Longwood Gardens 29 October 2010

Barbara and I woke to cloudy skies and decided to go to Longwood Gardens any way. We got there about 10:00 AM it was still cloudy but the forecast was for partly sunny so we where not going to be disappointed, and we were not. The one reason we went back to Longwood so soon since our last visit was to get a picture of maple walk in full fall color. First we went over to the Pierce Du Pont house and then to the tree house that is handicap accessible, it has a ramp that leads right onto the tree house. Took a few pictures of the view from the tree house and the leaves on the forest floor. We then walked (once again I walked, Barbara rode an electric cart) down by the meadow walk and explored some paths we had not been on before. After that we went to the flower garden walk and since last week all the flowers are gone and all the bulbs are planted. There were just a few workers putting down a mesh to try to keep the deer from digging up the bulbs for a tasty treat. Now it was time to go to maple tree walk and see if we had timed our trip correctly. Sadly we were just a bit to early. The only maples that were in full fall color were the ones at the far end of the one path, bummer. It was getting close to 11:00 am and time for a fountain show in the open air theater. The fountain show was wonderful and at the end the sun came out and we got to see a rainbow in the last of the mist from the fountain show (by the time I ran to the end of the rainbow it and the pot of gold were gone). Next was lunch. After lunch we worked our way around the far side of the hill and up by the eye of the water which was turned off for the winter. I walked across the grass to by the main fountain which over looks maple tree walk and got a picture of the maples from the far end. The only problem was that there is a 4 1/2 foot wall with a hedge in front of it so I had to hold the camera up over my head and take the picture blind, I think I got a good one anyway. Once I got the picture I wanted I walked over to the outdoor rose garden and to my surprise the roses were still in bloom. I asked how they do it but they would not tell me. Maybe I have to feed my roses more through out the year. Next was a walk around the conservatory were they are getting ready for the mum festival next week (we may have to go back). Inside we saw a mum plant that had 1000 blooms (well really 991 but close enough). The man there told me that they have two Japanese ladies that do nothing but all the mums. Over in Japan there are large mum festivals this time of year. One of the mums there had different mums grafted to a mum so they get one plant with different blooms, very cool. We walked around the conservatory and enjoyed all the mums and other flowers. On the way out of the conservatory I took one last picture of the archway made from six mum plants, three on each side of the arch. All in all a very good day.

		LWG 29 Oct 2010 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Longwood Gardens October 21, 2010

We got to Longwood Gardens a little after 9AM under cloudy skies but where not deterred as the forecast was for clear skies later in the day. As you will see from the pictures even before you get inside there are flowers (by the end of the day these will all be gone as they are about to plant the spring bulbs soon). As soon as we got into the gardens there were trees in full color so we were not disappointed. We started out going down Flower Garden Walk and the color was wonderful. As we worked our way down the walk at the far end there was a small work crew pulling out all the beautiful mums. Even though the mums had not finished they have to come out so that all the spring bulbs could be planted. They put in thousands upon thousands of bulbs so I can understand why they have to keep to their schedule. We walked (I walked, Barbara had an electric cart to ride) past the workers and into Peirce’s Woods and over toward one of the tree houses. It was a little chilly so we decided to go to the conservatory. We then worked our way down a lane we had not gone down in quite awhile and on the way to the conservatory saw some things we have missed in the past. We went into the conservatory by way of the new east entrance and saw the brand new plaza that will be opened for people to walk on next spring, looks like it will be a lot of fun with the grass steps. Once inside we went to see the brand new Green Wall, that opened just 2 weeks ago. These green walls are very popular in office buildings and other places where a little green goes a long way. Well along with the green wall they installed 17 restrooms, about 6 family restrooms and the rest individual restrooms (We think they are going to have a problem with teens using them for other than their intended purpose). As we were walking through the conservatory the sun came out so we decided to leave the building and go and see the trains. On the way to the trains we came across some pumpkins and gourds. The train setup is put up each year by a local model train club and they do a great job each year. It is always great fun to see the trains and watch the kids looking at the trains. After the trains Barbara and I went to the cafeteria to have lunch which was, as always, just great. We went back into the conservatory and walked around. On our way back to the green wall for a talk we went into the ballroom and behind the pipe organ racks and saw (for the first time) all the pipes for the pipe organ. The one picture is of the Great Division this set of pipes provide the foundation tone for the organ. The picture of the man hammering at a stick is in fact tuning the organ. On the end of the handle just to the left of the stick he is hamming at is a block of wood with cloth on the sides to make an air tight fit with the inside of the wood pipe. And he is getting it set inside the pipe to get the correct tone for that pipe. The last picture of the pipes is of the lowest notes. The dimensions for the pipe in the far corner are 32” x 28” x 32’ (yes 32 feet), it is made from 3” thick sugar pine, weights 1100 pounds and produces a tone of earthquake like sensation at just 16 hertz. At 1:00 P.M. we went back over to the green wall to hear a talk about how it was made and how it all works (the watering and feeding and such). In the picture she is holding one of the steel boxes that are hung on the wall to hold the plants, it is really quite ingenious. After that we went around to the lower hall where there was a display of photographs from local photographers, I am not the only talented photographer in the world. We sat outside for a few minutes and saw this little girl experimenting with a new way of getting from point A to point B, she just tumbled by (I just had to take some pictures of that). Then it was time to leave and come home. Once again enjoy the pictures, I enjoy sharing them with you.

