At the Lake - Pelican Sightings

In the fall of the year, American White Pelicans migrate south through Kentucky Lake and what a thrill it is for a birdwatcher like me.

Maybe it is because of their huge wingspan . . .

or their long yellow bills with expandable throat pouches . . .

or even their orange feet . . .

Who knows the attraction to the American White Pelicans!

On Saturday, October 18, they came into Cypress Bay and very close to our boat docks. We weren't out in the boats looking for them as in the past. We were able to watch them dive for fish right from our dock.

You know I was snapping my camera as quick as I could.

Whatever it is that is so thrilling about the White Pelican migration, we always are on the lookout for them in the fall!

Linking to:

MET Monday @ BNOTP

AWWW Mondays @ Xmas Dolly

OMHG Wonderful Wednesday on Monday

You're the Star @ God's Growing Garden on Monday

Image-in-ing on Monday

Through My Lens on Monday

My Corner of the World @ Photographing New Zealand on Wednesday

Wild Bird Wednesday @ Paying Ready Attention on Wednesday am

Wordless Wednesday @ Comedy Plus

Thinking Out Loud Thursday @ Penney's Passion on Wednesday

Homestead Blog Hop @ Ridge Haven Homestead

Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life

Little Things Thursday @ Random-osity

Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner & Follow The Yellow Brick Home

Water H20 Thursday @ Roentare Blog on Thursday

Weekend Reflections on Friday

Saturday's Critters @ Viewing Nature with Eileen on Saturday

Mosaic Monday @ South and Mind and So On on Sunday

Sunday Best

Love Your Creativity Link Party @ Life and Linda on Sunday at 2pm

Sundays on Silverado @ The House on Silverado

At the Lake - Saving An Old Houseboat

There was an old houseboat at the marina on Kentucky Lake where we keep our Searay 290 and our fishing boat that no one ever came to. After walking past this old houseboat many, many times, we decided to buy it and bring it back to life. Many of us on the dock referred to it as a "ghost boat" because we never saw anyone on the boat. The outside of the houseboat looked really bad. I'll share a few pics so you get the full effect. These pics are after hubs used the power washer on the boat to remove the spider webs.

Now you are getting the picture and just how bad the houseboat looked. The last pic really shows you the condition of the outside of the houseboat. Were we crazy for thinking we could help this old houseboat come to life? Maybe so, but we wanted to give it a try. One positive thing is the slip the boat is in, is a 50x18 foot slip and those are hard to come by at our marina. We figured out daughter could sell the houseboat one day (way down the road) and put in a bigger boat in the slip if she wanted to.)

The first task was to power wash the boat to get the millions of spider webs removed. This was huge to just get this done. Hubs worked on the houseboat several days to just clean up the outside. But some improvement was made!

The title on the houseboat showed it was a 46 foot Chris Craft 1972 Aquahome. It wasn't called a houseboat but an Aquahome. It looked much cleaner with the cobwebs gone. Now to work on the painting of the outside. First, he sanded and used Kilz. Then he taped and taped to get ready to paint.

The paint he used was by Benjamin Moore MoorGlo Softgloss. The paint went much further than we were expecting.

Now here are some pics of the Aquahome after most of the painting was complete.

The ceiling of the front deck was the last thing to be painted because hubs was unsure what to do. The ceiling was wood just like the inside of the boat and had previously been painted and was peeling terribly. He decided to sand it then give the paint a try.

It seemed to be the answer; you can compare the half not painted with the half painted in the pic above and it looked so much better.

The outside of the boat is done for now and I hope you can see the improvements to the outside of the houseboat.

Hubs hung a new flag on the 1972 Aquahome (houseboat) and we are calling it good for now. Joint me next time as we begin to remodel/update the inside of the Aquahome.

Linking to:

MET Monday @ BNOTP

Image-in-ing on Mondays

Monday Morning Blog Walk

Nature Notes on Monday

Through My Lens on Monday

Tuesday Turn About @ My Wee Abode at 6 pm Monday

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life

Wordless Wednesday @ image-in-ing on Tuesday

Tuesdays With A Twist @ God's Growing Garden, Stone Cottage Adventures

WW on A Tuesday @ Bethere2day

Share Your Style @ French Ethereal on Wednesday at 6 pm

Creative Muster @ Fluster Buster on Tuesday at 6 pm

Wonderful Wednesday @ Ducks in a Row on Tuesday evening

Wordless Wednesday @ Ramblin' With AM

My Corner of the World @ Photographing New Zealand on Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday @ Comedy Plus

Thinking Out Loud Thursday @ Penney's Passion on Wednesday

Homestead Blog Hop @ Ridge Haven Homestead

Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life

Little Things Thursday @ Random-osity

Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner & Follow The Yellow Brick Home

FLORAL FRIDAY FOTOS on Thursday

Funtastic Link Party @ Two Chicks and A Mom on Thursday 9pm

Friday Faceoff

Fabulous Link Party @ Peacock Ridge Farm

Friendship Friday Blog Hop @ Create With Joy

Floral Bliss on Friday

Friday Features Link Party @ Penny's Passion

Farm House Friday @ County Road 407

Friday With Friends @ My Hubbard Home

Saturday Sparks @ Pieced Pastimes on Friday

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Garden Affair @ Jaipur Garden

Mosaic Monday @ South and Mind and So On - Sunday

Sunday Best

Love Your Creativity Link Party @ Life and Linda on Sunday at 2pm

Sundays on Silverado @ The House on Silverado

September Blooms - Garden Blogger's Bloom Day

Growing Zone 7b USA - Murray, KY

It's September and time to show our blooms over at Carol J. Michel's Blog. Come join me and take a look at my September blooms.

