Here We Go Again....

Woke up this morning to 10 inches of new snow. Now we have at least 12" new. It's still quite beautiful but,....

At least we didn't get the ice and sleet first. Hope we don't get it later either. The winter storm warning will last here until at least 7p.m. this evening.

More later.

Veggie Wish List.

Here's my list from Park Seeds that I'm thinking of buying to start seeds early.
TOMATOES:
        Park's Whopper
        Cherokee Purple
        Chocolate Cherry
        Cherry Sweetie Organic
        Pineapple
HERBS:
        English thyme
        Organic Herb Collection
WATERMELON, Everglade Hybrid
SPINACH, Malabar Red Stem
CORN, Mini Yellow Mirai
SQUASH, Sweet Lightning
CABBAGE:
        Chinese, Pak Choi Toy Choi
        Sweet Surprise
ONION, Egyptian Walking
PEAS, blondie
CAULIFLOWER, Romanesco Veronica
STRAWBERRY plants and 2 bags to grow them in
CANTALOPE, Scoop II hybrid
FIG, Dwarf Black (in a pot on the patio)
BLACKBERRY Triple Crown

I also want green and sweet banana peppers, lettuces, onions.

Any and all comments or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks

Birds...

It's about time for a hint about the "Bird" portion of my blog. These are a few I snapped from my front porch.

First: a Downy Woodpecker


B: Mrs. Cardinal


#3: Mr. Cardinal and Friend


Finally: A Bluejay with his eye on me.


I do love these little guys!

I Am Happy and Proud

Today I watched President-Elect Barack Obama with his family, pick up Vice-President Elect Biden and his family and process to Washington, D.C. to become the 44th President of the United States in two days.

I am so very happy to be an American, I am so proud of America and of Barack Obama and I am PROUD of my new President. I am filled with hope.

Here are a few photos I took from my television of the arrival in Washington, D.C.

Enjoy!

That famous Obama smile.


Barack, Michelle (behind the sign) Jill and Joe in Wilmington.


The Fab Four on the 1933(?) historical train car, ready to leave Wilmington to go to Washington, D.C.


Obama gives a happy wave as the train proceeds through Maryland.


Another Obama/Biden smile and wave.


Obama has a short stop in Baltimore.


The historic train is in sight at Union Station.


The train is in the station, historic car in the rear.


Awaiting a view of the soon to be new First Family.


Obama's leave the train in Union Station.


Obama waits near limo to go to Blair House.


This is MY President. I am happy and I am proud. I rejoice and am filled with hope.

What to do????

Plans in the making. What to do first?

A blank canvas......

Gardens, time to begin...

Okay, okay. Enough of all this fitness and snow stuff. Let's get down to what's really important.

GARDENS !!!

Here is a photo of our little house with two new beds opened up. Bad photo, you can barely see the left side one (stage right). Previously there were no gardens or trees or shrubs AT ALL. Zilch, None, Zippo!! This was taken early Nov. 2008.



I've got a few catalogs:


I've got some books: This is NOT an endorsement. I haven't read them yet.


And, below are the
BEST OF ALL GARDEN BOOKS, IMHO.

AND I've got the most important books of all. This IS AN ENDORSEMENT of Tracy DiSabato-Aust and anything she writes. She is totally awesome. I have taken classes from her, I have been a "worker-bee" helper as she gardens, I have heard her speak, I have seen her garden designs, so I know what I'm talking about.

I have the first two "Well" books: "The Well-Tended Perennial Garden" and "The Well-Designed Mixed Garden". I have read them and trust them implicitly. Not only filled with excellent information, they also are a fun read. I can't wait to get my hands on her new, just released third book: "50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants". I KNOW it will be as fabulous as the others. You can get a sneak peak of her new book at Tracy's website which also has so much to offer. Enjoy!

Now, my question is: I'd like to try my hand at starting some of my own plants from seed this year. Do any of you have experience with this? How should I get started? Do you have any links for me? Thanks in advance.

Back to the Nat.

We made it back to the Natatorium today. First time since last Thursday. We walked in the current pool for enough laps to equal a 1/2 mile then got showered and dressed and went to the gym where I attempted my first real workout. I followed the schedule given to me by the fitness experts at PEAK. 2 reps of 8 on 15 different machines with weights varying from 15 to 90 lbs. I'm much stronger with my legs than with my upper body.

David did the machines along with me but only 1 rep of 5 with less weight on the leg stuff and more on the upper body. He's been fighting a flu and isn't back all the way yet. It was interesting that he is stronger on his upper body than I am. I guess that's the male-female thing.

This will be such a good thing for both of us. We can only improve in our fitness.

My Favorite Topic - Snow

I just have to show you a little more of our snow today. We've gotten about 14-16 inches so far. Winter advisory lasts till 1:00 a.m. tomorrow. I'm really enjoying the snow this year because I haven't lived in a true snow area for about 50 years. Oh, yes, central Ohio gets snow sometimes, Washington at sea level almost never (forget this year), but I'm talking SNOW!!! I LOVE it!

