Text 24032, 211 rader
Skriven 2012-04-25 16:05:56 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
  Kommentar till text 24026 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
Ärende: 2012 Picnic 558                                          [1]
====================================================================
Hi Ruth,

>> Hmm.. depends... planting in a garden continues each month, really for
>> most of the months of the year (excepting maybe Dec/Jan) :).  While it
>> may be too warm for say some types of lettuce and spinach  to do well,
>> in July one would be planting and/or replanting summer squash,
>> zuccini, potatoes, beets, and green beans for example.  The way I put

> OK, I'm used to my dad putting it in in early June, then the possibility
> of frost as early as mid to late August. He didn't do a 2nd planting for
> fall crops.

Sure.. makes sense.  I start in February with peas in a bed that's been
prepared in the fall, i.e., cleared and a trench dug, or sometimes in years
when I didn't get to that, I just push the seeds in the ground (right through
the snow if I have to (g).  When I had my first garden in Orange County NY, I
planted the whole 'main' garden in March.  I still follow that as my starting
month, since weather in NY has been cooperative (g).

What I'll do in Ithaca most likely is find a place that looks like it gets the
most direct sun for the largest part of the day, and then I'll just turn that
over with our tiller, and plunk the dirt mix I mentioned below right on top,
using that as a garden bed.  Works great (g).


>  His days of gardening are pretty much over now, except a
> few flowers and some lettuce & peas in the one flower bed. Breaking the
> hip 2 years ago pretty much ended his gardening; the container gardening
> he tried just didn't work out the way he expected it to.

I understand.. when gardening starts feeling like "work", or when it makes you
feel unconfortable it can be daunting.

>> will depend on of course is my energy level this first year though.
>> With all we've got to get done after the move, I may be way to tired
>> this first year (g).

> I hear that too tired part loud & clear. I told Steve that the next 10
> days or so we'll be doing a lot of eating out of the freezer. Both of us
> have school work; he's recovering from a sinus infection & I just got 2
> weeks of antibiotics for bronchitis today.

So sorry to hear about the two of you getting hit with that kind of stuff.  I
know it was going around.  We were hit here as well (well, the grandboys were).
Ron and I avoided the worst with lots of Emergen-C (It's mega C & B vitamins,
etc.).

>> Yes, I think they will like it.. I think the thing they'll miss though
>> might be their ability to race through the house like 'mad dogs' Lol..
>> You know the type I'm sure.. starting at one end of the house, and
>> racing like no tomorrow all the way to the other end Lol. There will

> We had that with cats & kids more than dogs. Pom-Pom did it some but Sam
> only did when he was chasing a ball, then playing hard to get. We didn't
> have that big a place so he was limited on his run around.

My cats like cozy places to hide more than running.. there will be a few places
like that for them in the new house, probably more upstairs than down.. That's
ok as I figure to keep the dogs downstairs as much as possible during the day
:)

>> be room to run in the house, but surely not as much :)  Then again,
>> they're a little older now so maybe they'll not want to be such silly
>> dogs :)

> Doubt that, they're still young enough to have lots of play in them yet.

Oh yeah, definitly have LOTS of play in them Lol.. All you have to do is give
Indy a kind of look and he'll start going nutso :)  I guess that's his signal
from us that we want to play haha  but compared to what they were like when we
first got them, the way they play now is different.  They're not as destructive
(thank goodness!!)  Indy has had this stuffed bear he drags around with him for
almost 6months now.. the head got ripped up when I first gave it to him and I
had to stitch it to repair it for him then, ...but he hasn't shredded it, nor
torn out the stitches.


>> > That will be quite the experience for them, I'm sure. There are
>> quite a > few deer in/around Wake Forest; we think they enjoyed our
>> tomatoes last > year. This year we outsmarted them and put them in a
>> hanging planter on > the side of the porch where the ground is much
>> lower. It'd take a
>> > giraffe deer to reach up to that planter. (G)

>> Our fencing will help that some at the new place, though I don't think
>> we'll fence in as much property like we did in Windsor (we fenced in
>> 1/2 acre and left the other 1/2 unfenced).  I will though fence any
>> beds I start to keep the deer and other wild life out.. rabbits can be
>> disasterous if you don't put fencing down deep enough in the soil.

> I know my dad used chicken wire for fencing--and had lots of rabbits.
> but, living where we did, there were lots to begin with. (G)

Yep, that's what I used.. chicken wire, all around the garden and sunk deep
enough to keep the bunnies from enjoying the garden :)  Works great.

>> The other option is to do hanging planters as you mention.. always a
>> good idea as well :)

> But they do suck up lots of water. Hang them on a level you're
> cofortable getting to.

