Halloween

I visited AJ at school for the Halloween costume parade and party. He was dressed as Iron Man.

 

 In the classroom they had a party and made skeleton figures from their names. I got to meet his teacher, Mr. Dugan. AJ attends Beverly School this year.

 

The interesting thing about Halloween this year is that because it was cold, windy and rainy the city of Toledo (and many outlaying areas) postponed trick or treating until Sunday night. I do not remember that ever happening when I was a child. I can remember wearing winter coats under costumes and splashing through puddles. Times change!

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of new pictures

The island garden is "sleeping" now waiting for spring to see how well we have done. The final phases were to finish planting and then to spread leaf mulch over everything. This form of gardening is called lasagna gardening because you build it in layers. No need to kill the grass or till the soil. Much easier on the back. It is recommended that a trench is dug to outline the bed and prevent the grass roots from entering next year. Steve was my trencher. Going around the neighborhood collecting piles of mown grass clippings and shredded leaves this time of year  is easy. It almost feels like stealing when everyone has them all piled up and sitting there  waiting for the taking. I have been driving around with a garbage can in the back of the Jeep and pick up a load whenever I see one. This picture shows the beginning of the mulching process. I still hadn't planted the native grasses here either.

 

 

This is just another view or the mulching and below is with the grasses planted. I am trying to take several views of the garden to help remind me next spring how things are suppose to look.

Finally we have here the trench and most of the leaf mulch in place. As Steve dug out the trench we decided that the West side needed to be a little rounder so the bed got just a little bigger. Space for a few more plants next spring. 

  How beautiful the fall colors are this year so the last picture is just out the back yard. We never tire of the view. 

 

 The Three year garden process is that in year one the garden sleeps.  Year Two it creeps, and in year three it leaps with full glory. 

 

 

 

Time for a little Fall Gardening

My garden mentor Kathy is leaving Perrysburg so the concept of creating an island garden in our front circle became a more immediate job. Kathy and I brainstormed some designs,
picked some plants, and began the process. Project started Friday October 25, 2013.

 

 

 

                                  Phase One was to outline the circle with some bricks

and plant 2 dwarf Butterfly Bushes

Phase Two

Adjust outline and begin placing plants.

Dig lots of holes

15 Garnet Sedums

8 Walkers Low Catmint

 5 Pink Guara

OMG!!! Its October

It seems like time is a commodity that I have little control of lately. I am not sure what I am accomplishing but the days and weeks just fly by. Golf season is winding down although I still hope to have a few good rounds this year. We played Sunday and although a bit windy it was fun. Jessica and Mike continue to do well in their perspective areas. Jessica still loves Boston and Mike loves Bowling Green now. Or at least he loves living on his own. Friends have told me they are having some problems with blogspot so before I write a lengthy update I will attempt to post this with a promise to add more later if everything goes through.

Time flies when you are having Summer

Just taking a minute to check in because I have been busy again and it is a month since I posted. My swallows have all left the nest. Actually 6 of the 7 baby birds fledged and one apparently died in the the nest. After several days of no activity I opened the house to clean it and there was one dead swallow baby. Not sure if the mother finally abandon him or if something else got into the house and killed him. The bird houses are all clean and waiting for a second nesting but as of this writing that seems doubtful.The gardening is taking precidence over birding now. I have beautiful flowers and lots of veggies growing. The tomatoes are just starting to ripen and I am so looking forward to that first BLT with a home grown tomato.

Special Olympic golf has begun and Mike and I again will be trying our luck at capturing a gold medal. Mike celebrated his work anniversary date and is begining his fifth year on the job. Way to go Mike.

Jessica has been the traveller this summer with work and vacation taking her to all parts of the world. She and a girlfriend planned an Alaskan cruise and from there Jessica took a work trip to Singapore. She has decided that a 12 hour time change is sufficient cause for jet lag. She still loves Boston and now that she is back hopes to spend a little more time there.

AJ is taking the junior golf clinics at Belmont this summer and he is developing quite a good swing. He loves hitting balls on the range and into the pond when the range is closed. Sorry friends but I will be out walking the eighteenth pond more frequently this summer and you will not be getting your balls back. Fortunately AJ feels much the same as I do on these walks. We call it our easter egg hunt with the prize being more golfballs to hit futher into the pond.

