I am a retired 44-year veteran of the Real Estate Assessment field. As with real estate assessing and how it applies to real estate taxes, one can make many acquaintances, but not many real friends. It was a great career choice.
It has been nearly 10 years since I reclaimed my home and my real passions within my home. I enjoy it more each day and tip my hat to those who I left behind.
Each day I try to stretch myself with the use of my computer as it relates to this site and using it to print out labels for quilts for trying to incorporate photos into my sewing. Life is so full and I know that I have room for more.
I began taking a few things out of the potting shed. Our small lawnmowers are always moved to the car garage for easy access. Before I knew it, Snuggles was on the bagging unit. He stayed there for the entire ride from the potting shed to the car garage. His very own hammock.
Dennis in the far east of our acre.
Things are greening out nicely.
Dennis told me he was going to be working in the kitchen today and gave me the day to pool my thoughts and my quilt blocks in the sewing studio. What a guy. I think I am really coming out way ahead as he ended up putting together a great turkey vegetable noodle hotdish. As a side dish there is a pan of baked squash dessert. All I will need to do for supper is make a lettuce salad to round things out. I do so appreciate my major elf.
The tan sashing will pull all the blocks together. The pink block was Dennis’ thought. I was short a block so he suggested taking the back of one of the sleepers and put a design on it and call it good – which I did.
The work on Bella’s quilt top is chugging right along. I now have enough blocks made to add to the background sashing. I think what made the day go well for me may be the extra treat I had this morning. Yesterday when we were in Sam’s Club I could not resist purchasing a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread they were featuring. Their newer products are right by the front door when you walk in. When I took a slice out this morning I could not believe how chock-full of raisins in that one slice. I could hardly wait for the toaster to pop that sucker up. It was yummy. I do keep special breads in the freezer and take out a slice when the need arises. It is actually safer for me that way. Out of sight, out of mind. Not to worry, Dennis hates raisins. That goes back to the Korea days and what they were given to eat. For Dennis, raisins fall in the same “yuk” as fruit cocktail.
Lot of thawing out today with gray skies. With all the fluorescent lights I have in the sewing studio, there is no chance of me suffering from SAD: seasonal affective disorder.
When the Plume Papas grass is in its glory, fall is officially here. It can’t be hard to grow as I see it along the roadsides when we travel. I actually did pay for Plume Papas grass roots as I thought it would be just what our backyard needed after everything else in the gardens was exhausted and spent.
The portion of our yard with the grass had at one time been the east boundary. Leave it to Dennis and me to purchase the lot behind the grass and tidy it up. It meant having the fire department do several training exercises in a vacant home on that lot. Much debris was hauled out and much dirt was hauled in.
Our Plume grass waving in the breeze.
This morning was all about making sure we had put away as much as we could from the gardens, the patio and the wall art on the garages. Yup, we decorate our outdoor spaces much like some decorate their homes. I could not count the amount of people who visit Stauffer Avenue and drive by very slowly. A fellow down the block from us is recovering from cancer and needs to walk every day to build up his strength. I happened to be outside one day when Gary walked by. He mentioned he really appreciates the calm serenity that the gardens evoke.
I did take note that my partner’s step was a bit slower this fall than it had been in spring. If someone were taking note of my gate, would they make a similar comment about me? If only Dennis’ mind set, ideas and thoughts could reverse some of the wear and tear of the body. Riding bucking broncos while in his 40s at rodeos for a bit of extra cash; loading poultry up over his head into cages on his semi for the 1,000 mile drive to Campbells Soup in Worthington, Mn., may be the tell tale for his days now. I can’t imagine anyone of us ever thought our bodies would turn on us. If we could lift it, push it or throw it, we were in it for all day.
So for now, as Dennis can relax in his rocking chair in the porch, the scene outside the patio windows is one of calm and “job well done.” Lawn mowers are tucked out of site and thereby should be out of mind. The snow blower is where it is needed when it is needed. By all accounts, the only chore left for this fall is to bring the Koi in from the pond and settle them into the horse tank in the garage. The cooler the temps, the easier they are to net for the short trip.
Talk about cool . . . no furnace has been started here as of yet. I do believe I will put the oven on and make a mock pumpkin pie. My Mom, Lena, would bake out the squash with the bright orange meat inside and use all the ingredients as for a pumpkin pie. I can tell you, all six pair of feet under the kitchen table did not hesitate to enjoy it. Why tell the family more than they needed to know? Pumpkin or squash, there was never a crumb left.
With all of the extra rain we have had this fall, the grass just keeps on going. Flowers seem to have a better timeline. As I was getting ready for morning errands, I looked out to the square garden and thought it could use some shaping up. Iris, lilies, and phlox have had their hay day. The extra rain made for taller foliage for the winds to tip them over.
Autumn Joy, my favorite plant for this time of year.
