Paving the Way Around the House

The New Stone Age

Rose Quartz and Clear Quartz Crystals

My husband and I have lived together in the Ozark Mountains since 1978.  Our 1978 home was built into a rocky hilltop above a river which required blasting into the solid rock that became two walls of the full walk-out basement.  Living on a steep hill required some creative landscaping.  Terracing began shortly after we moved into the house in 1986.  I think we may be done now in 2014 having completed all the gardens we want and the leveled paths and sidewalks for access.

Life takes many paths.  It is not the destination but the journey that gives life meaning.  Every project was an act of love as we grew together and shared the joy as we worked together.  Our home is the center of our life and, like our 40 year marriage, has evolved as an example of reaping what we have sown.  To celebrate our 40 year anniversary and the completion of major landscape projects in 2014,  our yearly trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas included just the the right symbols to bring home - crystals placed on either side of our new back steps that are located in the center of our home and yard.  We will  pass by them every time we go outside and it is the perfect place to sit.  It is the bridge between inside and outside, rest and work, and of being alone or together.  It is now time to sit and view the life we have built together.

The Rose Quartz Crystal is the stone of unconditional love and infinite peace.  It is the most important crystal for the heart; calming, reassuring, strengthening empathy and sensitivity and aids the acceptance of necessary change.  It encourages self-forgiveness and acceptance, and invokes self-trust and self-worth.  The Clear Quartz Crystal is the most powerful healing and energy amplifier on the planet because of its unique helical spiral crystalline form.  It absorbs, stores, releases, and regulates energy and is excellent for unblocking it.  It raises energy to the highest possible level.  It is a master healer. 

"Crystals have an extremely high vibration that raises consciousness and opens the higher chakras to communicate with other dimensions." The Crystal Bible, A Definitive Guide to Crystals by Judy Hall.  

Main Garden Terraces from front yard to back yard.  Vegetables on the right and flowers on the left.

Lower Terraced Gardens between Main Terraced Gardens and backyard; mostly lilies,  irises, and roses.  The garden shed is at the bottom on the left side of the photo.

This is where the Terraced Gardens join with the new sidewalk.

View from deck looking down on new sidewalk that joins the Terraced Gardens

View from deck looking down on the new sidewalk towards the north corner of the house.

New sidewalk looking from north corner on left towards Terraced Gardens on right.

New sidewalk from north corner of the house to the front yard.  Bobi Kitty gave his stamp of approval by walking on it before the concrete set!

This is where the sidewalk joins the front brick patio…a very steep slope!

Bobi Kitty is checking out the last landscape project which is to be a small Native Plants Garden next spring.  The native rock and concrete retaining wall was in process of completion...

First, Keith scoops dry cement mix on top of the rocks set into concrete from a couple days ago...

Next, Keith sweeps off the dry cement mix to expose the rock faces and cover all the cracks and crevices...

Finally, Keith sprays water to wash off the dry cement mix from the rock faces and carefully blends the rocks and cement for an attractive native rock retaining wall.  

Last bag of concrete this year!  Sure have gotten our money's worth out of this old mixer bought in the early 1990's.

All the above photos were taken this last week of October in 2014.  We are expecting our first hard freeze in a few days.  The next group of photos were taken in 2012 and 2013 when the new sidewalk was begun.  It shows the preparation work…

First form laid had the local inspector checking to see if all was in order!  This wild vixen came around our yard a lot in October 2012 as she had a gimp leg and must have felt safe here.  Didn't see her in 2013.

After the sidewalk was completed along the length of the house, the connecting section were formed on the sloped joining it to the Terraced Gardens.

Transplants from under the oak tree were planted along the sidewalk in June 2012.

July 2012 had new block planters built.

Now in early 2014, the old wood retaining wall needed to be removed as it was one of the first projects and was now rotting.  The dirt behind it was very good and needed to be removed to a new location and will later be filled with gravel for better drainage so close to the house.

By summer 2014, we were ready to get moving.  After removing the old rotten wood retaining wall, the good dirt was hard packed from where we kept firewood and later used the concrete mixer when the basement floor needed re-leveling.  This large machine did the job of tearing out the wood and breaking the top layer of soil.  It was too big to maneuver around without damaging the deck; took out two support poles in the process!

We have rented this size machine before when we moved a lot of gravel around the gardens in earlier years.  It does a good job of digging and is small enough to maneuver well.  The good dirt here was moved to level out the washed-out slope on the north side of the house and to make a terraced native plant garden.

Took out all the good dirt until we hit the original rock.  Next spring we will fill with gravel and have a patio or fire pit area.

Good dirt was moved to level off this portion of the yard into a terraced native plant area.

Native rocks were roughly placed in the high end of this terrace and later were set in with concrete.