Hope this video turns out. It is very short but cute. The ball goes about 60 yards now.

The busy season... Summer

My weekly posting goal is over but I am still committed to publishing. Since the travel schedule has finally slowed down the golf schedule had picked up. There are the regular Wednesday ladies game and couples on Sundays and it seems someone always needs a fourth on Tuesdays or Thursdays. Even though we can play pretty quickly at Belmont it is still a 3-4 hour round of golf plus lunch sometimes so it takes a big chink of time. I love it though so I just need to figure out how to sandwich in the regular tasks such as laundry and cooking and house cleaning. And now with the addition of gardening there really isn't ever any downtime. I could spend all day in the yard putzing around.

Bird update is that we had 7 swallow eggs that have hatched but haven't left the nest yet. I am still feeding bluebirds but do not have a nesting pair in either of my houses. The bluebirds are fun to watch as they feed the new babies.

                                      Daddy bluebird with 3 meal worms ready to feed the babies

                         Two babies in the feeding cup and one babies with dad on top of the feeder

                                                             Babies in the bird bath

Summertime

The official start to summer! Memorial Day. It is coming this weekend and we are ready. Spring seems to have missed Ohio this year as the winter quickly turned into summerlike temperatures. The golf course looks great. The pool is opening and the grill is ready to go. Let the fun begin.

Our travel schedule has finally ended after spending this past week in Boston and New York. We had a great visit with Jessica and walked and cached through Boston. Then on to Long Island for Steve's cousin Maureen's, daughters wedding. And what a New York wedding it was. Food, music, flowers, and of course time with relatives we rarely get to see anymore. Much like close friends it is fun to see how quickly conversations with favorite relatives pick up seemingly right where they left off even over many, many years. It is only the young people that change. Little toddlers become teens and teens become adults. Hmmm....I guess we become the elders, although some of the elders from long ago still are looking great.

But to me and Dorothy (from the wizard of Oz) there is no place like home. Yesterday was spent catching up with the mundane such as laundry, mail and groceries. And watering all of my new plants. One would not think that a 6 day trip in May would be a problem for new plants but it seems not a drop of rain fell last week and with temperatures in the high 80's things really dried up. But this morning all is well and rain is on the way.

Today's Quote:

"A weed is a plant the has mastered every survival skill except learning to grow in rows."

Back to the Birds

We started the year with the identification of birds. Our list of winter songbirds quickly ran out but now all of the summer birds are back. Most notably our swallows and bluebirds.One of the prettiest to visit the bird bath is the gold finch. This picture has three finches all waiting their turn.

The swallows have once again claimed the luxury bluebird house but both Steve and I have agreed that the swallows are probably the most fun to watch in flight. They truly soar when they are flying about catching their meal of bugs. The other interesting thing about the swallows is that they actually feather their nests. This picture taken Saturday shows a swallow on my house with a feather in his mouth. He actually caught it in the air. I have put some blue feathers in the yard and it will be interesting to see if they make it to the nest. Two years ago we had pink feathers in a nest.

 

I have been waitress to the bluebirds this year but so far no one has occupied my other bluebird house. We see them flying through the yard and I have continued to feed them. Our neighbor has a bluebird house and when we checked it about a week ago it had 6 eggs so I think I may be helping feed the babies. The bluebirds also like the bird bath. I am trying to get a picture of the gold finch and the bluebird together. It happens but I am never quick enough with the camera.

 

 

We had a great time this past weekend at the Northwest Ohio Area Special Olympics Games. Mike ran the 100 and the 400 and placed 3td and 4th respectively. Not great times but he had been suffering with a cold the previous week so that may have affected his times.  We had a wonderful Mothers Day with a visit from Jesi and AJ and John's best friend Annal. Mike was here and I talked to Jessica. We even Skyped with my Mom and Dad, adding a special Happy Birthday to Mom. She had celebrated her 89th birthday on Saturday. Hope those genes follow me. 

