Life Through My Eyes

What A Crazy Year It Has Been So Far

2020-11-03T14:36:00.001-05:00

It has been a very long time since I have made a blog entry here. Veronica and I have been doing our very best to stay safe and healthy. So far it has worked out for us. We are hoping for the day that there will be a safe vaccine made to combat this virus. Even if and when they do make a vaccine we won't be jumping on board to take it right away. We will wait to make sure that they have all of the bugs worked out of it and that it is as safe as safe can be. Only then will we start hoping and dreaming of future travels and adventures in Europe. We did recently take 2 trips to Muncie, Indiana to visit Veronica's family.. It was very strange to be flying anywhere. The airports were really empty compared to what they used to be and almost all restaurants and shops at the various airports were closed.

While we were out in Indiana we took a few side trips. We stopped by Carmel, IN and actually found the house that I lived in for a period of time back in the 1950s. We also drove through Old Carmel to see all of the changes since back in the day.

We also took a side trip to Brown County in Indiana and another side trip to Story, IN. I was interested in finding some old houses, barns, farmhouses etc that might be in the area. We found quite a number of them.

Below are some photos taken of our trip back to Indiana:

So Far So Good

2020-03-25T19:14:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday, 3/19, Veronica went to work as usual. The day did not continue in the usual fashion though. The store never opened to the public and Veronica spent several hours closing up the store in preparation for a company wide store closing that is supposed to last until 4/6 at a minimum. So she has been home almost a week. Her company is treating their employees extremely well as far as paying them during these unusual times. The best news is that at this time we are virus free or should I say that we have shown no signs of having the virus at this time. We won't feel safe until we have made it to the 14th day of Veronica being home, which will be on 4/2. We have not been out since she came home that day except for a quick stop into a quiet grocery store for some last minute provisions. Previous to that I had been to the bank and a grocery store on 3/16. I went there load with antibacterial wipes and liquid sanitizer.
So the bottom line is that hopefully we will get to 4/2 without any signs of having the virus. At that timer we can breathe a sigh of relief but we must still remain vigilant and protect ourselves.
This time off gives Veronica some time to rest and relax and to get some sewing done. I meanwhile spend my days cleaning house, mowing the yard and soon I will be getting several shipments in of flowers and plants. Once I get all of the plants and day lilies planted I will order a pallet of mulch and get all of the garden spaces mulched.
I really don't like being cooped up in the house and the yard work and landscaping allows me to get outside, get some fresh air and still remain somewhat quarantined from the outside word.

Numerous Travel Plans Foiled

2020-03-21T13:23:00.001-04:00

With the upcoming Spring season upon us we were supposed to be going to Venice, Italy. Those plans ended abruptly with the corona virus issue.
So we looked into plan B which was a "traincation" in Switzerland. Unfortunately that wasn't going to happen due to the fact that one of the numerous trains we would have taken went through a section of Northern Italy. European Vacations by Rail changed the itinerary so that instead of a train going through part of Italy that was shut down at this time due to the virus, they would bus us to the next destination and not go through Italy at all. We decided not to do that itinerary since the main reason for going was to be able to ride all of these different trains throughout Switzerland. So we decided to put that option on hold until maybe next year. All of this was at the early stages of the corona virus hitting Europe and the U.S. So option C was created...a return trip to Budapest and Prague with a train trip between the 2 countries. So we made all arrangements for flights, hotels in both cities and obtained the rail tickets too. We even ordered foreign currency for both countries. Within 12 hours of us speedily putting together this vacation it all fell to pieces. We heard that all travel from the U.S. to Europe and vice versa was banned. This was before they delivered clarification on the ban. Either way we decided that this was not the time to push our luck on travel. So we cancelled everything.
As it turned out Veronica's employer closed all stores for at least 2 weeks so we are currently staying in our house and basically isolating ourselves from the outside world as much as possible. I just wish everyone would do this for a couple of weeks. But unfortunately there are those that feel the need to go out and about needlessly without a care in the world.
I will use this time to do so gardening as I have a couple of shipments of day lilies arriving and some other plants. After I get all of those planted I will have Home Depot deliver some bags of mulch and get that spread in the gardens. So within a 3 week time period I will have almost all of my gardening for the year completed.
We are all stocked up here and will self quarantine within the confines of our house and yard without any contact with other people other than a quick wave to each other.

