were going I started looking for routes to take, and opportunites for adventure along each route.  I had been wanting to check out LaRoche castle near Cincinnati for years.  So that became stop number one. One man built this castle.  He was 84 when he laid his last stone.


From Cincinnati we drove to Branson, Missouri to zipline. (We passed the St. Louis arch on the way) We have both been wanting to zipline. We went to an obstacle course last year, which kicked my butt, but this time we just wanted to zip.  We both loved it!  It was in the mountains, and we did four ziplines.
 

Golly I hate having my picture taken.  This picture was my motivation to start dieting :) 

We also visited Meramac Caverns in Missouri.  I had been there as a kid, but Mark had never been.  We both love caves and we enjoyed this one.

We've been working on the cornzebo.  We finally got a table made for the cornzebo.  Here are a couple pics... We made the table top out of old deck boards that someone had thrown out for the trash.  These were 14' long. I wanted a 5' round table, so we cut 11 five foot pieces, scribed a circle on the back, numbered the boards and used the jigsaw to cut them out.  We put supports on the bottom, and used this old terracotta tile as the base.

We sanded it good, added a tiny bit of green to the existing red, and gray paint, and then I added some oak stain to make the raw wood look less dry and weathered.
 
I think it fits perfect.  There is plenty of room to walk around it, but it's close enough to pull the chairs up to the table to eat if we want to eat out there.
 
 
Can't get enough time with these two.  They're "Granny's" helpers.  I love being a granny.
 
 
I found this little guy while watering.  I love unexpected surpirses.
 
I hope you're having fun.  Until next time.
 
Myra
 
 
 

 

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Cornzebo update

I haven't posted lately but I have alot to share... however I don't have time today.  I wanted to share a recent picture of the cornzebo.  We used found rocks and created a flower bed around it.  Now that the flowers are growing the cornzebo looks much more like it belongs with our house.  What do you think?


I'll be back another day to catch you up on my adventures and projects.

Myra

Thursday, June 28, 2012

I've gotta climb up on my soapbox

I was sitting in traffic Tuesday evening after work. I was northbound on High Street just outside Dublin. I was sitting under the 270 overpass, checking my email.  I noticed movement to my left, and saw a guy jogging down the street.  This area is very popular for walkers, joggers and bikers.  This jogger was very ambitious and sprinted up the bricked embankment leading up to the bridge supports.  When he got to the top he turned around and sat down. I was thinking he was probably tired and hot, it was hot and dry here for too many days.  It appeared he looked at me, looking at him, and, in a very Jason Bourne sort of way, he lifted up his feet and slid back into the shadows.  This caught my attention. Since I was sitting in the perfect spot to see him, I watched him stand up, turn his back to me, and disappear behind one of the steel i-beam supports.  Up until this point I didn't think he had done anything too unusual, but he was clearly hiding behind the i-beam now.  I immediately thought shooter.  We had a shooter in the Columbus area a few years ago, and then I thought maybe he has an ex wife he is stalking, and is looking for a concealed point from where he can shoot her as she travels home from work. My mind was racing... I remember hearing sirens above me on 270, but that is not unusual, so I hadn't paid much attention to them.

About that time I see a police officer emerge, from the vegetation at the bottom of the side of the embankment.  Within a couple seconds a second officer emerges.  Ah, now I see why he is hiding....  One officer proceeds north on High Street into an under street tunnel, while one is walking south towards me.  I am in the north bound lane, and the center of three lanes moving north, with a left and right turn lane beside me.  I roll down my window lean part way out, and yell "he's up there" while pointing to the spot where I had saw him hide a few seconds before.  The officer asked "he's up there" and I yelled yes, he's up there, again pointing to the spot where he stood.  The officer hesitated only a moment before continuing to walk south, away from the hiding man, looking everywhere but where I had indicated.  GRRRRR

The traffic light turned green and I needed to proceed north.  I started to go on home deciding I had done my best to tell the officer where he was, only to be ignored, but then I decided the moron obviously was going to let him escape.

I dialed 911 and when the dispatcher answered, I said "you have officers at High and emerald parkway in Dublin" she said yes we do.  I asked if they were pursuing a man wearing camo pants.  She said yes they were.  I told her I had just watched him climb up into the bridge support and was hiding behind the third I-beam, on the north west corner.  She asked which side of the river he was on, and I told her the High Street side.  This overpass also crosses the scioto river a couple hundred yards to the east of where he was hiding.  She asked my name, what I was driving and where I was at.  I told her I was turning around and heading back to the overpass.  It had probably been 3-4 minutes between the time I had left the spot where I saw him, and the time I got back there.  By this time more police cars were arriving. 