 

Travels, Fun and Yard Work

I think to keep the blog updated I need either more hours in the day, less sleep or a bullet point system that I might at some point go back and add to. So much has been going on that I would love to write more about but to do it justice I need to spend time writing and editing some pictures. So for this update I will try the bullet point approach.

Travels:
Went to Sonoma California and San Francisco for a week. Steve had a meeting and we decided to add a little vacation time to it with a long weekend in Sonoma. We have done Napa several times and the winery visits around Sonoma were a great change of pace. We were joined by our friends the Bennetts and had a delightful time in the house we rented in the hills of Sonoma. We were especially fond of "Fisher" winery and have joined their wine club. San Francisco city was as always a great city to spend time in. We walked, visited some of the usual attractions and ate some of their best.

Fun:
Yay! spring has arrived and the golf season has begun. Also the birds are here and we are courting a couple of bluebirds to again make a family in our yard. We have a nesting pair of swallows and I recently found a robins nest in our shrubbery. Still love to spend time with AJ. He loves the train and making Lincoln log stations.

Yard work:
My friend Kathy has been mentoring me in gardening and I have added a large area in front of our deck as garden space. This past weekend Steve helped me finish off a walkway through the space. Kathy and I have been attending plant exchanges and I have had many garden friends offer up splits from their own gardens. As soon as I post this I am going out to dig some more holes and add to the greenery.

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CRA...ZZZY Week

Starting Monday with the Boston Marathon bombing and right through today chasing down the second suspect. So much of the activity has been around Jessica's apartment in Boston (Cambridge) I have talked and texted with her often this week...sharing emotions and fears. What motivates someone to take such drastic actions. It has been unthinkable. She is working from home today with locked doors and window shades drawn. I watch the television and recognize areas we have visited near her apartment. I will be glad to end this week feeling safe.

Home Again Home Again

It is always nice to get away from home but there is nothing quite like getting back home. There is something to be said for the quote, "all the comforts of home". After being gone for a month the first few things to be done are getting some food in the house and then the catching up on the mail. We stopped the mail and just had it held at the post office. I think a month is probably about as long as I would ever do that for again. While most of the bill paying is done online these days it is amazing how much mail can accumulate. Fortunately our Post Office has locked shred recycle bins so I was able to cut the pile down by about 75% before I even left the post office. We were fortunate that nothing urgent came in the mail. Steve had been called for jury duty in April but we were able to defer it for a month and the new jurist questionaire was the only item that needed immediate response. He has never been called to serve as a jurist and feels it is unlikely that even if there is a trial he would be selected to a jury. More on that for the month of May.

So with groceries in the house and the mail back on schedule it was nice to have some springlike weather this past weekend. We both golfed on Saturday although the ladies quit after 9 holes. The springlike temperatures were buffeted by a cold wind that made it somewhat less than enjoyable. Sunday was very pleasant temperature wise but with 20-30 mile an hour winds not exactly a golf day.

Next on the spring home front is the yard. Although the grass is not growing yet there is plenty of winter debris to be cleaned up. The John Deere is ready to go as I planned ahead this year and had it in for service before we left for Florida. This time last year I was planting my flower boxes but I think this year that task will be waiting until the Mother's Day last frost warning. Strange how a week or two can make such a big difference in the ground temperature.

The birds are all back and the swallows and the bluebirds are checking out which accomodations they will be nesting in this year. I am hopeful both of my bird houses will be occupied because it is so much fun to watch the birds.

As I write this Jessica is in Stockholm, Sweden working. She left on Friday and visited with a friend over the weekend and then will meet with customers in Stockholm, Helsinki, and finish the week in Amsterdam. Those of us that have ever travelled on business know that is a busy week but being young helps. Her passport already has more stamps than I have accumulated in a lifetime. Mike is fine and seems to be glad we are home although I have not seen him yet. Spring Special Olympics started this week and he is participating in soceer and track and field. It will be good for him to have some after work activities.