Life Goes On

2020-03-09T11:34:00.000-04:00

It has once again been awhile since my last blog entry. Time seems to be flying by even though it has been a long long Winter. But with Spring slowly coming our way and hopefully with the warmer weather, things with pick up and I will get out and about more.
I decided that I would start mowing our yard starting this season rather than paying someone else to do it. The exercise will do me good. I went out and got myself a top rated Honda mower that has electronic start and is self propelled. This thing is a beast...very heavy duty and the self propelled system takes a little getting used to. It will give me a good workout in the Summer. I had to a new grass trimmer and a new grass edger...both of which are battery operated. I had previously purchased a battery operated leaf/grass blower. Now I have all of the tools needed for the yard upkeep.
I cleaned out the shed so that there would be room for all of my outdoor tools and equipment.
This upcoming Spring season I will be busy landscaping. I had a ton of plants coming in before the end of April. Last year I planted some peonies and quite a few are already showing signs of life after the cold of Winter. I will be planting a lot of daylilies. I chose many different types and colors. Daylilies are very colorful and easy to grow. They need little care and at the end of the growing season you just cut them down to the ground and they will easily return the following year. Once every 2-3 years I might have to separate and prune them out since they tend to be prolific growers and spread out quite a bit. But at least they will fill up the gardens that I have.
I have decided to not grow any vegetables this year. So this year there will be no fresh tomatoes, corn nor sweet peppers. I want to focus on planting the flowers and new plants in the garden and get them growing well.
Maybe next year I will get back to the vegetable gardens.
We were supposed to be going to Venice, Italy in a month or so but unfortunately with the corona virus Venice has been closed off to the outside world. We are looking at alternative destinations that will be somewhat safer to visit. No decisions have been made as of yet but we are researching a couple of possibilities. We will save Venice for the Fall, at which time hopefully the virus will have run its course.

Taking Care Of Our Feathered Friends

2020-01-24T18:00:00.002-05:00

We have a couple of bird feeder poles outside of our dining room windows. On those poles are several different types of feeders. What has been happening is that when it rains the feeders get water in them from where the feed comes out of the hopper. I had purchased some baffles that basically cover the top of the feeder. These baffles are metal and can cost upwards to $21-25 depending on their size. The metal can get very hot in the Summer sun.
I was having to take all of the feeders down and empty them because the seed was rotting from the rain getting into them. It got so bad that I was having to scrape the feeders out with a small putty knife to get all of the junk out.
I decided to get a few new hopper feeders and then after shopping around I came up with a better idea to keep the rain out of the feeders...plastic trash can lids.
I went onto Amazon and found heavy duty plastic trash can lids that fit anywhere from a 10 gallon trash can to a 50 gallon trash can.
I settled for a 32 gallon lid made by Rubbermaid which is heavy duty flexible plastic that will last throughout whatever the weather throws at it and they were relatively cheap ($11.98) for a lid that is 22 1/4" in diameter.
These should protect the seed in the feeders.

A Mulligan On Our Paint Color In The Kitchen

2020-01-24T07:34:00.001-05:00

After having the paint color in our kitchen for almost a year it became obvious that our initial color was not a good choice. The original color was recommended to us by a designer/consultant that works at our local paint store.There wasn't enough contrast between the cabinetry color and the wall paint so everything just blended in and the cabinet colors got lost in the overall appearance. So Veronica and I went back into the paint store and she came up with a paint color that would add some punch in the contrast between the cabinet colors and the wall paint. I think she made a great choice.

Out Looking At Holiday Lights

2019-12-18T10:36:00.000-05:00

A couple of nights ago Veronica and I went out looking at various homes and the holiday lights they had put up. We found a few really nice ones. We will probably try to go out again this upcoming weekend to see more of them. Below are a few examples of what we saw along with one of our home decorations:

Added A Few Holiday Decorations To Our Home

2019-12-08T12:05:00.002-05:00

We added a few additional holiday decorations to both the interior and exterior of our home. Here are a few photos showing what we did:

Decorating For The Holidays

2019-11-25T13:40:00.000-05:00

It has been quite a long time since Veronica and I have been able to fully utilize all of our holiday decorations. This year we decided to go all out and we put just about everything we have out on display. So this last Saturday and 10 hours later..... 3 fully decked out trees with oodles of ornaments, 2 carpeted holiday floor mats, numerous wooden signs, numerous sized sleighs filled with various goodies, a mailbox, quite a number of stuffed Santas of all sizes, several other stuffed holiday animals and characters, various stockings hung, an assortment of decorative trucks loaded with trees and other holiday related items, several stuffed holiday pillows, several Jim Shore figurines had been pulled out of storage and put out for display. I am sure that I missed several unlisted things, both stuffed and otherwise. Somewhere in the mix must be a partridge in a pear tree. The home is definitely Holiday ready and we were definitely ready for a nap after we got everything up!!

