Garden Seat Swing

The 9/11 Decade

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 06:00:11 +0000

The 9/11 Decade is a post from: Garden Seat Swing

What would be the best plants to plant around the edges of a childs play area?

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 06:00:10 +0000

To try and shed some light, my garden is maybe 35ft x25ft? Maybe! I have a corner shed ( on the left) I’m hoping to get a raised decking path from my patio to the shed, and paint the shed itself dark blue, with cream window frames. I was going to put a small seating area on the left of this path, and surround it with lavender, giant daisies, agapanthus, grasses etc.The right hand side of this path is a different story. I have a giant wooden climbing frame complete with 9th slide and swings! I’ll prob bark the ground instead of the grass, but what flowers would be best to surround this area? My kids aren’t crazy and destructive BUT in keeping with the cottagey theme I haven my head, what would be a good resilient yet attractive boarder to plant around here? Sorry if I made this confusing ! Left of the garden is sun sun sun, right of the garden is shady, the grass grows better here, I would like to bring little bits of colour in to this part

What would be the best plants to plant around the edges of a childs play area?

Tags:lavender,plants,window frames

Peeples Place at KHTS, Sept. 2, 2011

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 06:00:28 +0000

Peeples Place at KHTS, Sept. 2, 2011 is a post from: Garden Seat Swing

Tags:Google,khts

How to tell my mom that her home is to gross for my son to visit?

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 06:00:19 +0000

(For those who hate to read a lot, the short version is at the bottom)I’m having a terrible time thinking of what to do in this predicament! I love my mother very much, and she adores that she’s a grama now. Her biggest joy is to care for my son whenever she comes to visit me. We live 8 hours away from each other, so keep that in mind as I type all this.My problem is that her house is just to gross for me to handle. My second baby is due in June, and my mother wants to take my son for a month to help me out. But I honestly don’t trust her or my step father to make sure he’s not ingesting things or around things he shouldn’t be! Her home has always been gross, but I never fully understood until I moved away and learned that a house can actually look and smell clean 24/7. She has 6 cats, and a great dane. They used to have another large dog who used the main living room carpet as a pee pad for around 5 years. Now, the biggest issue is that the house is covered in dust, fur, and smells EXACTLY like a dirty litter box. The entire house, besides two bedrooms and the basement, is all carpet. It’s a big house, so I can understand it’s all hard to manage. My step father helps her very little and only picks up the occasional puke mess if no one else is home. Notice I said pick up, not clean. To top it all off, 3 of the cats spray on certain furniture constantly and you can guarantee they will pee on any bed left unguarded (they are all fixed), and one of the three will no longer poop in the litter box since she’s nearing the end of her days. Also, from all the peeing that’s been going on for the past few years, there is actually MOLD growing on various places of her carpet. Black looking mold.Last month, I stayed up there for a week and a half to house sit for them while they went on vacation. My 8 month old son learned how to crawl while I was there, and began getting into everything! I was also 6 months along with baby #2 and in the full swing of my nesting phase. I thought I could handle it, but I was completely wrong!I cleaned for an entire day by myself when I arrived, and it only helped a tiny bit. I dragged all the movable carpets outside, vacuumed the whole upper level 3 times, put baking soda on everything twice, had to carefully vacuum the couch and love seat which where literally covered in fur, and scrubbed all the wooden furniture. Within 24 hours it was all for nothing! The cats peed on all the wooden furniture through the night, they peed on all my sons bottles and baby food containers on the counter, they peed on some of his toys my mother left on the floor, the fur was back, and the cat had had a liquidy poop by the front door. All my mother could do was sigh and pick my son up to leave again as I cleaned AGAIN! The part that pissed me off the most, was that my step father refused to let me lock the cats up downstairs (access to all their food, water, and litter box needs) to make it easier on me while I was there! Of course, as soon as they left, I started doing this and only let the cats out when I could supervise them. I had to clean daily, but the air in the house actually made my lungs sore even with all the windows freely open all day long.SHORT VERSION: How do I explain to my wonderful mother that she needs to change so much before I will allow my son up there without me around again. I don’t trust her or my step father enough to keep it sanitary. I simply don’t know how to verbalize to her that her house I actually think is a health risk from the mold and cat urine.

How to tell my mom that her home is to gross for my son to visit?