As I look for a quote to end:

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

John Howard Payne (1791 - 1852)

Easter Sunday

I am sitting in the room late Sunday afternoon watching golf and NCAA Basketball. Michigan is winning but Ohio State and Michigan State have been eliminated. Steve is working. As the contract expires the company has given their last, best, and final offer. It is a waiting game now and Steve feels he may still have meetings tonight. It has been another interesting negotiation. I certainly miss the Long Boat Key Club for the proximity to the beach. I walked yesterday and today in the neighborhood of the hotel we are staying in because the traffic going out to the beach was incredible. It takes between 30-60 minutes to get off Longboat with the easter crowds. I have explored the city of Sarasota more than other trips and while it is fun it is not something I would take over the beach access. But it may not matter as three years from now everything could be different again.

Yoohoo I just got a text from Steve that they have a contract! It is 4:30PM sunday night and they are going back to the union hotel to finalize and have a drink with the union. Steve thinks he will be back and we will be going to dinner tonight together. I have been getting re-organized to load up the Jeep and head to Destin tomorrow for a little deep sea fishing with our friends that live there. It will be a great day of relaxation for Steve. He chose fishing over golf. He thinks that we will be playing golf soon in Perrysburg and deep sea fishing is not something we can do in Perrysburg. Then it will be on the road and back home. I am not looking forward to the mail pile from 4 weeks. I guess a rainy day in Perrysburg will be okay for getting some groceries back in the house and catching up with everything else that has been sliding while we were gone.

Happy Easter!

Life in Florida

The appeal of Florida in the month of March is sunshine and I am truly enjoying it. The picture from home today showed snow covering everything and while it may be a last hurrah for Mother Nature I am glad to miss it.

This past week I was able to play golf three times with friends at three different courses. Both Steve and I played at The Oaks with our friends the Bacheys. Then I played at Lemon Bay Golf Club with Ann L. And at Laurel Oaks with Jean R. While the Floridians were complaining about the 67 degree weather I played in shorts and short sleeved shirts. All of the days were ideal golfing conditions and I enjoyed all of the courses. (Some holes were more fun than others but on new courses there is always the thought of what you would do differently if you knew the course). The game is in winter hibernation but that is okay for vacation golf. There were some great shots and as always in the spring there is the hope that this will be "The Year".

Lemon Bay is an Audubon sanctioned golf course and on each cart there is a card that shows the birds of Lemon Bay. We did see many of the birds including the bald eagles and their nest. This is an idea we may pursue with Belmont since we have started the bluebird trail. The first bird we identified was a (Toledo) Mud Hen. I am not sure I had ever seen one before. Lots of Florida gators here too. I like the free lift and place rule around a gator. I even got to use it once.

 

 

Laurel Oaks is a Country Club community with 2 golf courses. I had played here with Jean and the Chandlers two years ago. We played the East course then and this time I played the West course. I am going back this week to play again and at least I'll get a second chance on one of the courses. Jeans group of ladies were fun to play with and I even learned a new game. It is called 30. When there are threesomes you need to use 30 net scores. You must use one score on each hole so there is some calculating on when to use more than one score and still have each hole covered. When they play in a foursome it is called 40 and you must use 40 scores. It is a fun game because if you are totally out of a hole you can pick up. Might have to bring this game back to Belmont too.

 

This is a picture of the white Pelicans that were "fishing" a pond at Laurel Oaks. The white Pelican does not dive like the brown ones but rather they work together driving the fish into shallow waters at one end of a pond. They were very graceful birds almost looking like swans as they swam on the ponds.

 

And finally a new activity I found this week. As Ann was showing off her home and the cute Boca Grande Island she mentioned that her son is a Geocacher. I had heard about this so I did a little more research when I got back to the computer.  I decided it might be just the pastime for me while I am alone in Sarasota. It is something that  AJ and I can do  when I get back to Perrysburg. Hiding caches in unique locations sounds like fun. This is an example of something I would never have found if I hadn't been geocaching. These houses are called the Nautical Houses and are in a neighborhood near downtown Sarasota. So much fun to explore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

-+

The Story of a Half Marathon

Steve and I competed in the 7th Annual Sarasota First Watch Half Marathon this past Sunday, March 17th. This was my third half marathon and Steve's second. It started three years ago when I thought it would be fun to try to complete a half marathon. I found  the Sarasota First Watch Half was run while we were in Florida for Steve's O-I negotiations, so I signed up. My main focus was to create an end goal that would force me to train regularly; i.e. exercise. The advice from everyone that year was don't start too fast. So I didn't and I finished the race at 3:03, a very respectable time for a walk/run first half marathon. That year Steve was at the start line and the finish line taking pictures. I entered one of the photos into the annual photo contest and ended up winning a free entry into the next years race. Steve was psyched to run himself now that he had "won" entry.

