Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
It has been pretty dry here lately. It just rained this morning, which is good, but up until that, we haven’t had any substantial rainfall in quite some time. I have been watching many plants wilt because of the dryness. The neighbors are getting used to the guy with no shirt standing out front with a hose in his hand.
I have had a few goals. One of them was to finish the rhododendron line across the front of the property. I have been looking at Home Depot for rhododendrons, but none can be found…anywhere. I guess they are a Spring time seller. I actually had to dig up and few that were already planted on the property and the ones I planted earlier in the season to finish the row. It’s done now, so that’s good.
I also wanted to plant some sort of a perimeter around the patio area near the basement doors. I decided to go with the Blue Prince Holly that I have been buying (it’s the only thing left), along with some that I planted earlier on. Earlier in the season, I had no plan and I was just sticking these things in the dirt. Now, at least I have a plan.
I did make a nice discovery yesterday. For a few months, I have been dismayed at the price of mulch around here. I used to pay $20 per yard at the other house. Here, these crooks are charging about $50 per yard. I need to get some of what they are smoking. It’s funny because when I call somewhere for a price, I always sense a little hesitancy in their voices as they tell me how much they charge. They know what they are doing.
I called the local hardware store and found out they sold mulch by the bag. They had 3lb bags of pine mulch for $4.49 per bag. I didn’t think that was too bad, since I just paid almost $5 per bag at Home Depot for that dyed junk. I stopped by the store and picked up 10 bags. That’s 30 cubic feet (a little over a yard) for about $45. I beat the system, you see. Now, I can go back and get 10 bags at a time only when I need them.
The mulch is very important, not only to me and my mulch addiction, but for the plants as well. The whole reason for the plants wilting is because the ground wasn’t holding in any of the moisture. I kept watering them, but the sunshine was just too strong. Now, since I mulched and gave each plant a nice soaking, I think the plants will grow nicely.
Mulched Colorado Blue Spruce
Rhododendrons in mulch.
Blue Prince Holly planted for a hedge line.
The holly bushes really don’t need any mulch because the grass is nice and moist in the back yard.
Speaking of grass, I don’t know how I did it, but the back and side lawns are like a nice thick green carpet. I now mow the lawn on the highest level the mower will go and I think it made a difference. I also overseeded with the Vigoro Contractor’s Mix, so there is some good warm weather seed in there. The reason I mow with the higher setting now is because the grass I planted holds most of the water it absorbs in its leaves. If you mow too low, you are actually cutting off all that water. Also, a short mow exposes the dirt so it gets baked and weeds start to grow. Mowing at a higher level will give you a greener lawn.
Here, check it out…
Green grass in dry conditions.
Hand in grass showing height of mowing.
See, I’m not making this stuff up. Now, if I could just get rid of the brown crispy grass in the front and replace it with this stuff, I will be in good shape. The seed is down, so a bit more rainfall should do it.
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Wednesday, July 9th, 2008
I picked up the last bag of grass seed today. Again, I got the Vigoro Contractor’s Blend.
Last night, I looked up some stuff about grass seed. I learned all about Ryegrass, Fescue and Kentucky Bluegrass. I thought I had it all down pat. When I went into the Depot today, I made sure to read the back of each different bag of grass seed. I was trying to avoid the annual seeds.
The Vigoro bag came out on top. For about $36, I got a 20lb. blended bag of Panterra Italian Ryegrass, Bargena 3 Creeping Red Fescue, Palmer 4 Perrenial Ryegrass and Merit Kentucky Bluegrass. I thought, “Wow, this one has no annual seed in it.” How cool. Well, as it turns out, Panterra Italian Ryegrass is code for annual ryegrass. Hey, good thing there is 39.67% of it in there.
Oh well, it germinates very quickly and gives good ground cover for the other 60% of seed to grow.
I went outside to do some spreading just a little while ago. I did sweat a lot, but I got it done. Spreading grass seed is a strange phenomenon. It is much like opening a window and tossing out $36 in one dollar bills. Once you are done, you kind of stand there lookingat yourself. “Where did it all go?”
In a few short weeks, I expect to see a nice, thick lawn. It is almost there now, but it should be complete soon. Everywhere I look, I read that you should seed in the Spring or Fall, but since I have been having such good luck with seeding in the Summer, I decided to continue.