Tags:carpet,cats,fur,mold

NFL Capsules – AFC North and West: With advice from Favre, McCoy dazzles for …

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 06:00:12 +0000

BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Colt McCoy showed up for his postgame news conference wearing a T-shirt endorsing a fishing tackle company.

Maybe best to reel in the expectations right away. After all, McCoy may have a tough time topping his exhibition debut.

Looking poised and comfortable in Cleveland’s new West Coast offense, McCoy outshined Super Bowl star Aaron Rodgers and was nearly flawless as the Browns beat the Green Bay Packers 27-17 on Saturday night, making Cleveland rookie coach Pat Shurmur a winner in his first NFL preseason game.

McCoy completed 9 of 10 passes for 135 yards, one touchdown and compiled a 152.1 passer’s rating — just a few points shy of perfection. The Browns, who have spent the past decade in a frustrating search for a franchise quarterback to lead them back to respectability, are hoping McCoy, may finally answer their prayers.

He’s off to a nice start.

“Pretty good,” McCoy humbly said in assessing his performance. “We understand we have a long way to go.”

No doubt. But for the first time in ages, the Browns, who have just one playoff appearance since 1999 and lost at least 10 games in seven of the last eight seasons, seem to be headed in the same direction. And, they’re counting on McCoy to lead the way.

Needing to get up to speed on the complex offense during the off-season, McCoy sought advice from a West Coast master.

Brett Favre was happy to help.

As the league’s labor lockout dragged on, McCoy went to Hattiesburg, Miss., and spent a few days with the three-time NFL MVP, who learned the West Coast system while playing for Browns president Mike Holmgren in Green Bay. McCoy gleaned all he could from the-retired-at-the-moment Favre, who won a Super Bowl with Holmgren in 1996.

“Since I couldn’t get coached, it was a great opportunity to pick the brain of a guy who played in the system for 20 years,” McCoy said through a team spokesman. “It was a chance for me to get a lot of questions answered. We worked on footwork, progressions, reads and things like that. It was definitely a positive trip.”

McCoy is expected to offer more on the Favre visit Tuesday.

Shurmur was encouraged by McCoy’s first outing in the passer friendly system the first-year coach brought from St. Louis, where he taught it to Rams quarterback Sam Bradford. Shurmur knows it can work, and is pleased with how quickly McCoy has picked it up in training camp.

“He was efficient,” Shurmur said after Monday’s practice. “He saw what was going on extremely well. He was pretty accurate with his throws and pretty solid with his decision making. But again, once you have what would be considered a solid performance, then it’s all about consistency and he was right back on the stick this morning, getting better at some things.”

McCoy will get a chance to build off his impressive debut on Friday, when the Browns host Detroit.

After dissecting the Packers, who were without star cornerback Charles Woodson and are currently thin in the secondary, McCoy was careful not to make too much of his strong game. He also made sure he spread the praise around to his teammates.

His night didn’t start well.

On Cleveland’s first snap, McCoy couldn’t find an open receiver, and in a panic, lateralled to rookie fullback Owen Marecic, who recovered his fumble. McCoy regrouped and completed five straight passes, the last a 27-yard TD strike to Josh Cribbs.

When he came to the sideline, McCoy acknowledged his early mistake to Shurmur.

“He said, ‘Coach, I should of just ran with it,’” Shurmur said. “He knows what he’s looking at. As we get more and more comfortable with one another, as he gets more and more comfortable with his players and the system, I hope he will progress next week.”

As for his progress during the game, McCoy showed he’s able to make the Xs and Os in Shurmur’s playbook spring to life.

On a crossing pattern to wide receiver Brian Robiskie, McCoy looked off the safety to the right, creating a slim opening over the middle. He waited for Robiskie to clear the coverage and threw him a low dart for a 15-yard reception.

“One of my favorite plays of the night is Robo,” he said of the play to Robiskie. “We run a little play-action deep slant. Normally, you hit that ball in the first window but they rolled the safety down and Robo converted over the top and I hit him in the second window. It was a nice job by him of staying alive. There were some good things, there really were.”

McCoy certainly made a strong impression on the Packers.

“You can tell he definitely studied us some,” nose tackle B.J. Raji said. “They did some things as far as getting him on the move and rollouts and quick West Coast stuff to get his confidence up there. And he did a good job and made the right decisions.”

Raji believes McCoy has all the skills to win as a pro.