As soon as I got back from the eye doctor . . . by the way, I had a great report with no change in lens needed, I changed clothes and found my garden shears. My eyes had been dilated earlier; it was a good thing to put that head down and start the task of making the gardens tidy. It didn’t take long, Butter Ball and Snuggles were right in the thick of it with me. I finished with a huge pile of foliage that will need to dry down before it finds its way to the burning barrel. The hosta are holding their own and will live to enjoy a bit more time in the gardens. The Autumn Joy, a wonderful sedum, now can claim the spotlight.
Butterflies love the Autumn Joy. It is sad that we have so few Monarch Butterflies to adorn them.
A cool day meant a great time to get out into the gardens. So very many volunteer trees: Oak, Cottonwood, Ash, Elm, Maple and Black Walnut. The winds did a great job of sharing seeds from many yards. Don’t get me wrong, some of the trees we have grown to heights of ten to 20 feet are from volunteers, but there is a limit. We have had a huge amount of rainfall, and this morning, me and the kids – Butter Ball and Snuggles – spent a large amount of time pulling the volunteer trees up by the roots. Once this rainfall dries the soil, those little trees do not pull up, and the only hope is to continue snipping them off until they just give up.
There has been a lone peony in the far east portion of our acre that has been been begging to join the rest of the perennials closer to the patios. Today that can be checked off of the list of things that I want to get done this fall. I dug the hole that would be the new home with Butter Ball helping as if he had trained for this his entire, short life. I did add some fertilizer to the hole accompanied it with some water from the Koi pond. I headed off to the far east to dig up that lonely peony. It did take me quite awhile as that plant has been there long before we added that lot to what we already had.
Dennis got back home from errands to help in bringing back some of the tools. I had no idea when I headed out if I would need a sharp shooter or if a sand shovel would work. The amount of rain we have had was evident as the water had not as of yet all soaked in on the new hole for the peony.
Keeping the yards tidy is a job that can’t be ignored. Dennis and I both feel content when we sit on the patios and look over our little estate, knowing it is as good as we are able. It’s a good thing.
A purchase of a Sweet Potato vine at $1.99 this early spring has given us a bounty of fresh spring green color. The cherub holding the flower pot has long since been overwhelmed. It will be interesting what we find within the pot after the first frost. As much daily watering as this plant takes, I am suspecting there may be a few potato fingerlings growing with very little potting soil remaining.
Yesterday I knew something was going to break loose in my sewing and craft area, I just quite didn’t know what it would be. Kevin gave me this metal display rack some time ago. No doubt, it was used in a grocery store for wares. Though a bit late for this year, my newly-painted birdhouses will be stored when fall comes, ready for the spring of 2016. I used a steel-bristled brush to give each shelf a good cleaning to implement using magnetic tape on the bottom of each house to help secure them during a breeze or perhaps a wind. Time will tell if this technique will work. Of course, a project cannot go without an oops. I was so busy putting my magnetic strips down, I failed to take the concrete bird down first as I was moving things about. You guessed it. It fell . . . right onto the left side of my face knocking my glasses off. I first felt for blood . . . finding none I picked my very bent glasses up out of the grass. A quick trip to the eye doctor to have my glasses straightened and we were right back on track. My bad. A bit of color in the back garden brings a smile to us as we enjoy the patio. It also gives a good balance for the birdhouse we had put up earlier.
I have been feeding the gardens about every 8 – 9 days with Miracle Grow. I have noticed over the last several years that though the perennials do come up, they are lacking the vigorous growth or size that they could be in relationship to how many years I have enjoyed them. With trees taking moisture and components out of the soil, perhaps the perennials need a boost. Dennis has made sure I have enough garden hose to reach the far back gardens with the Miracle Grow feeder. The fertilizer hitting the above ground leaves plus nurturing the soil around the plants could help for the 2016 spring.
I have been doing some reading. On my next trip to the store I am going to purchase some Epson Salts. It is recommended to sprinkle sparingly around the base of perennials and shrubs for absorption into the soil for added nutrients. I am all for trying to keep the plants I have going and growing. It sure can’t hurt to try.
Though the day warmed up quite quickly, this forenoon I got the feeding and watering done while Dennis completed the cleaning of the car garage by making nice on his workbench. When I peeked in I did ask him, “Whose garage is this?”
After a good week of taking care of things here on Stauffer Avenue, I think we will hit the Home Town Cafe for a bit of supper. It’s a good thing.
There must have been something extra in our coffee this morning. Dennis was on the rider lawnmower by 9:30 heading to the far portion of the acre. The threat of the two days of rain that is in the forecast may have spurred him on a bit, and with no dew on the grass it was a perfect fit. I checked my list of what today held for me. I needed to run some errands and pick up several grocery items.
When I got home, I was using the same threat of rain to get the last of the largest gardens free of extra green stuff. The dirt was turned black and the Preen was put down. Now let the rains come.
Using neighbor Jan’s shed as a backdrop, Calvin’s
creative ironworks can be enjoyed from our patio. I have often
thought of painting a scene on the back of her shed.
As I said . . . a thought.
