A Quaint Cobblestone Path

Read Part One Of The Cobblestone Path here.

Part one left us with plastic covering the path.  It sat for a week curing under perfect conditions.  Moist and not too hot.

Ta Da.

I filled the cracks in with some topsoil.  It looked okay but I remembered my mom telling me about a mixture, using buttermilk and moss to encourage new moss to grow.  Of course I headed to Google to find the recipe and happened upon good old Martha Stewart!
Martha's recipe here!
She used beer in her recipe, and with hubbys beer making hobby, I have an endless supply.  You know what they say, "If life gives you beer, make moss"....or maybe it was something to do with lemons, but regardless, I had beer on hand.

These are little pellets that you add water to, soak and they swell up and retain moisture.  I am told you can buy them at the dollar store for filling vases.  I bought mine at a liquidation store a few years ago.

Honestly, I didn't get this from a cow!

In the shade, and with a daily dose of water, there sits quietly, the turtle growing moss.
  After reading the recipe again and discovering that I was away the day I read
 "Mist regularly for two to three months", (which I kindly highlighted for you all,)  my impatience kicked in.   I picked up a couple of scotch moss plants, divided them up and plunked them in!

A fern thrown into the mix.  Hopefully it will spread and create a border along the path!

Moss Milkshake

"The moss milkshake, or fragmentation method of planting, takes a bit more patience. To create a moss milkshake, mix together pre-shredded moss, gel powder, and buttermilk powder or beer with a few cups of room temperature, non-chlorinated water in a pail. Keep in mind that this mixture is not a perfect science, and you should play with the ingredient amounts. Let stand for five to 10 minutes, and then smear the mixture over soil. Mist regularly for two to three months or until the moss fragments begin growing together. Fragments of the moss may turn tan, but don't give up: keep the moss moist until new growth appears."

Click here to find the complete article from Martha's website

  I am hopeful that it will spread into the cracks and fill in my little cobblestone path this season, but I am sure it will take a few years, so now I must
hurry up and wait :(

Cheers :)

Linking up With

Feral Turtle Visits Hometalk!

Good day!

The creators of Hometalk recently contacted

 me to create a "Shower Curtain Board",

 similar to Pinterest Boards, but on STEROIDS! 

 I included many different projects using shower curtains, all found on Hometalk.

  Cristina from Remodelando la Casa first introduced me to this fabulous site!

Thanks Cristina :)

There are so many great projects, ideas, pictures, and 

 you can even ask other Hometalkers for advice!

Hope you check it out and while you are there, sign up for your own Hometalk account!  You can join in on discussions. create your own boards, or just check in on all the great projects happening around your virtual world.  Best of all......IT'S FREE.

Cheers!

A Gaming Race Seat Built Mostly From Recycled Material!!

We are probably a little old for this kinda stuff; well at least that's what the staff at the computer store assume when we go in for parts.  They ask "Is this for your kids?" When we reply with a...It's for us, 

   they giggle, sometimes outright laugh, and say, "Cool". 

Hubby's birthday is just around the corner and a certain racing wheel he's been eyeing up, happened.   

  So off to work we go to create a gamers racing seat.

He gathered a seat from an old car, and used an office divider stripped of all its dividing stuff, for the frame.

We shimmed the seat up with scrap lumber to a suitable height  This actually took a long time to get it just right.

An old bed frame was salvage for it's angle iron.

Hubby. being a bit of a fabricating man started cutting and grinding and fitting up his parts.

Then he started welding!  I offered to do this for him but he graciously declined my generous offer.....??????

All tacked up.

Fabbing up the steering wheel support.

Cutting wooden supports for the Wheel, Shifter, and Foot Pedals.

A trial fit before the final welding.

Final  welding....and wiping needed.

Paint goes on the supports.

Frame was sprayed with a gloss black.

I think Ferrari Red helps with speed.

Ready to go.  Just need the computer and screen.  BTW, this seat is adjustable!  Even I can reach the foot pedals.

Happy Early Birthday Hubby!
Cheers!

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Alberta Flooding

This is a tragic weekend in our closest city. It has affected many people including my son, who was evacuated from his home.  My friends and I drove to see the damage downstream which hadn't yet peaked.  The river was a violent, raging mess with many roads and bridges closed.  Unfortunately, I only had my phone camera with me,which died.   I am blogging from my iPhone as our Internet has been affected, so I apologize in advance as I am new to "computerless" blogging   The few pictures I was able to take, were of an area where hubby and I kayak.  

The river is much wider here than usual.   In fact I would say about three times what it normally is.

This is a road

This is a roadway too

Even the snakes were looking for higher ground. I saw four snakes within a few seconds. 

My heart goes out to the people who have lost family members.

 So tragic. 💔

A Cobblestone Path

Years ago, my Mom purchased a mold for creating cobblestone paths.  One of my genius sisters did something unique with it that I will share, soon.
 What I did with it, was what the manufacturer intended it for;  a cobblestone path.  This was just a test area, as we are thinking of making an outdoor patio area someday.  We had some left over ready-mix from one of our construction projects; six bags worth.
  Our test path isn't complete yet, but I thought I would share pics of it in the making!

This is where the path will be.  We leveled the site fairly well.  I mean I didn't get a level out, or anything as technical as that, just enough so the mold would sit flush against the ground.   I mean who does that anyways?  

The mixer...

The pouring bucket.

The mixer in action

Hubby screeding the first block

Waiting for the first block to set.  Only takes a few minutes before you pull the mold off.  The gloves to the left are what I used to push the concrete into the corners.  You could use a trowel, but I like to be hands on....I mean gloves on!

Second block done.  The maker of the mold engineered this thing to accept one bag of ready-mix per block.  Genius!  Our path will be six blocks worth.  Not a long path, but definitely a needed path.

It started to rain as we were mixing the third bag, and because we don't have an eavestrough on the garage, a steady drip was falling on one of our "cobbles"  I quickly leaned a sheet of styrofoam against the tree to save this poor little cobble from certain demise. 

And now we hurry up and wait :(
  That's always so hard for me!

Cheers.