Hot Water Again, Thanks to Five Star Plumbing

July 7. Friday evening, I went down the basement to take clothes out of the dryer.

Oh, dear!  See that water on the floor?

I investigated, found the leak, reported to Tom, found the owner's manual in our box of manuals, noted that the water heater was past its expected lifetime, decided to get a new one.

On Saturday, we went to a local Hardware Big Box Store, found the hotwater heater we wanted and were promised delivery within 72 hours.

Tuesday...more than 72 hours later.  Glad the water heater was in the basement.  Tom called the installer.  Someone would be out on Friday!  Tom called the Big Box Store.  The salesperson told Tom he would contact another installer.  

Good news!  The installer promised to be out on Wednesday.

Happy dance!  

Another happy dance when Five Star Plumbing sent Brandon out on Wednesday.  

Joy reigns!  Brandon is a pleasant, friendly young man and and a good plumber.  

We have a new hot water heater.  We will certainly recommend Five Star Plumbing to our friends and neighbors.

5.2 Inches of Rain in Less Than Two Hours on May 21!

This is how our backyard looked after about two hours of rainstorms tore through our area.  Along with the rain and wind came pea-size hail for about a half hour.

Our sideyard

Our ditch, our road, the neighbors' ditches on our side and across the street.

May 21 was Wednesday.  Saturday, the yard, except for the ditch was dry so I mowed.  Today the "river" on the basement floor is beginning to dry up.  The three basement sump pumps are running less frequently.

The drain that runs under the driveway still has a little water running into it.  That is a big improvement from Wednesday evening when the drain was under water.  The green circle encloses the water draining onto the cement.  I took this photo a half hour ago when the late afternoon shadows hid much of the water.

Never in all the years we have lived in this house has our yard had standing water in it.

Our town fared worse than we did.  The library is closed until the basement is cleaned out.  The sewer system backed up and spread several inches of yucky mess on the floor.  There is a six foot deep sinkhole on one street.

Even the interstates were affected.  Sections of I-75 and I-70  were closed for hours.

Frosty Morning, November 17

The sun shone and the world glittered. The grasses on the prairie sparkled.

We  headed for the path around Cedar Pond.

The far side of the pond reflected in the still water.

Along the edge of the pond we saw a light coating of ice.

After we circled the pond we looked again...
                                                           at the grasses...

                
                                 ... and at the leaves.

Children's Drawings...Mostly Sea Creatures

The library was looking for a display for February.  The children in my drawing class were happy to help the library.

The children drew from models I have acquired through the years, mostly from zoos and aquariums throughout the United States.

Here are closer views of their drawings.

One student hadn't brought his sketch pad with his ocean drawing so he gave me his latest drawing.  Most of the students had not finished their drawings using the house models and the conifer models.

Walking at Brukner Nature Center

I walked at Brukner twice this week.  Brukner's  trails tend to go up and down hills. I hike because I like being alone outside in an unspoiled bit of nature but also because I would like to lose a few pounds.  I think I use a few more calories walking up and down hills than I do on trails which are mostly flat. (Much of this part of  Ohio is relatively flat.)

I started down Short Step Hill.  As I neared the bottom, I noticed the limbs of a Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis L.)  parallel to the trail and a tree further down broken off about ten feet up.

This tree beside the little creek that flows down to the Stillwater River had been standing since long before I began volunteering at the nature center thirty years ago.  For many years, woodpeckers have been working on it.  I often pointed out their holes to children I was leading on a hike.

When I reached the stump, I took a photo of the base of the fallen section.  It was hollow just as the remaining stump was.  The creek must have risen after it fell because there was a little collection of rocks and stones in the fallen section.



Nearby, I found sycamore leaves with their distinctive hollow petioles or leafstalks.  Usually the children call them stems.

A bit further down the trail, I found a bit of sycamore bark.  This  piece reminded me of an eye.  Often the pieces of bark which fall off the tree as the tree expands in diameter are larger. 

I continued on toward the little swamp, hoping to see Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus)  emerging.  I walked my usual way along the boardwalk that crosses the floodplain but I had to turn back.

I climbed the trail to reach the swamp from the other side.  And there I discovered that another huge tree that has been there for over a hundred years had fallen.  Many hikers had used its trunk to steady themselves as they started down the steep slope to the swamp. 

Down in the swamp, I found what I was looking for...Skunk Cabbage.  Skunk cabbage doesn't stink if you simply notice it but...if you break any part of it you will understand why it is called "Skunk".  I've been told that the flowers of the skunk cabbage smell good.  None of the open spathes were  near enough to the path for me to test what I've been told. 

I am always pleased to have viewers comment on my postings.  If you feel inclined to do so, you can go to "About making a comment", the first choice under Labels on the right side of  the page for directions for one way to leave a comment.  I have had some friends tell me they were confused by the many choices.

Have a good day.

A Walk at Charleston Falls, October 29...Part One

My friend couldn't walk with me on Saturday and it was cold so I went to Charleston Falls about nine rather than the usual eight.  We had had our heaviest frost  this fall  during the night.  Mist was rising from the river and lay over the fields.

The frost edged leaves and plants were beautiful. 

It was a little after nine AM when I arrived the sun was still low in the sky and the grass was covered with frost.  The sun reddened the grass in random  spots.

The Tulip Poplar leaves were trimmed in frost.

As I started down the trail I spotted this maple decked out in red.

If you double click on the photo below you will get more detail of the scene at the falls. It is always a challenge to get a good morning picture of the falls. There is a huge contrast in lighting between the ravine and the cliff.

A Walk at Charleston Falls, Ocotober 29...Part 2

I have so many beautiful photos of this fall walk to share that I decided to put them into three blogs. If you are like me, you don't always have time to read a long blog. If you want to, you can look at all three. If your time is short, enjoy what you have time for.

I followed the boardwalk trail down into the ravine and passed the falls. Then I climbed the stairs beyond the falls and continued down Redbud Valley Trail. I found asters still blooming.

By the time I reached the bottom of the steep hill that leads to the valley, I heard drips and down at the bottom on the boardwalk that goes through the wet low area, I found wet spots from the melting frost.

There were still frost trimmed leaves in the valley and frosted seed heads.

Even the alien honeysuckle that crowds out native plants was beautiful.

A Walk at Charleston Falls, October 29...Part 3

And now to continue.

Beyond Redbud Valley, I saw more and more spots of sunlight on the forest floor as the sun rose higher in the sky.

First I saw just tiny spots of sunlight.

The rising sun was more noticeable on the tree trunks.

And soon it was high enough to light the trail ahead of me.

After I crossed the creek and started back toward the parking lot, I spotted this beauty. It is the start of a new tree, but hardly big enough to call a sapling.

I climbed higher. The day was growing warmer. Everywhere the leaves were covered with water droplets.

I looked ahead to a small patch of prairie beyond the woods.

Back in the parking lot, I took a second photo of the Tulip Poplar that was in shadow when I began my walk. The grass covered then with frost was now sparkling with dew.