		Longwood Garden Oct. 2010 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Winterthur October 20, 2010

Barbara and I are on a small trip to our favorite places. Today we went to Winterthur and we were hoping to see all the trees in color but we were a bit disappointed. Only a few of the trees were in color (mostly maples and tulip trees) but it was still very pretty, it always is. We had joined Winterthur today and we had a free special tour of the house we could use so we took the Fashionable Furnishings tour (or so we thought), we were the only ones on the tour so we had a very private tour. Our tour guide took us on a 2 hour tour instead of the one hour tour we were suppose to be on, she was very knowledgeable and we got to see some of the house we had not seen in a long time so we did not complain, who would.

Tonight we are staying at The Mendenhall Inn (our favorite hotel ever) and we walked across the parking lot to have a lovely dinner at the restaurant that is here. Once again we had a lovely dinner and now we are sitting in the room just sitting and relaxing.

Here are some pictures from today, only pictures from the tram ride from the visitor center to the museum (could not take any pictures on the tour).

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Bedroom Completely Done

Well today I took my 9”x9” frames and mats with the 5”x5” openings to A. C. Moore, local craft store that does frames. The lady there cut the openings from 5”x5” to 7”x7” (the best she could do with her mat cutter) and did not charge me anything. When we got home from some other shopping I set to work on getting the last 6 pictures on the wall. In a little over a hour it was all done and here is the results, let me know what you think.

Bedroom Finished VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Adventures in the Cranberry Bogs

Today Barbara and I went on a trip put on by the Ocean County Park System called Cranberries: Wet/Dry. The day started out by driving to the Wells Mills County Park were after signing in we got into a county park van and drove to a working cranberry farm. We were met by the farmer at one of his bogs that was being wet harvested. A cranberry bog is a field that has an earthen damn all around it with a ditch that is about 6 feet deep just inside the damn. The field were the cranberries grow is about 4 feet below the top of the earthen damn so that it can be flooded for harvesting. The first step in harvesting the cranberries is to flood the bog. They do this by opening flood gates that let the water in from the reservoirs that are upstream (if they need to they can use pumps but they try not to). The first field we visited was already flooded and they were getting the berries off of the plants with a boat that has large mixer type blades set sideways to churn the water and get the berries to come off of the plants. The berries float because they have four little pockets of air in the middle. After the mixer is done they then put out a cranberry boom (much like the oil booms used for oil spills) to corral the berries so they can pull them out of the water. They use blowers and men with rakes to push the berries away from the sides of the damns while they drag the boom out and corral the berries. While they were getting ready to put the boom out we went across the road to an un-flooded field and the farmer explained the growth cycle of a cranberry vine. Not sure I could explain it very well so I will not try, I am sure if you are that interested you can look it up yourself. You will notice in the pictures of the close-up of the cranberries floating in the bog that there are red and white berries. They are not two different varieties but the white ones are berries that did not get as much sun because they were not as close to the top of the vines. They are all ripe berries and when they are processed it all turns red. We then went back across the road and saw them putting out the boom. Then because the weather here was going to get nasty we left as we had other places to get to. We did not see them getting the berries out of the water but we can go again another time and see that. Ocean Spray has a transfer station about a mile from the farm and while we were there I saw at least 3 tracker trailers and one dump truck go by full of cranberries.

