Getting ready to fly

G has search for a runway that has a hanger for his ultralight. As he could find none nearby he decided to make his own.  He marked out an area from the field and started working on it.  He disked over it for many hours to make it smooth.  I should say as smooth as possible.  He hopes grass will grow over it so he can land smoothly.  He is storing the ultralight in the shop so he can taxi to the runway.

When he left his dad's farm at 18 he vowed to never be a farmer.  Well, it looks a bit like he is again.  But it is for his pleasure.  As soon as his new prop arrives he will be ready to go.

Getting our exercise

 

We do not have a wood burning fireplace, but have a  stove with a glass front in the basement.  In the winter I enjoy sitting down there looking at the fire.

We have burnt all of the wood so needed to replenish it.  Several dead Ash trees had fallen across the paths so we, Gerry that is, cut them up.  My part is yet to come.  

These need to be split.  A neighbor has a wood splitter and will loan it to us.  The plan is for Gerry will put the large pieces in the splitter, the neighbor will  operate the splitter, and I will load the trailer.  Next all needs to be unloaded into the basement.

A Birthday gift

 As a birthday gift Gerry made a path in the woods.  I now can walk or ride the four wheeler.  Thanks, Hon

Before

After

 

Fun

Freezing corn

 Fortunately we have farms around here that grow the best sweet corn.  So I haven't put any in my garden.  We bought a bag of 48 ears.  G was happy to help since he could use his invention for cutting the kernels off the cob.  

We now have 24 pints of corn to enjoy this winter.

Walking in the woods again

When we first moved here, there were paths around the perimeter of our 20 acres of woods.  It is overgrown now from fallen trees.  The biggest culprit was the 

Emerald ash borer.  The larvae are under the bark and where they feed.  When the trees die, they fall quickly.  When I first saw the logs after the bark had come off I thought it was amazing.  That is before I realized what it was.

That brings me to the present.  

Gerry is clearing a path for me.  He had to cut fallen trees in pieces and move them with the tractor before the mower could even make a path.  

No, the extension cord did not stretch from the house to the woods.  He brought a gas generator out which he plugged into. I failed to get a picture of that.

I will show the finished project as I walk through it.

Cages and trellis

I think I have forgotten a lot about gardening. I had been a long time since I  started vegetables from seed.  Gerry built me a grow light in the basement.  I had to check on my babies every night to make sure they had enough water.  Then as they got bigger they needed to be transplanted into a larger pot and finally into the ground.  When I had a garden in the past I bought tomato cages to put around the tomatoes so they would not fall over.  Since I had given up gardening I had given them away 

Well, as it happens in the Goertzen household, we will not buy anything if we can make it.  Daughter recommended pole beans, so we constructed the tomato cages and a trellis.   

The poles are from small trees we cut in our woods.  Holes were dug, then the project began.  Obviously designed by an engineer.

 It would be more authentic if we had used grape vines instead of wire to hold the poles together.

There is a fence around it to keep the rabbits out.  As an aside, one year the rabbits got in and had a nest of little bunnies IN the garden.  I didn't have the heart to move them out.

Gardening again

For many years I have planted a garden.  A couple years ago I took down the fence and planted grass in the spot.  We many times were gone when the vegetables were ready to harvest.  But  I must admit, I did not keep up with the weeding.

This year I have decided to plant a garden again.  The first step was to till the area where the grass had grown.  Our soil is mostly clay so this is a challenge.  First it involved moving the things that were parked in the spot. 

We (Gerry) has tilled over it several times.  

Today we will buy a trailer of compost and work it into the ground.  And then  put up a fence to keep the rabbits out.

I have had to brush up on how to garden.  Fortunately I have an expert to advise me , my daughter. 

The last challenge was buying seeds.  It seems that a lot of people have decided to garden this year.  Just waiting for peas and broccoli. 

Shut down update.

