Trick or Treat

  Dad and Granddad ready to take B & K Trick or Treating.



 Waiting for friends to come join them.





K and B with their friends from next door.

Cutting Wood

As you may know the Emerald Ash Bore is causing the death of Ash trees across the US.  There is an estimate that 7.5 billion trees will die.  Just  in our small woods, we will be cutting up a lot of the dead trees.  Here is the first, which fell across the path.



G uses an electric chain saw to cut the branches.  He has a generator (which is out of the picture) and an extension cord.




The small branches are piled up as a habitat for animals.

  

I then load the wood.

G made a ramp to slide the wood down so he wouldn't have to carry armloads down.  His mantra is " Never do anything yourself if you can make a 'machine" to do it for you."

   
The wood is stacked in our basement where it can dry and be enjoyed in our wood burning stove this Winter.

Visit to State Capital

This last week I traveled to Columbus, Ohio (our state's capitol) with a women's club.  We toured the State House and the Governor's mansion. I found the mansion more interesting.  First Ladies over the years have all contributed to making it what it is now.  The gardens have native flowers and trees from the various types of areas in the state.  This link is actually from a previous administration but gives a good overview.
http://www.governorsresidence.ohio.gov/garden/gardentour.aspx    Look at the Heritage Garden Tour.

We visited the mansion which you can see here: http://www.governorsresidence.ohio.gov/residence/overviewtour.aspx

The mansion has furniture and art from the period and style of the house which is a Jacobethan Revival-style mansion build in the 1920s. I am including these links since I did not take any pictures.

G and I then rushed up to Play House Square in Cleveland to attend the Million Dollar Quartet.  It doesn't look like the same group as in New Your City but was great.  Look at a few YouTube clips.

A Sigh of Relief

Today both the cat and I are happy. Yesterday I spent 10 hours staining the deck because rain was coming. I finished at 7:30 pm and when we awoke this morning it was raining. I have the floor all completed and half of the railings.   The cat is happy because she had to spend her time locked in the garage while I stained.  Otherwise she would have been up there walking in it.  To get her in the garage I would offer her treats there and then close the door.  She kept falling for it.  Today it is catch-up doing laundry and cleaning.

Both of us having fun

Gerry and several friends took their trip to Hatfield McCoy trails in West Virginia on Thursday through Sunday. For Christmas last year he had requested a helmet camera which he used this time. He got some great footage of the trails. It made my heart stop to see the steep slopes on the sides of the trails. There was only one minor glitch: the settings were wrong and it recorded it all upside down. Here he is watching the movies with the monitor upside down. It was the only solution we could come up with.

While he was out having fun, I was at home having fun (Ha). Each morning I check the weather forcast to determine my activity for the day - a lot like a farmer. I need no rain for 12 hours and tempatures between 45 and 95. If all is well, I put on my oldest, stained clothes and start the work for the day. This picture shows the progress. The picture shows a bit dark, but it does look almost new. My friend asked why I did not hire one of the Amish in our community who work for $8 and hour. I had not even considered that. But the cost would add up as I have been working on this for nearly a month. And I know the quality of the work (only I know where I have made mistakes). At least no one had better point them out!!