Friday, May 21, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Out with the old
2 years ago I signed my name 100+ times and got the keys to my first house. It was a foreclosure that needed a lot of work, but it was better than apartment living. The house has evolved a lot in the past 2 years. It feels like all of the work has happened at a snails pace but looking at all the pictures gives me a real sense of accomplishment. The first improvement was the bathroom in the front of the house..
The second larger renovation was the wood flooring on the main level of the house.
A few weeks ago the front of the house was completed.
It feels like so much has been done and there is still so much to do. Work is never done!
The second larger renovation was the wood flooring on the main level of the house.
A few weeks ago the front of the house was completed.
It feels like so much has been done and there is still so much to do. Work is never done!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Close call
On Sunday little o and I went for a walk in the woods behind the neighborhood. I love walking in the woods. There is a trail for mountain biking and streams and a lot of cliffs with steep drops. I don't normally venture off the trail but I did on Sunday because I had hoped we'd find some morels on our outing.
No morels were found, but we did encounter a bunch of wild life starting with a little toad. Right off the trail we saw an eastern box turtle. I took a picture with my phone but kept my distance. I don't mess with wildlife.
Otto paid no attention to him, he probably thought the turtle was a rock
We continued walking and started to go off the trail. While we were walking along the edge of a hill we walked until we got to the end and then went right. I was scanning the bottoms of the trees and checking out all the dead ones around, not really watching what was directly under my feet. Otto stopped abruptly and started pulling to the right. Just then I notice a snake laying out in the open less than a foot from where I was standing. My heart jumped because I didn't expect him to be there. When I was growing up on the Eastern Shore snakes were an everyday occurance. We had one big black snake that lived in the attic and would crawl out of the house to sun himself on the fence post in the summers. He was a welcome guest.
I was taught when I was younger how to identify good snakes and bad snakes. Bad=diamond shaped head, colored cat like eyes. Good=round heads and black eyes.
I started slowly moving forward to get away from it and within 4 feet I was at the edge of a drop. To the left was another drop, back in his direction was the trail, and to the right was a very big and very steep dirt pile. It was the only way we could go. I had to get on my hands and knees to crawl up this thing because it was so steep and I didn't want to fall. We made it back to the trail and our walk was very much OVER for the day.
When I got home I started researching snakes in Maryland because I wanted to know what I had just met. I initially thought he was a hognose but the eyes did not match the description. This snake had orange eyes. I found my match this morning. It was a Northern Copperhead. Good thing I didn't run. If Otto hadn't distracted me I never would have seen the poisonous snake that I almost stepped on. He would have bitten me for sure and it's unlikely that I'd be dead but I'd definitely be in a lot of pain and not at work today.
Lesson learned, stay on the trail.
Here is a Northern Copperhead:
No morels were found, but we did encounter a bunch of wild life starting with a little toad. Right off the trail we saw an eastern box turtle. I took a picture with my phone but kept my distance. I don't mess with wildlife.
Otto paid no attention to him, he probably thought the turtle was a rock
We continued walking and started to go off the trail. While we were walking along the edge of a hill we walked until we got to the end and then went right. I was scanning the bottoms of the trees and checking out all the dead ones around, not really watching what was directly under my feet. Otto stopped abruptly and started pulling to the right. Just then I notice a snake laying out in the open less than a foot from where I was standing. My heart jumped because I didn't expect him to be there. When I was growing up on the Eastern Shore snakes were an everyday occurance. We had one big black snake that lived in the attic and would crawl out of the house to sun himself on the fence post in the summers. He was a welcome guest.
I was taught when I was younger how to identify good snakes and bad snakes. Bad=diamond shaped head, colored cat like eyes. Good=round heads and black eyes.
I started slowly moving forward to get away from it and within 4 feet I was at the edge of a drop. To the left was another drop, back in his direction was the trail, and to the right was a very big and very steep dirt pile. It was the only way we could go. I had to get on my hands and knees to crawl up this thing because it was so steep and I didn't want to fall. We made it back to the trail and our walk was very much OVER for the day.
When I got home I started researching snakes in Maryland because I wanted to know what I had just met. I initially thought he was a hognose but the eyes did not match the description. This snake had orange eyes. I found my match this morning. It was a Northern Copperhead. Good thing I didn't run. If Otto hadn't distracted me I never would have seen the poisonous snake that I almost stepped on. He would have bitten me for sure and it's unlikely that I'd be dead but I'd definitely be in a lot of pain and not at work today.
Lesson learned, stay on the trail.
Here is a Northern Copperhead:
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Three words...
Duck Fat Fries
In the spirit of trying new things we ventured to Columbia on Sunday night to try a place that had come highly recommended through a friend, and also on the howchow blog, my new favorite source for restaurant recommendations in Howard county
http://www.victoriagastropub.com/
Simply amazing.
