A break from vacation posts for one about pansies in the greenhouse

One of our Master Gardener projects is working with the special needs students in the greenhouse we built for them last year. They grow begonias in the spring and pansies in the fall. This week when I was picking up the pansy plugs I asked the grower if he would be open to selling a flat to me for my own use. I told him about my new little greenhouse and that I'd like to try some there. So he sold me a flat.

Now pansy plugs are very small (thimble size), see the top photo and a flat has 288 plants. So, after working with the kids planting theirs, I came home and started planting mine. I had to use the little four inch pots that I've been accumulating and they all had to be washed in a bleach solution before using them. I had about 300 pots. So now the table side of the greenhouse is filled with 288 pansies and they're going to require daily care for the next six weeks or so. It's going to be an interesting experiment. When something goes wrong in a larger project like this the loss is a bigger loss - so I'll be watching all of the variables to be sure they are all correct. Mine greenhouse has a bit too much shade this time of year so that could be a problem.

2010 - Vacation - Covered Bridges

Kings Bridge, 1802, Somerset County, (Rebuilt 2008)

Colvin/Shiller Bridge, 1880/01, Bedford County

I'd wanted to see some covered bridges while we were in PA and the little bit of research I had done on them mentioned bridges in Lancaster County (the Amish area) and we had left that behind when I saw a sign to a covered bridge just a short distance from the highway so we went over to see it.

Just a short time later we came upon the Glessner Bridge and then after another short drive we came upon the Kings Bridge right on the highway. There's not a great deal of difference in the styles but we were happy to have the opportunity to see them. Kings Bridge is recently restored and the beginnings of the fall color enabled me to get one of those postcard photos! Kings bridge is closed but the other two are still in use and we did drive through them. It looks like Somerset County is the place to see covered bridges.

Glessner Bridge, 1881, Somerset County

FLIGHT 93

We saw the first of these bridges near Shanksville, PA, where Flight 93 came down. We had stopped here to see the temporary memorial. The completed memorial is due to be dedicated 9/11/2011. In the picture below, the area just behind and to the right of the crane is where the plane came down!

2010 - Vacation - Amish Country

A drive through Lancaster County was on the itinerary for the trip to Wilkes-Barre but the delay in New Castle and the extended visit at Longwood Gardens made us reschedule this until the trip back. But we're very glad we rescheduled it rather than canceled it. The homes were beginning to look Amish but we knew we were there when we saw this buggy.

I can see it now "Four local girls arrested for speeding"! They were moving along very fast!



We saw several unusual modes of transportation. One was a bicycle that had no pedals but was built, and used, like a scooter! (The name of the town was Bird in Hand.)

We saw a couple barns like this and were wondering about the open sides but it looks like tobacco hanging in them and the open sides are for the drying process.

Yes -we did take a ride in the buggy - and confirmed that it is Ahh-mish and not AA-mish!

Colby is off to the Navy in a few days!

There was a little going away party for him here at Wildernest yesterday. We had some wonderful fall weather for it and everyone enjoyed the party. (Made better by a Cowboy win.) Congratulations Colby! It looks like you are ready for the next phase of your life!

Vacation

Here's a favorite picture from NYC.



I know I've been posting a bunch about the vacation but we were gone for seventeen days and we did take a lot of pictures. At this point I still see at least twelve more posts coming:

1. Baltimore harbor
2. Covered bridges
3. NYC - People
4. NYC - MET
5. NYC - Architecture
6. NYC - harbor cruise
7. NYC - Ground zero on the 9th anniversary
8. NYC - bus tours
9. NYC- places
   
10. Train museum
11. Amish country
12. Gettysburg

You'll just have to bear with me :)

Vacation - NYC - Central Park Happenings

More Pictures from Central Park:

Here are some more Tango pictures. I haven't figured out the temporary storage of backpacks, etc. around the base of the statue - a common practice around the park.

The fairy girl posed like a statue and did a really good job of it.
There's a picture of me with her and I searched Glynda's stuff for it
several times - it must have been Bev's.

Our carriage driver (from Cyprus, in school in the US) pulling away. He'd told us about his girl friend. She didn't want to move to Cyprus and he wanted to go back. We suggested that maybe it wasn't to be - and he replied . . .

Vacation - NYC - Times Square

I'll post a few more New York pictures today - Times Square and Central Park. Saturday evening started in Central Park - then dinner at the Iguana and then a walk to Times Square.

TIMES SQUARE!!

Who would have thought that country girl
Beverly could enjoy Times Square this much!

There's a big screen on one of the buildings showing a live picture of the crowd below so everyone stands there trying to find themselves on the screen. Of course, we did that too! It's hard to believe that there are that many people gathering there every night. There are even bleachers there where you can sit and watch - whatever! (Double click the two pictures below so you can read the text.)

Vacation - Washington DC

We were going so close to DC that we had to make a stop on the mall just to feel it again. We were there just a few hours parking first near the Capital and then near the Jefferson Memorial. We walked from there to the Lincoln Memorial.

While we were there, a busload of veterans arrived to visit the Korean War Memorial. I'd not seen this before and it's one you experience rather than see.

The last time we were in DC many years ago they were working on the Jefferson Memorial and pictures from then have scaffolds in them. I hope they're working on it again rather than still.

Vacation - Biltmore House and Gardens

I'm going to put most of the Biltmore Gardens photos on Facebook so more of the Master Gardeners can see them there. You can't take photos inside the house so most of them are of the gardens and grounds. Biltmore is still run by the Vanderbilt family that built it. Some facts I found fascinating: when they built it they actually constructed a railroad to the sight of the house to bring in materials, it's still a large working farm today, it's a really big business today!

Gilded Age architect Richard Morris Hunt designed the Biltmore Estate for George Washington Vanderbilt at the end of 19th century. Constructed in the style of a French Renaissance chateau, the Biltmore has 255 rooms. At 175,000 square feet (16,300 square meters), the Biltmore is the largest privately owned home in the United States. Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (the same guy that designed Central Park in NYC) designed the gardens and grounds surrounding the mansion. Vanderbilt's descendants still own Biltmore Estate.

(Sorry about the continuing italics but I can't turn them off after the quote above.) One of the docents there told us several things about the company. They have 1800 employees and there are 400-500 volunteers that work on the estate. The business is much bigger than just the estate. On the grounds there is a retail area called Antler's Hill Village, there is a hotel. There are businesses off of the property like one that builds and sells reproduction furniture. The estate was originally 225,000 acres but when hard times set in after one of the owners died unexpectedly most of it was sold off and that provided the funds that started the business that is there today. There are about 1,000,000 visitors a year and at $60 a head that's a good bit of money but that's a relatively small part of the total income. Click on this and then on "Bring Biltmore Home" to see an idea of the related businesses.

Here's the link to their website!