As Our Life Goes On

I discovered that my regular camera was still at home when I decided to get some pictures of Russ mowing at our camp in Pennsylvania. I used my cell phone camera instead.  He had taken a new tire over for the riding mower but it did not fit so he decided to get the old Gravely walking mower started and mow just around the trailer and immediate area. The balance of the mowing will have to wait. It was over 90 degrees as he followed the machine around. This machine is as dangerous as it looks so I stayed inside the air conditioned trailer and snapped a few pictures on my cell phone. He was drenched with sweat when he finished. He had also stirred up something that either bit or stung him near his elbow.   Though the camp had been used by as many as 3 guys at once last Winter and Spring it seemed clean enough so I did not do much to the inside of the trailer. 

Unstoppable is a good word to describe my hard working husband. He has been around the house a lot more since he stopped working so much at his regular job. He goes to that job only as needed and they don't seem to need him too much anymore. That is a good thing. It was 94 degrees out there but not too humid while Russ was setting up the last two sections of iron fence. Next week cement will be poured into the last two holes and some welding will be done to secure the next to the last section into place. The shirt hanging on the fence was shed early in the day. The grass has turned brown and the weeds are withering. We need rain! Brown grass in our yard with withering plantain weeds. 

Cleaning the basement can be unsettling at times. I have written about our giant basement spiders before but this spider certainly was one of the very largest that I have ever seen down there. The wood piece that this wolf spider has two of its legs resting on is 2" wide. I think this could definitely be called a large spider for Ohio. I was startled when I spied this one resting above the well housing in the basement within a couple of feet from my head. It is always a surprise to see them even though I know that they are hiding everywhere in our house. There are plenty of places in our older house for them to live. In the last 40 plus years that we have lived here we have always had sightings of these big spiders. These non-paying residents do keep other insects from overtaking the house so I guess that is somewhat of a payback. I thought that this one had escaped the broom but my husband saw it limping across the floor the next day and put an end to the suffering. Though we

You may have guessed from the blog title what we intend to do or not to do. We are not going to paint the iron fence. The more we looked at it the more we liked the rusty patina that it has acquired over many years. Some wire brushing may be done to remove heavy encrustations but for now the fence will retain the rusty look. Work will continue when the weather cools but for now other work needs to be attended to. Russ is checking the level on a post in the picture. The next section has to be welded onto the post that he is checking. The gate works well and will remain open most of the time.  The base for the post lamp that will be placed somewhere near the fence can be seen just behind Russ. The large top to the lamp is in that building. The lamp will be scraped and painted as it retains a great deal of paint. 

Will you still hold on When I am faded and old Let's stick together -Caroline

The inner posts for the fence are actually welded up inside. See first picture. This will give great stability to the fence. It won't fall over or lean when the sections are leveled and cemented into the ground. This project leads me to think of another which may not take as much work. I have an old street light that has been gathering rust and I would like to see it put somewhere in the yard near the fence. It need not be electrified as it it has a large font area where a lantern could be placed. It will need a sturdy stabilization system also. 

Russ gazes into one of the 30 inch deep holes that have been drilled for fence post bases for the iron fence. The cement is added and then spread around a bit and tamped with a post. I think he is actually using a wooden post to adjust the cement in the top picture. Next some iron posts will be set into the holes. The heavy iron fence will be placed over the posts and the levels will be adjusted. The placement of the fence sections will be a very difficult job. One of the sections will require some welding as it was cut from the others. The sections that support the gate will have to be placed perfectly in order for it to latch properly.  The final job of wire brushing and painting will seem easy after the fence is in place. A section of the fence can  be seen leaning against the tree in the background,

As soon as I heard my husband say that the blimp was flying over our yard I rushed to grab my camera but before I could run into the back yard the craft had flown to the other side of the tall trees and I could no longer get a good shot. I missed seeing a flashing advertisement that was on the side so now I will never know what somebody was selling or wanted me to know. Oh well! I probably don't need what they were advertising anyway. I would have liked to get a good picture though. 

Oddness intrigues me Daisies take so  many shapes  Just like people do -Caroline

Walking through the yard trails to pick black raspberries involves walking on dry crunchy grass. The recent rains were good but not good enough to green up the lower cut grasses. There are walking trails cut all through the area of meadow grasses and tall decorative grasses that grow in front of the barn. The raspberry bushes are at the far end of the property so this is a more interesting way to get to the picking spot than just walking on the mowed area behind the barn. I found a few stray berry bushes under a pine tree so my berry cup started getting filled as I started through the trail. Perhaps there will be enough for topping our breakfast cereal or some yogurt. 

