Back in 2009, I purchase eleven small year-end-clearance trees from my brother’s home nursery – NativeOhioPlants.com. We had mixed success in that our deer population enjoys both eating the new growth and “deer rubbing” the branches and bark. Unfortunately it killed or mangled more than half the trees that we planted. Since it is autumn […]
It was a busy weekend as our family was in town to celebrate my nephew David and Rachel’s wedding just south of Cincinnati in Lakeside Park, Kentucky. The beautiful ceremony was held under a tent in the backyard of their home with close friends and family. Everything was artistic and couldn’t have been nicer. One […]
My wife has been busy cleaning out our closets and getting rid of “old stuff.” One the the items dates back in 2003 and brought back memories of my “space girl.” My daughter Katelyn was inspired by science and particularly by an adventurous NASA, space exploration and astronomy. In part, her interest could have been […]
Is a helium filled floating wind turbine practical? Alaeros has already tested theirs tethered at 500 feet and is attempting a world record 1000 foot where the winds are stronger and steadier. Hmm, perhaps instead of mounting a wind turbine atop a stainless steel pole on our sailboat I should rig a floating turbine in […]
Whoa! Lots of summer rain this morning and used the excuse to try a couple more panorama photos with the iPhone 5. I’m not sure how much came down or how fast, but from the water shedding off our back acreage (and neighbors) was significant, at least in Liberty Twp. Ohio. The morning was spend […]
It is that time of year again … time to make sure the crack are sealed and doors stay closed. The mice in our backyard are doing the usual and looking for a warm place to hideout as winter looms. I happened to find this very little guy stuck to a glue trap near my […]
With all of the hot summer days this year, the pool is getting plenty of use. I sort of thought that older “kids” wouldn’t really want to be caught dead at mom and dad’s anymore, but Taylor and his friends seem to be just fine swimming, playing basketball and baseball in the backyard; maybe they […]
This kind of luxury “tent” camping that would even be the envy of the late Muammar Gaddafi (known to travel with his tent). SmartMoney magazine published a short article detailing how camping would even be attractive to one’s better half. Getting Fancy Now: Camping Resort Prefer to Leave the tent-pitching to the pros? At a […]
It is still quite remarkable to see NASA haul around a giant space shuttle piggybacked on a modified Boeing747, this time it is Discovery heading to its final Washington DC Smithsonian home. For those of us who grew up with the entire space program it is indeed a sad end to an adventurous and exciting […]
A Volkswagen diesel friend of mine and I tweeted a few messages back and forth yesterday after we noticed this interesting AT-AT Walker Microbus. He of course has a real VW van (1979) as well as a few ideas for a playhouse for his kids (below). Even though I’m not really all that geeky (at […]
After an evening mowing the backyard grass on Tuesday night, a cooling dip in the pool was in order. The 90 degree water was a bit warm, but still felt refreshing. Besides cooling off, I “launched” (chuckle, chuckle) our hard dinghy we call Trinka and “moored” it in the pool. It is out of place, […]
The husband of a close friend of ours is in the middle of a community awareness and missions project that has been both eye opening for him and a chance to bring community attention to the homeless. Ryan Riddell, a pastor and real estate agent , is spending the month of January ‘homeless’ rather than […]
I got sidetracked yesterday while talking on the phone to a fellow aviation enthusiast as he shared with me his impressions of the Pima Air and Space Museum. He knew that the National Museum of the Air Force was in my backyard and remembering me talk about the Martin B-26 Marauder on display that had […]
A couple CinciTDI guys stopped over on Sunday afternoon and we installed a Dieselgeek Panzer plate on Tim Hunter‘s Volkswagen Golf TDI. He waited a bit too long (in my opinion) as his TDI is now over 180,000 miles, but his VW is still a solid little commuter. His little hatchback certainly doesn’t fit his […]
It is another hot summer weekend here in Cincinnati as my son and I tackled a few minor automotive maintenance chores on our cars before a planned Sunday baseball game (we are enjoying them this year). Oil and filter changes and basic inspections were the Saturday duties, as was cleaning out the garage. Of course […]
A few years ago when I posted about the opening of AMP Electric Vehicles in my backyard of Blue Ash, Ohio (Cincinnati), the company company was in the planning stages of electrifying two place vehicles like the Pontiac Solace and Saturn Sky. As technology and battery technology improved, so did their vision in building useful […]
If I saw this rodent hopping in our backyard, I’m sure I would smack myself to be sure I wasn’t dreaming. Since my daughter has a pet rabbit, Pumpy Umpy, a friend of my wife shared a photo of a giant rabbit called Darius … he’s one big bunny!