We have organized some of our garden art a bit differently this year. My brother, Calvin, had a creative knack with wrought iron-looking steel and his welder. In times past I had his garden art items placed in multiple places. This was the year to use them as a very unique type of fence. Dennis and I had not counted on very dense Maple tree roots to keep us from the ultimate setting, but we are very content with our efforts.
Snuggles finds the most interesting places to
disappear to. I would imagine the mesh of the lawnmower
bag makes a good hammock.
During the day of me working in the garden, Snuggles and Butter Ball kept taking turns keeping me company. If I thought they had given up on me, all I needed to do was look for either a yellow tail or a white tail peeking out from under a perennial. It is amazing that two four-legged critters can be used as enough company to keep me going to the very end. All tools got tucked away and now the waiting game begins to see when the rain starts and how much we end up getting. As I headed to the house from the backyard, Butter Ball was already choosing which of the rocking chairs he was going to grab a nap in. Snuggles had disappeared and I backtracked to seek and search until I found him.
The close of another successful day on Stauffer Avenue and I think I can speak for Dennis as well as myself . . . putting our feet up this evening is going to feel really good.
A few wet, rainy days and you would think Dennis and I will never see a sunny day again to work in the yards. This morning the sun was shining, and though it was 44 degrees, it felt wonderful to breathe in the brisk air as I headed out to join Dennis in the porch for coffee.
It is always a wonder to me that Dennis has connections that make short work of some items of yard work. Dennis had been cruising past his nephew’s work site to see when a Bobcat would be sitting idle in the lot. When the concrete pouring season starts, the equipment could be anywhere within 100 miles in any direction of St. James. By 10:00 this morning, Dennis was in a Bobcat headed for Stauffer Avenue.
Brilliant blooms of the Weigela in years past.
Shrubs are a great addition to residential yards, but they do have a life span all of their own. For several decades the Weigelas have added a brilliant crown of red flowers in the backyard. Beginning last year, there was more bare wood showing than healthy branches just waiting to burst forth with an abundance of leaves followed by the flower buds. What do the older ones on Stauffer Avenue do? Dennis makes a contact and the plan of the day is to pull out the Weigela shrubs. While Dennis was in en route, my end of the bargain was to get the log chain out of the potting shed. There is no way after as much rain as we have had, that the lawn from the edge of Stauffer Avenue to the shrub site would not show the activity of the Bobcat, but it has to be done and grass grows back.
The Bobcat that was available had the heavy metal grid in the front with two lifting bars much like would be used to slide under pallets. Ingress or egress is not easy for my 78-year-old partner in crime. Where the heck were the steps? The plan was for me to manhandle the log chain around the base of the shrub and for Dennis to maneuver the touchy Bobcat controls. Oh yes, the chain was not tight enough on several tries and it slipped over the top of the shrub as Dennis raised the front. Try, try, try again until the first shrub’s roots were released and pulled free. The second shrub went much easier. I freed the log chair from the Bobcat and Dennis was on his way to return the mighty machine. By the time Dennis made the mile trip and returned in his little red pickup, the shrubs were in the burning ring and the holes were filled and raked off. The torn sod from the Bobcat’s impact on very wet soil and soft grass went down easily, and in several days it will look just fine. After Dennis returned the log chain back to its place in the potting shed, he commented that it sure was handy to have it on hand, but it wouldn’t hurt his feelings if it would be the last time we needed to use it.
Taking a break on the back patio seemed like the sensible thing to do. Butter Ball and Snuggles entertained to no end. Silly cats that have wound us right around their paws. Dennis leaned back in the lawn chair and I thought he was resting his eyes. Dennis was looking at the eavestroughs of the porch and the garages. The seeds from the Maple tree had just finished falling. How could they already be viable little trees standing at three to four inches tall?
Three hours later with many breaks in between, the porch and the garage for the Lincoln and the little red pick up have clean eavestroughs. Talk about slimy, smelly muck that needed to be troweled out by the lineal foot. Dennis made more trips up and down the stepladder than I could count. My part was to do away with the pails of mess as he handed it down to me, keep the garden hose positioned for the flushing, and try to find just the right tool to work the necks of the downspouts poked free of stuff that had them plugged up. So the choice is to have no eavestroughs and let the rain wash gullies around the perimeter of the buildings, or get down and dirty once in a while and clean them out. Actually, there was conversation about having a product installed much like a leaf guard.
All in all, I take it back. There is no stopping Dennis and me when it comes to doing whatever is needed to keep the property up to snuff. We both enjoy this place on Stauffer Avenue and take a lot of pride in keeping it “up to snuff.” It is so much easier to do the deeds when we notice the need, rather than letting it go and having a crisis or costly repairs.
The day is coming to an end and we clean up pretty good. Our Sunday morning tradition is already in place: frozen cinnamon rolls put out to thaw overnight. On Sunday morning the baking rolls bring a very inviting aroma that allows us to feel the peace that passes all understanding.