Just give me daisies A bouquet from the garden It shows all your love -Caroline

There are two of these large Siberian Elm trees near the West side of our house. The one in the picture is probably 70 feet tall. It has been declining every year because of disease. We have had it trimmed by an arborist a few times but this year it would seem futile. The foliage is so sparse that it probably won't support the tree much longer. The buzzards and crows love to sit on the leafless limbs so that they can see what is going on around them. When it was healthy and full of leaves the tree gave a lot of shade to that side of the house. The other Siberian Elm tree can't be seen in the picture. It may get a reprieve this year but maybe not as it is in serious decline also. 

Mr. Fixit is so full of compassion. He checked the rain water that had accumulated at the bottom of the partially dug post holes in the back yard before starting to drill again. There were a number of frogs and toads who had made their way into the holes either for the water that we had poured in them during the dry weather or by mistake. The trapped animals were carefully dipped out and released. We were extremely happy that there was some rain yesterday as our area is down by at least 5 inches of rain for the year. Everything looks refreshed today. It is going to be very hot this week so our plants and trees may still need extra attention and water.  The post holes are done now and about 30" deep. Gooey clay mud lays around the top of each of the holes. The drilling of these holes is an important step toward erecting the old iron fence. 

Crown vetch is a legume which has been widely used on roadsides for erosion control. It is a very invasive plant however and can take over large areas. Climbing fences is not a problem for this pretty plant.  The plant can be toxic to horses and other farm animals, mammals and birds who might ingest it. The use as roadside cover has ceased in many areas. It has very pretty clover-like flowers but it is now classified as a noxious weed. 

The deer and rabbits have eaten most of the flower buds off of the perennials in the front flower garden. They have eaten some of the stems clear to the ground in fact. I think we will have to give up on seeing any blooms in that area this year.  The flowers behind the house have not suffered this kind of assault.  The washing machine has been fixed so that it runs well enough to wash our clothes again. We hope that it lasts for a while longer even though the old Maytag is 24 years old.  The hot dry weather goes on with not much real relief in sight. We will have to be watering the trees and plants around the yard in the days ahead. Our life goes on in the usual manner. That is a good thing!

Hang on there daddy Long legs are good for gripping Queen Anne's Lace dried tops -Caroline

As I sat at my computer I could see reddish flashes of motion out in the back yard. I looked and saw that the crippled doe had brought her offspring to a place she considered to be safe. They tore over the hill in the back at a fast speed strengthening their legs with every running step and leap. They disappeared until later in the afternoon when these pictures were taken from my window. The spots on the fawns are still evident. The doe holds her ailing leg in the air. If startled she runs but most of the time she limps. Hopefully her leg is on the mend. 

The crippled doe that we observed last week made her way through the front yard at dusk. Each painfully slow step got her closer to the apple tree where some very green hard apples have fallen to the ground. The apples will be ripe in July and then there will be a plentiful supply of juicy apples for the deer and other animals that enjoy the sweet treats.   Rabbits also visit the spot under the tree to search for some morsels but they are more into visiting the flower garden and eating the flower buds. Rain was in the forecast for our area yesterday but it fell to the East of us. Very hot dry weather is expected for the next week or so. The weather may be good for outdoor sports and barbecue parties but we are in great need of the natural moisture. 

We got the feeling that maybe something strange had happened and that perhaps we were somewhere in the twilight zone early on Sunday morning. It isn't often that we can travel through the center of a town and see no traffic. We did see a few workman on the village square. It was before 6 AM so maybe Medina, Ohio is one of those towns where the residents do not wake up until later.  We were up at 4:30 AM so that we could go to the flea market at Litchfield, Ohio. Evidently it is the best time of the day to travel through this town. 

A late day walk around the yard yesterday took us through the meadow areas East of the house. The fine seed heads on one kind of grass were a violet color that contrasted with the light green and brownish seed heads. We have noticed an invasion of poison ivy plants into some areas that will require us to eradicate the toxic plants. A field of poison ivy might be pretty when the ivy turns red in the Fall but that would not be such a good idea. A deer crossed the road as we headed toward the house. A Queen Anne's lace flower is starting to open in my flower garden out back. Yes! I let this weed grow in my garden. It is pretty!