After reading an article by Kathleen Hughes in this weekend’s WSJ, I just couldn’t help myself in reminiscing about where I grew up … they were wonderful memories for me – I couldn’t have asked for a better childhood. Nevertheless, noting the comment about digitally visiting home, I “re-experienced” memories from my childhood taking the […]
A friend sent me this knowing how our dog reacts to ‘critters’ in the yard. A pit bull was in his backyard in southern California, minding his own business, when a porcupine invades his territory. The brave, but stupid pit bull immediately challenges the porcupine! Bad decision…the porcupine won this short contest. Follow up: A […]
No I’m not talking about the Ohio State Buckeyes win over the Iowa Hawkeyes this weekend OR the “whodey” Bengals defensive triumph over their rival the Pittsburgh Steelers (for a 5-0 record in their division and 7-2 overall – but who am I to boast) … although both were local football wins and worthly bloggable […]
As I watched the paramedics and emergency workers waiting for the life-flight helicopter and cutting apart the car that a young man was driving on Bethany Road behind our house on Sunday morning, I couldn’t help but feel for the boys’ parents who stood looking on helplessly. From preliminary reports, he was heading home from […]
My apology for the lousy Palm Pre ‘enlarged’ photo of a large coyote who has been roaming our Liberty Township Ohio neighborhood. It has been a source of concern for neighbors and pet owners that we’ve had a few more coyotes than normal … and that this particular large male has decided to make his […]
We are continuing to plant trees of variety in hopes one day a mature woods will be part of our way-backyard. Thankfully I have a brother who is particularly astute as to varieties that grow in our area and enjoys a hobby business of growing trees from seedling — his current catalog. His love of […]
The word — the place — the music — the festival called Woodstock still evokes passion either ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ and the music, politics and lifestyle branded the generation who came of age in the 1960s. The 40th anniversary of the three day concert in Bethel, New York takes place this weekend marking the event […]
Spent the weekend outside and probably got too much sun, but it was a beautiful weekend here in Cincinnati and didn’t want to be inside. I continued the reforestation project (just kidding) and added another row of Colorado Blue Spruce trees to our backyard (Palm Pre photo above – click photo for larger). Spending time […]
I was able to get some of the vegetable garden planted this past week and fenced in order to protect the tender plants from the ravenous bunnies we have around our house. One would think that Tootsie, our Australian Blue Heeler could defend the property, but the rabbits seem to populate despite her efforts to […]
While checking on our neighborhood gazebo project live webcam, I ran across a neat time lapse video by by Eirik Solheim — One year in 40 seconds. He has another one that covers a year in 2 minutes in his backyard in Norway, which I enjoyed as well. His 2009 should be of even higher […]
As has been the norm lately, I’ve have spent a few quiet evening at home just sitting quietly and looking out over the backyard. Tonight I watched as the storm clouds began to pile up to our south and west. (no rain for us though) Its also been enjoyable to watch a pair of hawks […]
If it seems as if I’ve been loafing this summer … I have … sort of. I’ve been busy enjoying the nice 90 degree days outside and have been reluctant to post daily with any significant effort. Perhaps its the longer daylight and nice evenings or maybe its just laziness? Nevertheless, I promise to get […]
The challenge of removing raccoons from our attic continues as varmit number 5 has been trapped today. (click above ‘texturized’ image for real photo) I’ll continue to reset the trap, but wonder just how many babies are in this litter. There have been three babies so far, plus two adults. See earlier post. I’m beginning […]
I’m reluctant to post on a subject touching close to home and too soon after the loss of life, but in hopes someone reads this and takes note I’ll included it. First my condolences go out to the Ferraro family and those who are friends … Daniel Ferraro’s death is indeed very sad. Last week […]
As a amateur photographer and someone who enjoys improving technology, a new development coming from Eastman Kodak could provide a huge leap forward for low light photography (article link). Imagine being able to take clear and sharp photos without having to resort to flash units? Although I’d love to have it on my ‘big lens’ […]
In remembrance of those who gave their lives for our country, I paused for a moment to retire our tattered flag and hoisted a new one. As a nation and a people we have so much … I thank God for our nation and for those who gave their lives to found, secure and protect […]
Since the Cincinnati Bengals game is at 4:30pm today, I had a chance to cut the backyard grass (with the help of my son) and finish adding a stone drainage area behind the garage. (Treo 700p cell phone photo) Really this is just an excuse to see if my phone to blog is still up […]
Tobia Bucknell of BloggingOhio posted on biofuels in Ohio and how they fit in with our agricultural heritage. Considering Ohio is one of the top ten states in both corn and soybean production, we have much to gain in “growing” (pun intended) the biodiesel and ethanol markets. Mr. Bucknell highlighted several articles from Ohio farming […]
The weather here in southwest Ohio has really been terrific lately. We’ve enjoyed warm days, sunny blue skies and cool dry nights … although I know the humid weather is probably only a few weeks away. While cleaning up the yard we’ve been piling up debris and building a monster pile in the backyard. My […]
Here’s a local story (southwest Ohio) produced by an investigative journalist and local television news station that got my dander up. It is probably something that is repeated across America and deserves some attention. Counties often have part-time judges to ease the load on the courts and in some areas this might save taxpayers a […]
The Stanford Racing Team with a vehicle nicknamed “Stanley” has ‘dieseled’ away with the two million dollar prize as it beat the competition in a computer driven car over a desert course in California. Stanley is based on a stock, 5 cylinder inline diesel-powered Volkswagen Touareg and ran the course 11 plus minutes faster than […]