Definitely.  With porches on the front and back of the house I could probably
forgo the garden this year as far as tomatoes are concerned :)

>> > The down side to it but worth the cost and time if it keeps the
>> critters > healthy.

>> Yes indeed.. not to mention keeping deer ticks away from us as well..
>> who needs that one :(  Since the cats will be free to roam outside, it
>> will be pretty critical.

> Definatly! Going to put bells on them and a collar tag with a contact
> phone number?

haha I doubt it.  These cats have never outgrown some of their feral habits..
They balk at and rip off any collars you put on them.  I may try once we've
moved so at least people see they belong to someone in the beginning :)

>> Definitly a good thing to have available!  I bet the kids enjoy that
>> so much as well :)

> Sarah likes it the best I think; she gets to show off what she's
> learning in preschool. Robert usually plays a piano piece and Audrey
> just looks cute. So does Logan, don't see much of Damian and Victoria is
> on long enough to say "hi" and talk for a couple of minutes. But, some
> time beats no time.

Definitely as they grow up way too soon.  My oldest grandson is going to be a
senior next year, and colleges had  already contacting him about applying..
that is such a shock to me, but it's not like he hasn't seemed so grownup for a
lot longer!  I guess really, he's a lot like Ron.  Ron's mom always used to
tell me that everyone considered Ron to be like a wise old man when he was just
a kid (g).

>> That is so nice.  Yes, I've always been a 'village' person, in other
>> words not off in the midst of the wild.. while we're going to be in
>> the country as before, living right in the village of Slaterville
>> Springs will be close to everything, including Ithaca.

> I like a small place to live with a bigger one nearby. Raleigh is close
> enough for major shopping, some medical work or a cultural event. Durham
> & Chapel Hill are a bit too far away for much other than the occaisional
> medical appointment, sometimes a meal out in conjunction with that. We

Sounds kind of what it will be like for us.. Ithaca is going to be say less
than 10 minutes away for dining/cultural things.. Binghamton will be probably
30-45 minutes away.. We'll keep our doctors in Binghamton since it won't be
rough getting to their offices.

> did go over to Durham last year to try a restaurant for my birthday but
> usually we head down to Raleigh. We do want to go back to the Korean
> place we went to a couple of weeks ago in Raeigh; it was really good!

We love good korean food :)  Louisville had the greatest restaurant.  So far,
in Ithaca we've tried a Korean and a Thai restaurant, but for the Thai only as
take-out, having them deliver to my daughter's house.. We have visited the
Korean restaurant and decided that take-out suffered some.  But it is really
handy that you can have any food you want delivered in Ithaca.. and where we'll
be located seems like everyone will deliver to us.

>> to pay it off. The Dish Drawer model we bought for our Windsor house
>> is nice, but actually not as good a dishwasher as the older one that
>> was in the kitchen before we built the center island in Windsor.. I
>> though that was interesting (g).  I forget the model of the one we
>> took out.. maybe it was a Sears?  I forget, that or a GE.

> OK, we've got a conventional, low end model dishwasher. The landlord
> didn't want to spend a lot when it needed replacing last year. I'm glad
> Steve kept the sound baffle blanket from the old one to put on the new
> one; it definatly cuts down on the sound.

hehe.. yes, glad you mentioned that kind of thing.  That will also be a
consideratio since the living room and study will be very close by!

>>> the kitchen are beautiful (just a few years old, and all oak) so I
>>> don't want to remove any of them...
>> > Don't blame you there.
>> Yes, they are really nice looking and well cared for :)

> A big selling point there. My folks had their cabinets washed by their
> cleaning lady when we were up for Christmas, 2010; I think it was the
> first time they'd been cleaned since they were put in, in 1977 or 78.
> They looked much better afterward.

My mom had done somthing similar at some point with her cabinets, it made QUITE
a difference with hers.  I think she had them done when she had new countertops
installed, because with the shiny new countertops, the cupboards looked... well
you know (g).

>>> Also,  we have to expand the upstairs 1/2 bath to a full bathroom..

>> > Always handy, especially if all the bedrooms are up there.

>> One is downstairs, and two others are upstairs.. right now we're
>> thinking my son will take the downstairs one since Toby insists on
>> sleeping in his room (g).. and he's now 10.. the stairs will get to
>> him in a few years, meanwhile the 'pups' (well, they're 2 now (g))
>> have boundless energy for things like stairs right now.  The s


> Probably a good idea all around then.

Yes and darn it, it will be good excercise for me to use those darn steps twice
a day hehehehe

Take care,
Janis

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Dada-1
 * Origin: Prism bbs (1:261/38)