How Steep Is It ??

I've mentioned a number of times that the lower end of the driveway -- the first 75 feet -- is quite steep, difficult to stand on, and more difficult to walk up and down.   Those who have driven up it for the first time invariably remark something like "I couldn't see the driveway over the hood!!!"  Well, that's what the bushes are for.  Keep yourself between the bushes and you'll do just fine.  You can't see the hood because not only is it steep, the drive itself is not flat... more like driving up the outside of a giant ball.  You get the picture :)  It does get less steep after those first 75 feet and it kind of levels off up at the top.  That's all I cared about and my wonderful, talented, and fun real estate agents, Ava and Tatiana, did just fine in all regards getting me this place.  But, I'm sure those who have not driven/walked on it say to themselves "Well, it can't be THAT steep."  So, without some gadget to measure grade I did the best I could to give you a very good illustration of just how steep it really is.  I took a measuring cup, filled it about halfway with water, and put in some food coloring so you could see it.  I put it on the driveway, laid down next to it which must have looked funny to anyone that might have seen me doing it, and snapped some pictures.  I think it tells the story pretty good.

Now, you tilt your head to the left so your eyes are kind of aligned with the bottom of the measuring cup and take a look at that angle!  I'm guessing 40 degrees.  I told you it was hard to stand on it to work!

I put a board across the top of the measuring cup figuring that lining up the bottom of the board with the water line would give a better view of the angle.  I played hell just trying to keep the board from sliding off the cup.  Anyway, now you can tilt your head to the right to align with the water level, then look at the bottom edge of the board.  Tilting your head left or right doesn't matter.  It's steep :)

2nd Half Done

Having trimmed the bushes on one side of the driveway last week, the other side had to be done this weekend and that's what I turned to.  For some reason, the bushes seemed even more overgrown on this side than the other but it didn't really matter, they were as messy as the other side.  Being somewhat gun-shy about getting a reaction from the trimmings like I did last week, I wore a long sleeved shirt and long pants.  It was rather comfortable when I started but of course by the time I was done I was sweating through everything I had on.  But, no ugly skin reaction like last week so the sweating was worth it.  Also as before, the hardest part was just trying to keep my balance standing on the driveway as I was working and having an even harder time on the other side standing on the pine needles.  But, it's done and I kind of like it!

Before I started... rather overgrown and ugly.

Just another view before the whacking began.

In the midst of trimming, having gotten the big stuff and about to go after the rest.

And the end of the project.  The finished view from on high.

And the finished view from down below.  The driveway seems wider :)

Best Ever? Pretty Sure

Oh my, oh my!  I've been on some wonderful motorcycle rides on which I've seen spectacular sights, driven on wonderful roads, and really wish the day didn't end.  But, today's ride just might be the best day ride I've ever taken.  I took off on the interstate to get around Atlanta and a bit north and then continued on Hwy 19/400 all the way up to Dahlonega.  For those of you who didn't know it, like me, Dahlonega, GA is the location of the first gold strike in the U.S.  Yep... no kidding... look it up.  I continued on 19 up to Blairsville and what might have been the all time best road I've ever been on.  Screw "The Dragon" that stupid, waste of time ride out of Deals Gap, NC.  This stretch of road, moving up into the Blue Ridge Mountains, had some of the most steeply banked sharp curves imaginable.  Best part... the road is perfect.  Not a pot hole to be seen anywhere.  One after the other, the road steeply curves left and right as you go up... and down.  I drove it in the car perhaps a couple of months ago and have been trynig to get back every since.  The scenery takes your breath away and it's something to be experienced, for sure.  The road continues to keep you entertained all the way up into Blairsville, just shy of the NC border.  From Blairsville I took Rt 76 west.  This is a 4-lane divided highway but the views of the mountains are awesome.  18 miles down the road I picked up Rt 60 headed south and again, what a ride.  Just after getting on it there's a stop sign.  At the stop sign  is a rider's dream sign:  "Steep grades and sharp turns next 33 Miles."  And they weren't kidding.  Again up into the mountains and down into some beautiful clearings.  I've got to get some kind of camera to mount on my bike.  Except for the interstates, GA roads don't have shoulders... go figure.  Anyway, nowhere to stop and take a photo except once when I was down in a clearing and again when there was sort of a shoulder that I could stop on to snap a couple.  I stayed on 60 until it looped back to 19, then 19 south until I picked up Rt 9 south.  Again, a magical kind of road passing through the mountains, farmland, a few small and sleepy towns, and just an incredible ride.  A ways down south Rt 9 kind of nears Rt 19/400 which I got on for the trip home.  All told 6 1/2 hours and 292 miles... every one of them a wonderful experience.  I started and ended on the interstate but even that was kind of fun today :)

Two things could have made the ride 'perfect' in all regards.  First, it got kind of hot.  It was a beautiful 75 when I left at 9 AM and it was about that in the mountains.  By 1:00 PM my thermometer on the bike was showing 94 and a few 'public' thermometers verified it.  So, it would have been nice to have been cooler.  I've got to get some mesh pants or something.  Second, I really wish I had Steve Motor Jones riding along.  I do hope that happens.  Steve was planning on coming down here in June but I had to tell him that I hadn't been out to find roads worth riding so he headed elseswhere.  I'm ready for him now! 

That's it... a great day.  The photos below are all I got to take.  One 'low' one; one 'high' one.

The "low" one... beautiful road all to myself, as you can see.

