Happy Birthday Erin and Lauren...

I tried to bake you both a giant cupcake shaped cake for your birthdays, but I failed epically. It came together quite nicely, initially. Then I came back to check on it around midnight before going to bed and structural integrity problems had taken hold. I tried to fix it but it just crumbled when I tried to put the cupcake top back on the cupcake bottom. The following is the result.

Happy Birthday.

Just another evening...

Main Bathroom Remodel

You may recall some of my prior posts regarding the main bathroom at the top of the stairs.

Primarily the ill-equipped after-dinner-ware and generally inconvenient placement of sinks/toilets.

Well that needed to change. Note the hole where the toilet use to be, and the new closet flange where the new toilet is going.

A new cabinet and sink spot next to the toilet.

The new cabinet sink and toilet, with new hardware and fixtures. Walls refinished and painted light blue.

New flooring. It's only linoleum, but it looks clean. Also, new trim work.

Curved shower rod.

Camping weekend at Mohican

This time of year the Maples and Oaks really begin to take on their Fall colors in Ohio. With some friends from Stef's work, Jeff and Julie, their children Lauren, Lydia and Anna, and Jeff's Father Dave, we trekked down to Mohican State Park for a Fall camping trip to take in the Reds, Orange and Yellows. Notably, this was Stef's first time camping in a tent, and naturally, she was a bit apprehensive. But all went well. We left early Saturday morning around 6:00a, stopped for breakfast and were at camp setting up tents by about 9:00a.

(Our new tent and camping equipment)

After we setup camp, we went for a hike near Charles' Hill Dam.

(Stef and Julie getting ready for a hike)

(Jeff and Dave getting ready for a hike)

(Lydia, Lauren, Jeff with Anna stopping to breathe in the fresh air)

(Some interestingly colored biology on the side of a log)

(Some exposed Sand stone)

(Lauren and Lydia stop to check out river rocks)

(Mohican River)

After our hike we ate at Malabar Farms Inn and Restaurant. Food was very good. Stef and I are hoping we can plan a trip back there to enjoy a little extended weekend this Winter for some R&R. After lunch we went for a horse ride at a place in Mohican called Equestrian Valley. The equestrian ranch was on 220 acres and had breathtaking views.

(Stef on Horse back)

(Stef and myself at the Equestrian Valley Ranch)

By about 5:30p, with our leg muscles talking to us, we decided to mosy on back to camp to cook up some grub. The ladies prepped some red potatoes with carrots, onions and rosemary, and barbecue chicken with onions which the men cooked over the fire pit.



(Jeff, Anna, myself and Dave cooking Dinner)

We ate our food, warmed ourselves by a toasty fire, and watched the sun set over the lake by our camp site. Quite a nice evening.

We all settled down for a nice cool Fall snooze and listened to the wind blow through the trees. Next morning we stoked the fire, warmed up and went to Mohican Resort for breakfast overlooking pleasantville reservoir.

And that was our camping weekend at Mohican.

More Pond Pictures...

Saw Rusty watching the waterfall and fish swimming around and I couldn't resist taking a photo.

Pond Redo

A couple days before we left town in July to visit family back in San Jose, the pond sprung a leak. Shutting off the pump and filter did not seem to ameliorate the problem, and the hole that was shedding the water from the pond remained elusive. Prior to travel I purchased a popup pool to transfer all the plants and fish into it in order to salvage the biological aspects of the pond.

Upon arriving back from California, I found a few culprit holes, but still not sure if it would present again, we decided to redo the pond.

Before...


Ahhh... That's the problem, they put no underlayment under the rubber lining. No wonder the shards of rock and rubble beneath the pond liner cut through. In this picture the biological filter has been moved between the two alberta spruces. I've dug the pond down to a 2-3' depth for better wintering of the pond. Also, I created a deep end of the pond, where Rusty is, so that the pump will be "distal" to the filter and NEW waterfall setup. : ) Also, but not shown here, was a small tree stump that they were hiding using the waterfall. I ground it down with my chain saw. There can be only one.


Pond bottom raked for sharp rocks, smoothed and stamped. Location for the first layer of rocks to be placed around the ledge outlined and smoothed.


Felt underlayment to prevent sharp objects from puncturing the new rubber liner.


New rubber liner in with water filling. Beginnings of the waterfall cascade between the two spruces.


Rubber lining trimmed, and the first layer of rocks being placed around the ledge.


Building a cascading waterfall. Plumbing in place, attached to the biological filter and leak tested.


Rest of the rocks are placed, water has been chemically treated and pH balanced, and the plants and fish are now back in.

Rusty laying underneath the Spruce on a warm Sunday afternoon watching the fish and waterfall.

Office project...

This is what the office looked like before we remodeled. The ceiling is painted gray/blue, the carpet is the old carpet we've removed already, and although you cannot see it, there were quite a few holes in the walls that we mudded in.

We painted the ceiling white, two thick coats of primer, decided to go with a hopsack color for the top half, and semigloss painted paneling for the bottom half. Below is the roughly finished paneling with trim work. No paint on it yet. Same view as above, from the hallway door.

Views from inside the room towards the hallway door.

Stef's foot to the right on a stool. She's currently puttying the holes in the old window trim, sanding and getting ready for priming. We went with a subtle panel cap so as to keep the obtrusiveness level of the paneling to a minimum. Didn't want to make the room look too small.