Here are some photos of our holiday home decorations:

Finishing Touches To Our New Deck

2019-11-25T13:14:00.001-05:00

Due to the fact that the facing of our new deck goes down to the ground and that I was afraid that when using a string trimmer it might damage the TREX finish upon contact between the facing and the string trimmer, I decided to use architectural concrete containing wall blocks around the deck. I also used marble chips between the blocks to fill in the spaces.
It made for a decorative pattern surrounding the deck. It will also keep out any animals that might want to take up residence underneath the deck.
I also used the marble chips under the bigger blocks to add some stability and help in leveling the blocks.
I lastly put some soil down and I will throw some grass seed on the soil in the Spring.
Below are photos showing the deck completely finished:

Our New Deck Project Has Been Completed

2019-10-31T09:30:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since my last blog entry. It is turning Fall-ish around here so I have been doing some Fall cleanup in the gardens, planting a few plants along with dealing with some medical issues. Before you know it another couple of months have passed by.

We just completed getting our new TREX deck installed. We are so glad to have the old one taken down and removed. We had the deck extended one foot all of the way around, which is about as big as we can get without really encroaching on our backyard space. This new deck is approximately 15' x 23' or approximately 340 square feet.

Here are a few before photos:

Below is after the old deck has been removed

The instal of our new deck begins

Our new deck has been installed and this project has been completed. It took a total of 3 days from start to finish. Today the final inspection will be completed and then we can put our furniture back on the deck.

Part 1 Of Our Most Recent Adventures - Baltic Cruise with A Couple Of Extra Days In Copenhagen

2019-10-12T19:04:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago we returned from our most recent adventures..a Baltics Cruise on Norwergian Cruise Lines along with a couple of pot-cruise days in Copenhagen. Here are some photos that I took during our adventures:

Here is our 11th deck aft balcony cabin onboard the NCL Getaway. We love the aft of the ship because we can hear the engine sounds really well at night and because of the views that the aft of the ship affords us.

Our first port was in Warnemunde, Germany. We had been here and all of the ports shown during our first Baltic cruise which was back in 2010. It was nice to visit each port of call again and see what changes had transpired since our last trip.

This was a bakery that we stopped at when we last visited Warnemunde. On the day we were there in 2010 they had an outdoor market going on across the street in the church parking lot. We weren't so lucky this time around.

A take one and leave one book stand that was in a park in Warnemunde

The boardwalk area In Warnemunde

Our next port of call was in Tallinn, Estonia. Here are some photos from our visit there.
This is the Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin in Tallinn.

While walking around, we happened to find this really cool cafe. The way that they had it set up and decorated was really nice and it had a lot of character. The lighting was also fantastic inside.

More outdoor cafes in Tallinn.

Below is the Old Town section of Tallinn which became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997:

A cafe decoated in the style of Alphonse Mucha

This wraps up Part 1 of our Baltic Cruise

Part 2 Of Our Most Recent Adventures - Baltic Cruise with A Couple Of Extra Days In Copenhagen

2019-10-12T19:03:00.000-04:00

This is part 2 of our most recent adventure. Here are some photos taken while we were in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The area where our ship docked was vastly different from the last time we had visited in 2010. There had been and there was continuing to be quite a bit of new construction there.

A Viking cruise line ship was also in Saint Petersburg

Much of what is depicted in the photos are of new construction and many of the finished building are empty

Below is a new stadium

We went on a private tour of Saint Pertersburg using DenRus, which we used the last time we had visited the city. This time we asked to go places where the tourists don't normally go. On our previous visit we did a 2 day tour that covered most of the usual tourist attractions..museums etc.
We got a tour of several subway stops. Much of what we saw was beautifully decorated and at times felt like we were in a museum. All locations were extremely clean.

We also had the chance to just walk the streets where the working class Russian citizens lived.
Below is an outdoor market and the next photo was of an indoor maqrket.

A hotel in Saint Petersburg

Street art

A small cafe in Saint Petersburg

Our guide took us to a hidden gem near a small park in Saint Petersburg. The artistic walls of this building were adorned with brightly colored mosaic tiles and there was a nice park and fountain in the same area.

From our ship you can see a Viking cruise line ship along with housing seen in the background.