Looks like I have not posted any update on our situation here.  We cut short our vacation. We were gone six days out of the 20 we planned but arrived home safely and have been in shut down since.  Since Gerry and are in a high risk group , due to age and his cancer, we are trying to be extra careful.  I found a meat market and bulk food market which also has some fruit.  Both were willing to do curbside pickup.  We have plenty of meat, which makes Gerry happy. 

I have been able to order online  personal items such as soap, shampoo, and even aspirin and vitamin pills.  No toilet  paper of course.  I do a lot research along with my children as to what are safely measures. 

Gerry is continuing with his writing on his autobiography. Many of my friends are doing "Spring housecleaning" which I may or may not do.  I hope to stay ahead on the weeding of flower beds. 

Also, spring flowers are starting to bloom in the woods.  Walking out there and looking for new ones give me great joy. In past years I took many, many pictures of them.  I think I will spend my time now editing and printing some.

Hilton Head, South Carolina

I have just completed reading three books on traveling alone, one being a solo female travel book.  Just a few of the tips:  The first thing is to find the location of the tourist information center. Bring functional clothes - no one cares what you look like.  Check days museums are closed and days they have a docent. It is OK not to see everything. Look at weather forecast as far ahead as possible.

Then there are things I can learn about myself.  Learn to be more open minded. Learn to be comfortable being alone.  Remember when I tell friends that I plan to travel alone they will tell me stories of people who had problems, or that it is not safe. 

This week G and I will leave on a trip with the final destination Hilton Head, SC.  We will be together for about a week, then I plan to spend two weeks by myself. That was why I reading the books.

I hope to use this blog to document activities of each day.  It will be for me as well as sharing with others.

A "Bernice Day"

Yesterday was a day for me.  I had decided to have a day that was relaxing and fun.   So, I packed my bag for a day in the outdoors.  First of all I had  lunch at Rito's, an Italian Bakery and Deli.  The sandwich I ordered had two kinds of meat,  marinated egg plant and then Italian Dressing was poured over all.  Quite unusual in that the bottom of the bun was completely soaked .  Dessert was Tiramisu .

Next I drove to the Hinckley Metropark which is part of the greater Cleveland Metropark system. This is one of favorite as you see the lake from all the trails. At the first entrance there were large orange cones in front of the drive.  The second was the same with a police car there.  I drove to the third.  After seeing the cones I Googled "Why is Hinckley park closed"  Seems it was closed for wildlife management, but they were also working on the trails. I went to Plan B which was to find another of the Metropark locations,where I walked three miles.  Although nothing is green yet, I find beauty in just looking at the mosaic of the fallen trees.

Next I went to a theater to see the movie "Little Women". 

This a view of the theater when I walked in.  I was the only person there.  Three women joined be later.  Usually there 15 minutes of advertising for upcoming movies.  The last on was Dr.  Dolittle.  After about ten minutes of watching  what we thought were the previews of Dr. Dolittle one of the ladies said I thought this was to be Little Women.  As it turns out, the computer was showing the wrong movie. They could not change it so I was given a ticket for the mix up, but didn't have time to wait for Little Women.  So I watched Dr. Dolittle.  It is a fun movie for kids, but I enjoyed it again as the only person in the theater.

To my children - We can get it done!

As my children can attest to, it sometimes (maybe more that I want to admit) it takes a loooong time for G and I to get something done.  Once Daughter told us to not tell her about any house we had looked at until we signed on the bottom line.  According to my blog post on June 17, 2019, we had the counter top installed.  This week we had the back splash installed. It only took seven months. 

June 17, 2019

February 26, 2020

February 28, 2020

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Happy in my woods

After reading the blog of Alexis .... I noticed in the pictures, the clothing of choice is usually a raincoat.   That also seems to be true here.  For his last few days it grey and dreary when I wake and look out the window.   One of the things I do to raise my spirits is to walk in my woods. The colors may be drab, but the shapes of the trees, fallen logs,  and the texture of the half frozen ground just makes me happy.  Sometimes I try to take pictures, but it in no way conveys what I experience.