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Friday, May 30th, 2008
I took a little stroll outside this morning. Of course, I had my coffee in hand. I didn’t have my camera with me, but after what I saw, I ran back inside to get it.
Here we go again. It’s picture taking time in the Northeast. Let me know what you think of the latest flower photos.
Apparently, there is more than one type of Iris. This one is yellow. I am used to the purple ones.
This is a purple and white iris.
Here is another, just in a different spot.
I believe these are Primrose, but I am not sure.
I know I had these in another post, but I totally forget what they are.
And I never knew what these were.
This is a really cool flower I noticed growing the other day. I saw the one flower, and then a bunch more popped up.
These have got to be Purple Azalea.
These are really nice. I am guessing they are some sort of rose.
This is my prize winning shot of the day. I can’t identify it, but the photo sure came out nice. I am going to make it my pic of the week.
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Monday, March 24th, 2008
I know that I have told you in the past how much Laura and I like to eat lunch at the Fife’n Drum restaurant in Kent, CT every Easter. We have been doing it now for about four years. It usually is a very good time. Well, unfortunately, yesterday was our last visit to this restaurant.
I am going to try to keep this short and sweet and not too much like a restaurant critic. Let’s just say that it seems like there is some new management and a new chef at this place.
The wait was very long during each portion of our two course Easter lunch and the food was amateur at best. It seemed like the dish washing dude was back there cooking too. I swear it seemed like there were parts of my dishes that were from a can. To me, “warm potatoes” does not mean potato salad that tasted like it was straight from Costco. A vegetarian dish does not mean boiled vegetables. Oh well, there’s $80 down the drain. We didn’t even stay for dessert…my favorite part. We just left the money on the table and left. During the last 20 minute wait to have our plates cleared from the table, three different waiters walked by and looked at us at least seven times. We kept wondering if our waiter had gone home. Well, as it turns out, as we were leaving, Laura caught sight of this guy eating at the bar. What the hell? If you can’t tell, I am a little annoyed. To think, I still left a tip…A TIP. I didn’t have the patience to wait for any change. I swear, if we had stayed any longer, they would’ve started vacuuming the floor while people were still eating. Yes, we will have to find a new place to eat on Easter.
To simmer down, we went on our traditional hike at Bull’s Bridge. I have a few posts about our previous hikes. It’s a really neat place.
Since we have been down the same trail so many times, I thought it would be a good idea to check out the top part of the trails. Laura might have been a little disappointed because she wanted to go on a real hike. I will have to make it up to her. We took lots of pictures and video. I will upload the video today and post it here.
This is a photo of the front of the Fife’n Drum restaurant in Kent, CT. I don’t even know why I am showing this. Perhaps someone from the restaurant will read this post and mail me a refund check.
This is the monument in Kent, CT.
These are two shots of Bull’s Bridge itself. We got lucky with very good weather.
These are all shots of the river. The water was rushing very fast, due to all the rain we have been getting. We didn’t see any kayakers like we have in previous years. Maybe the water was going too fast. I sure wouldn’t get in there.
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Friday, March 21st, 2008
Well, there are a bunch of things coming up, but the only color so far is the Crocuses.
I noticed a little something yellow peeking out at me from the front garden the other day. I took a second look and noticed that two or three flowers were coming up. It seemed so strange because it feels a little early. I think this Winter’s snow kind of made us think Spring was never going to come.
I guess things are right on time though. When I took this picture today, I noticed a bunch of stuff coming up, like Tulips and Irises. There is no color from them yet, but they are definitely starting to sprout.
I really hope I don’t go overboard with this.
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Friday, February 29th, 2008
Today was another busy day. I spent a good majority of the day organizing things online. I would tell you what they are, but I have this thing about telling people my secrets. Oh well. I will say that I find it simply amazing that I am able to wake up every morning of my life and work on the computer for at least eight hours straight. Mind you, those are the days I have nothing to do. Oh, I just love looking at the clock as it reads 3PM and realizing that I have been sitting here since 7AM.
