A WONDERFUL MORNING WITH FRIENDS

Tuesday, June 25 – We met fellow bloggers and traveling friends, Margery and Paul, Living Our Dream,  this morning for breakfast at Der Dutchman in Walnut Creek. We enjoyed lunch last year at this same Amish Restaurant with them. Since we wanted to do some exploring in Amish Country today, we opted to meet early so we could look around later.

We really enjoy visiting with Margery and Paul. Not only are we both RV'ers, but we have many other common interests. Thanks for a wonderful morning of fun and fellowship!

After breakfast we headed into Berlin to do some strolling through the many shops and enjoyed people watching. We left town pretty much empty handed right before a big rain shower opened up. The shower followed us most of the way home, which is good since we really do need some rain.

Some sights of Berlin.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

SIPPO LAKE PARK

Monday, June 24 - We took a little field trip and break from working around the yard and visited Sippo Lake Park this afternoon.

The park consists of 202 acres of deciduous forest, wetlands, old fields, and mixed shrub areas. The area features a variety of habitats for wildlife viewing.

There are over 5 miles of hiking/walking trails through the forest and grasslands. There is also a 100-acre lake where one can fish (bluegill, crappie, carp, catfish, yellow perch, and bass), launch a boat, or simple enjoy walking around the beautiful grounds..

We found the Sanders Wildlife Rehabilitation Center especially interesting. Located in the Sippo Lake Park, The Rehabilitation Center is fully dedicated to wildlife rehabilitation. A trained staff of volunteer veterinarians care for over 2,000 sick, injured and orphaned native animals each year with the goal of releasing them back to their natural environment. The center also houses non-releasable wildlife that are used as program ambassadors.

The Center is open to the public and you can see most of the animals in pens. There is an intensive care unit that is closed to the public.

The Exploration Gateway at Sippo Lake Park is a center of nature, culture, and life-long learning established in June 2007 as a partnership between the Stark County Park District and the Stark County District Library.  Portions of the facility are available to the community, including three banquet and meeting rooms and a Video Conference Center.

The Gateway also is home to Perry Sippo Branch Library, Congressman Ralph Regula Canalway Center, FeLeap’s Lily Pad Gift Shop,  and Herbert W. Hoover Foundation Science Classroom.

The only wildlife we saw during our visit.

We walked the mere five miles of trails. It was a beautiful day and a great day to take a break.

The End

We apologize for not thanking our readers in our last blog for giving us the name of our new little bird.

Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Also, thanks to those who tried to help us with out unidentified weed. We are using full-strength Roundup with some Dawn mixed in. Marsha sprays everyday. We THINK we are finally getting a hand on this pain-in-the-neck.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

 

OUT WITH OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW…WINDOWS

Friday, June 21 - Paul tackled replacing the living room windows today with the help of his trusted assistant, Marsha.

Very old windows

It was interesting to see how the old windows were held in place. Very different than the modern windows in today's homes. They almost seem to build the windows in place using all kinds of nails. One almost needs to totally destroy the windows to get them out.

What a mess. Ignore Marsha's feet in the photo.

Paul did manage to remove the windows in one piece. Pretty heavy wood windows too! Once the windows were out, Paul had to reconstruct the openings to accept the new windows.  Of course we got a rain shower while the windows were out but no harm!

With Marsha's help the new windows were placed in the openings and shimmed to be level and plumb. Marsha's job is to keep the window from falling out of the opening and place the shims from the outside.  Pretty good looking carpenter's helper!

Once Paul is satisfied with the installation, he screws the window in place.

Marsha then stuffs insulation around the window for a tight seal. She then chisels off some of the old caulk. The previous owners smeared caulk all around the windows making quite a mess. Marsha was able to remove most of the caulk that will not be covered by molding.

Paul finished the installation by nailing filler boards around and between the new windows. These will be used when he finishes the installation by installing vinyl brick molding on the outside. He also trimmed the windows on the inside with vinyl jamb extensions and window casing.

The job wasn't all that bad. If you undertake this job, allow yourself plenty of time.

Before

After

When the money comes rolling in next month, we will replace the end bedroom windows, and we then done with the front of the house. Stay tuned to see what we are doing in the backyard.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day.