The "high" one taken somewhere on Rt 60 in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Driveway Bushes

Another gorgeous day in GA and another day to get out the pruning stuff and continue to prune what seems to be a never-ending number of 'things' to be whacked a bit.  The kind of easy part was trimming off two little branches from the little magnolia tree.  I put in in the ground a couple of months ago I think it was and it seems to be doing well.  Problem is the land is sloped where the tree is -- all the land is sloped in GA! -- and I can't keep water near it when I water.  So, I went out and got a little bit of edging and made a circle, filled it with peat moss, and voila... a water holder for the little tree. 

The next part of the day was a bit more difficult and that was trimming the bushes running up the lower end of the driveway that have just grown out of whack.  I'm thinking no branch on them has seen a lopper since the time they went in the ground, something like 5 years ago.  It was not easy because it's almost impossible to stand on the driveway at this point, the damn bag holding the small trimmings keeps falling over and the trimmings kept coming out, and on the other side it's worse -- pine needle mulch covering the steep incline and impossible to keep ones footing.  Whatever... I did what I could and got one side done and will get to the other one tomorrow or next weekend.  It's not going anywhere :)

The left side done; the right side still to go.

Of course looking from the other direction, it's the right side looking rather nice and the left looking oh so ugly!

I also got a bit of a surprise to make my day complete.  After getting everything on the one side trimmed, the tools put away, and the drive swept up a bit, I had to get all the trimmings down near the street and piled up.  I scooped them up using both arms and sort of held them to my bare chest, got the load down to the bottom, and went back for the next load.  I figure I had 7-8 loads.  I get all done with that and my arms, chest and stomach were burning or itching, whatever.  I have no idea what did it but my arms, chest and stomach are covered with red welt things.  I don't know if it was from the trimmings themselves or if there were some critters on them that were pissed off that I was whacking their house or something.  Don't know, but I'll be wearing a long-sleeve shirt when I do it again.  I was wearing gloves, so no problem with the hands, thank you very much :)

Yuck!

September 12 Ride

Oh what a beautiful day to be out on a motorcycle!  The sun was shining,  mid 80's and a a bit of breeze to keep things from getting too hot.  I found some wonderful roads that took me almost into Alabama and then north just shy of TN.  Rode for about 7 hours and got in 360 miles and every one of them a good mile.  The route went up along the edge of, and then into, the Chattahoochee National Forest and some pretty good mountains.  The roads were wonderful the entire way and for the most part I had them to myself.  I was on the cruiser and it drove beautifully, and comfortably.  The day was not without tragedy though.  During one of my stops I put my favorite water bottle of all time on top of my saddle bag and then forgot to put it away before driving off.  I realized it about an hour later when I stopped again.  On the way back I drove to the town I had stopped in, got to the exact same parking spot in front of an antique store, got off the bike and looked around... no bottle.  I back-tracked my route on the bike a bit thinking it didn't fall off right away perhaps.  No luck... it's gone.  I'll get another but not like that one.  Other than that, it was a terrific day to be alive and out and about.  Looking forward to the next one!

The VTX somewhere along the way.

I don't know how far I could see from up here but it was a long, long way.

Labor Day Labors 2010

I can only wish that your own Labor Day weekend activities were as productive, happy, and fun as my own were.  The other thing was absolutely glorious weather.  Not a cloud to be seen and temperatures in the mid/upper 80's every single day.  It was a long weekend made for working outside and I had scheduled myself to be off on Thursday and Friday which made for a 5-day weekend.  Things started on Thursday when the new furniture arrived.  So, now I have somewhere to sit.  

The new stuff.  Comfortable and it all reclines... yippee!

And work on the deck... at last.  When David was over to pick up the furniture we replaced the top boards (the railings/bannisters) and I had been working on them to fill in the screw holes and sanding them a bit.  As for the deck itself, the original thought was to paint it because it was in bad, bad shape after 5 years or so of absolutely no maintenance, not even a cleaning.  I had powerwashed it a few weeks ago and it looked good enough to go with a sealer instead of paint.  So on Friday I powerwashed it again just to get the stuff off that I missed the first time.  On Saturday, as I gave the deck another full day to dry, I took to trimming ALL the bushes and trees directly in front of the house and that was a rather massive job as well.  I don't know exactly what I'n doing but I think I got it looking pretty good.  I had never used an electric hedge trimmer before and I only cut the extension cord one time! 

Sunday I went at applying the water sealer to the railings and posts on the deck which was another rather large, tedious job... there are 92 of those upright thingies... but I got through it in good shape with no injuries that I remember.  On Monday I sprayed the sealer on the deck surfaces. 

Somewhere during the weekend I got out to find a nice, big clock for the porch and I found one.  That's it hanging over on the brick wall. 

There you have it!  The upright boards extending down from the porch level were put up to keep Rossi... David, Samantha and Hannah's dog... from getting under there and getting tangled up.  The boards came from a fenced in section that existed to the right of the deck in this photo and that I took apart the first weekend the dog was a visitor.  It was where the previous owners kept their dog(s).  There is a section remaining that looks very much like a hitching post and I've taken to calling it the corral area.  Someday it will come down but then again, someday someone might bring a horse.  The last bit of work outside was to sow some wildflower seeds in a small section within the large section of "nothingness" that exists between the edge of the grass in the back of the yard and extends to the tree line.  If they do come up, it's going to be rather nice I think.  More on that as things begin to come up!!

One last thing... this is how the porch looked before.  Grey... green from the mold growing... top boards dried up, warped and cracking.  Hard to imagine people allowing that to happen to a home that they had built.  But, now it's all better :)