Mr. Fix-it, aka Russ, breaks out in a cold sweat whenever going shopping for something new is mentioned. "I'll fix the old machine!" he said when a new washing machine was mentioned. He quickly armed himself with a screwdriver and pulled the front of the Maytag washer away from the body. Looks pretty simple inside. Might as well have a wringer washer. The two belts felt loose so he whipped those off and proclaimed that he had found part of the problem. We will look for a source for those belts this week. The other part of the problem could be that the filters on the water intake and discharge hoses are just about completely clogged. We do hope that these simple fixes will keep this 24 year old machine working. Now how will we spend all the money that we will save if this works?

When our appliances are working well we tend to take them for granted. We just assume that the next time we use them they will continue to work as they have in the past. NOT SO! Today we found that our 24 or 25 year old Maytag washing machine was failing to spin during the spin cycles. We could manually set the knob to spin and it would work but when running through the complete wash and rinse cycle it just failed to spin. I suspect this  problem could cause a costly repair to the controls.  This washer has served us well as it required only one repair ever. The part for that repair had to be custom made from stuff we found in the basement at that time. I think it is really time to retire this relic and look for a newer model. The money that would have been spent on repairs will be put towards a new machine.  I very much dislike looking for new appliances as does my husband. This will not be much fun. One criteria will be that the new item will be delivered and the old heavy m

Drilling post holes for the new fence seemed like a good idea last evening. The shallow hole in the picture above shows how far the auger was able to drill in our rock hard clay soil. Water is being poured in the holes daily as it does not look like it will rain in the near future.  Our flowers and newly planted trees are also getting daily watering just to keep them alive. Very hot dry weather is expected for the weekend. The local TV weathermen seem to perceive rain as a threat. We think rain would be welcome at this time.  We have asked some friends in the construction business to see if they have something better suited for making the holes for our fence. In the meantime the hole drilling is on hold. 

Preliminary work on the iron fence has begun. Yesterday it was temporarily set up. The spots for the post holes were marked and then it was taken down again. The sections very heavy iron. It will be erected a section at a time over a period of time as only Russ will be doing the work. This is a fence that we bought in Pennsylvania many years ago. Supposedly it was part of a fence from a schoolyard. Not sure if that story is true. It will make a nice addition to the back yard.  There will be more to come later in this story. 

When the doe turned sideways her distended milk sack could be seen. Her sleek reddish Summer coat made her easy to see. Perhaps her offspring were hidden somewhere in the high grass on our property.  She browsed on both flowers and other plants.  Notice the raised right leg and low hung head. This doe limped very slowly through the yard and seemed to be in great pain every time the right foot was placed on the ground. I do hope this is a temporary soreness.  Notice the right leg is being held up as she eats.  Another doe traveled with this one. It thought it was hiding from me when it turned away and put its head where it could not be seen. This one was a bit smaller and had no problems with its legs. 

Our oldest granddaughter will graduate from Georgia State University later this year. Residents of Georgia are lucky enough to be able to get free tuition through the Hope scholarship to this school and other state colleges if they maintain a certain GPA. The lottery sales in the state are used to fund this. We are so happy that our grandchildren live in a state that values the education of the citizens and has this great program. The university is in downtown Atlanta next to the major highway. See picture taken from that road.   It would be wonderful if all states were able to figure out the value of doing this. In Ohio we see only constantly rising tuition for residents. Also rising are our property taxes to support local schools. Not sure where all the lottery money goes here but the schools are in constant need. Our recent trip to the Atlanta area to attend the high school graduation of our youngest granddaughter brought this into my mind again making me wonder all over again

This is the robin's nest that was on the window ledge outside of our bathroom.  The robin sat in the nest only a few days and then  the nest was suddenly abandoned. There were no eggs in the nest or on the ground below. Perhaps a hungry predator made off with the eggs. The creative robin had used the old spray nozzle that was on the ledge and some medical gauze in the base of the nest. 

Setting a web snare Eight-legged spider works hard Waiting for a meal -Caroline

Rain may not ruin your entire trip. Sometimes you have to ignore the obvious and just take a wait and see attitude. Even though it may rain hard for many hours the rain may stop and the sun may shine. When we reached our destination recently it was raining quite hard. Being cooped up in the van in the rain is not too much fun. We read papers and magazines until dark. We did find a radio station that we liked a lot and we listened until well after dark. It was still raining when we fell asleep. The next day the clouds parted and the sun did shine. We did have a good time and arrived home safely. Of course this was not all due to positive or negative thinking. We did have some very negative thoughts about the rain and mud in fact. It happens!