As I get older, I find myself focusing on my “physical” self more than I used to. I always try to sit up straight in my chair, so I don’t get a bad posture, like I have been warned about when I was a kid. I also recognize that I need exercise these days. When I say need, I mean “need.” I mean, I am in good shape, but as anyone gets older, I think they become more aware of these things. I also feel my eyes going to hell. When I was a kid, I used to pride myself on not wearing glasses. Well, the years of staring at this monitor has taken its toll, I’m afraid. Last year, I bought computer glasses to help take the strain off my eyes. These days, I find myself having to focus a heck of a lot more. I can actually feel my eyes getting tired. People say that you should get up every so often to give your eyes a break. They say that you should look out the window every once in a while so your eyes can focus on something else, other than your computer screen. I do that, but I am just hoping that one day I will make enough money to pay someone to do my work for me as I sit in a chair behind them, telling them what to do.
So, what’s new in life…I guess it’s just day to day stuff. As I work, the cats take their turns using my lap as their bed. I am not working on adding any more websites to my portfolio…well, I had to pop a new one in there, I just couldn’t help myself. This is the year of marketing. I haven’t focused on that portion of the business all that much in the past few years, so it might be something I should do to boost the $$$. I believe I can do a very good job with that in the next ten months.
I also have been making beer, if you haven’t noticed. I think it’s a pretty rewarding thing to do. Paul came over to pick up ten bottles for a party he is having tomorrow. He is going to get back to me with the consensus. I hope he likes them.
Since I have been in college, I have been looking for the perfect place to live. I have learned that it’s pretty useless looking on the internet for that perfect town. All it takes is one lousy picture of a town to ruin everything. On to the next perfect town with that one lousy picture, and so on. I think the only way I am going to make it is to get an “anchor” house somewhere up north, with another smaller home in the heat for weekends in the Winter. I have also learned that the perfect town may not even exist anymore. Back in the day, there was a quiet little main street somewhere in Indiana that you could walk up and down for the rest of your life. Now, you have to worry about tornadoes and the Wal-Mart they are putting up at the end of the block. You might think I’m kidding, but look around. The most pristine places are very unaffordable. So the quest goes on.
On Monday, Laura and I are making a trip to Washington, CT. We are going to have lunch at the Mayflower Inn. A few years ago, my mother got us a gift certificate for the Inn that we used for a perfect Valentine’s Day dinner. It was one of the nicest places on earth. We were thrilled with the little antique town, but it was kind of dark on our way in. We really want to see it during the day. You would be surprised what the Connecticut hills have to offer, for a price. I’ll let you know how it goes. YouTube certainly needs a video or two of Washington, CT.
It just started snowing. Laura proposed another walk in the snow. Who am I to say no? I have a feeling I will be putting my boots on at midnight again. I do want to say that I am getting a little tired of the snow. Every time I think the driveway will be clear for a few days, it snows. I admit that it keeps things exciting, but enough already. It’s been a snowy Winter. The next week looks warmer with the temperatures above freezing. Also, the sunset is much later now, so that January depression has lifted. Now, the sun is going down close to 6PM. In March, we set the clocks ahead, so that should be fun. I am going to try to really soak up the seasons this Spring, Summer and Fall. I think they are worth it.
Wow, what a post. This might actually be what blogs are for. I guess I have to write some real stuff when I am not busy buying things and writing about them. Hey look…it’s another cat on my lap. I think they are doing laps now. This one is Sexy Boo.
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Saturday, September 15th, 2007
What a weird feeling I had all day. The temperature feels like it’s around 60 degrees and it’s quite breezy. It feels like the seasons are changing. I am sure there will be some more annoyingly hot days, but I think it’s here.
It’s nice, but it’s not. It’s nice because something new is around the corner. As everyone always says, “I get to wear all my really cool sweaters again.” The only problem with me saying that is the only cool sweaters I have are the same cool sweaters I had last year…and the year before. Still, I get to wear them. It’s not nice because I am going to have to wait until the Spring until I get to see all my trees grow again. Sounds strange, I know.
I say that I don’t ask for much, but I actually ask for quite a bit.
I was driving to work the other morning when I just happened to look to the right. I was on Interstate 84, heading East towards Newburgh. When I looked, I noticed the most beautiful piece of land. There was a field and a lake, with the mountains in the background. That’s when I told myself that I don’t ask for much. All I wanted to do was walk around that field with a nice hot cup of coffee. That’s really all I wanted to do. Then I started thinking about how maybe that’s all anyone really wants to do. When people go on vacation, they sit on the beach or go to the mountains. They like to take it easy and enjoy the beauty. Well, that’s what I want for my whole life. It’s probably unrealistic to think that I will be happy taking it easy, when my personality type is ambitious. Oh well, we shall see.