The 911 dispatcher had told me to stay in my car until approached by an officer, but since none were immediately paying attention to me, I honked my horn at an officer nearby.  I told him I was the person who had just called 911 and I had saw the man hide behind the 3rd i-beam, pointing to the spot.  He walked away from me, so I got out of my car and followed him.  I again tried to tell him I saw him hide behind that third i-beam - right there (pointing).  Again he moved away from me. I kept following him and he kept walking away from me, pistol in one hand, and his other hand on his ear, I assume listening to the 911 dispatcher, or someone else.  I tried one more time and again he backed away from me.  He finally came over to me and said I was free to leave.  What???  I decided they were all morons.  I had an overwhelming urge to kick off my wedge sole sandals, and scamper up that damn embankment myself to drag him out.  I was very upset that no-one seemed to be listening to me, or attempting to check out what I had told them.  I looked up and saw officers leaning over the overpass above with rifles, surveying the area, looking for the felon.  More and more officers were arriving, several standing on the sidewalk looking up at the area under the overpass, but not one officer making a move to drag his raggedy ass down from there.  I again had an overwhelming urge to scramble up that embankment to where he had hidden, but decided it would only get me arrested, and possibly lose my job, because of getting arrested, so I got back in my kia and left.  By that time there was a chopper circling overhead, and more sirens blaring in the distance. 

I couldn't go north towards home, because they had stopped traffic at the intersection, so I had to travel south back into Dublin, get on 161, cross the river, and go home via roads on the other side.

I read that he had got caught robbing a home earlier in the day, and that a cruiser had spotted him on 315 nearby.  I heard there was about a short chase down 270, when the felon suddenly stopped his car, jumped out, and ran down the embankment.  I didn't see him emerge from the grass because I wasn't paying attention.  I didn't see him until his movement caught my eye closer to me.  At the time I first saw him he was jogging.  He was not running as if the hounds of hell were in pursuit.

Sorry to say the felon got away.  I feel PRIMARILY because the first officer did not timely, nor assertively take action on the information I tried very hard to provide him.  And I actually tried  TWICE! to interact with the officers, and neither time did I feel they took me serious.  I have to say my respect for those two officers is zero.  I understand there was a lot of adreneline flowing, minds racing, fear, whatever, BUT had the first one headed my message, the felon would have been caught within minutes, instead of getting away.  I heard they used dogs, and infared scanning to search for him.  I wonder what happened to the old fashioned method of hands on?  I assume they actually wanted to apprehend him or they wouldn't have risked a broken ankle scrambling down that embankment after him. 

I have almost gotten over my anger and disappointment that I tried to make a difference and couldn't.
I haven't overcome my contempt for the two officers who belittled my information and validity of my words.
I understand that it isn't safe to approach a felon who could possibly be armed, no matter who you are.
I know he wasn't a murderer, rapist or serial killer...
And I don't feel all officers are cookie cutters of these two.  I know good cops. 
BUT...

But I'm not over it yet. I'm definitely not over it...

Myra

Monday, May 21, 2012

Is it almost June already?

My how the weeks fly by these days, and the weekends are so short.  I always try to accomplish so much on the weekends that by Sunday night I am so tired and sore I can hardly move. And you know the alarm clock goes off mighty early on Monday's.  It's a good thing my hubby makes me get out of bed and go to work.  I keep asking him if he wants to get a couple more jobs and support me, but he just tells me to get my lazy butt out of bed and go to work. 

My daughter Rachel aka Somewhere in the middle, gave me slave labor for Mother's Day.  I was thrilled!  So, she came over the Saturday before Mother's Day and helped pull weeds, plant, etc all day.  It was nice to spend time with her, but getting some of my weeds under control was so nice.  I do have to say that I have since banned her from pulling weeds in my flower beds.  She always ends up with poison ivy.  I only saw two plants, and I pulled both before she could get near them.  She has big sores all over her arms, legs and stomach.  I got two dime size spots on my knees.  Mine are almost gone but hers are still awful.  So, thank you Rachel, and I'm sorry.  My youngest Kimberly came over for a awhile and help out also.  She got all the patio furniture out, and cleaned up all the weeds Rachel and I had pulled.  Thanks Kimberly! 

Hubby hung the chandelier in the cornzebo.  It's an old fixture I had laying around.  It's had extra bling on it, but I stripped it down to make it simpler.  After all, corncrib gazebo's are laid back, and earthy.





I've been adding hostas to the front of the house, and the perennials I removed from the front of the house have been redistributed to around the cornzebo and the other perennial beds.  This is the new flower bed in progress.

Yesterday we finished planting a very small garden.  Last year half of what we grew went to waste, or we gave away.  This year, I've converted a flower bed to garden space.  I am growing basil for the first time, in hopes of making basil pesto.  Hubby and I have started eating basil pesto and love it.  If anyone has any tips on growing basil, or making pesto, I'd love to hear from you.  I am using an old wooden step ladder for a support for my tomatoes this year.  Last years tomatoes were almost as tall as I am (which isnt all that tall) 


I'm growing onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and basil this year.  No corn, beans, zucchini, etc...
Keeping it basic and low maintenance.

Yesterday, hubby and I rebuilt an old stone wall I had built around our 130 year old weeping willow tree.  I had primarily built it using whatever rock I could find.  It was a mess, and falling apart.  I was lucky enough to get some flat stone from a friend who had torn out some landscaping, and some from my daughter Kimberly, who had a rock pile.  Combined with the few larger, flat stones I had we built this low wall. 



The roses are blooming on the cornzebo and look so pretty from both the inside and outside.