My latest challenge is to note "landmarks" to find my way back home. Examples are fallen trees with all the roots exposed, logs laid out for a vehicle to get across a wet area, branches of a certain shape and even a small deer stand  left there by a hunter.  I do not worry about getting lost as the woods is only 20 acres, so if I walked to the edge, there would be an open field.

I call the woods mine because G does not go out there.  There are no paths to ride motorcycles.

Red Car

On my blog post of January 17, I sort of made fun of a friend who just goes into the car dealership, points at a red car, and says "I want that one".  Here is the red car we just bought.  But for us it was after a few weeks of research, etc.
It is 2020 Mazda CX-5.  Gerry would have you know it has a turbo, all wheel drive and 2000# towing capacity.  For me, it has so much computer stuff in it, that I say we are driving a computer.  But I will be able to find my car in the parking lot.

Last night we went to our favorite place to see a movie.   Lorain County Community College.  According to their site, "LCCC's film Series screens the world's finest art, independent, classic and foreign films..."  We have never seen a film there that we didn't love.  We saw the classic, "The Bridges of Madison County".

Inspiration from two sources

Sometimes it seems hard to find something interesting to write about.  My highlight today was taking a leisurely two mile walk on our country road.  The thing that made it so great was that the temperature was nearly 60 degrees.  For February 2 - what a treat. It just reminds me of how Spring and Fall feel.  Now to keep the feeling. 

On another topic, DH loves to collect quotes, which sometimes are on tee shirts.  He is not afraid to ask strangers if he can take a picture of their shirt. Recently after exercise class I saw this and asked to take a picture.  I doubt if I will do it frequently, but it was for DH.

Dogs, etc

Yesterday I went with Gerry to the "FRINGE" group he attends. A friend of ours came with her husband and their three greyhound dogs. She told about her dogs histories and how she communicates with them.  Another woman told of seeing a UFO including a picture she drew immediately after she saw it. These are examples of the topics that are shared.  The only requirement for attending the group is to have an open mind. Just listen to others, don't judge  but you don't need to believe what others believe.

On another topic, Gerry has received a CPAP machine.  He has slept with it one night.  It is amazing how it reads so much information about your breathing,  records it on the machine, then sends it out to where is monitored constantly.  I am just beginning to understand how it all works.

Car shopping

I have been looking at my past blogs.  I have discovered it is a journal of my life since 2007.  I hope to keep that idea in mind when I post going forward.  It is for others but for me too, so that will be a motivator. 

A lot of our energy in the last few weeks has been the shopping for a new car.  We have a friend who just goes to the dealership and says, " I want the red car in the back of the lot."  This is NOT how we buy a car.  Among other things it should have good reviews, be reliable, have low cost for any repairs, be able to tow at least 2,000 pounds, be fun to drive, have a turbo, have leather seats with electric adjustments, and be the right price.  The later usually means it is two or three years old.  Did I mention, it should be red?  Actually we have not decided on any color.

We are serious about one make and model which we will be test driving a few more times. But then maybe it will be another kind.  Stay tuned.   So no pictures yet.

County Parks

Our county has a wonderful park system which has 18 parks. In Ohio, if it is 50 degrees (10 celsius) it is a good day for hiking.
And yesterday was that.  It is monocolor but still gave me what I needed:  exercise, being outdoors, solitude, and finding photo opportunities. 

RIP Camry

Wow, when I looked at the last time I posted, I realized I could do better.   When we visited RM at Thanksgiving, our car, with 260,000 miles decided it was time to quit.  We were two hours out of DC when the transmission went out on the toll road.  Fortunately we found a man near us in Ohio who transports cars for a living. He drove four hours to load our car and take us home.  It was an interesting ride home riding four hours in a tow truck. (Don't tell him, but it was tiring listening to him talk nonstop.  But I should not complain because he did do us a big favor) We can drive it on short trips but wouldn't trust it for long ones.  So we are car shopping in earnest. 

Today we had invited friends over for a brunch.  Earlier they had left a message that the wife was sick and they could not come.  We did not learn that until the meal was about ready.  It turns out that we have friends next door who were willing to help out.