The Home and Garden Show

I went to the home and garden show in Harrisburg today. It was the usual home and garden show that is there nearly every year. No big deal. But we did find another company near our home who sold the big 24"x24" pavers. We will be checking them out this week. While we were trying to explain what we were doing to the sales person, he seemed slightly bored with the conversation and questions. Then I showed him the graphic I had of the patio we had planned and his eyes lit up and the expression of boredom left him completely. I guess he figured we were serious about this and really needed and wanted his input. He was much more willing to talk to us after that. Since he told us that they would deliver and put the pavers right where we wanted them, we were totally interested.

Would you believe there wasn't a firepit to be had anywhere! Not even one! The copper one I found online is looking better and better.

A Pleasant Dinner

This morning I was rooting through the freezer trying to decide what I wanted to make for dinner. We had a fairly calm day planned, making two more of the pavers and that was about it. But I also knew we'd eaten up pretty much everything I had in the fridge. I found two half pound packages of hamburger and decided to make my twice baked rigatoni. Now, the last time I made this, I promised myself that I would always ask folks over for dinner because I make a large casserole dish and no matter how we try to eat it up, there's always some that goes bad.

I decided to ask sister Lori and her husband Rick. I don't have them over for dinner much and since we'd be eating late, it might work for them. It did. Lori accepted right away and I started dinner at 8:30 in the morning.

I make my own sauce for this dish; no jarred sauces out of the grocery aisle. I used a pint of homegrown tomatoes that I painstakingly processed in my kitchen last summer. A medium sized can of tomato sauce and a medium sized can of tomato paste, rinsing out each can with drinking water that went into the sauce. Though the seasonings I used were dried, I dried them out of my garden last year. I use Basil, Oregano, pressed cloves of garlic (3), lovage, black pepper, a touch of parsley and onion powder. I then chop up a small to medium mushroom and toss that into the mix. I end the mix with some Parmesan cheese for a taste of sweetness. There's no real measure for these, just to taste or smell. I bring all this to a boil and simmer it for several hours. Since I canned my own tomatoes, they have big chunks of tomato in them. Simmering for several hours will dissolve the chunks, if not completely into smaller chunks. The best thing about my spaghetti sauce is the smell. It makes your mouth water as soon as you walk in the door.

While I waited for the simmering to continue, Husband and I went down to the basement to mix another batch of cement for two more pavers and came back up into the house to clean and straighten up for company. Then I browned the meat, drained it and put it into the sauce, brought it back to a boil and reduced the heat to simmer yet a few more hours.

Around 5:00 pm I started to boil water for the 1 lb. Of rigatoni. I cooked that for about 10 minutes and drained it. Then I added it to the sauce, mixing it well making sure that all the rigatonies were coated with sauce. Then I poured the whole thing into a 9x13 casserole dish, evened it out and covered it with mozzarella cheese and sprinkled just a light layer of Parmesan cheese, basil, oregano and Italian seasonings. I covered it with tin foil and cooked it in the over for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, taking the foil off after about 20 minutes.

Somewhere among all this, I also cut about 8 slices of bread and coated it nicely with garlic butter. Garlic butter is real sweet cream butter, whipped to softness with small chunks of fresh garlic, olive oil and parsley. I cover this with Parmesan cheese and Italian seasonings. Then I cook it for 20 minutes on an upper rack in the same oven.

Lori brought a beautiful tiered salad of tons of greens such as lettuce, peas, radishes, carrots, hard boiled eggs, a mayonnaise dressing and bacon bits. For dessert there was apricot jello with banana slices and whipped cream. It was a delicious meal with good company and great conversation.

I think I'm ready

I think I'm ready now to visit the Home and Garden show in Harrisburg. We're thinking of going Monday since it is senior day and at least Husband will get in for half price. Good deal, huh?

Anyway, I put a little packet together of our patio and want to take that up for ideas as well as possible prices for it to be done for us. You know, the older you get the less you want to do the hard physical labor, even though it is a labor of love.

This is the area we had dug out last summer. The excavator put in 6" of stone as a base for a patio. The area here is 15'x21' and it will finish out to a 14'x20' patio. It took me all this time to decide on a style of patio that I think will look nice with the house and keep in tune with the somewhat French Country/Country theme of the house and garden. I tried to work with the garden areas already existing. After months of looking through magazines and building books, I think I came up with a plan that will work.

