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Monday, November 23, 2015

Dayton Weekend

This past weekend we planned a trip to Dayton.  Our main reason was to attend a party our nephew Mike was having.  He is celebrating his 1st anniversary of his bone marrow transplant.  It's hard to believe it has been a year since all of that took place.  Mike stayed with us for a couple of weeks after he was released from the hospital.  He needed to be near The James (OSU's James Cancer Hospital), so we offered him a bed and took him to his appointments.  Having Mike stay with us really meant a lot to both Mike (my Mike) and I.  It was one way that we could help Mike through this transition in his life.  This time together helped us all to get to know one another better.  I thank God that Mike is now healthy and cancer free!  So Saturday he planned this huge party at his home in Dayton.  A wonderful time was had by all.
Mike's home is just wonderful.  He has turned an old grocery store into his workshop and living space.

Mike is a magnificent wood worker and runs his own business in Dayton

He even built an impromptu stage for the band he hired for the party.

We left early Saturday morning to get to Dayton before the weather was turning to snow, ugh.  We stopped at Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum.  I know it may seem odd to visit a random Cemetery, but this one is just magnificent.  The Wright Brothers burial site is there and the whole cemetery is located on the top of a hill overlooking downtown Dayton.  The views were just wonderful. 
The view of downtown Dayton from Woodland Cemetery was just gorgeous




The Wright Brothers burial plot

There is beauty even in sad places.  The sun shining through a crypt

The mausoleums here were magnificent.
After walking around Woodland we worked our way over to a place called Charlies Deli.  It is a little hole in the wall place in a neighborhood that is well, now a little questionable, but the food was great, and the atmosphere was like what you would think in an old deli.  Below is an excerpt from their website at  http://www.charliesdeli-catering.com and a quick photo I took.  I suggest if you are in the area stop in for a bite to eat.

"Charlie's Deli & Catering stands alone as Dayton's oldest and most popular delicatessen. Our signature sandwiches and specialty ingredients have earned us The Dayton Daily News People's Choice Award for Best Deli and Ledbelly Boys Best Sandwich Shop"

After enjoying a great lunch at Charlies we headed over to the Dorothy Lane Market.  We walked in the door of this place and the first word out of my mouth was WOW!  This place is a market on steroids.  I have seriously never seen such a selection of everything!  We spent some time walking around and picked up something sweet from the bakery. Definitely another fun place to stop at in the Dayton area.



Yes we bought something from this case.



After our visit to the market we headed over to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.  We had reserved a room there for the night.  It pays to be married to a retired military man.  Great rates on a two room suite.  

The next morning we arose early and yes there was snow on the truck.  Not a lot, but enough to see it and the temperatures were now back to what a normal November day would be.  So long warmer days, hello winter.  We stopped for some breakfast and then headed our way to Springfield.  I had read on Trip Advisor about a home there that had this massive display of stone art that a Mr. Hartman had built starting in 1932.  Below is an excerpt from the website at http://hartmanrockgarden.org


The Hartman Rock Garden is one of the nation’s most intriguing and revered works of in situ folk art, an outsider art phenomena where self-taught artists construct fascinating worlds out of concrete, metal, stone, and whatever else they can find.

It's located at 1905 Russell Avenue, Springfield, OH. It is absolutely worth the stop if you are into seeing quirky things.  Below are some photos I took of the place.  It is open 365 days a year, from dawn to dusk and is free.  Don't be scared away by the fact it is in someone's back yard.  It truly is open to anyone.  Needless to say when we were there the flowers were all gone, but after seeing photos that were taken in the summer I would say that would be the best time to go for a visit.




So our trip to Dayton was a successful one.  We have been there many times seeing that we have family there and have visited all the major sites like the Air Force Museum and Carillon Historical Park, but these are some of the other places that folks might not normally stop at.  Enjoy!

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Fun Friday

Fridays take on a whole new meaning when you are among the retired.  Since both of us are retired now Fridays and the weekend don't have the same thrill as they used to when we were working full time.  We now avoid running errands and such on the weekends, too many crowds.

On Friday Mike had shelves he wanted to finish painting while I ran over to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things.  When I returned we hopped in the truck and we were off to Westerville.  We first stopped for lunch at one of our new favorite "dives".  There a a small hole in the wall place in Westerville called The Best Breakfast and Sandwiches, located on Westerville road.  It is a true hole in the wall, located in an old strip mall.  There are maybe 10 tables and the counter, but the food is AMAZING!!!!  We have only yet to enjoy the sandwiches, they have now become my favorite place to get a reuben since the Ohio Deli burned down.  They are only open for breakfast and lunch and their menu is limited but  what the do serve they do really well.  The wait staff is prompt, helpful and once in a while a little mouthy, but in a playful way.  It makes you feel like you are surrounded by friends.  While we were there we sat next to a couple where the lady ordered the ginormous pancake that was literally bigger than my head.  If you doubt look at the photo below. The lady said that she gets it pretty much every time she comes.  She take 3/4 of it home and has it for breakfast for the next couple of days.
One banana pancake,  HUGE!!!
After enjoying a great lunch we headed toward Half Price Books.  

