As Our Life Goes On

There are many flowers that no longer bloom in my small garden behind the house. The two pretty plants above no longer exist there. The flowers seem to come and go after I plant them. Some blooms require only a little care and attention and they persist. This year there seemed to be fewer varieties in my garden.   I miss them. Friends come and a few must go. Some friends continue to bloom year after year as do some of the flowers. Friends are my favorite flowers. I will tend to them carefully. 

We had no TV at all until I was 10 years old. There were no neighborhood playgrounds close to our home on Wolcott Ave. in Kent, Ohio. Fun was where you found it and outside game rules were at the discretion of those who played. The equipment for these games did not cost a thing. Hide and Seek was very popular and best played near dusk since you could hide in the shadows. One person was selected as IT by whatever means the players decided to use that evening. That person was to put his head down on the place designated as HOME which was usually a tree that was chosen because of the location.  IT had to close his eyes and count to 100 to give the players a chance to find their favorite hiding place. Then the familiar "coming ready or not" words were shouted by IT. The hiders had to be very crafty. Being able to move fast was an asset. Players were not allowed to leave our large yard but they could move around as IT hunted for them. If they could run in and tag home they w

This picture was scanned from a photo taken a few years ago. The Cuyahoga River no longer flows freely and heavily over the dam that is under the Main Street bridge in Kent. The water is now diverted around the edge of the dam near the lower railroad tracks so that the river will run faster due to environmental concerns. A small trickle of water is pumped over the dam but it hardly equals what we remember as we grew up. There is a walkway along the river and a small park area near this spot. The Crain Ave bridge is being replaced by a new modern bridge that is still under construction. The old buildings that surrounded that area have been torn down for this project. A new gas station will enhance the looks of the corner of Mantua St. and Fairchild Ave. The roads in Kent seem to be the only thing that have not changed in many years. They are still very neglected and full of holes and bumps. You sure do know when you enter the city limits! 

This picture was scanned from a photograph taken some time ago. I have decided to be very lazy today and do only what I feel like doing. As I glance around there are a lot of jobs that need done.  They will wait!

These recipes are favorites in our household. This is a great money saving recipe for glass cleaner. WINDOW CLEANER 1/2 cup white vinegar-1 pint rubbing alcohol-1 teaspoon mild dishwashing liquid detergent. I use Ivory liquid. Mix with enough water to make one gallon of cleaner. Put in a spray bottles. LABEL ALL CONTAINERS!   Though we both have allergies to some chemicals this homemade laundry detergent seems very safe for our skin.  We are both allergic to antibacterial soaps so Ivory is our choice of bar soap to use in this recipe. The detergent smells good and cleans quite well. The cost to make a gallon is around 35 cents.  The soap container does have to be shaken before each use. Just use the same amount of this liquid as you usually do. We have been using this recipe for over 2 years. LIQUID LAUNDRY DETERGENT Melt 1 small bar of  soap, grated, slowly on the stove in about 1 quart of water in 2 quart or larger pan. I use Ivory bar soap 4.5 ounces.  Remove from heat.

Yesterday the temperature was around 90 degrees and today is about 30 degrees cooler. It is a great day to be outside. Russ has been working very diligently on the woodpile. The air tight stove in the living room will have to be pulled out to clean the chimney. Soon the radiant warmth of the wood stove will heat the house. Today has been very busy so this post will be short. 

ME AS A LITTLE GIRL I passed a milestone birthday yesterday. This one bothered me more than some of the other special birthdays. Though it is hard to admit there are some signs that I am slowing down. My strength is waning and I feel more tired after doing things that were not thought of as an effort 5 years ago. I want the bad occasions to go by fast and the good things to last forever. Some memories are a blur and some things are remembered in super great detail. I had lunch with friends and our son had us over to his home in Kent for supper. No cooking on my birthday was a good thing. I am looking forward to 10 more years and yet another milestone birthday. When I look in the mirror I see the same person that I have always been. 