Since I already had an existing fountain, a lovely water bearer in one of the rose beds, I opted for a fire pit in the very center of the patio that will sit on four 24"x24" pavers with the 12"x12" pavers surrounding them, four on each side, leaving a full 24"x24" pointing into the corners in a geometric design. The West side of the patio will be the high side and curved. There will be an angled one pole arbor across the south curve that will highlight a curved stone bench and draw your eye to the beautiful purple leaf Kunzan cherry tree that will sit about 30' behind it. I will have Veilachenblu roses climbing up this arbor on both sides. The East side of the patio will be squared off with a pileaster on one side with a light. This area will then empty onto a path and around the house to the garage and driveway.

It would be nice to get a little help with building the patio now. Those 24"x24" paver are large and will cover the area nicely but they have a tendency to get rather heavy. We also have to level the stone and add more if necessary and about another 3" of sand before we can even think about laying pavers. We're also going to need a footer around the entire patio as it butts up to a run off area and the footer will be needed to angle the water away from the patio. So there's a lot to be done and most of it is more heavy work than not.

The firepit I've picked out is copper on cast iron legs with a lovely screen on top. It is a 45" round and has a stone table around it with a diamond pattern and is about coffee table size. All of our bird feeders, hummingbird feeders and lights are in copper so it only makes sense to have the firepit copper as well.

The more I look at this layout the more I like it. It has just the right atmosphere and I think will blend nicely with the house and gardens. What do you think?

Maybe I should send this plan off to HGTV and one of their garden design programs but then it might be to simple for them.

Just a quick note

The first two of decorative 12x12 pavers are done! Well, almost, anyway. They need a good concrete sealer on them yet and then they will be completely done and ready for the patio. I want 20 of these spaced randomly throughout the patio.

Making the design is the difficult part. There are issues with height of the patio stone with the different sizes. These are about 1 3/4" thick, maybe a little less. The closest we've found are the 24x24 pavers that are about the same thickness. Now to find what else we can do to make these pavers reach the 24x24 we need to match the rest. I was thinking of half bricks in the chocolate color. I'll be checking to see what other options I have. I will keep you appraised of what happens.

Did I Tell You?

A couple of weeks ago I got a phone call from a rep of the Veteran's Association. I get this call every year and every year it is someone different. Usually the fellow who calls is an older man, I can tell by the voice but this year, the voice sounded younger and stronger. These fellows will usually strike up a short conversation while plugging for a donation. Tax deductable of course.

This year, the fellow was repeating my information and he pronounced Conestoga wrong. I corrected him, repeating the pronouncation until he got it right. I asked him if he ever heard of the Congestoga wagon. He said he did but seemed a little confused at the same time when he thought they were still being made. I informed him that they were no longer in production, at least in mass, and the only way to really get a good view of them besides a museum is on the old TV westerns. I still don't think he quite knew what I was talking about. The Conestoga wagon was built here, hence the name of the town, or the name of the wagon, i.e., the chicken or the egg. I'm sure the town was named first after the Conestoga Indian tribe that was wiped out by the Paxton boys in the 1700s. The sad part of that history is the Paxton boys were from Harrisburg and came here to kill Indians. The residents of the town had a good report with the Indians and there was no need to kill them.

This area is so full of history. That's what makes it a wonderful place to visit. Some of the towns in this area, such as Strasburg and Intercourse are almost 300 years old with homes still surviving since that age. Conestoga, itself has just celebrated it's 200th birthday. My girlfriend, Sandy and her family live in their homestead that was built by her ancestors in 1784. Though the house has sustained major renovations in the past 200 or so years, it's shell has remained the same and certain parts of it cannot be improved upon. The insulation of the house, yes it has insulation, is mud and hasn't been replaced since it was built. To replace it would mean destroying the house. It is the most noticable in the basment which is constructed of rock, dirt floor and the mud placed between the floor joist and cracks of the stone foundation. You would think that insulation, though the best around, would be privy to termites and other insect pests but the house was well taken care of, especially in later years when poisons were available to get rid of such creatures.

In terms of size, the settlers thought the Conestoga wagon a bit large. In person, my first thought was it was small. I have always wondered how an entire family and all their belongings could possibly fit in one of those things. Those people had everything in them including furniture, though be it a few very personal pieces and heirloom pieces. Maybe two average sized people could stretch out side by side in one of those wagons and keep warm on a cold night. The hitch on them would be able to maintain a team of four horses, mules or oxen. The settlers traveled the entire width of the country in these things. I find that amazing.