“An NFL quarterback’s all about winning, and if memory serves me correctly, he was the winningest quarterback in NCAA history,” he said. “The guy can play, he can win games, he knows what it takes. He has a bright future, there’s no question about that.”

The Browns are counting on it.

Notes: RB Montario Hardesty participated in contact drills for the first time in more than two weeks. The Browns have been taking it slow with the second-year back, who is coming back from knee surgery. “It was fun to get back in football mode again,” Hardesty said. Shurmur wouldn’t commit on Hardesty facing the Lions. … The Browns placed OG Billy Yates on the reserve/retired list. The versatile nine-year veteran showed up Monday and told a surprised Shurmur he was done. Yates started three games last season. He does not count towards the club’s 90-man roster limit. … Safety T.J. Ward didn’t practice because of an issue with his tooth. “If you didn’t know better, you would have thought he got punched in the chin,” said Shurmur, noting Ward’s face was swollen. … WR Mohamed Massaquoi is finally out of the walking boot. Massaquoi hasn’t practiced because of a leg injury, but he’s getting closer. … LBs Scott Fujita (thigh), Chris Gocong (neck), TE Ben Watson and S Usama Young didn’t practice. … Former Packers general manager Ron Wolf visited Holmgren.

Steelers C Pouncey makes quick rise to line leader

LATROBE, Pa. (AP) — With all the injuries, position battles and chaos of shuffling players around the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line, the team considers itself fortunate to have a stable Pro Bowl anchor in the middle.

NFL Capsules – AFC North and West: With advice from Favre, McCoy dazzles for … is a post from: Garden Seat Swing

Tags:exhibition debut,outshined,playoff appearance

NFL Capsules – NFC: Jones ready for feature role with Cowboys

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 06:00:22 +0000

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — Panthers wide receiver Legedu Naanee’s decision to sign with Carolina was an easy one.

Not only was he familiar with the Panthers offense having worked under offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski the past two seasons with the San Diego Chargers, but the Panthers were also willing to give him an opportunity to win the No. 2 wide receiver spot opposite four-time Pro Bowl selection Steve Smith.

The Panthers signed Naanee as an unrestricted free agent late last week because second-year wide receivers Brandon LaFell, David Gettis and Armanti Edwards haven’t done enough to convince coach Ron Rivera they deserve the job.

“First of all we’re looking for a guy who’s going to make plays and willing to come in and block, and for a guy that can ascend and become that guy who’s going to take over at that position,” Rivera said. “I think the biggest thing right now is we’ve had nobody step the forefront.

“With a guy like Legedu Naanee, who has been a No. 2 receiver in certain situations in San Diego and knows the system, we thought this would be a good opportunity to bring in a guy who has that potential and ability.”

Naanee, entering his fifth NFL season, started just one game in his first three seasons prior to be thrust into a starting role last year with the Chargers. He started nine games in 2010 but had fairly pedestrian numbers for a guy playing in the league’s top-ranked offense, catching 23 passes for 371 yards and one touchdown.

Those don’t match up to what Gettis and LaFell did as rookies.

Gettis caught 37 passes for 508 yards and three touchdowns in 15 starts last season while LaFell had 38 catches for 468 yards and scored once despite starting just one game.

But clearly Gettis and LaFell have struggled picking up Chudzinski’s new offense and it doesn’t help both have missed valuable practice time with hamstring injuries. Gettis is expected to return to practice Monday night while LaFell might miss a couple of more days, Rivera said.

“We’re not giving up on anybody by any means,” Rivera said of the other receivers in camp. “We really believe that the other guys have the opportunity to ascend as well and we’ll make that judgment come September 11.”

That’s when the Panthers open the regular season against the Arizona Cardinals.

A lot can happen between now and then.

Legedu has said he’ll help out the younger receivers, but made it pretty clear he’s here to fight for a starting job opposite Smith.

“Definitely, especially with the other receivers not really knowing what’s going on and me being able to help out and kind of knowing the nuances of the offense,” Legedu said. “So I’m looking to take advantage of that and have a big year.”

Chudzinski spent the last two seasons in San Diego as the Chargers offensive coordinator and brought a similar system to Carolina.

