Beantown and Pot(s)

Yesterday we made a trip to Beantown. Yes, Beantown. It's actually the name of a really nice Campground up in the Door County Peninsula of Wisconsin. You know that skinny finger that sticks way up into Lake Michigan?

We went up to help Pops, Steve's dad, to move his motorhome out of storage and get it settled in on to a seasonal site for the summer at Beantown.  http://www.beantowncampground.com/

Steve and Tom, the owner of Beantown,  had gone to high school together up in Door County. They were a year or two apart but still knew each other because it was such a small town.

It didn't take long to get Pop's big motorhome all settled into his great site, get it leveled off, and the slides opened up. We dewinterized the water system and helped him set up his sewer hose and got his electrical going. Now he's all set for a summer of camping. We are going to go back up in a few weeks and help him build a nice little deck area on his campsite. It will be easier for placing patio furniture and a round table compared to the picnic table that is already there. We will bring our motorhome up at the same time to park nearby and help build the deck. Then he can be settled in to entertain with the folks in the campground.

We took our dogs along with us because it was going to be a long day. About 2 hours up and 2 hours back.  So all three dogs, Finney, Binney and Pop's dog Millie commandeered the back seat of the truck, leaving look very little room for me! At one point I looked over and Millie was draped across both Shelties like they were her personal Doggie Mattress. "Might as well put these fluff balls to good use" she thought, "they make comfy padding".

So that was it for Beantown.

Now about the pot(s)

I have been searching lately for a couple of big cement type urn pots to put on our front porch. I had two smaller plaster ones the first summer we were here but one cracked and that those were not exactly what I wanted. I wanted more of the big cement pedestal type urns that would go with the style of our home.

We looked all around and checked quite a few stores and did not find any for sale. I did find a place online where I could order them for $200 and have them shipped but that's quite a bit out of my price range. Ouch!

I even posted a "wanted to buy" ad on all of the local buy sell trade Facebook pages and Craigslist. No bites, not even a nibble.

On Monday I had given up finding any of the pots I wanted.....  and I planted a bunch of geraniums into some cheap plastic pots that I had painted white. They were okay. But it's not what I wanted. Last year I used them and they blew over in some of the thunderstorms and just look cheap.

Well well well well ---- as we were driving up to Door County, I was sitting in the back seat of the truck, on my phone, perusing Craigslist. Guess what I found! Somebody in Oshkosh, the opposite direction from where we were going, posted a pair of cement urns exactly what I wanted --- and at a great price too.

I texted her and she said yes they were still available, but she would not be home until 4:30. That was just perfect for us to arrive after coming back from Door County. After we said goodbye to Pop's in Appleton we headed down to Oshkosh to check out the urns. They were exactly what I wanted and Steve hoisted them up into the trunk of our car to haul them home.

Even though it was late evening and darkness was coming on we decided to haul them up to the front of the house after I hosed them off.

Boy oh boy were these suckers heavy. Steve put them in our little red wagon both at the same time and I really could barely move them as you can tell.

Even he took a break after hauling them up to the front of the house. It was still hot humid and very sticky out. I think it hit 83 degrees here.

Then Steve hoisted them up into place. I carefully transplanted the new flowers from the plastic pots into the cement ones. We were losing daylight but I wanted to get these done before heading to bed.  Today I will touch up the exterior with some paint to make them look cleaner and more matching of the stoop and trim on the house.

TA DAHHHH! 

Now this is what I had been hoping for: 

While shopping, Steve also picked up two other interesting shrubs this week and we need to get them planted as well.  They are not going IN the fenced in yard, but around it on the outside. One is called a Sem Ash Leaf False Spirea. It looks like little ferns or feathers and will bloom with white puffs of fluff. It will get about 5 feet tall and about 10 feet wide.  The other one is a tall skinny cedar to grow in a spot where we pulled out some arborvitae and want something to offset the horizontal lines of the other bushes next to it. We had two at our house in Oconto and I really liked them.

We did manage to get my white lilac planted and made a nice flower bed in the corner of the fenced-in yard. Steve helped me transplant some hostas that needed splitting up, and then we moved one of the cactus gardens on the birdbath stands that I wrote about in my last blog.

We surrounded it with some old bricks 

we found inside the garage and 

some other bricks that were leftover 

from removing the top of the chimney last year. 

Recycling! 

Now I think our backyard is more balanced and even with the fence and two flower beds, one in each corner.  It is also easier with the riding lawnmower to arc along the beds to cut the lawn instead of going into the corner of the fence. 

The big job is going to be operating the weedeater along all 258 feet of fence to carefully cut back the grass and not whip the heck out of the wood (like Steve is prone to do) I think we will need to get another battery for the weedeater so I can do it in shifts and not have to wait for a recharge.

Up in the front yard, I did get a row of little red and white impatiens done in front of the house, and I still have some left to plant under the cherry tree.  I will mulch after the helicopter seeds are done falling from the soft maple trees around. Otherwise they are a big mess on top of the pretty black mulch that I like to use.  Steve put the birdbath up front for me on a cement pedestal base to keep it level.  Come on birdies!

One of the things in our backyard I do NOT like is the huge ugly telephone pole. I decided to plant some vines of clematis at the bottom and tie around the pole a couple times with string to get it started. I already have a few blooms on it so I think it's taking off.