This ends part 2 of our Baltic cruise

Part 3 Of Our Most Recent Adventures - Baltic Cruise with A Couple Of Extra Days In Copenhagen

2019-10-12T19:01:00.000-04:00

Narrow alley with street art

Tyska Kyrkan...Old German Church in Stockholm

Italian restaurant in Stockholm

This concludes part 3 Of Our Most Recent Adventures - Baltic Cruise with A Couple Of Extra Days In Copenhagen

Part 4 Of Our Most Recent Adventures - Baltic Cruise with A Couple Of Extra Days In Copenhagen

2019-10-12T19:00:00.000-04:00

In this last part of our most recent adventure we spent a couple of extra days in Copenhagen after our Baltic cruise had concluded. Here are some photos of our time spent in Copenhagen:

Below are photos of Freetown Christiania. Here is a little history about this unique location. This information was obtained from the web site...theculturetrip.com

Christiania is a former military base that sat abandoned for many years before becoming the neighborhood we know today. In 1971, a group of hippies broke down the barricades and began squatting there. Nowadays, approximately 900 people live in the area, comprising a community that has its own rules and regulations completely independent of the Danish government. During its relatively short history, Freetown Christiania has faced a certain amount of turmoil. This is mainly due to the cannabis trade taking place in its famous “Green Light District.” At one time, police officers regularly invaded the neighborhood, occasionally arresting dealers. In August 2016, a shooting in Christiania injured three people, including one police officer.

Christiania has been famous for many years thanks to the permanent stalls along Pusher Street—or ‘The Green Light District’, as it was once known—that sold all types of cannabis (illegal elsewhere in Denmark).

Prior to our visit to Copenhagen and specifically to Freetown Christiania I had done some research and was well aware of the no photograph rule in and on "Pusher Street". Upon our initial arrival into Freetown Christiania, I spoke to the owner of one the the businesses that was outside of Pusher Street. After introducing myself I asked him if I could take photo of the areas outside of Pusher Street. I told him that I would not be taking photos of any people or faces out of respect for their privacy. I was told that I could take as many photos as I wanted but that he strongly suggested no photos at all in the Pusher Street area. I happily took photos outside of Pusher Street making sure that even in those areas that there would be no people photographed. When we did walk into Pusher Street and the immediately surrounding area I made sure that my camera was put away. As we walked through Pusher Street it was obvious that the drug trade on this street was going strong. They were several cannabis sellers that had high top tables with their products laying out in the open. I was invited over to one of the sellers table but casually declined. There were lots of cannabis plants growing everywhere both in planters and wild all over the place. Some of the plants were 7-8 foot tall. It was different seeing all of the cannabis sellers with their various products selling out in the open. You could see certain individuals were walking around making sure that there was no trouble in the area. Everybody was just doing their own thing and not bothering anyone.

Unfortunately Tivoli Gardens had just closed for a couple of weeks in order to prepare the park for the Halloween festivities.

Below are photos of Nyhavn. Nyhavn is a 17th-century waterfront, canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen, Denmark. Stretching from Kongens Nytorv to the harbour front just south of the Royal Playhouse, it is lined by brightly coloured 17th and early 18th century townhouses and bars, cafes and restaurants.

As this adventure comes to an end we begin to look ahead to our next one and the one after that. In April we will be returning to Venice to see a friend of ours there and a few months after that we are looking into the possibility of doing what we call a traincation. An independent train vacation riding on 5 different trains as we make out way through Switzerland and spending a night or two in some of the various cities before we board another train. That will be something totally different for us but should be loads of fun.