So, I was thinking, even since Laurie wrote the comment wanting to see some photos of the Autumn up here in New York, perhaps I would just walk around and take random shots of whatever. I mean, sometimes those are the best types of pictures to look at. What’s nice about the end of summer is just what my Uncle Bob said; the way the sunlight hits you just a little bit differently than before. It’s quite noticeable.
Here we go…
This is the front yard. Not much of a leaf color change there yet.
Just a weird shot of the driveway, my car and the road in front of the house.
This is the side of the house. I am not sure that my rock walls get enough attention. So many times, when I walk up and down that beautiful stairway, I tell myself, “Self, you really had no idea what you were doing, but it still came out A OK.” I mean really, when does anyone really ever teach you how to build a rock wall and a stair case made out of 6×6s?
I took this picture when I was driving through Walden, NY the other morning on my way to work. As you may have been able to notice, it was spur of the moment. Please don’t try to change me.
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Thursday, May 31st, 2007
We have a little problem.
Last year, before we took down the big Red Oak in our front yard, I noticed that the leaves were looking a little thin. After a while, I found out the cause…Tent Caterpillars.
Ok, the problem may have gone away that time because we had the tree removed due to some root rot on the far side, away from the house. This year, I noticed some nice white tents up in the neighbor’s Cherry Tree. I noticed this ealier in the Spring and am starting to notice my new Crabapple leaves getting a bit sparse. Just the other day, I pulled off a few tent caterpillars…right off the leaves. I watched them eating the green.
So this is obviously a problem that needs dealing with. How does one deal with tent caterpillars? I have been doing some dabbling online trying to find the solution. I even looked in Home Depot for some spray or something. To my surprise, there was nothing in the store. I did, however, find a pretty good tent caterpillar article online dealing with the topic. I even found a product that you wrap around the base of the tree. It is called, “TreeHelp Bug Band.” The way this works is to wrap a piece of this sticky glue tape (like I said above) around the base of the tree. When a bug or caterpillar tries to pass over the tape, well, they get stuck. If you try this solution, don’t feel too bad, these are mean little suckers. When I was pulling them off the Crabapple tree, they gave me attitude. I mean it.
I am going to give this a try. I’ll stop by my local Agway to see if they have it. If it works, I’ll be sure to let you know.
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Friday, May 25th, 2007
If you have ever asked yourself that question, just click this link to learn more about Bug Zappers.
I purchased a new bug zapper from Wal-Mart last Spring. Just to let you know, these things aren’t that easy to find. For some reason, Home Depot and Lowes don’t sell them. Whatever. The reason that I bought one is because the gnats out where I live are terrible.
Laura and I went for a walk two nights ago and were followed the entire way by them. I have made it my goal to reduce their population.
When I hung the bug zapper last year (and even this year), I did so about 8 feet from the ground. I thought this was a good place. When I turned it on, I didn’t hear much zapping. You know the sound…ZZZAAAAPPPPPP!!! I guess I just figured it worked a different way than all of the other ones I have seen.
Well, last night, I screwed a hanger to the side of our porch floor joist. The bug zapper now hangs about 2 feet off the ground. I turned it on and within 2 minutes, ZAP ZAP ZAP…about 3 per second. I was amazed.
So, the moral of the story; Hang your bug zapper closer to the ground, no matter what anyone tells you.
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Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
Yesterday hit 86 degrees. It didn’t feel that hot, but I have a weird feeling that this summer is going to be a doozy. Below is a picture of Simon trying to cope.
I am not going to blame this on Global Warming or anything, but just to be safe, I am going to limit myself to using only one square of toilet paper from now on. That was Sheryl Crow’s suggestion on how to deal with the issue. I’m sure you have heard of it by now.
The other day, when I first read about that neat little tip, my mind wandered to the monthly truckload worth of junkmail I receive and the hundred billion tons of newspaper that gets thrown away every day. Yes, I think the one square of toilet paper limit thing should really take off.
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