The converstation with the Vet was short but always enjoyable. I've always found these guys sweet at least over the phone. And this one had a lot of other people to get to that day. In the end, he went away with my pledge. Whenever they call, I am reminded of all the people I've known who are vets. Some are still with me and others are now gone. Donna - Army, April - Navy, Connie - Navy, my brother Mike - Army, Gerry - Airforce, Jimmy - Army, Donny - Army, Gary - Airforce, Joseph - Army, Doug - Marines, Ron - Army Reserves (active) and Mack - Navy. Then there is sister, Cindy, one of the many doctors that watch over the health and well being of our fine veterans.

Adventures in Cooking

Today was such a beautiful day! So beautiful in fact that I decided I wanted to cook out. The other day while rooting through the freezer, I found a steak and thought it would be nice to grill it.

I prepared the potatoes and went out to get the grill ready. I opened it and lo and behold! A mouse! Now, why wouldn't I think that there would be one? I never saw anything to indicate a mouse would be around. Usually there is a good bit of dirt and nesting material. There was none of this. But there was the mouse, walking around on top of the grilling grate. I startled the little thing and it vanished through the grate and down past the burners. I found it in the ash trap running back and forth looking for a way out. I had moved the grill away from a growing wistera to keep from scorching it. This removed the escape route for the mouse.

Every time I tried to get the mouse to try a different means of escape, it would panic and run, thus not getting anywhere. I was running out of time so decided to get the grill going and the potatoes on so I would have time to eat before heading off to work. After that, realizing that it would still get far to hot for the mouse, I kept trying to find a way for it to escape. Finally desperate, it managed to crawl down into the grease trap. There I could easily remove the grease trap. By this time the little mouse submitted to my attempts to reach him but became interested when I loosened the grease trap and took it and him away from the grill. I reached the trap down as low as possible and he jumped off heading into a world unknown. He was a brave little soul and his reward was life.

I really wasn't in the mood for roast mouse anyway and in the end, the dinner turned out delicious.

The German Hollyhock Mallow

Malva x 'Parkefrieden'

This beauty related to the hybiscus and rose of sharron is actually a bit more pink that it shows in the photo. As the flowers age, they do turn cream to white. This plant is a herb which tells me why, especially in an organic garden (such as mine is), it is always getting eaten alive by everything; insect and animal. The leaves are used in teas. It grows about 5 feet tall, though mine gets closer to six feet and blooms from June well into frost. Over the winter it dies back all the way to the roots. I will cut off the dead just above ground level to be sure not to harm the crown.

My plants are two years old and I'm hoping as they age, they'll get stronger, nicer and more able to handle the barrage of insects and animals that eat it. So far it's been hard to get good undamaged flowers off them for the vase.

As usual, if you plan on using this herb for consumption, please be sure to check out the good and bad of it before adding it to food. http://groups.msn.com/TheGardenPath/weeklyplant.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=120673&LastModified=4675555171354346113

I'm also adding an annual mallow this year to the same herb garden. http://www.vitacost.com/science/hn/Herb/Mallow.htm The variety I'm growing is 'valcon' which is a vermilion color.

Today

A jungle of Juncos

Snow

I have to say there hasn't been many snows I've failed to like or find something interesting about. We average close to 30" of snow a year usually coming in 4 to 6" increments; just enough to keep the snow blower from seizing and enough to remind us that it is winter.

I remember a 24" snow Valentine's Day in 1983. I remember this because Bob and I had just moved into our first house, a 109 year old gray stone in the city, a couple of months before. He had been anxious about the purchase of this home because we didn't have a down payment and he thought we would need several thousand to get in it. We had $300 and with that bought the house. I was scheduled to work that day. At that time I only worked part time at a more prestigious restaurant in the area. Well, needless to say, I didn't make it to work that day. I couldn't even find my car. The drifts of snow were nearly five feet high in spots and my car was under one of those drifts. Even though there was no way anyone was getting out of the parking lot, all the neighbors got together with their shovels and shoveled out the parking lot entirely, knowing that the city wouldn't do it until the very last thing. The roads around the little complex were all plowed and some people actually had to get to work.

