This morning the first rose bud was opening up a bit. You can see there are two more in the wings so we’ll have three pretty soon.
Photos
Finished with the mulch project
If you’ve been following along with some of the projects Roadtirement has been working on during our COVID-19 stay safe at home time, you will know that mulching has been a big part of our flower garden design. (Whew, what a long sentence!)
Herbs and wildflower starts on an old stump
Still needing a bit of grass/weeding work, but close to done
Our son has been such a great help in toting bags of mulch and spreading same. The herbs are doing very nicely, and seem happy to be on the remains of an old trees stump. Sher spread some wild flower seeds on the rich soil on the sides of the stump, and several seeds have already sprouted.
Progress continues on the flower garden
The past few days have been very productive in Roadtirement’s garden and landscape project list. The primary task list included preparation for, and placing of a mulch base for the flower garden. Our son did most of this work.
A progression of progress
We still have a bit of mulch left to place. It will go around the old tree stump where Sher currently has a grouping of herbs. This stump may also end up as a Fairy Village.
Unfinished mulch job and placement of herbs on the stump
Close up view of one of the glacial rocks we collected for the garden
A better look at the “getting close to finished” project
In addition, Maj planted more trees that we got from the DNR. Our total tally ended up with two Black Cherry trees and three Tulip trees. We thought we only had two Tulip saplings, when in fact we had three in the bundle.
Some more things spotted in the yard
Here’s some more images of some plants around the yard. We did get a nice thunderstorm this afternoon. I won’t have to water anything today.
We decided to use both sink compartments for flower plantings. We’ll get another something for a bird bath. Since we have put up the bird feeder our backyard has become very popular with the neighborhood avian population.
The rose bush is new, just got it planted a few days ago. We were surprised and happy to see the new bloom at the peak of the bush! Roses are so pretty…
Seen in our backyard
Just a couple of images from our backyard. This really isn’t a photo blog, but we do like to share pictures. So maybe it is a photo blog….
The writing tool is in the mushroom picture for scale. We got the Black Cherry tree at a local DNR giveaway. It is in a tomato cage to protect it as it starts to grow. We also got a couple of Tulip trees as well.
We found an old growth forest and trail
Every once in a while you stumble upon a new to you attraction. While researching central Indiana trails and forests I came across a small but delightful gem in Shelby County, which is south east of Indianapolis. The gem is a nearly 50 acre nature preserve called Meltzer Woods Nature Preserve.
The unique quality of this property is found in its description: The forest is considered an original old-growth stand that was placed in Indiana’s Classified Forest Program in 1928. In 2014 it was protected forever when it was acquired by the Central Indiana Land Trust. An old-growth forest is one that has trees that are at least 150 years old and has not been cleared for a century or longer.
The trail
National Natural Treasure designation
Meltzer Woods is a wonderful place to spend time in nature, and to get a sense of what Indiana forests were like when the first European settlers arrived. Many of the trees are older than Indiana’s Statehood in 1816. Some have even been dated back to the 1600s. There is an easy and nearly level 1.3 mile trail that wanders through the forest. Magnificent trees, wildflowers galore, and interesting understory make for an inspiring walk through the forest and go back in time to when 80% of Indiana was covered in forests like this.
Dense understory
The Meltzer family first bought this ground in 1857. The family still owns adjacent farm ground and still farms today. Rain was threatening yesterday, and we decided to return another day when we could take the trail and really enjoy this historic and natural corner of Indiana. There is ample parking across the road, and Google Maps knows where it is if you are in the area.
A pair of Mallard ducks and a walk
Even the ducks obeyed and stayed 6 feet away
Sher and I and our son ventured out yesterday for drive and a walk in the sun. We found the weather to be near perfect with temps right around 70 with a moderate breeze. Cabin fever is really starting to set in so we thought it best to get a change of scenery. A lot of people were out enjoying the day. Everyone we passed respected the “social distancing” recommendations. We felt that we were safe in this activity.
Are you struggling with cabin fever? How are you breaking up the monotony of the stay at home rules of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Follow recommendations to stay healthy!
DIY RV plumbing repair
The cracked pump
While we were staying at the La Hacienda RV Resort in Austin this past winter we had a little plumbing issue in our RV. One evening Sher was sitting at the table and said “Maj, my feet just got wet.” Well, wet where it’s supposed to be dry is always a problem.
Long story short, there was a crack in the fresh water pump that supplies fresh water to the HWH, shower, toilet and sinks from the fresh water storage tank on board. After a check online and checking the leaking pump, I determined what replacement pump I needed. Ordered from Amazon, it arrived at the RV park 3 days later.
New pump ready to be connected
Installation finished. The white tank is the fresh water supply
It was not very difficult to remove the old pump and install the new one. The pump was in a compartment under the cushion for the table, easy removal. Two wires and two pipe connections were easy to hook up. Fortunately the base plates on both had the same screw hole patterns. After about an hour I tested the newly installed water pump. It worked!
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema schedules Planet of the Apes
Full size statue from the from the 1st movie
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is a nation wide chain of “dinner and a movie” entertainment. While they are closed due the COVID-19 restrictions, their website still shows a scheduled showing of the 1968 cult classic “Planet of the Apes” for August 30th this fall. Whether this showing happens remains to be seen.
Sher and I and our Austin family went to one of these theaters during our Winter Texan stay this past year. The seats are large and comfortable, and the table for your dinner is more than adequate. Food was good, too. We saw and enjoyed Little Women.
Anyway, I wanted to show you the huge statue in the lobby of the theater we went to
Ad for an Ape movie marathon
in Austin. The statue is from the actual movie Planet of the Apes. I asked one of the employees where it came from. Turns out the owner of the theater chain also owns the rights to the Planet of the Apes franchise. There were movie posters for all of the Ape movies displayed in the lobby as well as ads for an APE movie marathon of the original five movies.
Have you seen the Planet of the Apes movies? Can you name the original five titles? Might be a good topic for a “stay at home in isolation” set of trivia questions. Stay safe, dear readers. Don’t go ape!
A cute critter in Washington State
Another “not traveling so here’s another old picture” thanks to COVID-19
We actually took the picture of this cute little chipmunk a few years ago when we were visiting our daughter and her family in Seattle. He was running around on a street where nuts had fallen and traffic had broken the shells making for a great smorgasbord.
Roadtirement 