Re: [gardeners] Fourth of July in the garden

Annetta Green (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 5 Jul 2001 08:18:16 -0400 

> As a part of our day we went to Home Depot and paid for our new front
door. The
> old one is 27 years old and, while the door itself is in good condition,
the
> frame has dry rotted in critical places. All of this is being replaced
with a
> good steel door with leaded glass inserts, Miz Anne picked it out for
herself.
> It will be installed in a couple of weeks.
Hey, this is almost how we spent our weekend.  Only instead of replacing our
30 year old front door, I spent it sanding each of the little 5 X 8 panels
on either side of the door.  That is four panels across and eight down, on
just one side!  My fingers were raw from the sand paper by the time I was
done.  Then I got the fun to head to home depot and buy new hardware for the
door and a brass kick plate, along with paint.  Our old black, from mold,
front door is now a deep bright blue, with shiny new knobs, peep hole, locks
and kick plate.  There is also a new knocker, but the spaces between the
panels are not wide enough to fit.  We then hung our flag on the new flag
pole for our 4th of July celebration.

I cannot believe the work that went into this door.  Not by me but by
whoever made it.  Each of the thirty two panels is individually cut along
with the trim to hold in each panel.  I had thought it was carved from a
solid piece of wood until I had to buy tiny nails to stablize some of the
panels that were moving, and some of the trim that was loose.  Now if only I
could find a threshold that fits back into the space under the door.  Our
old one was grouted in by previous owners and is 3 inches wide.  New ones
only come 3.5 inches wide and are not tall enough.  I am thinking that I
will have to fill in with wood and get a really short one to fit under the
door.  Or buy the 3.5 inch and squeeze it in our vise to make it thinner and
taller.  I love old houses,  parts never fit where they should.  Right now
we have a towel shoved into the space to keep the A/C in and the bugs out.
Anne in FL
zone 9b, sunset 26
----- Original Message -----
From: "George Shirley" <gshirl@bellsouth.net>
To: "Gardeners List" <gardeners@globalgarden.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2001 10:42 PM
Subject: [gardeners] Fourth of July in the garden


> We played in the garden a bit when it cooled off this afternoon. Harvested
a few
> more eggplant, one giant zuke, about a half gallon of various tomatoes,
and one
> little cucumber. Not to mention the Giant Marconi sweet chile I found
hiding in
> the bush plus a few Longhorns off the bush too.
>
> Decided to take all this wealth and make a ratatouile for dinner. So, into
the
> pot went peeled and chopped eggplant, zuke, peeled tomatoes, scallions,
garlic,
> leaf celery, chiles, basil, oregano and a wee bit of olive oil. Simmered,
> stirred, and allowed to make its own juice in the covered sauce pan. For
go
> withs we had leftover eggplant and sausage dressing from last night with a
nice
> grilled sirloin. Followed with a small plate of cheese and apple slices
for
> cleansing the palate. Must say it was a nice dinner, even if I did cook it
> myself. One of the longhorns had a little bite to it so added a little
piquancy
> to the ratatouile.
>
> We watched Cirque du Soleil on Bravo interspersed with Pop goes the Fourth
on A
> & E and had a most enjoyable evening at home. Sleepy likes the ratatouille
(with
> the onions carefully picked out), the eggplant dressing, and the small
bite of
> sirloin she was given. She has always liked cheese and apple and the
crackers
> too. Now she is sleeping the sleep of the trusty garden dog who stayed
busy
> running squirrels and mockingbirds out of the garden this afternoon. We're
not
> far behind her as it has been a long but lovely day.
>
> As a part of our day we went to Home Depot and paid for our new front
door. The
> old one is 27 years old and, while the door itself is in good condition,
the
> frame has dry rotted in critical places. All of this is being replaced
with a
> good steel door with leaded glass inserts, Miz Anne picked it out for
herself.
> It will be installed in a couple of weeks.
>
> After that we spent a couple of hours with good friends, admiring the
remodel of
> their kitchen which was necessitated by a grease fire. Other friends came
by
> during the day to check out Miz Anne's allimagator. She's doing an
alligator for
> the local symphony. Think of Chicago and Zurich's cows, and New Orleans
fish,
> this time as 5 foot tall alligators. There will be seventy of them in Lake
> Charles, LA in a few weeks. I'm proud of her as the artists had to be
juried in
> and then their design had to be purchased by a patron. Her patron is a
family
> trust that owns about half the land, oil, and cattle in our area. The lady
of
> the family is a well-known local art patron. Not much money in the gator
but
> lots of exposure. O'fish-al-gator will be in place in about a month. He
will be
> wearing my old straw hat, carefully fiberglased to last, bib overalls,
holding a
> cane pole with a wooden fish on the line. His skin will be gator green
with grey
> fish here and there. If you get to Lake Charles, LA this year look for the
> gators.
>
> Life is good.
>
> Happy Birthday America!
>
> George, Miz Anne, and Sleepy Dawg Shirley
>
>