 

The winning photo

                                                                    

 

 

We ran last year and my goal was to break the 3 hour time which I did and Steve finished with the goal to run another half marathon. That brings us to this year. Early season training was sparse. I had been suffering from a lingering hamstring injury and 3 weeks before the race fell on the hard court playing tennis. With a banged up knee and little distance training I knew my goal this year was to complete...not compete. I finished at 3:11. Steve's goal was to break the 3 hour barrier and he did, completing the race in 2:56.

 

With a 7AM start we were up early. Steve before the race.

                                                                           

 

Our official entry badges

 

 

The beautiful finisher medals

 

 

After the race.

 

The day after needs.

 

It was a great race and we are already trying to plan when we will run again.

 

 



Day two on the Bourbon Trail

We stayed at a bed and breakfast in Bardstown Kentucky and after a wonderful breakfast resumed the bourbon education at Woodford Reserve. This distillery is a corporate owned operation and as such has a much different feel than Wild Turkey. However that being said it is an old family started operation and only produces small quantities. It's Woodford Reserve Distillers Select is the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby. O-I makes the bottles for Woodford Reserve so we had the privilege of a private prearranged tour. Our guide was a retire teacher who gave us a history lesson in bourbon and the law as well as the production process. Woodford still uses the original copper pot distillation method however the 3 copper pot stills are relatively new. This is a picture of Steve standing in front of an original copper potstill that was found on the property.

Steve and I by the copper stills

 

 The red cypress fermentation tanks

 

 



 

 

The Visitors Center

 

 

After the visit to Woodford Reserve we traveled a few short miles to Four Roses. This is another corporate owned distillery that until only recently sold all of their bourbon in Japan. Interestingly, with the resurgence of cocktails in America they have brought 3 products back to retail sales in the States. Their distillery was a combination of old and new. They used 8 red cypress fermentation tanks and in addition some stainless steel tanks. We didn’t go into that area so I am not sure how many. The total production quantities seems to be one of the secrets the distillers want to keep.

Four Roses uses a unique method of blending using 2 different mash recipes and 5 yeast strains. Thus having 10 different combinations. We began to see where the science ends and the art of bourbon making begins. The art of bourbons continues on the aging racks because Four Roses has changed from the normal multistory warehousing of the barrels to single story storage. We did not see the warehouses or barreling at Four Roses because this is done at another location.



We were able to taste all 3 products and I found the lower end Yellow Label Four Roses Bourbon best. Steve liked the Single Barrel best.

　

As we continued along the path back to the bed and breakfast we decided to wander off the official bourbon trail and visit a distillery right in town in Bardstown called Bartons. We only knew of this distillery because I had tried one of their bourbons the night before on the recommendation of our bartender. When we mentioned our mission to Amanda the bartender and I told her I liked the Woodford Reserve bourbon best of those I had tried she suggested trying a bourbon called 1792. I did and it was a very comparable product to the Woodford Reserve.

We were greeted at the Bartons visitor center and told a tour would be leaving shortly. Our guide, another retiree, Rick asked around the visitor center if anyone else wanted to tour and it turned out we had another private tour. Bartons runs a bottling plant onsite that is an extension of the distillery. They bottle many different types of liquors having somewhere between 3-5 bottling lines running 5 days a week. Both Steve and I have seen enough bottling plants to find this somewhat boring. The distillery tour was short and sweet. A look at the grain delivery site and quality check area, a few pictures of the fermentation operation and a peek into the room with the still. Then it was a walk to the warehouse and some information about the barrels. For $5000 Bartons will sell you your own barrel of bourbon that will be packaged with your own label. This was the second location that this was offered at and I guess it is a new marketing tool. The tasting at Bartons was good and they also offered some of the best bourbon ball candies we had had. I liked their 1792 product but not so much their lower proof called Old Barton.
With the completion of 4 distillery tours I began to feel like I understood the fine points of making bourbon. My education will now continue with the tasting tests.