Here are a few updates on the front of our house:



A shovel to show depth:


Our front porch:


Same view of the front walk as before but with more snow and in daylight.


Tomorrow, I hope to get adventurous and go find some pretty things to photograph.

SNOW!!

This may be interesting. We are under a snow advisory starting early today and continuing until Sunday afternoon.



This is our front walk so far (8:30 p.m.) It's very beautiful and it's still coming down. By the way, this is a color photo. LOL I'm really enjoying being back in Ohio and having all this wonderful, white fluffy stuff around.

Met the Machines Today

Today I had my second meeting with the PEAK advisers and was taken on a tour of the fitness machines in the gym. Mercy! I had no idea there were so many machines to push and pull your entire body in so many ways. The counselors have a plan and a schedule for me to follow to use the machines.

Now, if I do my work and ask for help when I need it, I'm sure to improve, even at my age.

Dan, counselor #2, said I was much stronger than he'd thought I would be and that I caught on to the use of the machines very quickly. He said to come in and go through the routine at least twice a week and three times would be better but not every day. Also, David and I will continue our visits to the walking current pool. I'll be showing David the various machines also.

I'm excited about the program and I believe it will really make a difference.

With only three visits to the pool area with David and only two exercise sessions at PEAK, I think I feel more energetic already....and they weren't really full sessions but were learning periods.

Cortland Continued + Snowed Out!

We had a lot of work to do in our workshop where we make Irish Uilleann Bagpipes. As a result we didn't get to go to the Natatorium until evening and by then it had snowed about 3 inches and there was ice underneath so we chickened out. This is only a temporary slowdown, however.

So, I'll continue with my Visit to Cortland story.

From my post of January 2:
"I directed David where to turn and sure enough, we found ourselves in the "down town" area and from this new angle I knew where to turn to find my old house.

I was so excited!!"

We turned left at the corner and almost immediately I saw this house:

This house was the house on the north side of us which belonged to neighbors and friends who had several children, one of whom was two years younger than me, but we played cowboys and Indians together all the time. The large addition on the right side was not there then. There was a very large vegetable garden instead.

Next, lo and behold, I saw MY OLD HOUSE! The house of so many of my childhood memories.


It was exactly as I remembered it except we didn't have a wrought iron porch railing. That is the porch where Daddy taught me to whistle. I thought this was especially cool at the time because my mother could not whistle.

I was so excited I could hardly breathe and then the next house (south side of our house) was this one.


This house belonged to really good friends who had one son, also two years my junior. We played together a lot also. I went to the door but no one was home. I think the porch on the back is an addition and I'm not sure about the porch on the front.

While knocking on various doors I took more photos of my house:

There used to be huge bushes under the windows on this side of the house and to the far right of the photo is where Mother and Daddy had planted a large vegetable garden, with my help of course. Mother had a flower bed under the tree near the neighbor's driveway.

In this picture, you can see the back porch and a small shed behind the new garage. Although it may not be the same shed, it was a shed in this location where Daddy housed my seven Easter chicks when they grew up.

This is the yard where I learned to ride a two wheeled bicycle with Daddy running along beside me, holding on to the seat.

There's a little more to this story. I'll save it for another time.

Ice!

We just took a walk around a double block. Rather I should say, we skated around it. Everything is a glare of ice. We mostly walked in the grass for stability sake.

Got my hair cut this morning. New beautician did a fabulous job of encouraging what little natural curl/wave that I have. I'm really pleased.

The hardest part of moving from one location to another is finding
1. a new beautician
2. a new doctor
3. a new mechanic
4. and changing addresses ad nauseum for us, for business and for Mom.

Two down (#1 and2) and 1 mostly done (#4).
As to #3, happily there is a Saturn dealer nearby to take care of our much loved
'94 Saturn wagon which has 217,176 miles on it, but we haven't needed them yet. Shhhhhh.....

Keep warm eaveryone, and keep off the ice.

Happy Birthday to brother, Jimmy.

PEAK program

To start: yesterday, David and I went to the Nat again. We walked a lot in the current pool, mostly against the current. It really does give you a workout. Amazing. Then we took some turns around the walk/jog track. I walked 3 rounds, David walked and jogged.

Today, my PEAK program began. It was all testing today, my body fat percentage was 36.3! Too high but I knew that it would be. She (Sarah) also checked my flexibility which was really good, my height and weight. She measured my waist and hips. Then we went out into the gym where the machines are. I walked a tread mill for 4 easy pace minutes, 4 increased rate minutes, and 2 minutes cool down. Then we check my leg pushing strength (190 lbs) and my arm pushing strength (70 lbs).