Harvesting The Gardens And Other Odd Jobs

2019-08-20T18:17:00.000-04:00

Well the 2019 sweet pepper harvest has come and gone. This year I had the healhiest plants that I have ever had and they were all grown from seeds.
I grew some sweat hot peppers that were supposed to be mild as far as their heat. Unfortunately they turned out to be a little hotter than what I am comfortable with so I gave my neighbor approximately 10-15 pounds of sweat hot peppers.
That still left us with plenty of regular green peppers, sweet red peppers and sweat yellow Italian peppers.
We ended up with about 31 vacuumed sealed "save a meal" bags of assorted peppers in our freezer along with giving away numerous pounds of assorted peppers to our neighbors. All in all it was a great pepper season.
Yesterday I picked the last of the peppers and cleaned out and stored the large planter pots for next year.
I have been trying to stay ahead of my list of things that need to be done and so far I am ahead of schedule.
I "pressure" washed the siding of the house. I use a soft pressure wash technique after spraying the siding down with a store bought product. I spray it on, leave it set for at least 10 minutes and then soft wash it off. The product kills and removes stains and mold. So that job is off my list. I have been busy doing some planting and landscaping around the house.
I have prepared the back deck to be completely removed and replaced with a TREX composite deck. We are extending our deck outwards by 1 foot all of the way around. That project will be starting at the end of October.
The last big job I have on my list this year is re-fill the cracks in the driveway. I already did it once, which was a big job because the cracks had not be filled for years and had got big in some locations. I was able to fill the cracks up but with the heat and normal wear and tear some hairline cracks developed where I had filled the big cracks in originally. I will wait for a day when it is a little cooler and fill those hairline cracks in. That should last me until next year when I will probably have to do it all over again.
I would rather do it that way than have a concrete company come in and tear out the driveway and pour a new one in. I just don't want to spend the money on that job nor have the yard messed up along with possible issues with the irrigation system. I can live with the brighter colored concrete crack filler and having to do the job every year.
Here are a couple of photos of just a few of the sweat peppers harvested this year:

The smaller peppers on the left are the so called sweet mild peppers. They are supposed to be sweet when they turn red and not as hot compared to picking them and using them when they are green. I tried a red one and yes it was a little sweet but did not take long for the real heat to kick in.

Below are the last of the peppers that were harvested yesterday. These were given away to the neighbors except for a couple of the red ones which I will use on my pizza in the next day or two.

The Heat Wave Is Upon Us

2019-07-20T10:47:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since my last post. I have been busy doing quite a bit of outside yard work. I ended up re-doing all of the landscaping bricks and also started putting some plants in the backyard flower gardens that line the fence around the property. There is so much garden space to fill in that I will be putting in certain plants that will fill up the garden areas.
My corn season is finished. It was not the greatest crop I have had. After looking at the corn stalks and noticing how small the ears of corn were I came to the conclusion that my soil didn't have enough nutrients that it needed to sustain a good corn crop. I did some research that backed up my thinking. So next Spring I will have to add to the existing soil so that it will give me a much better corn crop.
I put some landscape weed barrier down in the corn garden so that the weeds won't take over and it will make things easier for me in the Spring when I start to prepare the garden for next years crop.
My tomatoes have done pretty well this year. I have harvested quite a number of tomatoes and have shared them with our neighbors. I still have quite a few left on the plants that I am waiting on them to ripen up before harvesting them.
My pepper plants are looking great...best plants that I have ever had and they are full of peppers. I am just waiting on the to get bigger and turn red. I will have plenty to harvest, cut up and freeze.
Every day I have been doing something outside and have been checking the things that need to be done off of my list.
I filled in the cracks in our driveway and I have sprayed the siding of the house down to rid it of any signs of mold. I still have to do the back of the house but I will wait until the pepper season is over with. I don't want to spray the house down with the pepper plants being on the back deck and I have no where else to relocate the potted pepper plants.
I am glad that I have been able to get a lot of my outdoor chores done because the temperatures are really getting up there. Today it is supposed to be 99 and tomorrow 100f and that is the actual temperature and not the "feels like" temperature.
It is only 10AM here and it is already 88 but "feels like" 100.
Today I plan on staying inside. Whatever small outside jobs I have to do can wait for a couple of days until this heat wave breaks a little.
Below are some photos of my garden and that work I have done:

A lot of space to fill in with plants

My 2 corn gardens after everything has been harvested and stalks pulled out. I put another layer of landscaping weed barrier down so it would be a little easier next Spring when I prep the garden for next years crop

There used to be an old Bradford pear tree here. The tree was leaning over from past storms so I figured it would be best to remove it before it decided to fall on our fence or on my garden. I replaced the tree with 3 peony bushes. It will be a few years until the bushes will be big enough to fill in the space.

I put in rose bushes in front of the taller shrubs. They are doing pretty well there.

My tomato plants did very well this year

My pepper plants are full of peppers. Just waiting for them to turn from green to red and let them sweeten up

These are the latest batch of tomatoes that I have pulled. Besides this batch, I had already given away a good 2 dozen tomatoes and there are still lots more ripening on the vines. Time to give away more to our neighbors.

Vegetable Garden Is Growing And Flowers Are Blooming

2019-06-14T19:40:00.001-04:00

Walked around the house today and decided to take a few photographs. I still have some landscaping to do especially with planting perennials. I planted some rose bushes around back and several peonies that you can see in the front island. Going to put several more in the island and a few around back. They won't look like much this year but give them a few years and they will be nice big full bushes with lots of larger sized flowers.