　

　

　

　

The Bourbon Trail

The adventure started Wednesday morning as we left a cool cloudy snowless Perrysburg. By the time we got to Findlay there was snow on the ground from the storm on Tuesday night. South of Lima, I-75 was reduced to one lane. Fortunately that was only for about 5 miles and after that the roads remained clear but there was plenty of snow through the Dayton/Cincinnati corridor and even into Kentucky.

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We arrived at the Wild Turkey Distillery shortly after 2 PM and were told we could join a 2:30 tour. Wild Turkey is one of the best selling premium Kentucky straight bourbon whiskeys in the US and the world. We took a shuttle from the visitors center to the new distillery production area. Constructed just more than a year ago it is large, clean, and well laid out. I know this now after visiting several other distilleries. It was very interesting to hear the process and see how quickly the production actually takes. Then it was on to the warehouses. It's is where the magic takes place. There are large warehouses scattered throughout the area countryside and we were told they all contain barrels and barrels of bourbon. Wild Turkey ages some bourbons for 16 years. The warehouses smelled wonderful and I could have stayed there but we were bused back to the visitor center for sampling. We could choose 2 of the products for a taste. Steve and I both tasted the Wild Turkey 101 (101 proof) and the I tasted the Honey Bourbon and Steve tasted the Rare Breed. I like the honey bourbon but the 101 I could not finish. Too much burn going down. End of day one touring.

Tuesday night

I saw the eagles! In fact I saw 4 bald eagles flying over the pond on the eighteenth hole yesterday. It was an awesome sight. I think two of the eagles were doing some sort of courting moves. The birds were probably no more than 50 feet overhead. Of course I was so taken watching them I never thought about getting the camera or even pulling the cell phone out of my pocket. Maybe next time.

We are off for a couple of days of fun before Steve starts work in Sarasota for the remainder of March. We are visiting the bourbon trail in Kentucky. Some tasting and some tours and a couple of nights in an historic bed and breakfast in Bardstown. Then on to Marietta Georgia for a visit with Tom and Julie.  The weather is not cooperating other than to be glad to leave a snowy cold place and head south to warmer weather.  Hopefully the predicted storm for tonight moves out quickly and the roads are clear by leaving time tomorrow. 

Looking forward to hitting the golf courses in Florida and starting the season. Maybe this will be the year for great golf and a hole in one.

Today's thought:

The greatest pleasure in life is doing something others said you cannot do.

Have a great week.

It's Tuesday

 

This week was pretty normal for February but the winter aspect of Ohio is getting old. We had to shovel snow this week as a weather clipper dropped about 4 inches of the white stuff on the yard. It was mostly melted by Sunday but another is on the way later today into Wednesday.

 

The bird news is  the bluebirds were back and checking out my housing options yesterday. It is the first I have seen them since early January. Called my friend Kathy and got some meal worms into the feeder and sure enough they were back for their special treats. Today if the sleety icy weather develops I will have to make sure to get the bluebirds some extra worms. I understand the robins are eating from feeders this year also. The ground must be too frozen for them to get worms. They should be in Florida but they are lucky so many of us are keeping are feeders full.

 

The picture today is of a mourning dove. They have been around all winter and are primarily ground feeders. They are the most common native dove species and the name comes from the mournful cooing call. It is one of the larger birds at the feeder averaging about 12 inches long. Watch the male court the female. He will do aerial displays, bobs his head and puffs out his throat all the while making his long coo call. 

 

 



 

 

Second picture is of my other wintertime activity; spending time with AJ. He has been getting bird lessons and I have been getting Wi lessons. He is a big Mario and Luigi fan and is much more adept at the Wi controls than I am. He still claims to want to be a train conductor when he grows up and we spend a fair amount of time with the train sets too. It has been fun building with the lincoln logs and leggos again. Both he and Jesi are doing well.

 

 

The quote today is one we often hear but I was surprised to see the extended version about looking too long at the closed door. Think about it and have a great week.

 

When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.