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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