Home / Blogs / Pianolady's Gardens / August 2013 /

Surf Ballroom

Category: Off Topic | Posted: Tue Aug 27, 2013 9:43 pm

---

We took a mini-vacation over the weekend, and visited Mason City and Clear Lake, Iowa. We'd heard about the Surf Ballroom (http://www.surfballroom.com/) and decided to visit, and we're glad we did. Talk about a step back in time!



















Last edited: Tue Aug 27, 2013 9:46 pm

This blog entry has been viewed 554 times

---

Today's Non-Gardening Project

Category: Off Topic | Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 8:50 pm

---

I drive a 2003 Nissan Frontier. It had the base model speaker system in it, which is as terrible sounding as you can get. Even FM sounded like AM radio. The head unit is okay, I have CD and mp3 through my transmitter.

I didn't want to spend too much on speakers since I have no intention of getting a new stereo. I found this for $35.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_236TN653/MTX-TN653.html?tp=95. Installed it today, which was a little challenging, but not bad. Getting the clamp off the window crank was the most challenging part (but I learned a quarter works great to dislodge the C clamp).

Compared to what I had, it's great and I saved a ton DIYing it and avoiding Best Buy!





This blog entry has been viewed 762 times

---

Peanut's New Friend Maynard

Category: Pets | Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 6:16 pm

---

Thankfully Peanut (blond) and Maynard (red) are getting along well. Both are Basenji mixes of some kind. It's quite the hoot to watch them interact.





This blog entry has been viewed 484 times

---

Finally Enjoying the Fruits of my Labor

Category: Pianolady's Gardens | Posted: Sun Aug 11, 2013 12:02 am

---

Finally the tomatoes are turning red! So we had homemade pizza last night, and I made pesto today with my basil. Cherry pie too, and started freezing tomatoes and peppers today. So it's been good eating in our household this weekend.

Organized the freezer today. I gave away a bunch of cherries to my friends, so I'm down to 56 pounds of pitted cherries...still plenty for the winter. I almost got them all to fit into the drawer.


Just the start of my tomatoes/pepper freezing. I also freeze beans, looks like I'll actually have some this year. The jars are cherries too.


Tried a pesto recipe for dinner, turned some of it into a mayo spread for sandwiches, it was pretty good & something I'd never done. May make pasta tomorrow with the leftover. A good way to use the basil in my herb garden. The recipe used 4 cups of basil!

This blog entry has been viewed 1463 times

---

Hibiscus & Walkaround

Category: Pianolady's Gardens | Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 11:19 pm

---

This hibiscus gets larger every year.


A new one I planted last year, not very big yet.


Back walkway






Best year for beans ever.








This blog entry has been viewed 472 times

---

Built a Wheelchair Ramp

Category: Home Improvements | Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 4:10 am

---

Spent the afternoon/evening/night today with my husband building an ADA-compliant wheelchair ramp for a family member. Not quite finished (needs handrails and rest of the curbing) but it is very strong and safe and functional as-is. We tested it out at 10:30 pm and it works great. The corner platform is 5' x 5' and the ramp itself it 4' wide. 24 feet total length. It's built in the garage for all-season access.

3/4 inch plywood, strong 2x4 framing with plenty of reinforcement. The black line is visibility paint (not a crack or gap!) since we used the top step of the old stairs as the first short section outside the door.

( photo / image / picture from Pianolady's Garden )


( photo / image / picture from Pianolady's Garden )

This blog entry has been viewed 509 times

---

Home / Blogs / Pianolady's Gardens / August 2013 /