Scanned from a photograph taken a few years ago We felt very safe when we went to Kent in the 50s. Our family only had one car and dad needed that one to drive to work. If we wanted to go to downtown Kent we walked. We would go in pairs or small groups that formed as we traveled down Wolcott Ave. toward Mantua St. When we got to the Van Allen store it was time to cross the street and go over the humped Crain Ave. bridge.  There was often a long train passing by on the tracks that ran through town when we got to the other side of the bridge. Many times the train slowed to a crawl at the Crain Ave. bridge to let off a worker and pick up another. It was a good time for talking while we waited. A right turn onto North Water St. got us into town. We had to pass the mill shown above. A group of workmen from the mill were always happy to hoot and whistle at any girls that might pass by. There was an Isaly's store, Standard Drug, Donaghy's Drug, Grohe's and Lee's Drug  

The grass over the sewer line and septic tank area is starting to grow but there has been very little rain in our area. The nightly sprinkling with a hose is almost futile. Rain is expected sometime today. A haze of green is showing through the straw and we are still waiting for a decent rainfall to make the grass really take off. There was no topsoil at all on this area and the clay that is on the top was brought up from about 12 feet below. By next Spring the grass should be established and it will probably be hard to find where the sewer line was. 

The day was warm and breezy and many people were using the hike an bike trail that is over the hill at the back of our property. The hikers don't realize how far their conversations can travel. We really get an earful when we are in the back yard. A lot of work must be done today so this post is a brief one. Just be very careful what you say when you walk along a trail. You may not see who is listening. 

The color picture of the leaves above was taken a year or two ago in our front yard. Those precious boys above were having a great time jumping around in the leaves together. Date of that picture was most likely around 1969. As we returned from a trip to the Pittsburgh area this weekend there were isolated pockets of color in the hills. The maples were brilliant orange, reds and yellows and the ash trees had dark purple and gold hues. Trunks and limbs of entire trees were set ablaze by red poison ivy leaves.  It will be a couple more weeks before the trees in those hills reach the peak of color.  I LOVE FALL! When I grew up on Wolcott Ave. in Kent we would rake our leaves to the edge of the road in front of our house on our dead end street. We lived in the last house on the left on the dead end of that street so there was very little traffic there except for people who did not read the DEAD END STREET sign at the other end of the road.  Some drivers came up all the way just to ma

This is definitely the very last shed that we are dragging into our yard. It has probably been at least 5 years now since we bought this building. It has a weird and somewhat ugly style because it was originally built up against a 40s or 50s round top trailer or mobile home. It actually cost as much as my favorite shed which was discussed in on of my previous posts. Our friend Jim was anxious to haul it for us again. It was an easy job for his roll back carrier as it is not a very large building. It is only 6 1/2 feet wide a the base and 12 1/2 feet long. My brother-in-law found a nice vintage door along the road in the trash to replace the old paneled door which was in sad disrepair. He cut it down a bit to fit the opening and added a new door frame. New rolled roofing was added. We really miss the help that my brother-in-law gave us when he was living in the area. He moved a few years ago to another area of the country that is too far away for visiting. Russ carried tools, serv

Well he is the hardest worker in my world! This is one of the sheds that rests in our yard. Not sure in what order we moved this one in as it seems that there were a number of sheds that were moved here within the same year. It was scheduled for a burning exercise by a local fire department if not moved. Our friend Jim is a fireman and his fireman friend let him know about this shed. It was FREE! Several inches of rotted wood had to be removed from the bottom as it was sitting in the dirt behind a garage. A new base and floor were a must. The shallow but tall little barn was hauled here on Jim's rollback carrier. It is 12 feet wide and 6 1/2 feet deep. I can stand up straight on both floors but I don't recall how tall the shed is. The two story structure can hold lots of STUFF. The sides are made from very thick rough sawn wood. Not sure of how old it is but but it is made of old quality materials.  Eventually the shed was moved to a different location in the yard. We thou

