Shed Building Plans

The past week of rain and storms has the river running high and muddy.  Its early spring yet and things look pretty brown and dead but the sun is warm and things will start turning green soon.  The grass on this golf course I spotted across the river has got a good start.

Soon into my ride I started finding examples of Columbus excellent infrastructure catering to park users.  Bridges are a great combination of art and architecture and they always make for interesting compositions in my camera eye.

A big section of the bike trail is closed because of the work and detoured a few blocks through the city.  The detour was well marked and even protected with cement barriers from automotive traffic.  I felt very safe.

South of the city center the Scioto trails heads along the bank of the river for a few miles before abruptly terminating.  I wheeled around and headed back towards town to find a place to take a break.

One thing I really liked about the Olentangy Trail is that the designers kept the trail always winding and turning.  It made the ride a bit more fun than the arrow straight runs found on many rail trails that can get tedious.

I couldnt think of a better way to spend the day than laying around on my recumbent bike.  

good time and for short utilitarian trips around town the diamond frame wedgie bike really shines.  Once I got out on the open road though my old stalwart companion HP Velotechnik Street Machine proved to me once again that a longer ride can be a pleasurable, comfortable experience instead of the exercise in pain management that comes from sitting on a few square inches of traditional bike saddle and bent over holding those curly handlebars like they use in the Tour De France.  Its not all about kicking back and relaxing on the bent.  If youve got the legs and want to hammer you can certainly do that too. 

Im not sure what I like best about riding recumbents.  One thing is for sure I love being able to easily look around at the country side as it slides by.  Granted things are pretty much dead and brown looking but thats soon to change.  One of the best things about living and riding in Ohio is experiencing the change of the seasons from the back of a bike.

The first few rides out early in the season are always great.  Even on familiar routes that Ive ridden many times always seem fresh and new.  I didnt have enough time to head over to the local rail trail so I picked the medium sized route leaving from my driveway.  The southern part of my ride took me down through a bit of Morrow County.  This area is pretty much rural and you never know what you might see along the way.

  

So nice to get back out there!

 

I have been wanting to do something with this boring and barren area right in front of my house for quite some time now. I guess there is no time like the present. Especially when you are right in the middle of building a Big Intimidating Row Garden and a Chicken House mixed with a garden gate for the lawn mower to pass through and moving an aging and disabled father and all his crap. This week. I always do this to myself. It must be genetic. Anyhow, I have been playing with a drawing and design plan for this space on earlier posts and decided to just start. Then I couldnt talk myself out of it and put it off until next year.

 

I suppose you are now wondering what the trench is. Well, I will tell you. I dont know, it just seemed like the first logical step. I was planning to define the new planting bed with an edge then cover it all with cardboard and start layering dirt and compost on top of that. I figured the cardboard would turn the underlying turf into compost and it would allow me to not dig all that lawn out. I like to edge all my planting beds with river rock and thought I would raise this planting bed to kind of give it that garden room feel. Then after a rain, it dug up pretty easily and I decided..... well, I am not sure what I decided. I just thought I would start. I think I already have enough rock to edge it and will have to get dirt and utilize our huge compost pile in the back field. This area is always wet and I would like to get plant feet out of the soggy parts. It is a low spot in my yard.

 

As you can see, the outline of the planting bed only loosely follows the plan. Flat rocks are hard to find around here so I will make a paver walkway instead. The flat rocks I already found  will become bench landings or a nice spot for a little table and chairs. I suppose I will decide that one on the fly too. Funny how I plan to plan and make a master list to add to the things to do list. But my plan always changes at the last minute. Maybe that isnt so funny and I should seek help for this problem. But it works for me and Doyle has learned to roll with the punches.