The garden this year is turning out to be quite productive! For this I thank my lovely wife, because without her the garden would certainly not be nearly as fruitful. It has pretty much... I mean... It's mainly been her out in the garden this year. Due to the amount of work, and the schedule that I've been following I was probably only really in the garden this year in the very beginning tilling the ground and getting the beds ready. Everything else has really been her. Our Tomato plants are HUGE and the pepper plants are also very healthy looking. Just yesterday I pulled up all of my garlic and onions. They were bigger than previous years and very usable. My blueberries didn't really produce a whole lot of berries in their second year. Even though they had more than the first year, the I didn't get many more because I didn't cover them and the birds got to them. We have quite a few corn stalks this year that are producing small ears of corn. Hopefully we'll be able to harvest them before the raccoons get to them.
I think that next year we'll scale back on the size of the garden. In the last two years that we've had it only about half of it has really had anything planted in it successfully, and only half of that we've been successful in keeping weed free. Regardless, even though the weeds seem to be winning a little, the garden is remaining productive just as much as the weeds are flourishing.
Monday, July 26, 2010
[mowana PD]
Last Saturday was a great day. Casey and I spent the day at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Upon returning home from a long and warm day at the amusement park we let the dogs out of the house to stretch their legs. Since we live on a 183 acre privately owned camp and retreat facility that is designed to be utilized by the youth and families of the Lutheran Church Synods in Ohio, traffic through the camp should be minimal. This means that we rarely have the dogs on a leash or line. Unfortunately there is quite a bit of traffic. Sometimes I can ignore it because it's either staff or a former staff. But Saturday was one of those days that I could not ignore a big white 4x4 with the confederate flag flying from its rear bumper speeding down our lane. Our house literally has a driveway that is a half a mile long. This year the Camp posted brand new reflective signs stating private drive, no through traffic, and no trespassing. Kind of hard to miss, especially when you have your brights on, but I digress... This truck came speeding down the back lane with its brights on, nearly hitting me and our dogs. My blessing is that out driveway is so long, and has a big S curve in it so I saw the truck coming.
As soon as the truck went by I handed off the dogs to Casey and jumped into the jeep to pursue the now intruders. I drove past the barn and saw a vehicle off to the road that spurs off to the right to a group of cabins called 'Inter-Hill' at camp. When I caught up with the vehicle I realized that it was not the same vehicle that went by the house, but a counselor that had just returned from cedar point as well. I asked him if he had seen the truck and he said no. So I proceeded to follow the route out of camp looking out for this mystery vehicle that had sped by our house. Getting up to the main entrance of the camp.... no confederate flag waving trucks in sight. So just on a whim I decided to go out to the state route which is less than a quarter mile from the camps entrance. Sitting across the road is a vehicle with it's lights on, so while stopping a the stop sign I check it out, seems like a car. Since I'm at the intersection I decided to turn left onto the state route so I could turn around in a parking lot down the street and drive through camp again in case the truck turned off somewhere and I could corner them. After turning around and head back into camp I realize that the vehicle parked across the street from where I stopped to enter the state route was a Sheriff Deputy on road patrol. I decided to stop and ask him if he has seen the vehicle that tore up the road past my house and through camp. He said that he's been there just a few minutes and hadn't seen any such vehicle. Kind of disappointed I start to get back into my car and get home.
Right about now a vehicle is driving down the road from the north towards us so I decide that since i'm turning left and since there is a sheriff sitting next to me I'd let this vehicle pass instead of cutting them off. ZOOM! Past us roars the truck that I was looking for, and that the sheriff was now on the alert for, with one headlight no less. As if on cue the sheriff pulls out after the truck, and with less than an inkling of hesitation I pulled off to follow so that I could identify positively that this is the vehicle that I was looking for.