We really should have taken a before picture of the second little shed that we dragged into the yard. It was located less than a mile down the road from our home. We noticed that it was sadly lacking attention and Russ stopped to ask if they were interested in selling it. They told him that if he hauled away for free they would be very happy. We loaded it ourselves with a come-along and the same flat trailer that we had used for the first little shed from Pennsylvania.  The shed above is 12 feet wide 4 feet 10 inches deep and 11 feet high at the peak. The previous owners said that the shed came from Kent and was a dugout shelter for baseball. We had other thoughts as at one time there were similar open front buildings along Main street in Kent that were used as bus stops near Kent State University. There is a very similar shed on Summit Road behind a house near the Kent State stadium. The little building had no front but it had a floor that was unmarked by cleats. There were re

 There are no special stories about this shed. It was easy to move. We had to pay a bit more than we cared to for this little shed but it needed nothing to make it usable. It is newer but was not made from a kit. When I stand beside it I find it hard to believe that friend Jim hauled this here on his rollback carrier which he made from an old fire engine. Down spouts have been added since this picture was taken. It matches our big pole barn in style and color. 

When we saw the newspaper ad on a Sunday morning that read shed for sale $125.00 we knew that we had to go see it as soon as possible. Richfield is not too far from our home so we left the house right away expecting the usual newer garden shed. We were delighted to see the Western Reserve styling in this shed. It rested behind a low 1960s style duplex. Perhaps the original house was a Western Reserve style farmhouse that for some reason no longer existed. The shed was tipped forward and the front and side rested in the dirt. We promptly paid for the shed and got the receipt. Friend Jim had moved some of our other sheds with his large rollback carrier so he came to take a look. He was not sure of being able to use the carrier to move this one. The shed is larger than it appears in the pictures. It is almost square at 8 feet 4 inches and 8 feet 6 inches long. A one foot overhang on each side added to the width and depth. The height is about 12 feet.  It has thick old boards for all

The sight of falling leaves and changing colors has caused a new urgency when it comes to finishing up the outside repairs and painting that must be done. Fortunately the building shown in the picture below will need only some inside cleaning. This was our first small shed. It is only about 6 feet wide by 8 feet long and 9 feet high. We have a larger pole barn but this small shed that was on our property in Emlenton, Pennsylvania seemed like something that we would like to have in the backyard here in Ohio. Sunday mornings are the best moving days. We borrowed a low flat trailer and packed plenty of straps and boards for moving and stabilizing the building. A come-along  and  some planks were all that were needed to load the shed. It came straight up the planks and after nailing boards to the shingles to keep them from blowing away on Interstate 80 and using numerous straps and reinforcements we bought it home and placed it on old concrete and barnstone supports. There is less traf

Blending in with your background can be good for some animals. Perhaps I will pick a bright and unusual outfit to wear tomorrow. It would be very out of character for me to do this but it could be fun to see any reactions that it might cause. The day was spent  cleaning and painting plus the usual things that must be done. Tiredness has set in.

Most of the large leaves that were on the hosta plants that are scattered in different areas around our yard have now been nipped off by the deer that frequently cut through our yard. In the Spring the tender leaves were protected by frequent dusting with cayenne or hot red pepper powder. That worked. The leaves showed some signs of being tasted in the Spring but then they were left alone by the animals and the plants sent their spikes of purple flowers above the leaves. It was nice to see them bloom this year. After blooming the application of the special seasoning was stopped. The picture above shows the results. It really doesn't matter now as the cool nights will cause these plants to wilt completely.

Today is a better day but still feeling like I'm way out in space. Hopefully whatever is keeping me listless will go away.  The picture above was scanned from a drawing that our son did many years ago. There is some detail lost in the reproduction.

EASTERN BOX TURTLE There are days when a person should just pull themselves into a shell and rest. This is one of them. Click on the words below the turtle picture to read the Wikipedia description of the turtle.

It seems as if the two flowering crabs near our driveway just finished blooming. But now the leaves are falling from these trees as thousands of small crabapples are turning color. The tiny crabapples will soon litter our driveway with squishy piles of reddish debris. The birds eat many of these but there are so many of the little fruits this year that it will be up to us to clean up the rest. We really wouldn't know what to do if we ran out of cleanup and fix up jobs.