We got our Newfoundland, Captain in 1986 and I recall him loving the snow. But it wasn't until the winter of 1995 that we found out how much he loved it and why. That year we were living in our second house, a ten year old brick ranch in the burbs. Bob was anxious about the purchase of this house because it had a two car garage and about a 1/4 acre of property with it. It was the dream he thought he'd never see. It was a cold year and the snow started falling early, before Christmas with an average snow of at least 8" and sometimes more. One blizzard (we don't get many of these) was 36" deep. We reached a total of 62" on the ground at once that year! Now that's a lot of snow. Many times, we'd put Captain out and he would have to plow his way through the snow and he was a BIG boy at about 32" tall and weighing 175 pounds. What all this snow did was to take away the property boundaries for the dog. He loved to go visit the neighbors while they were out shoveling their driveways. Everyone knew Captain quite well and weren't afraid of him. He considered all the neighbors friends and their children his wards. This particular snow, after visiting and saying hello to all the neighbors out shoveling driveways, he helped the children with their sledding techniques. Captain passed away later that same year.

We built this house in 2002 and every since, wouldn't you know it, there hasn't been a winter gone by without some sort of significant snowfall. The winter of 2003, the snow started falling Thanksgiving, 2002 and didn't stop until almost May of 2003. We averaged 36" a snow yet I wouldn't consider any of the snowstorms blizzards. I actually missed a day of work that year because of the stuff. 2004 really wasn't much better, though there were less snowfalls. But it was cold that year and the snow lingered, stretching from one storm to the next. 2005 was much the same. It seems that that would be par for this area as far as snowfall. I knew when we built here that the weather was a good bit different from the weather in the city, even though we are only 10 miles from the city. The southern end of the county always did seem to get worse weather especially after you pass though a small town called New Danville.

This year, so far, we got a small dusting of snow around Christmas. This hung around for awhile because of the cold temps but then melting just in time for New Years. The temps warmed up and there was no snow at all in January but we had significant rainfalls. Then there is today. Last night and today is a blizzard or at least blizzard conditions. There's been about 36" of snow here. I went to put Bratley out this morning and found the snow a bit high for him. He stands a whopping 13" off the ground so I had to tunnel a path for him to go through to do his business. We are actually shut in the house today with drifts at the doors up to the 5' high mark. The area is a wonderland of snow. So very pretty. It won't last though. The temps are, believe it or not, in the low 30's and are expected to climb into the 50's by midweek.

Bob wants to take pictures today. The snow is still falling and add the snow blowing and clinging to everything, it is quite lovely out there. Maybe, that is if we can get out of the house, and I'll add them to this blog. In the meantime, it is Sunday and we're home. There's no need to be out in this and I'm all for that. There's plenty of food in the house and so far, we have electric. Our biggest concern is having a path for the dog to be able to wander outside some to do his thing.

The pictures shown were taken with the Cannon Rebel.

Decisions, decisions

The recent addition of an aquarium to our family is doing fine. We put the eight cherry barbs and two pygmy corys in and they are still there, quite healthy and very happy with their new home. Last weekend I added three (actually more like six plants). http://www.aquahobby.com/garden/e_ambulia.php This is one of them. I also added an aquatic grass and a sword plant which has taken off and now is as tall as the water line. Today I added four crustations (snails) http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Melanoides_tuberculata.php. Now the aquarium is complete and I must admit, it looks nice. The fish really appreciate the plants. They are much more comfortable being able to hide in them.

We also had decisions that we now have to make. We went to a local stoneyard, Eshbucks, to see if they had what I wanted for patio pavers. I'm taking my time with the decisions here because 1) I have the time to and 2) this is the last of our hardscape for the house and I want it to be right. I've pretty much picked out what I wanted as far as the pavers and have already ordered the decorative paver mold for the patterned piece. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll0609&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1. So now to pick out the color that I want to create these in.

At Eshbucks we found the blocks I wanted in all four sizes. The color, however, is going to be a problem. I found two different colors I liked and now for the major decisions. I knew I wanted earth tones since my house is clay and Pennsylvania brown stone. This pick is the original thought. I like the mocha pavers with the chocolate contrast for the decorative paver. Here, I found a chocolate brick to indicate the color. Of course with us making the decorative pavers, the color could and probably will be slightly different. I like these mocha pavers because of the chocolate marbled in them. It really makes them stand out.


We had decided we were finished and were getting ready to leave, wanting to get home before the snow started when I saw another paver that really caught my eye. It was a mocha with a tint of gray and charcoal swirled through it. It wasn't exactly the color that I had in mind, but it really stands out. I remembered the charcoal colored bricks from the brick patch and got one to see contrast. It is really nice. I'm thinking that since this one is off color somewhat, it will stand out a little better than the mocha and chocolate. The deck is kept a cedar color. I will probably go with the mocha and chocolate colors for the patio.