Photos Of Our Most Recent Adventure To Paris, France And Beyond

2019-05-23T17:01:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago Veronica and I returned from our most recent traveling adventure. This time we went back to Paris. We stayed in a small 6th floor apartment that overlooked the one of the most famous market streets in the city of lights...Rue Cler. During this trip we also decided to venture out via train travel on a couple of side journeys...one to the East and one to the West. We took a train and headed to Nantes, France and then on another excursion we took a train a headed to Colmar, France. More about these side trips in a bit. First we will start with our return visit to Paris:

Below is our small studio apartment on the 6th floor of a building which is on Rue Cler

Our balcony that overlooks Rue Cler.

We made ourselves a homemade pasta dinner with ingredients that we got from several of the local stores on and around Rue Cler

Not much for leftovers

Here are some photos of Rue Cler during the day. We had a florist shop just below us and you could hear the trucks making their deliveries of fresh flowers daily in the early morning hours. They would deliver the various flowers on these tall big carts that would make a lot of noise when pushed over the cobblestone streets. The first night in the apartment was rather noisy when we were trying to get some sleep. There was a restaurant below us and just off to the right and they were busy until 2 and then they had to clean up the place.....couple that with the daily early morning flower delivery...of course we had our windows open to get some fresh air. We didn't do that again. They had really good sound dampening windows which we closed every night after that...no more restaurant noise and no more flower delivery noise...close the windows and turn the AC on and off to sleep we went

A quiet place where we stopped to have some coffee

Eiffel Tower photos taken from Parc du Champ de Mars

If you look real close you will see somebody riding on the outside of the car that is heading up the Eiffel Tower

Notre Dame just a couple of days after the fire

One of the Passages in the Madeleine neighborhood in the 8th Arrondissement decorated with suspended umbrellas

On this trip to Paris and the other locations we went to, I tried to locate some street art

A really cool little cafe/bar around Butte aux Cailles where Veronica and I stopped to get something to drink while we were out and about searching for street art

A large work of art at the Parc de Choisy

Flowers on Rue Cler

Below are more photos of Rue Cler

Taking the metro and heading to the Belleville neighborhood in Paris in search of street art

Belleville is the ultimate as far as being a "melting pot" of people and cultures

Views and street art in the Belleville neighborhood

Views of Notre Dame as seen from the left bank of the Seine

The Shakespeare & Company Bookstore

Due to the fire at Notre Dame and the immediate area surround Notre Dame being closed off to the public, the streets were very crowded. There were still quite a number of new crews from around the world in the area still reporting on the fire. We heard about the fire as we were sitting at the airport awaiting a flight to come to Paris and we several new crews with all of the camera/video equipment accumulating all of their gear as it showed up at the baggage carousal.

The Medici Fountain at the Jardin du Luxembourg

Street art on Rue Veron in the Montemarte area...the 18th Arr.

Montmarte area in the 18th Arr. On Rue des Abbesses

The structure shown below is at 29 Avenue Rapp and is considered one of the most richly detailed Art Nouveau structures in Paris. The building was built in 1901 and depicts a lush Garden of Eden.

This ends the photos that were taken while we were staying in Paris in 4/2019

Next up will be our train trip to Nantes, France.

A Side Trip To Nantes, France

2019-05-21T20:35:00.000-04:00

When we originally were making plans for our upcoming visit to Paris we had decided to take a train trip to a place that I had read about in Travel & Leisure magazine....Nantes, France.
Nantes is a city along the Loire River and it is approximately 31 miles from the Atlantic coast.
In the last 20 years Nantes has been transformer probably more than any other city in France. Jules Verne was born in Nantes and some of his literary influences can be seen within the city. Nantes strikes me as a city which is still in a growth and transformation process If it isn't already, it will be on the map as a very interesting "go to" destination for tourists. There really are some interesting things going on in Nantes and we were only there for one night so we could only scratch the surface of all that is happening in Nantes.
We took a mid morning train to Nantes...an approximately 2 hour 20 minute ride from Gare de L'est in Paris to the Nantes train station, which by the way is being expanded and totally re-done. The city tram system stops right in front of the train station making it very easy to get off a train and get on a tram and head directly into the city, which is just up the road approx 1 mile or so.