One of our daughters-in-law has a great blog on her hand made ceramic art tile website. She also uses blogger.com which is a free service from Google. Her blog is how I found blogger. I was hesitant to try writing a blog because my only experience is writing would be the descriptions that I have written to put items for sale on ebay for the last 12 years. These descriptions are what can be best be described as very bland and neutral. This neutral mode of writing has been very effective for selling. The only training that I have for writing anything interesting and useful is from a college course in writing effective business letters. These letters had to state the facts, get to the point and suggest an action. This had to be done in a neutral manner using language and words that could be easily read and understood.  The words could not be inflammatory or accusatory. You could not say: You can call me at this number. You should send us $100 now! You had to say: Please cal

We have waited two years for the dirt over the 180 foot sewer line from the road to the house to settle. The soil has now been pulverized and seeded. Fresh straw is spread on top and daily watering will be done. We do need some rain to make that grass grow. If I ever feel like reliving the sordid $40,000 sewer line installation story you will see the details. At this moment those details can just stay buried as deep as the 12 foot deep sewer line that we were forced to put in along the road where we have 539 feet of frontage. We had to install a sewer line along the road on half of that frontage length and half of the property, 45 feet,  that was next to ours. After all that we got to put the long line into the line that goes out from our home. This expensive sewer gets the "stuff"  moved to the river faster.

Our hemlocks self prune in the Fall. They have spread to cover large areas with shade. At times we wish that the entire yard were woods. Maybe that would be a good goal. Next year we could plant more trees. It was cooler on Saturday when we returned from our short Pennsylvania trip. When we stepped out of the van we could hear music. In fact it was difficult not to hear the music. A city organized Labor Day event was being held at  Stow Silver Springs Park which is about 3/4 of a mile from our home. The constant thumping of the instruments that played bass could be heard even inside of our brick house. Usually the thick walls block out outside noises. The sound outside was so loud that we did not wish to stay out there to do any work. At 9:30 PM the fireworks started and we thought maybe that was the end. But after the fireworks finale the rock music continued. It seemed to be louder than ever. At 11 PM the music abruptly stopped. This morning when we passed the park entrance at 5

View from our camp We went to our camp in Pennsylvania this weekend to do a little cleanup and mowing. The view from our trailer may soon match the one in the picture above which was taken a few years ago. October is the best month for leaf colors. The colors are just now starting to appear on stressed trees and poison ivy. The 35 foot long 1953 Stewart round top trailer at camp is still standing and no mice had invaded. It seemed reasonably clean inside the vintage structure so I did not feel the need to work too hard. We trailered a long picnic table over with us and set it in a shady spot. The 40 year old salvaged table needed only a few repairs and some reinforcements to make it just right for our old camp. The bottoms of the feet were somewhat worn and ragged so we put some auto body putty into the worn out spots after wire brushing them to remove the soft wood. This plastic goop should protect the legs from moisture. We should be going to camp to relax and that never seems to

Mr. Fixit pushes the trailer away from the barn. Mr. Fixit stabilizes the trailer with another jack. Mr. Fixit got himself into a situation last evening. He was trying to rearrange some bales of straw that we had purchased from a farm on Monday to be used  on a part of the yard that will have to be seeded. I was walking in the yard near the front of the barn when I heard a loud scraping thump. I quickly walked around to the back of the barn and found him between the trailer and wall of the barn. He seemed to be firmly pinned. His sheepish grin let me know that he was OK. He was able to push the trailer away from his body and he was not badly hurt.   This type of 2 wheel trailer is more stable if supported on both ends. That is now done.  It is just so easy to get injured unexpectedly. It is probably a good idea to carry a cell phone along with you if you are in the yard working alone. Mr. Fixit is ready to tackle more projects today. I will have to keep a close eye on him.  

There seems to be no end of the pests that like to take up residence in, under or around old sheds and buildings. The woodchuck or groundhog is one of these very annoying animals. They dig under the sheds and pile the earth up against the floors of the buildings. This has to be addressed in order not to have the floor damaged by moisture in those spots. We usually don't have too much luck catching the varmints in humane traps. We got rid of the one that dug this hole and two other holes under the same building by sprinkling red or cayenne pepper into the hole. You can learn more about these pests by clicking on the link below. Woodchucks