“It’s helped me a lot having (Chudzinski) here, just knowing mentally where to line up and knowing the concepts of what’s going on,” Legedu said. “It’s a similar system. Obviously coach Chud(zinski) does a couple of variations — terminology-wise he’s changed up a couple of things up — but as far as the system it’s the same as what we ran in San Diego.”

NOTES: The Panthers said defensive tackle Ron Edwards will have surgery this week to repair a torn triceps, but haven’t decided whether or not to place him on injured reserve. Edwards said he tore the triceps during last Thursday night’s practice but didn’t realize the extent of the injury and didn’t inform trainers until Friday. … The Panthers claimed offensive lineman Bryant Browning off waivers from St. Louis and waived linebacker Kelvin Smith. … Rivera said fourth-string quarterback Tony Pike is still nursing a shoulder injury which is why he hasn’t been participating in team drills.

Arizona’s Wilson has torn biceps tendon

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson has a torn right biceps tendon and will try to rehabilitate the injury to avoid surgery that would sideline him for a longer period.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt would give no timetable for Wilson’s return other than to say he expects the four-time Pro Bowler to play this season.

“That’s one thing that is encouraging,” Whisenhunt said. “It’s just going to be a matter of how his body responds to the rehab. So far it’s been very good.”

Wilson, in a sometimes playful post-practice session with reporters Monday afternoon, wasn’t making any promises but is targeting a return in time for the team’s season opener Sept. 11 against Carolina.

“I would love to be out there the first game. I would love to do that,” he said. “That would be great. I’ve got a roster bonus coming up. I’ve got some things that depend on that, so I’d love to be out there the first game.”

The 31-year-old safety, who has played all 10 of his NFL seasons with Arizona, was injured in Saturday’s scrimmage while attempting to tackle running back Beanie Wells. He didn’t even want to talk about the surgery option.

“No, no surgery,” he said. “That’s negative. I’m dealing with positives right now. That’s a negative statement.”

The Cardinals have re-signed safety Matt Ware and waived injured tackle Brad Thorson (foot).

Whisenhunt said he didn’t know how long the Cardinals would give the rehab process before deciding whether surgery would be necessary.

“I can’t say if it’s a week, two weeks, three weeks. I can’t tell you what that is,” Whisenhunt said, “because I don’t know. I know this. My No. 1 concern is the health of Adrian. I know he’s a very tough player and he’d go out there with one arm if he could. So we have to obviously make sure that his body is healing correctly before we allow him to play.”

Rashad Johnson, a third-round draft pick out of Alabama in his third season with Arizona, moves up to Wilson’s place on the depth chart.

“Listen, this business is all about the next guy being able to step in and play,” Whisenhunt said. “Rashad’s been here working very hard for a couple of years and if he gets this opportunity, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he does a very good job with it.”

Wilson immediately began rehab exercises once an MRI showed the extent of the injury, including work on the field while the team practiced.

“As you saw today, he’s going to work as much as he possibly can to get back as quickly as he can,” Whisenhunt said. “I’ve learned in this business you can’t ever rule somebody out or say for sure somebody’s going to play. You’ve got to see how everybody responds differently.”

Although he made the Pro Bowl, Wilson considered last year a subpar season. Although he would not use it as an excuse, he was bothered by an abdominal injury much of the way.

“I can play hurt,” Wilson said last week. “Regardless of what happens to me on the field, it’s my responsibility to the team to be a leader, to be out there and show those young guys that even though you’re hurt, you can still play through things like that. Really, that’s my whole message.”

A team captain, Wilson is the longest-serving member of the Cardinals. He endured the years of losing before the stunning turnaround that led to the Super Bowl appearance in the 2008 season and an NFC West title the following year.

“I know what type of player that I am,” he said last week. “I know I’m a top 50 player in this league. So I’m just going to go out there and do my thing and let my play speak.”

In another injury development, backup cornerback Michael Adams underwent arthroscopic knee surgery. No timetable was set for his return, either.

Branch key part of defensive line overhaul

RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Alan Branch was looking for an opportunity to start. The Seattle Seahawks were happy to oblige.

Seattle targeted Branch as someone they wanted to acquire as early as the draft in April. When the lockout was lifted, the Seahawks followed through by signing Branch during the free agency frenzy of a week ago.

“I didn’t really find that out until after because of the lockout and everything,” Branch said. “Being a backup on a different team and knowing that another team wants you, that’s a really good feeling to have in your back pocket.”