Growing on the Porch

Impatients

The Impatients on our back deck are still giving us lots of color and the butterflies enjoy the nectar.

Begonia

Earlier this summer, I repotted a Kimberly Queen Fern and added a couple of red begonias and some silver falls. All three of the plants have done great and the begonias are blooming.

Geranium

This geranium has been a pot for a couple of years and has a bloom plus several more buds getting ready to open.

Pots Along the Back Walk

Lantana

Another plant still blooming is Lantana. Happy that I used red and yellow lantana in my pots in the spring because those colors work perfect for fall.

This lantana was in my shop all winter and survived. We use grow lights and some heat to get the plants through the winter.

Another pollinator enjoying a drink on the lantana.

Cannas

A yellow bloom is on my canna plants in September. I have Cannas in pots that bloom in yellow and red.

Mandeville

The blooms are getting scarce on my Mandeville plant in September. I got a quick shot of a hummingbird moth on one of the blooms. They move very quickly once done drinking.

I need to get this plant moved to the shop for the winter. Once the nighttime temps start to drop a little, it is time to get them inside for the winter.

Growing in the Beds

Knockout Roses

Our knockouts are still blooming in the front sidewalk area. They should bloom through late October or early November. Frost will take care of the blooms then we will cut them way back.

Little Lime Hydrangea

A couple of new blooms are on my Little Lime Hydrangea that we moved to one of the Sunny Sidewalk beds in the backyard so it would get more sunlight.

That's it for my September blooms. Happy gardening - Judy.

Linking to:

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day on the 15th of the month

MET Monday @ BNOTP

Image-in-ing on Mondays

Monday Morning Blog Walk

Nature Notes on Monday

OMHG Wonderful Wednesday on Monday

Through My Lens on Monday

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life

Tuesdays With A Twist @ God's Growing Garden, Stone Cottage Adventures

WW on A Tuesday @ Bethere2day

Share Your Style @ French Ethereal on Wednesday at 6 pm

Tuesday Turn About @ My Wee Abode at 6 pm

Creative Muster @ Fluster Buster on Tuesday at 6 pm

Wonderful Wednesday @ Ducks in a Row on Tuesday evening

Wordless Wednesday @ Ramblin' With AM

My Corner of the World @ Photographing New Zealand on Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday @ Comedy Plus

Thinking Out Loud Thursday @ Penney's Passion on Wednesday

Homestead Blog Hop @ Ridge Haven Homestead

Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life

Little Things Thursday @ Random-osity

Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner & Follow The Yellow Brick Home

FLORAL FRIDAY FOTOS on Thursday

Funtastic Link Party @ Two Chicks and A Mom on Thursday 9pm

Friday Faceoff

Fabulous Link Party @ Peacock Ridge Farm

Friendship Friday Blog Hop @ Create With Joy

Floral Bliss on Friday

Friday Features Link Party @ Penny's Passion

Farm House Friday @ County Road 407

Friday With Friends @ My Hubbard Home

Saturday Sparks @ Pieced Pastimes on Friday

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Garden Affair @ Jaipur Garden

Mosaic Monday @ South and Mind and So On - Sunday

Love Your Creativity Link Party @ Life and Linda on Sunday at 2pm

Sundays on Silverado @ The House on Silverado

Cardboard and Mulch in the Hydrangea Garden

Yes, it is hot here in Western Kentucky, but we are still making progress in the Hydrangea Garden. My husband is the tough guy who can take the heat. He had planted then moved some of hydrangeas (the limelight's needed more sun) in June and July.

After doing a little research, we decided to use cardboard around the hydrangeas instead of weed barrier fabric. Since I'm still not back to par from my two back surgeries in April, I'm pretty useless right now when much hard labor is needed

After we got most of the cardboard in place, my part of the work came into play. I soaked the cardboard with the water from our portable watering tank.

The bags of mulch were put in place by Hubs.

We wanted to use a dark brown mulch. Hubs spread most of the mulch and I helped a little.

Sadly, we ran out of cardboard before the job could be completed.

Our hydrangea garden project will continue as soon as we get some more cardboard to go around the outer perimeter of the garden.

While we were waiting for more cardboard, we staked the Annabelles in the garden. I am planning to stake the other hydrangeas because we get a lot of wind through the garden area.