Our next stop was the Chatsworth General Store where, after going in and looking around, we sat outside on a bench and ate our lunch that we had brought with us. While we were there the store owner put out a box of Jersey Devil Chocolates so of course Barbara sent me in to get some. They are Dark Chocolate with Chili and Cranberries not sure if we will like it but we will try it.

Our last stop (because of the weather) was Cloverdale Farm County Park. The county park system has acquired this old cranberry farm that still has a bog that produces a crop. It had an old farm house that the county had fixed up to be a visitor center but just before it was going to open someone broke into it and burned it down, what a waste. Well we got out and were allowed to go into the cranberry field and pick cranberries. The berries were not as plentiful or as big as the ones at the first farm but it was fun anyway. Just as everyone had gotten all the berries they wanted it started to rain, but we did it all.

Here are some pictures from todays adventure.

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Bedroom Finished (almost)

Yesterday I replaced the threshold with a new piece that matches the floor in the hallway and it looks much better. The baseboard was put back up with all the nail holes patched and painted. Then it was time to install the new baseboard heat unit. I made two holders to raise the heat above the baseboard so I did not have to try to hold the heat with one hand and try to screw it to the wall with the other hand, like I had in the past.

Today Barbara and I got out the new bedding. We changed the sheets and then because the bed skirt was so wrinkled Barbara got the ironing board and iron out (does not happen very often) and ironed the bed skirt and the curtains. We then put the bed together and hung the curtains and it looked great. I then held up two of the picture frames to get the placement right. I got out my laser level and carefully put the nails up into the wall for the frames. The four frames make up one whole picture. I took one of my pictures from Longwood Gardens and with Photoshop I cut it into 12 sections. I then sent the 12 sections to CostCo for printing. Look at the close up of the four frames and you will see the complete picture. After that we tried putting the club chair from the living room in the corner of the bedroom and it works. Barbara always wanted a comfortable chair in the bedroom and now we have one. We then decided we wanted more pictures frames that matched the ones over the bed so we had to make a trip to the Christmas Tree Shop, before they ran out of them. At the Christmas Tree Shop if you see something you like you have to buy it then or the next time you go it might not be there. We also got a new floor lamp for behind the club chair and red storage bins for the two shelf units on either side of the bed. The storage bins do not fit by a half inch. I am going to try to redo the shelf units so that the storage bins will fit. I have some white shelves that I should be able to cut down and use for the top and bottom and middle shelf cut to the right size for the new bins.

Things that still need to be done are to hang the mirror above the small cabinet we use for laundry, choose pictures to use in new frames and get them printed in the correct sizes and hang the rest of the pictures.

Here are some pictures.

Bedroom Done (almost) VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Bedroom Project Winding Down

Just a quick update on the bedroom project. I took yesterday off (I’m retired and I am allowed to). Today I got the rest of the baseboard sanded and got two coats of paint on all of the pieces. I also put together our picture project that will hang over the bed. We got 4 collage frames from the Christmas Tree Shop that have places for 3 pictures in each. I then took one of my photographs from Longwood Gardens that has red flowers in it and with the magic of Photo Shop Elements I cut it into 12 individual photos. I then sent the 12 photos to CostCo to get printed (cost less then $2.00) and then put them into the frames. I will be putting the baseboard back up tomorrow and patching the nail holes. After that has had a chance to dry I will touch up those spots with a little paint and then move the furniture back in. So it looks like the room should be back together by Sunday afternoon. Sorry no pictures today (did not think a picture of baseboard drying in the garage would interest anyone).

One side note I had to wash the glass from the frames in the kitchen sink, needed to soak them in hot water to get the price tags off, and I cut my fingers up on the edges of the glass when I was drying them. Barbara took real good care of me and bandaged all my little cuts.

