The Wind Comes Sweeping Down the Plains

I just experienced my longest power outage since the ice storm Oklahoma had in 2007. A little over a week ago a storm with 76 mph winds swept through, took out limbs, whole trees and power to over 100,000 home in the Tulsa area.

The main downside to this storm happening in the summer is that it is warm out so you can't even put your groceries on the back porch to keep them cold. On the positive side though it wasn't miserably hot like it usually is this time of year so it wasn't impossible to be in the house without power. My house never got warmer than 80 degrees, which while not particularly comfortable isn't unbearable.

The neighbors camped under their carport.

Luckily both my parents had power so I loaded up Ollie and a whole refrigerator worth of groceries and headed south. Of course, I never expected to be a nomad for almost five days.

The storm was pretty impressive, my giant maple tree was bowing under the pressure of the wind. I was pretty lucky. My tomato plants are all twisted, but I only lost a few small limbs (none of which were the dead ones that need to be taken out of course). In contrast some of my neighbors lost whole trees.

New Start

I was without power from Tuesday until Saturday night, during my first week at the new job. Which I love. If you're ever in the Tulsa area you should check out Gilcrease Museum.

The museum was founded by Tulsa oilman Thomas Gilcrease and purchased by the City of Tulsa in the 50s through a bond issue. Gilcrease collected art, historical documents and artifacts from the western hemisphere which means the collection includes some of the most impressive items of American history from Canada to South America and the east coast to west. We also have a certified copy of the Declaration of Independence and a huge collection of art by Thomas Moran.

I'm working in the development department which means that I'm using both my work experience AND my history degree. What are the chances?

Another Year

August is also the time of year that I celebrate my homeownership anniversary. I moved in on Aug. 1, 2009 which makes today the start of year four. I've made a lot of changes over the past several years. Including refinancing, building a deck, planting (and killing) things in the flowerbeds, painting the bathroom, installing pendant lights and so much more. Love this place!

Warmer Weather

This month has finally seen the temperature creep into the upper 60s to 90s with fewer freezes. Which meant I could finally get serious about planting things in my new flowerbeds!

You may remember me posting about Dad helping me build flowerbeds with landscape timbers and re-bar. Until now they've sat empty except for some dirt and weeds.

This weekend I went to Southwoods Nursery with my mom and grandmother and they bought me some azaleas to plant in the flowerbed against the back wall of my house. Of course, the planting couldn't be done without hitting a few snags. Apparently my sewage pipe is located in the flowerbed. Right where my perfectly spaced azalea needed to go. So instead of perfectly spaced plants I adapted my plan and planted the pink azaleas closer to the azaleas on each end.

I've heard that azaleas are hard to maintain, but the one I planted two years ago couldn't be happier and has required practically no work. To plant them I just dig a hole a little bigger and deeper than the plant. Fill it up loosely with peat moss (azaleas like acidic soil which is what the peat moss is for) and add water until the hole is filled with a soupy mixture. Then you plop the plant in, cover the edges with dirt and you're done.

The next flowerbed we built is at the end of my deck and I haven't gotten it filled yet, but my grandmother did bring me some jasmine from her house that I planted in it. Eventually it will grow up the side of the deck.

Before I could plant anything though I had to line the edges of all the flowerbeds with landscape fabric. Because we used landscape timbers to build the beds the soil can wash out the spaces between the timbers without something holding it in. Since the plants need to root deeper than the beds I couldn't cover the bottoms which made cutting the fabric to size a little tricky.

The last bed we built is in the sunniest corner of my yard and is for vegetables. It's funny that this is the sunniest area since when I moved in there were bushes growing along the back fence that made that area one of the shadiest parts of the yard. After cutting down the bushes and finally digging up the roots to prevent them from growing back the bushes are finally gone for good. I want to plant something else along that fence eventually, but something that won't destroy the fence.

This was actually the first bed I planted anything in since I went to one of the local herb festivals and stocked up on tomato and pepper plants. We have a lady in Tulsa that grows and sells heirloom tomato and pepper plants, The Tomato Man's Daughter. She has a great selection and I almost always buy my tomatoes from her.

Once I had everything planted the tricky thing was rigging a fence that would deter Ollie from jumping on the plants while he barks at the neighbor dogs. That corner is where my yard meets up with the others so Ollie likes to race through it, which may not matter once my plants are bigger than him, but for now I don't want him stomping on my plants.

I barely got my tomato and pepper plants in the ground before we had another freeze though! I cut the bottoms off of some milk jugs to cover the plants overnight so they didn't die. It actually didn't get as cold as the weathermen predicted which was good.

I'm excited to get everything growing, here's to hoping I actually get tomatoes and peppers and even blackberries this year! The last few years were so hot and dry so early in the season that everything dried up too fast.

In the front yard I bought some bushes to replace those that died a couple summers ago and Grandmother bought me a couple of new plants to go in the pots on the front porch with my silver sage.

Hopefully they'll survive, I think it looks pretty nice all together!

Other pictures from this spring:

St. Francis looked pretty nice with my tulips
blooming this spring. Irises and dahlias
are starting to come up now.

The garden bed has some sort of purple flower
that grows along the fence. Lovely (and invasive).

Ollie thinks he's a rabbit.
Or at least runs like one.

Titan, my brother's cat, enjoying
geraniums at my mom's house.

I know dandelions are weeds, but don't they
look pretty making a path to the forsythia?

I hate to mow, but Ollie loves a freshly mowed yard.

Have a Seat!

I've been debating what to do with my front flowerbed for a while. The bed is so deep that it's hard to put enough stuff in it to keep it looking full. My front porch looks pretty nice with the pots that I've added, but between the mortality rate of anything I plant and the size of the flowerbeds, my curb appeal isn't great.