Here is the hotel that we stayed at while spending the night in Nantes...Oceania Hotel de France.
It was a very nice hotel right in the heart of the city

Place Royale Fountain

Interior views of Basilique Saint Nicolas

Street art in Nantes

I had heard of these but this is the first time that we had actually seen one. It is basically an outside urinal They are called a Uritrottoir...which is a blending of the French words for urine and pavement. They are supposed to be environmentally friendly. They are filled with straw which soaks up the urine and eventually break down and gets used as compost. Faltazi is the design studio behind these open air urinals and they claim that they solve the problem of the French capital's "wild peeing". A small urinal can hold approximately 200 "pipis" according to the design studios web site. This one subject/object could open up Pandora's Box of numerous questions that need to be answered but unfortunately the number of questions are way to many for this small blog, so they will be left unanswered. Except I do feel the need to answer 3...no I did not try it out, yes I did see someone else try it out and the final answer is No I did not photograph that event.....

One of the squares in Nantes. This was taken after it had rained

Below are photos of one of the main reasons why I wanted to come to Nantes. Below are photos from the attraction called Les Machines De L'ile. This place is all about robotics on steroids. They have several rides to go on like the Grand Elephant Ride as seen in several photos below. They also have film and workshop Terraces and a Prototype Branch within the complex. There is also an elaborate Carrousel Ds Mondes Marins...best way to describe this carousel as an imaginary universe and a mechanical aquarium set in as 360 degree revolving theatre. It has 3 levels to it..In the sea beds, in the abyss and the top level is on the sea surface. This giant carousel is approximately 82 feet high and approximately 72 feet in diameter.

The elephant can take up to 50 people at a time on a rather slow jaunt around the grounds of the complex. We had got there and stood in line early enough to make the 2nd trip of the day. When we got to the ticket counter to purchase our tickets, we were told that the next trip available was not until 1. We had figured that the next trip was at 11 and we would have plenty of time to take that trip on this huge slow moving elephant and not have to stress about the time. We were only in Nantes for one night and we had to catch a train back to Paris. We had left all of all stuff...backpacks at the hotel which was a walk from where we were. When we questioned why we could not be on the 11 o'clock elephant we were told that they had a large group that booked the elephant ride for that time and then there were those that booked their ride online, which basically bumped us to the 1 o'clock departure time. I should have done more research and booked our tickets online also but unfortunately this elephant ride was not going to happen. So we walked around and looked and watched several of the other robotic displays in action and then headed back into the city to get something to eat and pick up our stuff at our hotel.

We relaxed in the hotel lobby for a while and then got a cab to a park that was adjacent to the train station. We spent a couple of relaxing hours in the park before heading to the station to catch our upcoming train trip back to Paris.

Below are photos of some of the robotics within Les Machines De Lile

Below are photos taken from our visit to the Jardin des Plantes

This ends our visit to Nantes, France. We returned to Paris for a few days and then headed to Colmar, France.

Our Side Trip To Colmar, France

2019-05-21T08:32:00.002-04:00

We spent several days in Paris after our return from visiting Nantes, France. Do to ongoing protests that they have every Saturday in Paris and the fact that the police restrict metro traffic and that some areas are not really all that safe wherever the protesters decide to do their thing, that it can make it difficult to get out and about. Tear gas and water cannons along with burning motorcycles aren't really our thing so we decided to get out of the city. I got online and purchased train tickets for us to get out of the city on Friday and come back on Sunday thus we left before all of the excitement begins and return after it all ends...at least for the weekend.

So we decided that we would go to Colmar. France, which is East and fairly close to the border of Germany. We had been there on a rather brief excursion this last Sept when we were on a river cruise/land tour. We had talked about possibly going back for an extended visit but did not really think it would be happening this soon. European train travel sure makes it nice and easy to get wherever you want to go...a very relaxing way to see the countryside while on your way to exciting destinations.

We stayed at the Hotel St. Martin for 2 nights while we were in Colmar. Here are some photos of the hotel which takes up sections of 2 buildings.

Below are various photos from Colmar

These young ladies belong to the Angry Mannequins Club

This building appeared to be caving into itself

This street performer was excellent

Canal scenes are from the La Petite Venice section of Colmar

After spending 3 days and 2 nights in Colmar we took a train back to Paris. We stayed in Paris for a couple of more days before having to take our flight back home.So what is next for us...A Baltic cruise and a return trip to Venice.