I would rather look at a column of beautiful flowers than that ugly pole. Not only is it old and full of holes, it's crooked!  It's a shame it has to be in our yard because it's not really being used by us.  They came through 2 years ago and replaced all the poles up the center of the block, but skipped this one at the end of the line.  Our power to our house is buried underground, but the lines on this pole lead up overhead to the neighbor at the end of the line. The telephone and cable wires on there also are not used by us as the phone lines are buried underground and we do not have cable.

Grow, Clematis, Grow

and cover up that ugly pole!

Today is going to be hot and humid again like yesterday. We did not start the air-conditioning yet, but we do have all of the windows open to let fresh air into the house this morning.

Setting out on the front porch as I write this blog 

enjoying a cup of coffee

On edit... I set down the coffee, 

grabbed my paint and brush

and gave the urns a fresh coat of paint! 

AHHHHHHH

Back at Home and Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

Our two week gig as camphosts has come to an end.  The regularly scheduled hosts were able to return to the park on Tuesday to finish out the month of May.  We are scheduled for August and will do a whole month then.

I got the rig "road worthy" to head on home on Monday... while Steve was working his normal hours.  It rained almost all day, so I couldn't go out and shovel any firepits or clean any grills in the park.  I had wanted to leave a clean slate for Mike and Judy, but was not able to get out and about.

It didn't take long to get things ready to roll, and I even packed up the things to be carried into the house into big Aldi's shopping bags for hauling into the house again.  Also the dirty laundry was bagged up and ready to come in to get washed.  When it's done, we put it right back out in the rig again so it's ready for the next outing.

Steve was done at 4pm and he helped me with the last few things. Our awning was rolled up wet and needed to be unrolled later while parked in the yard to dry.  The mat was all muddy too, so we put that in a big trash bag and into the trunk of the car to take it home that way.  Why get mud in the carpeted compartments on the motorhome?

At 4:30, Steve drove over to the dump station to get rid of 2 weeks of "stuff" and give our holding tank a good rinse and drain.  I drove ahead with the car and had two silly doggers sitting with me.  Once we rolled into the yard, they were delirious with excitement about being back "HOME" ....  and got to pee in their little potty yard, and play with all of their toys again.

Steve got into Chilton at about 5pm  and lo and behold, the sun came out!   I sat on the front steps waiting for him so I could go out and block traffic on all four lanes in front of our house. He needs to back the rig into our yard.  We have a gravel parking area in the back section of our yard, and it's much nicer to back in rather than pull in nose first.

While I block the traffic, Steveio gets the rig into place, and I smile and wave nicely to the disgruntled drivers who have to wait a few seconds, less than a minute, to get the rig into the drive.  Geeesh!   Everyone is in such a hurry!  It's only 25 mph in front of our home, but you would think I was blocking a major expressway the way some of them act.  LOL

HOME SWEET HOME

Everything was fine with the house,

and we had gone home during the week to cut the grass.

Our week was full of "catch up" with laundry, getting groceries, paying bills and putting away all my sewing and weaving things I had along for the 2 weeks at the park.  I was finally able to get to my looms and finish up three rugs for my etsy store that I had woven but didn't get hemmed up until tuesday.  http://kareninthewoods.etsy.com/  

We decided to get some yard work done today... around Our Old House.   The last two years, this lovely hedge of variegated shrubs had been going downhill. This is how it looked before ..... in 2013

The bitter cold of 2014 really did a number on it, and last year it was only about 1/4 full.  And this is how it looks now.....   

 We got out the shovel and rake and set to work

 There was a tiny bit of growth on four of the stumps, 

so we dug them out to put them elsewhere in the back yard. 

And THIS is my Mother's Day Present from Steveio!!!!

A trunk full of new plants!!!!

(5 dwarf barberry shrubs, 3 ferns and some spikes and vinca vines for my geranium pots) 

I missed a finished shot of the barberry shrubs all in a row now where the old ones were.  Oh well, I will take one tomorrow after we spread some mulch around the plants.

In the meantime, we put these three fern clumps over on the north side of the porch in a shady area where we had to remove a dead arborvitae from last year.   Now that we removed that big dead bush, we can see more of the detailed lattice work under the porch. I have some clematis starting up the trellis and a hosta down below.

I added the spikes and vines to my white pots out on the front stoop.  The geraniums were part of my mother's day present too.  I love putting them out on the front steps each year. It's becoming a tradition.

The geraniums had originally started out in this pot, 

but I move them to the outside pots instead. 

I put my indoor ivy into the special Mother's Day pot. 

It has Chelsea and Clayton's feet on it so far, and room for 

Jameson, Allegra and Mason's feet next time they come. 

Yup, that's painted kids feet 

pressed against the sides of the pot 

and made into butterflies! 

I want to keep this pot inside where it will be protected and cherished! 

Together, we went around the house, pulling weeds, 

watering plants,  and picking up sticks.   

It felt good to do some yard stuff, when we work together like a team.

I still need some white and red impatiens 

to put along the white scalloped borders across the front flowerbed. 

Yup... 

Our Old House

ps... it was Bath Day today at our house...

The doggers need to get spruced up for the big "Bark in the Park" gathering 

with over 60 shelties at the 

Timberattlers Ball Game in Appleton on Sunday. 

Wet Binney                                     Saturated Finnegan 

 Two doggers wrapped up like burritos, commiserating together....

and here is a little video clip of them after their baths....