I considered buying a fountain or a large pot to fill up part of the flowerbed, but ran into a few problems with both those ideas.

• I've got bulbs planted and it would be a hassle to find them and replant them.
• Fountains generally need an electric outlet and I don't have one in the front yard. I also don't have a spigot in the front to make refilling a fountain as the water evaporates easy.
• If I put a pot out front I'd have to fill it with plants that would only look nice if they stay alive.

Since big pots and fountains are expensive without all the upkeep and additional projects (like having an electrical socket installed) I began to consider something like a bench or garden sculpture.

I began leaning toward the idea of a bench fairly quickly. 

When I started looking though it seemed like all my options were either cheaply made or way out of my price range (one that I found was over $1,200!).

After looking online, at our local Lowe's and Southwood Nursery I stopped by a place in Jenks where I bought my chiminea a few years ago. Cobber Dean's has plants, but mostly they sell a variety of chimineas and outdoor fireplaces, garden sculpture and outdoor furniture.

Honestly, I wasn't even sure what the place was named--I had to look it up on my bank account. They are located on Main Street right in front of the River City Trading Post. But compared to other places I've shopped their prices are amazing. My bench cost $89, plus tax. And I remember my chiminea was much more reasonably priced than other places as well.

Before we even walked in we saw this bench and thought it would be perfect. The white matches the trim and stands out against the brick. The size doesn't overwhelm the space, but it adds some height to the flowerbed. And since it isn't solid like concrete it won't cover any bulbs I may have planted.

Next spring I'm planning to repaint the bench. Right now the paint is starting to flake off. I like the antiqued look it has, but I think it will look better if it has more white and less of the metal showing.

I'm also planning to arrange a few brightly colored smaller pots around the bench. But not much point in doing that until the weather is warm again--although today was positively balmy with temps in the 70s. It was the perfect day to catch up on projects like planting, watering or washing the car (which my neighbors across the street are doing).

I could also buy a cushion for the bench, but I kind of like how it looks without one.

This shot gives you a view of the pots on the front porch that I mentioned.

I also bought a bush to replace one in the flowerbed that died a couple of summers ago. I got that in the ground today since the weather is supposed to turn wintery on Monday. My hope is that by planting it now instead of in the sprint that it will be well established by next summer and not be as affected by the heat. The last two summers were so hot that I just couldn't keep up with my poor plants.

Tornadoes

So those of you who grew up in tornado alley know the drill. Find shelter, hide in a room with no windows and no exterior walls, bring a mattress, pillows, etc. Or head to the front porch to see if you can see anything.

The storms on Tuesday reminded me that I really have no "tornado hide-out" in my home. All the rooms have windows and my only closets with actual doors are tiny or on exterior walls. I ended up hanging out in my bathtub for a few minutes (even though there's a window in the bathroom) when the sirens went off.

Most of the time the storms don't even phase me, nearly 25 years in Oklahoma and no close call with a tornado (fingers crossed that that holds true for the next 25!) means that most of the time I don't worry too much. However, the damage to Alabama and Joplin and the way this storm was talked up concerned me some. 

It made me wonder if I should invest in some sort of tornado shelter. I know they make underground shelters or in home safe rooms, but I have a feeling those are way out of my meager price range.

What do you do during storms? Any tornado or storm experiences to share?

Owning vs. Renting

I rented at two different places once I moved back to Tulsa.

I loved my apartment. It was small, but it had the space I needed. Not to say that at times living there didn't irritate me. My neighbor kept weird hours, sometimes his alarm would go off for an hour at three in the morning. I can sleep through almost everything, but the constant beep of an alarm clock drives me crazy.

When I moved to a rental house I loved being out of the apartment. However, the limited storage quickly reminded me how much stuff I own. I was also frustrated that I didn't have free rein on changes in the house. I had to run any lasting changes by the landlords. Hated that. So I started thinking about buying.

One obvious benefit to buying was that I could make any changes I wanted. I could dream as big as I wanted and no one would tell me I couldn't follow through. The drawback of course was that I would also be responsible for financing not only my dreams, but fixing anything that went wrong. Did I want that kind of responsibility? Could I afford that much responsibility?

I finally decided that I could afford the responsibility. Furthermore I wanted it. Every month I rented I would get frustrated that so much of my money was going toward rent. I would never get that money back, and really what was I getting for it? With family in town I had other (cheaper) living options, why did I continue to pay rent?

I think the answer was two-fold. The rental house was much more convenient than either of my parents' homes. Plus (I reiterate) I own a LOT of stuff. If I moved in with my parents where would I put it all? And I enjoy the freedom of having my own place. But none of those benefits justified renting instead of buying.

Despite the home buying hype I was seeing several articles saying that owning a home wasn't necessarily the better decision. And for some people it isn't. But for me I think owning my own home was a good decision. It hasn't always been easy, but I have truly enjoyed it. I am lucky to have family in town and they are a great resource. My dad is my go-to person if I have a new project I need help with or if something isn't working and I'm not sure who to call. For advice on decorating, landscaping or refinishing furniture my mom is amazing.

Mainly though owning a house is a trial and error situation. Things go wrong and I learn what to do. I try something that works and I want to share my discovery with everyone. My hope is that my experiences (good and bad) will help all of you better navigate the tricky path of homeownership.

Have you been thinking about buying a home? Recently bought? What are the deciding factors in your decision?

Welcome!

I've been brainstorming for a good topic to blog about for a while. A friend of mine recently suggested blogging about being a homeowner as a single woman in my 20's. I thought, "What a great idea!" So far I don't know of any other blogs written BY first-time homeowners ABOUT owning a home. I'm hoping that I can be a resource for others as I share my experiences owning a home in the Midwest. Welcome to 'Young and Rentless'!