Back From Our Vacation

2019-05-10T08:32:00.002-04:00

We recently returned home from our vacation to Paris, France. I am working on the photos from that trip and will be posting about that trip in the near future.
Upon our return home we had the painting to the front of our house finished.
I also ended up pulling a couple of bushes from the front that have not been doing well. Those bushes had been in the ground for at least 15 years and one of them gave me a hard time and didn't want to come out but I was finally able to get everything out.
In one spot I plan on putting in a nice rose bush and I already put in a couple of hostas plants to fill in the area.
Here are the before and after photos of our house:

We still have some landscaping to get done and then in the Fall we will be having a new deck put in.

Whole House Backup Generator Is Up And Running

2019-04-07T16:00:00.000-04:00

Our install of whole house backup Generac generator has been completed and we are up and running. This gives us peace of mind should the electricity ever go out, whether it be for a short period of time or for an extended period of time.
We remember what it was like when we stayed in our home during a hurricane that hit he Outer Banks a few years ago. The absolute worse part, at least for us and granted others had it much much worse, was when we lost our electrical power and it took a solid week to get it back on. Besides the food that was lost it was the lack of air conditioning that really made us miserable especially with the high humidity levels caused by all of the water and moisture everywhere.
We now know that no matter whether we are home or away our frozen food and refrigerated food items will be safe and that we can live somewhat comfortably until the power is officially restored.
Besides getting the generator installed, the painting of our house has begun. Depending on the weather, the house should be finished sometime later this week. Before and after photos will follow once the project is complete.
We will be getting our deck torn out and getting it rebuilt using the TREX brand composite decking...no painting and extremely low maintenance...maybe washing it down once in a while. We plan on extending our deck by a foot all of the way around, just to have a little more deck space. More on that project in the future.
Here are a few photos of the new Generac generator:

Generac Generator Project Update And Other Tidbits

2019-03-21T10:20:00.001-04:00

Our Generac whole house backup 22K generator has arrived. Most of the electrical work has been done in order to get our new generator up and running. The generator has been bolted down to the concrete pad it is on. The gas people were supposed to come here today to hook the natural gas line up to the unit from our main gas meter. Unfortunately the weather has not cooperated so the gas hookup has been postponed. Once the gas line is attached they will place a pressure gauge on the line to make sure there are no gas leaks.
An inspector will stop by to check the gauge and if all is well the inspector will sign off on that part of the project.
Monday is the projected start up date on the generator but it will most likely be around April 1st due to some other things that Veronica and I are involved with.
Once the generator is up and running I will take some photos of the unit.
The front of the house is scheduled to be painted sometime during the first week of April with the end result photos to be taken after the completion of that job.
I have been slowly working on a few garden areas around the house so that I can plant some flower perennial bulbs.
We have a big garden island area in the front yard. We used to have a 40 foot tall Bradford Pear tree at one end of the garden island area but it fell down last year and we needed to have it removed and the stump ground down. Because the tree was well establish the root system was everywhere in the garden. It took me hours to cut through and dig up large thick sections of the root system that was part of this tree.
Once I removed as much of the root system as I could, I planted several peony bulbs in this garden island area.
I have also had to dig up and removed several dead bushes that were in various areas around the house.
I have another garden area that is directly outside of our kitchen dining room area. I need to get all of the weeds out of that area and then I will plant some larger varieties of dahlias.
I have also cleaned out the shed and got rid of some items that weren't going to be used.
I weeded out the corn garden areas and have started growing my tomato plants and sweet pepper plants inside by seeds and using a grow light. So far only the tomato plants have popped up. Still waiting for signs of the pepper plants to pop through the soil.
After the front of the house is painted, the generator has been installed and is up and running only one project will remain.
We are looking at removing our old wooden deck out back and putting in a new larger composite wood deck. If we go through with this project it most likely will not be done until late Summer or early Fall due to the contractors busy schedule. We will be stopping by his showroom in a couple of weeks to check out all of the various options available for this project.

Exterior Progress Update

2019-03-10T11:30:00.004-04:00

After 3 days on the job the crew has finished wrapping all of the wooden trim on our house and shed along with replacing any areas of rotted wood before wrapping it and putting up beaded concealed vent soffits under the eaves.
Most of the gutters and downspouts have been removed and we are awaiting for the next crew to come in and replace all of the old stuff with new.
After that we will get the front of the house painted and have the Generac whole house backup generator installed.
The last major project that will be done is have a new TREX composite wood deck put in to replace our old wooden one. No more rotting wood, staining or any other issues the come from having a wood deck...basically maintenance free.
I will take and post some photos as these project get completed.