Saturday, June 3, 2017

Where I've been

* Updated... see below...

If there happens to be anybody still following the ol' blog, you might think I've disappeared into thin air... or given up on the blog completely. Nope! Neither is true. I have a good excuse for my absence. We made another trip to visit Jess & Alex in Newport, Kentucky, and we were gone a week. We had a great time and enjoyed pleasant weather while everybody back home was enduring abnormally cold and wet weather. Good "planning" on our part! ;)

This post is photo-heavy, so I'll  try to be brief with the narration. 

Of course there were 'projects' to work on while we were there. This time most of them were outdoor ones. Grandpa and Alex were into a building project... look at the lumber.


There were consultations with Jess as to how to get it 'just right'.


There were more consultations.


Jess's and my part of the project was to plant plants of many kinds.


When the project was completed (almost), it looked like this, a huge planter box that served a dual purpose of hiding the not-so-attractive wall behind it.


It was deemed a success! The 'almost' part that hadn't been finished when we left was to stain the boards. They needed a couple days drying time, and the weather wasn't cooperating, with off-and-on showers while we were there. I'm looking forward to seeing photos of the staining done and the plants huge and trailing over the edge of the planter box! (Hint, hint, Jess!)

Update: I don't know if Jess saw this post or not yet, but here's the photo she sent of the newly-stained planter box! I think it looks great! What a place to lounge, eh?


Jess has flowers on the fence, and there is a little garden below.


After her hoeing job, she got fancied up as she usually does to water her plants.


Okay... truthfully, she was headed to a funeral visitation, but needed to water in the new plants first. Here's a closer look at that pot.


They'd had their backyard redone, with the old deck torn out and pavers put down, and arbor vitae planted along the fence.


Here's the table and chairs (note the lights hung on the fence)...


... and this is the lounge area. It's very comfy, as Grandpa is demonstrating!


More lights were strung on the opposite fence, for a little ambiance when sitting out there after dark.


Did you notice what was planted in the garden below those lights? There was lots of kale (Alex likes to juice it)... AND Jess bought and planted a rhubarb plant while we were there. We don't know if it'll do well down there in that warmer climate or not. Time will tell.

We ate lots of good food, much of it cooked right there in the backyard. YUM!



Speaking of rhubarb, we brought some along from home. Part of it went into this creme brulee, which turned out just perfect!


Another portion of it went into rhubarb mojitos! Very tasty!


We also ate out a few times, for some more new taste experiences.


Last but not least (well, it really wasn't even last), we went canoeing for a couple of hours. It was very fun and produced a lot of laughter.


So that's the gist of it. Projects, food, relaxing, fun and laughter. Couldn't ask for a better time than that!

12 comments:

Geneviève said...

Looks like you had a very fun, productive and yummy week. I'm glad you could enjoy such nice family time. The garden is lovely and Jess has some fabulous gardening clothes! 👌😜

Grandma G said...

Thanks, Unknown! I'll pass the word to Jess about her gardening clothes. 😉😂

Jessica Jones said...

Yes, I always try to look nice for the flowers.

I see the pic of the stained planter made it into your post already. Ha! I'll send you another one when the plants get bigger. If I don't kill them first.

Anonymous said...

You are so busy! Love the planter a lot! I want to rip out our rotting decking and put paving slabs down but Barry keeps screwing his face up!

Grandma G said...

Thanks, Jess... for the pic, too. And the traffic. 😉

Thanks, Marianne! Tell Barry it's worth it! 😊

Megumi said...

Such a fun, creative, and relaxing time! I wondered they were praying against the wall!! I have to visit them someday.

365 Dresses said...

The planter looks really stylish---as I'd expect. However, no orange flowers? Nice, too, to see lovely photos of the Cincinnati area. That's home to me!

Grandma G said...

Megumi... hmm, I didn't actually hear what they were saying by the planter. Maybe they were praying that it wouldn't fall apart or something! Haha! You must be about due for a visit there again pretty soon, aren't you? 😊

365 Dresses... thank you! Yes, you'd think all her flowers would be orange, wouldn't you? 😄 Ahh, another Cincinnatian! It is definitely a lovely area!

annie dee said...

And I was going to ask what color they had chosen for the stain! The color is perfect! Thanks for answering the as yet unasked question. Another question - how deep is the planting section of the 'huge planter box?' Did you have to attach it to the brick wall? Ok; that was two questions.
The back yard looks lovely. The food looks delicious. Looks like you enjoyed the terrific vacation. What fun! Thanks for sharing.

Grandma G said...

Many thanks, Annie Dee! (And you're welcome! 😄)

If you notice those smaller black planter boxes in the one pic with Jess, they are actually now sitting in the huge box, so it's customized to fit them. They sit on boards going across the length of it. It's fairly open, so there's plenty of drainage. The huge box is attached to the house via hooks screwed into the mortar and zip tied to planter. Easily removable if necessary to get at the (unsightly) electrical boxes that it's hiding. 😊

annie dee said...

Ah ha! Man oh man oh man! That was a brilliant thing - fit the smaller ones into the huge one. I'm really impressed. Nice job!

Grandma G said...

Thanks, Annie Dee! They really were geniuses, weren't they? 😊