Floor all done

Well the floor is done. As I started I rolled out the last of the moisture barrier I had (hoping that it was enough) and finding that I was about 2.5 feet short. I am glad I found out before Barbara took the car and went off to the CGL library (our community has their own little library) to do her turn as librarian or I would have had to either walk to the club house and get the car or sit and wait until 12:00 when she came home. Oh well I took her to the library and then off to Lowe’s for me. Bought another roll of moisture barrier and the piece for the threshold. I did not have a piece of the floor with me so I had to make a best guess on the color and I got the right one. When I got home I rolled out the 2.5 feet of moisture barrier that I needed and then started putting down the rest of the floor. When I got to the wall I was about 2 inches short and would have to rip down (cut along the length) planks to fit, not a problem with my table saw. The most complicated cut was for the doorway to the hall, I had to rip a piece down to the correct width and then cut out for the metal door frame (not as bad as I thought it was going to be). The worst was the threshold piece. It comes as a kit that has a metal track that you attach to the floor (cement in my case) and then tap in the cover piece you need to use. It comes with different pieces for different types of transitions. Laminate to laminate floor, Laminate to rug or laminate to step down. I cut a piece to fit in the door (or so I thought) but some how I had measured wrong and cut it to short, not a problem I measured again and cut the correct length. Seeing as we had laminate in the hall way and had had carpet in the bedroom there was already a transition piece in the door way and I planned on using the metal track over again, mistake. They changed the width of the metal track so after trying unsuccessfully in putting the new transition piece in the old metal track I wound up taking the old track up and putting the new track in it’s place. Of course the holes did not line up with the old holes from the old metal track and I had to drill new holes either in the new metal track or into the cement floor, I decided to drill new holes into the metal. Put the new metal track down and then started to tap the cover piece in place. Well I must not have had it lined up just right and I wound up bending the side of the the metal track down. Well lets just say if I can not get the one side of the threshold glued down tomorrow I will have to buy another threshold kit ($30.00) and try again. Here are the pictures, enjoy.

Floor is done VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Bedroom Floor Continues

Well I did not start working on the floor until after lunch but I got a lot done this afternoon. The trickiest part was the cuts I had to make to get around the closet door opening. This house is not like your normal house with wood frames for the doors, our frames and the built in molding are metal. Normally when you are installing a wood floor (or laminate) and you come to a door frame you under cut the door frame with a special saw and slide the wood floor under it so you do not have to be very precise. In my case I had to cut out the floor to fit around the door frame. I got a very tight fit and am very pleased with the results. Enough of me complaining here are some pictures of what I got done today. Just four more rows to go by my calculations (and I think I will have 2 unopened boxes that I can return to CostCo).

		Bedroom Floor continued VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Bedroom Floor

Well today I started putting the new floor down. I got a very late afternoon start but I did get started. I had a bit of a problem at the beginning but it is a problem you can not do anything about. When you start the second row there is not enough weight to hold the first row were you want it while you try to tap the second row in place. I buggered one of the ends of one of the planks but it is not in a spot that will be noticed, I hope. Tomorrow I will have to remove the closet door so I can continue the next row. I am also going to take the mattress and box spring off of the bed frame and lean it against the wall to get it completely out of my way, and to add some weight to the floor to hold it in place while I continue putting the rest of the floor down.

Bedroom Floor VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Bedroom Day 6

Well the second coat of paint went on the walls today so that part is all done. Then after lunch I emptied the bottom of the closet and got the rug, padding, tack strips and baseboards removed. I was then able to put one coat of paint on the inside of the closet door. While that was drying I put the stuff from the bottom of the closet back into the closet, wish I had places to store all this stuff instead of moving it around all the time.  I then went into the garage and started to sand down all the baseboards I took off so I can paint and reuse them after the floor is down, that will save some money. Then I was done for a little while. After dinner I was able to get a second coat on the inside of the closet door so tomorrow morning I can put the baskets back up and Barbara can put her stuff back into them. I also was able to move the flooring into the room to acclimate, only took 6 trips with the hand cart. Here are two pictures, the door looks blotchy because the paint is still drying.

Bedroom Day 5

Well got one coat of color on the walls (I even managed to get some on the top of my head, don’t ask). The plan now is to put a second coat on tomorrow and then empty the bottom of the closet so I can pull the rug up in there. After that is done I will move the 11 boxes of flooring into the room to acclimate and take Sunday off and just watch football all day (I hope the Giants can win Sunday night). I took some pictures but they all looked to yellow so I had to adjust the color in Photoshop Elements. Here is the room so far.