The Sheriff lights up the vehicle and pulls them over, and farther back I pulled off to the side of the road in a driveway to watch. The story that the deputy relayed to me made little sense. Allegedly the truck was being chased and the occupants thought that they could ditch the chasing vehicle by driving through the camp that they didn't know existed, or was private property. Apparently reflective white signs are hard to read when you're driving fast on a severely washed out road at night. The vehicle also allegedly belonged not to the driver, but to the 15 year old passengers step father. Before relaying this all to me the deputy warned the occupants that any further complaints about them from the Camp would result in citations for criminal trespassing. I'm happy that these kids were caught, and that maybe they'll spread the word that we're serious about preventing trespassers at camp. For once everything worked out well.
As soon as the truck went by I handed off the dogs to Casey and jumped into the jeep to pursue the now intruders. I drove past the barn and saw a vehicle off to the road that spurs off to the right to a group of cabins called 'Inter-Hill' at camp. When I caught up with the vehicle I realized that it was not the same vehicle that went by the house, but a counselor that had just returned from cedar point as well. I asked him if he had seen the truck and he said no. So I proceeded to follow the route out of camp looking out for this mystery vehicle that had sped by our house. Getting up to the main entrance of the camp.... no confederate flag waving trucks in sight. So just on a whim I decided to go out to the state route which is less than a quarter mile from the camps entrance. Sitting across the road is a vehicle with it's lights on, so while stopping a the stop sign I check it out, seems like a car. Since I'm at the intersection I decided to turn left onto the state route so I could turn around in a parking lot down the street and drive through camp again in case the truck turned off somewhere and I could corner them. After turning around and head back into camp I realize that the vehicle parked across the street from where I stopped to enter the state route was a Sheriff Deputy on road patrol. I decided to stop and ask him if he has seen the vehicle that tore up the road past my house and through camp. He said that he's been there just a few minutes and hadn't seen any such vehicle. Kind of disappointed I start to get back into my car and get home.
Right about now a vehicle is driving down the road from the north towards us so I decide that since i'm turning left and since there is a sheriff sitting next to me I'd let this vehicle pass instead of cutting them off. ZOOM! Past us roars the truck that I was looking for, and that the sheriff was now on the alert for, with one headlight no less. As if on cue the sheriff pulls out after the truck, and with less than an inkling of hesitation I pulled off to follow so that I could identify positively that this is the vehicle that I was looking for.
The Sheriff lights up the vehicle and pulls them over, and farther back I pulled off to the side of the road in a driveway to watch. The story that the deputy relayed to me made little sense. Allegedly the truck was being chased and the occupants thought that they could ditch the chasing vehicle by driving through the camp that they didn't know existed, or was private property. Apparently reflective white signs are hard to read when you're driving fast on a severely washed out road at night. The vehicle also allegedly belonged not to the driver, but to the 15 year old passengers step father. Before relaying this all to me the deputy warned the occupants that any further complaints about them from the Camp would result in citations for criminal trespassing. I'm happy that these kids were caught, and that maybe they'll spread the word that we're serious about preventing trespassers at camp. For once everything worked out well.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
[tech Tuesday]
I've got my new iPhone and am testing out this new blogging app. I know I haven't really posted anything in a while. It's my hope that maybe I can at least post a couple pictures each week to visually chronicle what I'm up to.
Tech Tuesday : Otterbox has come out with their case for the iPhone 4. Me so happy! I had an otterbox for my old blackberry and it was wonderful. It was the only phone that I ever had that never got a scratch on it. It's on order and we'll find out how nice it is. Regardless, I'm still going to get my free bumper case from Apple.
Monday, July 19, 2010
[we are joined by the Dominican Republic]
It's a late night so I won't write too much more tonight. However, I see that people in more states are following me, as well as a new country. Dominican Republic/Haiti , Welcome to Foothill Frontier. As I have more free time and learn to use my new tools better, it is my hope that this endeavor will be cleaner and less sporadic.
[new app]
I've got my new iPhone and am testing out this new blogging app. I know I haven't really posted anything in a while. It's my hope that maybe I can at least post a couple pictures each week to visually chronicle what I'm up to.
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