Branch was quickly tabbed the starter at the team’s pass rushing defensive tackle position alongside the re-signed Brandon Mebane.

With Colin Cole on the physically unable to perform list and weeks away from getting back on the field, Mebane has added more weight for a move from pass rushing tackle to nose tackle. Branch will take Mebane’s old spot and will be asked to penetrate and get upfield to disrupt the passing game.

“I’m just a little bit more aggressive,” Branch said. “That’s the main thing. I’m still kind of reading, but mostly it’s just aggression. I’m just trying to get in the backfield as much as possible in this defense. That’s the way I kind of like it.”

The Seahawks’ coaching staff loves his athleticism. At 6-foot-6 and 300-plus pounds in high school, Branch returned kickoffs and punts for Cibola High School in Albuquerque, N.M., where he had three returns for touchdowns.

He’s got really good lateral movement for a big man, and his change of direction is good,” defensive line coach Todd Wash said. “We aren’t going to allow him to return any punts here, obviously, but we’re excited about him right now. He continues to improve every day he comes out and competes.”

The Seahawks have signed six players along the defensive line since the start of free agency. Branch, along with defensive end Jimmy Wilkerson and defensive tackle Ryan Sims are new additions to a defensive line that fell apart when beset by injuries last year.

After five games in 2010, the Seahawks’ run defense was ranked second in the NFL. Two weeks later, defensive end Red Bryant was lost for the season to a knee sprain, and Cole sustained a high ankle sprain that caused him to miss the next six games.

Seattle didn’t have the depth along the defensive line to handle the losses.

While Branch will mostly play inside, he has the ability to bounce out to the end position and back up Bryant if necessary.

“He’s really played all around,” coach Pete Carroll said. “We’ve had a chance to see him do all of the things, so we’re not going to ask him to do anything he can’t do. I want to see him do it all the time. That’s really what he’s come here to do.”

49ers agree on contract with Goldson

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Dashon Goldson is back with the San Francisco 49ers after all — despite all his tweets to the contrary.

The free agent safety agreed to terms on a one-year contract Monday to rejoin the Niners. Coach Jim Harbaugh discussed the addition of Goldson after Monday’s practice in Santa Clara, but said he wasn’t sure whether Goldson would be on the practice field for the first time Tuesday morning, an open workout for fans.

“We’ll see,” Harbaugh said.

While the team hadn’t formally announced Goldson’s signing, the Niners did say they signed tight end Chris Blohm to a three-year deal. A San Francisco native, Blohm had 27 catches for 270 yards and two touchdowns last year at Yale.

Goldson played his first four NFL seasons with the 49ers, finishing with 80 tackles, one sack and an interception in 2010 — but said last week via his Twitter account that he didn’t expect to be back after watching his team sign others who play his same position.

Last week, San Francisco signed safeties Madieu Williams and Donte Whitner — so, bringing back Goldson gives Harbaugh some experienced options in what is shaping up as a deep secondary that also includes safety Reggie Smith. Whitner is expected to be the strong safety.

Goldson has started 32 games over the past two seasons.

“I feel good with the talent in the secondary, and I think that really makes the competition that much better,” Harbaugh said. “Dashon’s a 49er, and I’m pleased that he’s coming back. We’ve had a couple of conversations, and I think he’s ready to get to work. Iron sharpens iron, so I’m looking forward to that. I’m excited that he wanted to continue to be a Niner.”

The 26-year-old Goldson — a fourth-round draft pick out of Washington in 2007 — had responded to San Francisco signing Williams, who spent the past three seasons with the Vikings after four in Cincinnati.

“To answer sum of the ?’S I’m not sure wht tht move by the 9ers was for, I guess to scare me … well it didn’t work. Try again,” he tweeted. “I’m definitely keepin an open mind. Meanin I won’t mind takin my talents else where to a place where I’m wanted”

San Francisco also added cornerback Carlos Rogers as the likely successor to Nate Clements, who started all 16 games at right cornerback last season but was released at the start of training camp.

The 26-year-old Goldson apparently thought he was parting ways with the Niners.

“Sorry guys thanx for all ur support but not gonna be back. See ya,” he tweeted last Thursday.

Earlier, he said, “I wanna be in San Fran and in camp jus as much as u fans want me to be but as we all experienced the last 4mnths, its a business side to it.”