This is what the north side yard looked like before adding dirt and preparing for a sidewalk.  It is a steep slope with the front yard level with the main floor and the backside level with the basement entrance.  It was a big problem for many years washing out any attempts to plant grass so mulch was spread repeatedly.

This slope needs a concrete sidewalk before rain washes all the new dirt away.

We have completed all the concrete yard work for the year October 28, 2014.  Our path is clear and complete.  Time to enjoy the local wine trails...  

I Am A 2DamDays Kayak Race Winner!

2014 was the 5th annual 2DamDays Paddle Marathon put on by Lake of the Ozarks Watershed Alliance (LOWA) along with over 50 sponsors.  It is becoming one of the top annual events at the lake.  LOWA is a citizen based group who work to preserve, protect, and improve the Lake of the Ozarks, its watershed, and its natural resources, while maintaining the areas economic, social, and environmental health.  As a Missouri Master Naturalist, much of my volunteer hours are associated with LOWA.  This year, I participated in the race one day and volunteered to check in the racers on the second day.

My husband and I checked out the Dam2Dam Race for the first time in 2013 by supporting all the racers while learning more about the big picture.  We drove to all the sites the kayak racers put in beginning before dawn at the Truman Dam at Warsaw which is only about 30 minutes from our home in Hermitage.  We watched and learned from the experienced kayakers as we had just got our own kayaks but were not ready to actually participate in any race in 2013.  We got caught up in the excitement and vowed to be ready in 2014.  Use the "Search this Blog" tool on the right and type in "Kayaking in My Backyard" and you will see last year's blog article if you want to see our first year experiences as kayak owners.  I volunteered at all the monthly Kayak Meet-ups at Ha Ha Tonka put on by LOWA in 2014 and am involved in the newly forming Big Niangua River Trail which I blogged about recently and can be found just below this article or use the search tool. Unfortunately, Keith hurt his shoulder during the summer of 2014 and was unable to train himself for the race but he was a good coach and my support!

So I started to train on my local Lake Pomme de Terre which is just five miles from home.  Each Tuesday in August and September, Keith would take a part of his day off work to drop me off at the dam and pick me up 3-5 hours later when I called.  I started going from the dam to the Nemo Bridge.  Then I would go as far as the Pittsburg Marina and return to the ramp at Nemo Bridge.  When I got up to 14 miles, it was time to kayak the other arm of the lake which is longer.  Lake Pomme de Terre is shaped like a horseshoe with the dam at the north end about in the middle of the horseshoe.  The longer west side of the lake was about 16 miles from the Wheatland Ramp to Bolivar Landing and return to the dam and back to the Wheatland ramp.  There were very few motor boats during these times and sometimes I was all alone for miles and miles.  It was so peaceful and I got stronger and more skilled as the different weather conditions provided challenges.  My best time was 3.63 mph.  Average for my size kayak is 3.0 mph.  I'm as ready as I can be!

Pomme de Terre Dam

Nemo Bridge on Pomme de Terre Lake

Wheatland Park Boat Ramp on Pomme de Terre Lake

Turkey Vultures…don't stop...keep paddling!

After two months, I hoped I was ready for a much bigger Lake of the Ozarks challenge...

So race day was here.  The weather had been in the 80s when I practiced with only one day of 15-20 mph winds in one direction which was difficult and then I learned how much fun it can be to have the wind at my back and ride the waves on the return trip.  That practice day turned out to have given me more confidence which I really needed as race day was 12-15 mph with 30 mph gusts of wind and only 47 to low 50 degree weather.  I had to be brave for this challenge.  I was anxious and didn't know if I could go through with it up until I got in my kayak minutes before the race started.  I found my courage and decided I should at least finish the race. 

Ready…Set….Go and Just Finish the Race!!!!!

The evening before, there was a dinner and safety meeting in Warsaw for all racers.  There I met everyone and sat and ate with an Extreme Woman Solo Racer, Susan Tretter, who had done this race last year.  She assured me that there are plenty of support boats and she never felt abandoned.  Come to find out there was one support for every two racers.  That helped me a lot to feel reassured!  I had never kayaked Lake of the Ozarks and was unfamiliar with it other than by map.  It was at this time that the entry was closed and I found out I was the ONLY woman solo racer in the under 15' kayak race for the Sweet 16 portion!  I was sure to win as long as I finished the race.  Susan was one of two women in the Extreme Limited race which was for the 2 days and the full 80+ miles.  On the day of the race, her opponent didn't show so Susan also just needed to finish the race.  There was one other solo woman in the Extreme Unlimited and she was unopposed.  The only other women in the main two races were part of tandem teams with a men.  There were at least a half dozen 'no shows' on race day.