After working in the yard all day, Kaylee and I had a water fight.  We were both soaked by the time we were done.  Here's a pic of her taking a break (before the water fight) enjoying a nice cold treat.  She looks too innocent to get sneak up behind her granny and soak her with the garden hose doesn't she.


Even in mis-matched clothes, she's still cute.

Here is a planter I made out of an old funnel and an old wooden handle...



and I'm working to restore one of several large birdhouses I made several years ago.  The platform had rotted on this one, and when it fell the porch columns, and part of the roof broke off.  I know I should scrap it and make a new one, but I love the colors on this one, and hea, I made it, so I'm a bit fond of it :)


That's enough for one post.  I hope everyone has a great week and does something creative whenever possible.

Myra








Monday, May 7, 2012

Catching up

Hello friends, Several things have been going on the last few weeks.... I hope you can make sense of the pictures and text. I couldn't seem to get blogger to cooperate. Last Friday evening we had a big storm roll thru and drench us. There was water everywhere after that. Kaylee was with me, so after dinner she and I went wading in the puddles... it was her first time puddling... Kaylee and my feet in a large puddle.
The last weekend of April we spent the weekend in a pretty mountain top cabin near Townsend, TN. We had a family hike on Saturday. She drove thru Cades Cove and hiked Abram's Falls trail. The weather was perfect, the company great, and the trail a bit rough, but everyone made it out, and enjoyed the scenery. We came across a bear cub eating some leaves, who totally ignored us. He was adorable and only a few feet off the trail. We all stayed alert and looking for it's mother... luckily she didn't return while we were so close.
This is the view from the back deck.
The week before that I was in Virginia for work. It was a very good trip. We got a tour of the Norfolk port. There was so much going on there, its a wonder things run as smoothly as they do. I was fascinated with the huge cranes and equipment. Went to Virginia Beach on Thursday afternoon. It was chilly and very windy but I had to take off my shoes and walk in the sand. I've never been to a real beach before. The sand was warm beneath my feet, and I rolled up my pants and waded in the ocean. It was cool. We only stayed a couple hours and then had to head back toward Richmond and our hotel.
Saturday my daughter Rachel came over and helped me unload gravel, and she, Mark and I laid the stone we have been collecting for the floor of the cornzebo. I thought we had more than enough, but we barely had enough. I need to level several stones, cut some small pieces for the larger gaps, and then finish packing the cracks with gravel. While it's not the pretty circular patio I dreamed of, the only expense I have in it is gravel. The cornzebo is starting to look like a comfy spot. Older roses have covered the one side, and are getting ready to bloom. I have moved 3 roses to the cornzebo, and bought 10 bagged roses from Walmart and Big Lots. They were each under $5.00. They aren't the fancy english roses, but they'll be perfect for me.
This is the so called super moon peaking over my arbor. I couldn't tell a difference.
This is my and Kaylee's version of a bottle tree. It brings color to the flower bed when flowers aren't blooming. I know it's tacky, redneck and odd but Kaylee and I like it.
The weather is warm here and storms have been rumbling thru the last hour or so.... my newly planted roses can use a good drink to get them off to a good start. And who doesn't love to hear it rain??? Myra

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Randomness

Hello,

It's been awhile since my last post. My desktop computer is running at turtle speed, and hubby and I fight over the laptop. This post is just some randomness to let you know I'm still alive.

Here's an update on the bed. As you saw in my last post about the bed the maple portion of the bed turned out very splotchy looking after hubby took the sander to it. I couldn't get it to take stain and even it out, so I had to come up with a new plan.

Here are a few pics of what we started with. Some old trim pieces I had picked up, a couple from my Mom's basement that she had been hanging onto, and some old quarter round trim with an old gold finish.


















We tried to decide whether to center the trim, or mount it along the edge. We decided to center it.

















I'm not really a shabby chic kind of girl, and didn't want to paint the old trim pieces after working so hard to refinish them, so I decided to paint the "splotchy part" flat black. I'm trying to decide whether to paint the cap black or leave as is. It's not my original vision, but I like it.















Hubby got a new ride recently and he looks good on it too :)














We have been working on an apartment we own with my siblings. It needed some updating and general clean up. So we had a painting party. Two of my daughters, and my sisters family showed up to help. We're almost done and hope to get it rented soon.














We have an eagle's nest about 3 miles from our house. We get lucky and see one occasionally. It seems so odd to see one. Growing up Eagle's weren't something you saw in central Ohio. You don't realize how massive these birds are until you see one up close. Here's a pic of their nest along the river. There used to be several Heron nests in these trees. But the eagle's ran them off. I don't know what's so special about these trees, but there must be something.















Hubby and I have been collecting stone for the floor of the corn-gazebo. I need some gravel for the base before we can begin laying the floor. I also hope to use a couple of the large pieces to create a new landing outside our kitchen door.



















I've also been collecting some smaller rocks to build a wall around my 130 year old weeping willow tree.














Can you believe we've been having record high temps and now they're talking about a freeze warning? My 130 year old weeping willow is leafing out, and the redbuds are blooming. The weeds are growing like crazy and I feel overwhelmed by their agressiveness.

















I hope you're enjoying the weather wherever you are.

Myra