Another before/after

I knew it would't be a pretty sight, but was not prepared for this.  Our house was built on a piece of farm land.  It was tiled with the old clay tiles which have failed. That resulted in sink holes five feet deep and many areas that remain so wet that we cannot mow there.

Lawn doesn't look too bad in the before picture.

  The tiling crew is here for the second day resulting in this. It goes across the lawn in many places. The sad part is that it will look pretty much like that for a couple of years.  It takes that long for the soil to fill in.  

FYI the man in the red shirt is Hubby supervising!

I will try to not complain since we did not have a choice unless we wanted sink holes.

 Oh, the joy of owning your own home.

Counter top

In my last post I had a picture of the "stolen" counter top.  Well the good new is it has returned and has greatly improved its looks.

The back splash was also "stolen" but has not yet returned.

All the lower cabinets had to be emptied. A new sink, faucet and garbage disposal needed to be installed.  This task fell to dear husband. He is smiling in the picture, but was not always as he crawled into the space under the sink.

I also want to comment on the blue tape on the kitchen window.  For some unknown reason birds repeatedly fly against the windows on all sides of our house.  And make a mess, I would add.  The tape solved the problem.  Guess it doesn't look like an open window, or maybe where they can see their refection.  

Returning home

Every year it seems that we are gone when my favorite flowers are in bloom. They had just started so I took a picture of the best one to take with me.

On my next posting I will show what they looked like when I returned.

The flight from Albuquerque to Cleveland was tiring, especially since we arrived at home at 1:00am.

I fell into bed and apparently slept soundly because this is what I saw when I walked into the kitchen in the morning.

Someone had stolen the counter tops.  And later in the day they all  were gone.  Actually it has been quite a job for Gerry to remove them, plus the sink.  Next week the new top will be installed.

Bernice's Adventure Day 3

I have always enjoyed the Franklin Park Conservatory.  I recall going their years ago when they incorporated  Chihuly  glass among the plants. They had one on display now. But the plants are what I love the best.

This "tree" was about five inches tall. 

And of course tropical flowers.

In the evening I attended a production of a play "Waiting To Be Invited". The props were just folding chairs.  It is a true story of three black women who tested the decision of the Supreme Court on integration by having lunch at an all white lunch counter. It never showed them at the counter, instead we were told of their fears of going there as well as what has happened in their lives which motivated them to do this. Very powerful.

Bernice's Adventure Day two

On Friday evening I had dinner at the Sycamore. It is a "gastropub" in the heart of German Village. Being a Friday evening I had my meal by the bar watching the Kentucky Oaks horse race.

But the highlight of my adventure was attending the Columbus Symphony Orchestra perform Mahler's Fifth.  I copied this description of the concert.

The orchestra brimmed with jubilation through Mahler’s big-hearted finale, which brought more distinguished playing in the horns and trumpets and an exuberant rush to the symphony’s euphoric end.

That describes it better than I can.  The theater was beautiful in it self. 

Bernice's adventure - Day 1

When I learned that G was going on the dirt riding trip with his riding group to the Hatfield McCoy trails in West Virginia, I planned what I called on our calendar, "Bernice's Adventure".  I had no idea where it would take me, but finally chose Columbus,Ohio.  That is about one and a half hours drive from home.  I reserved a room at an Air B & B.  On the way down I stopped at Otterbein  University in Westerville, Ohio to see an exhibition by the Brazilian artist, Vitor Mizael.   What was displayed there was one wall of stuffed birds hanging from the ceiling by strings.  His work is hard to understand unless you read about what he is trying to say from his works.  Google "Vitor Mizael" to see images of his works. I was unable to see online the exhibition that I saw, so no pictures.

After settling in at the B&B I had dinner at an Italian restaurant, sitting outdoors.  Just like in Europe.  Only problem it was not looking over the beautiful country side, just a street with lots of traffic.  I had to use my imagination. 

Slept with the windows open:  a cool breeze and gentle rain. For me that was  heaven. 

Life is too short to ...

Drink bad wine.  For me, who is not an expert on wine, this is a big deal.  Somewhere last summer I bought a bottle of rhubarb and strawberry wine.  ( I know some of you are gagging).  I opened it last night.  After tasting it, the rest was poured down the drain.  I think when I first started drinking wine the sweet fruity kind was fine.  But no more. This was awful.

Eat bad pizza.  Once recently, when G and I were traveling the the toll road we stopped at a rest stop.  These have very limited food selections.  We ordered pizza.  We looked at each other and said it was like eating cardboard. But, being frugal or German (I don't know which) since we had paid for it we ate it.  But this experience now has become a key phrase for us.  When we are eating or doing something that is not so good, but continue to do it, we remind ourselves by saying, "We don't have to eat cardboard pizza".