When we downsized last year we donated most of our books, which oddly enough I am the one who is beginning to regret this.  Mike is the avid reader in the family, but I do enjoy picking up some resource books I guess you could say to peruse through occasionally.  Mike is at the library every week it seems.  So we spent some time looking through the shelves and shelves of books.  Again, oddly enough Mike came away with nothing and I picked up a few books on photography.  I find having these on hand to read often times gets me motivated.  

Shelves upon shelves of used books.

We then headed over to one of our favorite places to dig through and get some more inspiration.  The Habitat for Humanity Resale Shop.  Oh this is a junkers paradise.  For those of you not familiar with a store like this it is where "stuff" from old buildings, construction projects etc. go to be resold and made into new projects.  The money then goes to Habitat for Humanity.


Yes you have to see past the dirt and crud to see the beauty.

We had noticed the store had been cleaned up and much more organized since the last time we were here.



Rows and rows of sets of kitchen cabinets

Oh so many ideas for this one.

Counter tops to be made into so many things

I did pick up a whole box of white 4x4 tiles for $5.00.  BARGAIN

I picked up a box of tile ($5.00) for a project I am working on, and also found a small metal tray($1.00) for another project for the camper and Mike picked up a new saw blade and some other wood working supplies.  Came out spending less than $20.00.  When you visit this place you have to not be afraid to dig through things to find that special prize you might need.  

We then headed home to pick up the shelves Mike had painted that morning so that we could take them over to the camper for installation.

Squeezed into the camper to install some shelves

Awesome new storage made out of unusable coat cabinet.

This is where she stays when she not on the road.
What a fun productive day we had.  Tomorrow we are off to Dayton, OH to celebrate with our nephew Mike on his first year after his bone marrow transplant.




Thursday, November 19, 2015

Had no time for a blog post, living life.

Hard to believe that I haven't made a post in almost two weeks.  Not since we returned from our trip down south.  I guess we've just been living life.  Things here have been calm even though we have been busy with multiple projects, family get togethers, helping friends, etc.

Mike continues to build his wood working shop.  This past week he completed a frame for a photo I took while in Canada this past summer.  He used some of the reclaimed wood we took from the pile in our yard (that the condo folks left).  This is some of the same wood that we made our headboard from.





The finished product turned out fantastic.



I too have been working on a project or two.  I have always admired photos that were printed on canvas, but have never been thrilled about how much they charge to have these made.  So I did a little research on line, Pinterest to be exact and figured out how to do my own version.  My first one turned out pretty well, now on to figuring out exactly what to do with this new found craft.  


Last week even though Mike was fighting a bit of a cold we decided to trek downtown and check out the new riverfront area.  We had heard on the news that the updates that were taking place before we left this summer had been completed.  So on a veterans day we took a ride downtown.  It really looks lovely and will be even better once all the plants and grass have filled in.

My hometown, Columbus, Ohio

Some abstract shots of the Main Street Bridge



Beautiful walkways by the river

Main Street Bridge


Must find out the meaning behind this deer statue


Beautiful for a November day


This past weekend we had our youngest grandson, Jacob spend the weekend with us.  His parents were in need of a little R & R, so we kept the little guy.  He was so good and is now walking.  We enjoyed our time with him, but whoo were we exhausted by Sunday night.  I know why folks don't have children in their older years.

Jacob and Papa watching the OSU football game

Look at that little mug.



Papa messing with the little man

Oh that face and those eyes

Out to lunch with these cuties

Enjoying the day at the park







Watching the Packers!


We ended the weekend with having Amanda and Kent for dinner and then our niece Faith, nephew Zach and Faith's husband Tim also joined us for dinner.  We had a great time with all the kids.

Jacob with his Auntie Faith.  (actually his second cousin, but Amanda and Faith are more like sisters)

As always there are new projects in the works here at the Kent residence.

New lumber purchased, hmm what will this be turned into.

I have started a couple of projects.  I just love my space in our basement.  Looking at these pictures reminds me of something my daughter once said to me.  "Mom how can your whole house be so neat and put together, but when you are creating something you have stuff EVERYWHERE!  It's true, our home is usually pretty neat, but I am a hot mess when it comes to me creating something.  I guess it is just that creative gene that makes me feel like I need to spread things out.

I too take advantage of Mike's workshop
Using more of the reclaimed wood.
Messy, but productive
Work in progress