I had pretty much decided against the 24x24 blocks thinking they would be to heavy but now that I see them, they don't look to big at all for the patio. So it's back to the sketch to try and figure out a nice design so I can incorporate the 12x12 decorative stones. It will work out...It will work out.

In my ordering frenzy yesterday, I also ordered the path blocks for going through the flower beds. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4384383536&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1 I will make these the same color as the decorative pavers except maybe a little lighter, more the mocha color than the chocolate, or somewhere in between. Our beds are so big that we often find paths through the plants to get to another part of the garden. Might as well put stepping stones there and make it official.

This is a major project and the last of the big hard scape projects. Well, then, yes there is a hot tub on the list of things to get but that won't be for some time. I want the garden to grow in some and get well established first.

Spring Has Sprung...

...at least under my growth lamps. Each year I try to start a few of the plants I will want out in my garden or in the flower beds. Usually some of the warmer climate plants anyway. This doesn't always happen, but I try most years. This year I planted two flats. One flat of the Texas salvia, which I love. Usually it has no problems with reseeding from year to year but the coral ones has stopped reseeding or at least they didn't reseed much at all last year. So I got a packet of seeds and started a flat of them. I just put those in with the help of Shalimar who was totally intrigued with the tiny mouse turds. She saw my total annoyance. The other flat has ten Valencia bell peppers (orange), eight Nigra hollyhocks, eight Vulcon mallow, four moonflowers and two Grandpa Otts morning glories.

This morning as I was misting the flats and checking them, I saw something that wasn't there yesterday. It was one of the Grandpa Otts http://www.gardenguides.com/seedcatalog/flowers/morningglorygrandpaotts.htm morning glories pushing out of the dirt. It's been about eight days since I've planted that flat and have been anxious to see some sort of life protruding from the brown seed starting dirt. I noticed this afternoon that the other morning glory pot has the dirt distrubed and am hoping to see the other morning glory tomorrow. I only planted two of these since it is common knowledge that morning glories don't like being transplanted (especially this variety). I have more seeds to start out side when the frost is done. But, by starting these in peat pots now, I'm hoping to get some bloom from them earlier. From the pictures, these morning glories seem exceptionally pretty and I can hardly wait to see them.

I'm also trying, again, the moon flower. http://www.gardenguides.com/seedcatalog/flowers/moonflower.html Another type of morning glory or should I say night glory but for some reason, I've never been able to get these to grow. I followed the directions in my book to soak the seeds over night in warm water. I'm still waiting to see if they grow. There is also the fact that these seeds are about three years old and that might make a difference as well. I'm still waiting. I'll let you know.

It's good to see the seeds beginning to start. It gives me hope for the spring and the garden again. I never did get ready for winter this year. I hear we're to get about 12" of snow this weekend. YUCK. At least I won't have to drive in it.

A Lost Friend

It was February 17, nine year ago when I first met Ken. I met him on the Rose board, a question and answer area of AOL. He was a gentle, helpful man who had answers to some of my more stupid rose questions. Everyone on that board was helpful.

About two years after I first started visiting this board, a group of us decided that we wanted to go on a trip together. Families included. At first there were quite a few but in the end only about a dozen of us went. About a year later, I started putting together group gatherings for the Mid-Atlantic bunch. Ken, from New Jersey at the time, was among those invited. We usually went to Longwood Gardens or Hershey Gardens getting together about twice a summer.

The first time I actually met Ken in person he was driving a Miata which I recognized even if I didn't recognize Ken. And how could I. I'd never even seen a picture of him. Yet, somehow, I knew him when I saw him. I boldly went up to him, my roses in hand and introduced myself. He stared at me for a moment before he realized who this strange woman approaching him was. He introduced me and Husband to his beautiful wife Andrea and off we went to meet the rest of the group in front of Longwood's entrance. This was a time when many of the Mid-Atlantic board friends had met and we started chatting as if we were old friends. Well, in a way, I guess we were. We'd been chatting for about 3 years on line so when we got together, we actually picked up conversation where it had left off the night before. The getting to know you stage was already done. It was a beautiful day and the gardens were wonderful. After some time touring the grounds, we hopped off to the picnic area for some of the best homemade food the East Coast had to offer. And so went our group meetings where ever we would meet.