Then we went to do sit-ups and push-ups. The sit-up test was to see how many half sit-ups (scrunches) I could to in a minute. I did a goodly number at a fair pace until I started to feel nauseous, really nauseous. I asked for a container to be close by "in case" but Sarah told me to stop and lay still. I did. Then a horrendous heat flash started. I was unbelievably hot while laying there. I asked for air as it wasn't abating. She opened the door and fanned cool air on me and it gradually cleared and I cooled down but was soaking wet with sweat...me who never sweats. Needless to say, we did not finish the minute nor did we do the push-ups.

I have no idea what that was all about, but it surely put a crimp in my style. I thought I was holding up pretty well until then. My comment was, "Well, I guess I do have some limitations."

Thursday we meet to discuss the results of the tests and set up a program of exercise for me. I suspect we will also discuss whatever it was that overcame me.

Anyway, my plan is to lose weight and inches and body fat and to gain lean weight and strength in general. Sarah said I'll need to lose about 20 pounds. Doesn't sound like much does it? Well, trust me, with my height and bone structure it will be a challenge for me.

Fitness is my goal. Hooray!!

Flashback: December 20, 2008 - Cortland

When I think of my childhood, I always think of the period of time when I was in the first, second, and third grades. My parents and I and sometimes my grandmother lived in a village of 500 folks in NE Ohio 5 mi. north of Warren. I started school there and had some very exciting times, in a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade sort of way. I was very happy as a child even though I was very sickly. I had old fashioned pneumonia three times in the 3rd grade. My mother had been a teacher so she tutored me at home so that I wouldn't lose a grade for being absent so much.

When I turned 50, I decided that probably I knew a few things that kids today have no idea about...not that they need to, mind you. So, I wrote a few short stories about my life in those magical three years thinking that I might publish them someday (that was a good many years ago). But the point of this post is that on December 20, David and I took a ride back to Cortland, the scene of my "childhood years".

I had not been there for (gasp) 60 years!! Yikes!! I'm sure the calendar is wrong, I'm not that old.

Anyway, we drove into the town, which is considerably larger that pop. 500 now, and it even has its own strip mall....maybe two. I began looking for houses that looked familiar to me....no luck. We finally found the "down town" area. I found buildings that may have been the drug store, the post office and the hardware store where I bought (one day at a time) seven Easter chicks and took them home after school one by one. (That's one of my stories) But they were no longer used that way. I couldn't find my school either although I thought I knew the general part of town where it was.

We finally stopped at the new (x2) Post Office. I walked in and started talking to the first person I found who had gray hair.

"How long have you lived here?", I asked.
"Oh, about 20 years, I guess," he answered.
"Well, you're way too young," I grinned. He smiled back so I knew he may be a font of information for me. He told us how to find the school (it was where I thought it should be) and said that it was going to be torn down next year because there were no funds to keep it going...very sad.

We followed the fellow's directions and voila, we found my old school.


When I went to school there, all 12 grades were also housed there. Now it's only an elementary school in a consolidated system.

I used to enter through the right corner door. The big addition on the right (you can see only a small piece of it) was not there when I attended. It gave me the most wonderful feeling to see the school. I recognized it immediately as we turned the corner and approached. I jumped out and took lots of pictures.

Then, after getting my bearings by being at the school, I could remember where Daddy used to park to let me out and to pick me up after school. I could remember what turns I took to walk home the few times I walked home on my own. I directed David where to turn and sure enough, we found ourselves in the "down town" area and from this new angle I knew where to turn to find my old house.

I was so excited!!

But I'll leave the rest of this little story for my next post.

Starting the New Year off Right!

Well, we did it. David and I kept our promise to ourselves to go to the Nat today to swim. We went. What an amazing facility. I'm not a swimmer but there was tons there for me to do to get exercise and to enjoy myself.

The pool area is immense. Half of it is devoted to long lanes for swimming classes and diving practice....the serious swimmers.

The other half has two lanes for laps that are for two at a time in each to do laps. The depth is 3'6" so I feel safe. Then there is an area that is from 0" to 1'6" for the little ones to play and learn. There is a wonderful slide that is about 30 feet high judging by the number of steps I had to climb to get to the top. They have inflated inner-tubes-on-steroids with handles to sit on and slide down. The slide itself it a long green enclosed tube with water flowing very fast down it. The water carries you on your "tube" twisting and weaving like a luge to the bottom where you splash into another 3'6" pool. You have to remember to lean forward when landing or you'll do a back flip.

There is also a walking circle with current that is connected to the side of the slide landing pool. It's 3'6" again. I was very comfortable and that's the biggest battle for me. You can walk with the current or against the current for a better workout. The with-the-current walkers kept to the outside and went in one direction while the against-the-current walkers kept to the inside and went in the opposite direction.

The locker rooms were very nice and everything was plentiful....lockers, showers, seats, mirrors even a platform scale.

I start my PEAK program on Monday. I'm really psyched about it all.

Almost supper time, so I'll close for now

Hope you all had a wonderful, safe New Year celebration.