You can click on the 2DamDays Paddle Marathon link to see the race specifics but here is a summary:

There were 3 different races with a total payout of $10,914.58; the average payout per racer at $682.16:

1.  Extreme (Limited and Unlimited each broke down further by Solo Men, Solo Women, and Tandem) - 80+ miles in 2 days.  Speeds were 4.76 to 7.72 mph.  The solo man who won did 7.72 mph and his name was Carter Johnson from Sausalito, California.  Mike Herbert from Rogers, Arkansas was the reigning champion and was a three time Olympic and World Champion.  He came in seconds behind Carter.  This is where most money is won and brings competitors worldwide.  This year racers came from seven different states for all races. The differences has to do mostly with kayak size and types.  There was only one woman in each of the limited and unlimited races so they both won 1st place unopposed with speed averages of 4.76 and 4.90 mph.

2.  Sweet 16 (Unlimited, 15'-18',  Under 15' each broke down further by Solo Men and Solo Women; I was the only woman) - Actually 15.5 miles in about 3-4 hours.  There were 10 actual participants as 2 solo men didn't show up; the solo man in my class was unopposed (Gary Wiggins).  Of that 10; 4 were in tandems so actually there were 6 separate solo racers.  Gary and I came in at the exact same time at 4.12 mph and the other 4 solos ranged 5.53 to 5.85 mph.  So it seems that I raced the same as a solo man in my Under 15' and only about an hour behind the other solo men in much bigger kayaks.  The Unlimited included one of the tandems and the other tandem was 15'-18'.  I won 1st Place Woman Solo Under 15'.  I got a certificate and a little money and a whole lot of fun!

3.  Anything Goes (Solo Men, Solo Women, Tandem) - 3.5 miles in about an hour or two.  12 showed up out of 14.  Some kayakers dress up themselves and their boats for fun.  There are even some other crafts such as tandems, canoes, and paddle boards.  The speeds were 1.49 to 3.23 mph.

I did my personal best in speed as 3.63 mph was the best I could do in practice.  The wind helped a lot this day and combined with the added adrenaline of the race, my time of 4.12 mph was more than I expected especially when my goal was to just finish the race and get to the finish line at Captain Ron's Bar & Grill by awards ceremony!  I didn't need to compete with anyone but myself and the harsh weather conditions.  For fun, I would paddle along and visit with Gary who was also just wanting to finish.  We were not competing against each other and would each be 1st place in our own classes just by finishing.  Still, that was easier said than done!

My challenges were to keep my kayak from capsizing in the 15 mph winds with 30 mph gusts by mostly steering it in the right direction.  The WNW wind, when caught just right, moved me faster than I could ever paddle so a lot of the time I held my paddle up over my head to keep it from slowing me down in the waves.  That was the fun part and the safety boat was filming Gary and I as we rode the waves.  I hope I get to see that video sometime.  My direction was west but also north and south on this winding lake.  Definitely had to pay attention all the time and missing a few strokes at the wrong time could easily get the kayak hit with a wave and over I would go!

I had my cell phone alarm set on each hour so I would be reminded to eat and drink.  Being diabetic, I figured out what I had to do to keep up my energy for an insulin resistant condition in a high stress racing mode.  It was not easy balancing the paddle with granola bar, banana, energy drink, and water all the time trying to ride the waves and not get capsized!  Then the final 3.5 miles, the wind was from the west and I turned straight south to the finish line.  There was no eating/drinking as it was hard work the whole way just to keep moving and not getting blown over!  I somehow managed to call Keith as I was going under the bridge about 15 minutes before turning into the safe cove with the finish line at Captain Ron's Bar & Grill.  I almost crashed into the bridge piling in the few seconds I made the call to be sure Keith was at the dock to greet me.  I was coming in much earlier than we had expected!

Victory is Mine!

I joined back up with Gary that last mile so we could come in together although I had been ahead of him most of the time and he crossed the lake a couple more times than I did.  It just worked out that we joined back up and we were checked in at the exact same time.  Keith was in place to take some good photos at this point and the rest can be seen in this musical photo album I put together below.

2104 2DamDays Sweet 16
1st Place Women Solo
Under 15 Feet 

At the Awards Ceremony, I was the only woman that had made it in by that time.  Some of the Extreme Racers were in also but many were still out.  They started at 7 am Truman Dam and Sweet 16 started at 10:30 am at Red Fox Marina.  All the Sweet 16 racers were in.  The Anything Goes racers were mostly scattered with at least one of the two winners in the awards ceremony.

2014 2DamDays Day 1 Awards
(all kayakers that were in by ceremony time)

My musical photo album continues to the next day at Beavers at the Dam where I worked as a volunteer for LOWA helping to check in the Extreme Racers for the finals.  It starts with several photos of the top two Extreme Racers, Carter and Mike, who were only seconds apart!  I took photos of most of the racers as they came in, the final awards, and packing it all up.  Every photo is in the correct order of events.  You can follow the whole story from my perspective by clicking below…