June of last year, Ken retired from his job and he and wife moved to Washington. This was his dream. He loved it out there and bought a house a couple of years ago. During vacations and time off he and Andrea would go out there to see about the remodeling efforts to their new home so it would be ready for them when they were. In the meantime, Ken got cancer. He fought it valiantly for two years. When his doctors thought they had it under control, he moved to his Washington home. Shortly after he wrote to say that the cancer had come back but that he would fight it once again. Three weeks ago, Andrea wrote to say that he had given up the fight and stopped treatments. He passed February 2nd.

Ken was a good friend...Someone I cared very deeply for. He will be missed. I had promised Husband I wouldn't buy any roses for the garden this year since I had so many that needed homes as it is but there is one I will be planting. Sharifa Asma. This was Ken's favorite rose. I will plant one to remember him.

The Mid-Atlantic rosarians from the AOL rose board. From left to right Margy Hope, Maria, Carol, Julie (me)and Ken standing in the back. We were the group at Hershey Gardens that day. Our families were there as well, standing by waiting for the picture to be taken.

Decisions, decisions

Should I or should I not do laundry today?

Today is a beautiful warm day that reminds me more of early April than early February. Forecasters are warning us that winter will make a return this weekend. OK as long as it doesn't snow I'll be fine. However, this wonderful warm winter has set my mind to a project that we must think about; the patio.

Last April we ran across an excavater who was working in the area and asked for an estimate to excavate for the patio we eventually wanted to put in. He not only gave us a good price, but actually did the work that day. We didn't argue with him when he wanted to do it that day because there was the property next door that was under construction but not owned by an individual and he could bring the heavy equipment up that lot without destroying our new grass lawn. Still, we weren't ready financially ready to finish the job, and for a the purpose, I didn't even know what I wanted. I just knew where I wanted it and approximately the size. He gave us a 15x27 foot patio area to work with.

All this past year, we've been walking on the stones as if they were the patio. They are well settled now and ready for the block, brick, slate or whatever we would decide to put down. The one thing I was pretty sure about was the layout of the patio and where I wanted curves and where I wanted angles. I had ideas on how I wanted to decorate this patio but nothing solid. All this past year, whenever we were at a home improvement store or large nursery we would look around at the block and patio stone that was available trying to get ideas. Nothing appeared to grab me. It was all the common stuff and I truly wasn't interested in trying to make it unique for a unique patio. The end of the patio at the water fountain I want rounded off blending into the curves of the flower bed and to the step of the arbor. On the end where the bird feeder is, on the outside only, I was a pollster with a lamp. This was the layout I was sure about. The rest was up in the air. The common stone, tile, slate, patio pavers just didn't seem to cut it. The color would be a combination of the house color and darker colors, all earth tones, to match the house. This I was sure of. The one last thing I was sure of was the outside curve of the fountain area, I wanted an arbor angled across with a curved bench seating area.

With no more desire than to sit in front of the computer the other day, Husband decided to shop eBay. He searched around and found some interesting patio molds and showed them to me. PAY DIRT!!! It helped when he stated he thought it would be interesting to make our own patio pavers for the project. I agreed hole heartedly but am a little concerned that it might be more work than we anticipated. Still we will get what we want, the color we want, etc. I'm thinking 12" square tiles x 2" thick, most of them plain (we may even be able to buy these at the local home improvement store, if we tire of making them) and get several molds of a decorative tile that really takes my fancy. There are several I've seen that would work wonderfully. I want approximately 20 of the decorative tiles in a chocolate color and the other 980 tiles just plain in the clay color of the house. The decorative tiles will be scattered randomly throughout the patio. The wooden arbor will be set on small pollsters in the outside corner of the rounded end of the patio and I'm still debating if I want the bench built into the patio or if I want to use a small curved concrete bench you can pick up in any nursery or garden department of almost any store. I do like the idea of the little concrete bench. It would tie in the small sitting area I have on top the hill under the tulip poplar. On this arbor I will grow two Veilachenblu roses, once blooming ramblers with small mauve roses that actually look blue. They should be exceptionally pretty when you enter the patio from the lighted entry, looking across to the arbor with the blue roses and the brilliant pink flower, purpled leafed Kanzan cherry tree with the little cement bench.

This is the last of the high cost hardscaping projects we have planned for the property. We have several other landscaping projects slated, but not like this one. Now to make this project a reality.

Oh, BTW, I've decided not to do laundry. There simply isn't enough of it for the washer to bite into. I'll do that another day.