The waitress described the menu as comfort food and I couldn't agree more.
I don't want to leave out the best part....their drink menu is about 20 pages long, with just about every kind of beer you can think of. Brian had the Rougue Chipotle ale which was fantastic and I had the Southampton publik house double white. I think their draught menu changes month to month so of course this means we'll have to eat here monthly.
In the spirit of trying new things we ventured to Columbia on Sunday night to try a place that had come highly recommended through a friend, and also on the howchow blog, my new favorite source for restaurant recommendations in Howard county
http://www.victoriagastropub.com/
Simply amazing.
The waitress described the menu as comfort food and I couldn't agree more.
I don't want to leave out the best part....their drink menu is about 20 pages long, with just about every kind of beer you can think of. Brian had the Rougue Chipotle ale which was fantastic and I had the Southampton publik house double white. I think their draught menu changes month to month so of course this means we'll have to eat here monthly.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Extermination
The theme of my week has been pests. It began with a mouse in the pantry on Saturday. My little gray friend has since been captured and set free thanks to the use of a live mouse trap. They are wonderful little contraptions, but a word of caution if you ever need one--check it daily... The little mice do not fare so well in them if they are left longer than a day or two.
This evening I made dinner and cleaned up, then checked my orchids to see if they needed water. While watering the second one I was horrified to look down and see a swarm of ants flowing out with the water...fleeing up my beautiful spikes in an attempt to get to higher ground. I freaked out and rushed them all outside to check the damage. It seems they made a nest in my largest and of course my healthiest plant. The only thing I could do to save it was a quick transplant, which may kill it.
Before the gruesome discovery:
There are few things that make me cry and this is one of them. I have nurtured these plants for over a year now, and to deal with this while they are blooming just makes it even harder for me to handle. I hope this plant survives. At this point there is nothing I can do but wait and see. I had to throw away my second paph...new growth and all. I'm down one plant and the other is in critical condition. *sigh*
Surgery:
Resting in the bathroom: banished and (hopefully) ant free
There are 20 potential blooms on all those branches. If it dies I will be so disappointed. :(
This evening I made dinner and cleaned up, then checked my orchids to see if they needed water. While watering the second one I was horrified to look down and see a swarm of ants flowing out with the water...fleeing up my beautiful spikes in an attempt to get to higher ground. I freaked out and rushed them all outside to check the damage. It seems they made a nest in my largest and of course my healthiest plant. The only thing I could do to save it was a quick transplant, which may kill it.
Before the gruesome discovery:
There are few things that make me cry and this is one of them. I have nurtured these plants for over a year now, and to deal with this while they are blooming just makes it even harder for me to handle. I hope this plant survives. At this point there is nothing I can do but wait and see. I had to throw away my second paph...new growth and all. I'm down one plant and the other is in critical condition. *sigh*
Surgery:
Resting in the bathroom: banished and (hopefully) ant free
There are 20 potential blooms on all those branches. If it dies I will be so disappointed. :(
Friday, April 9, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Drum roll please!
Introducing the once sad and dying mystery orchid from the home depot clearance shelf....
The weather has been so lovely the past few days, and Brian bought a new truck, so I made him drive me to the nursery so I could buy a bush to replace the one damaged by the heavy snow this past winter. I bought a hydrangea and a foxglove, both are shade lovers and will be planted in the front yard.
I have a plan to tear out the old rotten landscaping lumber in the front yard and replace it with a short stone retaining wall. This will take a few weeks, but my ultimate goal is to have a small curve to the front of it which I will fill with a row of hostas. The problem with hostas and my yard is that we have a bit of a slug problem and there are few things slugs love more than hostas.
But I will not let the pests deter me! I will be armed and ready with my neem oil. If that does not work I will take more drastic measures. By whatever means necessary!
Do you hear that evil mollusks? You will rue the day you slime your way onto my plants.
*shakes fist*
The weather has been so lovely the past few days, and Brian bought a new truck, so I made him drive me to the nursery so I could buy a bush to replace the one damaged by the heavy snow this past winter. I bought a hydrangea and a foxglove, both are shade lovers and will be planted in the front yard.
I have a plan to tear out the old rotten landscaping lumber in the front yard and replace it with a short stone retaining wall. This will take a few weeks, but my ultimate goal is to have a small curve to the front of it which I will fill with a row of hostas. The problem with hostas and my yard is that we have a bit of a slug problem and there are few things slugs love more than hostas.
But I will not let the pests deter me! I will be armed and ready with my neem oil. If that does not work I will take more drastic measures. By whatever means necessary!
Do you hear that evil mollusks? You will rue the day you slime your way onto my plants.
*shakes fist*
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