49ers embracing offensive changes under Harbaugh

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — A week of strenuous three-hour practices had some San Francisco 49ers feeling that not much has changed in training camp since last year.

“We’re having some long, tough days out there,” running back Anthony Dixon said Monday, when the team returned to the field after a players’ day off. “I remember at one point, I was like, ‘Is coach Singletary out here?’ That’s what it felt like. But, you know, it’s coach Harbaugh now, and coach Harbaugh is a tough dude.”

But that’s where the similarities end between Jim Harbaugh and his predecessor as 49ers coach, Mike Singletary, who was known for conducting physical summer practices.

Harbaugh has brought some big changes to a team that has gone eight years without a winning season, and several of them are coming on the offensive side of the football.

The 49ers started a new week Monday in Harbaugh’s version of the West Coast system, a style that is quickly winning over many of his players and has them excited about its potential for the upcoming season.

“It’s making better use of the talent we have all across the board,” receiver Josh Morgan said. “It just puts everybody, even the quarterbacks, in the best position to be successful. And I mean everybody.”

The 49ers signed Harbaugh to a five-year contract in January to replace Singletary, whose expertise was on defense. Harbaugh, who played 15 NFL seasons at quarterback, built a reputation for offensive success while turning losing programs into big winners at the University of San Diego and Stanford before coming to San Francisco.

Harbaugh’s system is quickly grabbing hold of his new team, which has fielded one of the NFL’s worst offenses over the past decade.

The 49ers finished 24th in the league rankings for total offense last year during a disappointing 6-10 season, and that ranking was actually an improvement over the season before.

Despite stockpiling some quality young talent on offense in recent years, San Francisco has not finished higher than 23rd in total offense since 2003. The 49ers have finished 26th or lower five times in the past seven years.

This year promises to be different. Fullback Moran Norris has been with the 49ers since 2006, and he has yet to play in such a diversified offense since joining the team.

“I love this whole offense,” Norris said. “It suits everybody. Every role matters and I don’t think any (position) stands out more than others. It’s all in one big pot and you just mix it up together.”

The 49ers added to the mix late last week with the addition of free-agent receiver Braylon Edwards. A Pro Bowler in 2007, Edwards fills a void while Michael Crabtree, San Francisco’s No. 1 receiver, remains sidelined with a foot injury that could keep him out the rest of this month.

Edwards joins other former Pro Bowlers at the skill positions in running back Frank Gore and tight end Vernon Davis. With incumbent starting quarterback Alex Smith returning to run the offense last Thursday, the offense has picked up the pace with San Francisco’s preseason opener looming Friday at New Orleans.

“They’re executing it well, they’re learning it well, and there’s been a lot put in so far in the first eight days of meetings,” Harbaugh said. “Then, you go back and teach the parts. You put in the whole and then you put in the parts. We’ve got quite a bit in now, and I really have not noticed them hit the wall mentally, which is a good sign that bodes well for us.”

News & Notes

NFL Capsules – NFC: Jones ready for feature role with Cowboys is a post from: Garden Seat Swing

Tags:armanti edwards,brandon lafell,two seasons,unrestricted free agent,wide receiver

Family Outings: Paddling canoes on the Mississippi

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 06:00:18 +0000

My children and I have watched boats go through the locks on the Mississippi River, but this time we were in one. As the water drained, our flotilla of wood canoes descended deeper into the shadow between two massive walls.

Cold air wafted off the wet concrete onto our summer-warmed skin. Spectators lined the railing and peered down at us as we sank lower, lower, lower: Ten feet. Twenty. Twenty-five. We stared at the massive metal doors on the downriver side as the water receded and their height was slowly revealed. And everyone waited.

“The doors will swing open,” explained our guide, Adam Hoffman, who sat in the stern of our 24-foot canoe. “It will look like Jurassic Park. Then, you’ll hear the big horn, and we’ll move forward.”

Going through the lock at the Ford Dam in St. Paul was a highlight of our half-day paddle down the Mississippi River with Wilderness Inquiry, a Minneapolis outdoor adventure company that also offers trips around the globe.

As we found, you don’t need to leave home to find an exotic landscape. We sliced through the heart of the Cities and felt far removed from urban life. Traffic on Interstate 94 raced overhead, while we watched herons dive for fish in a linear wilderness. Houses and cars and joggers were hidden behind the wooded bluffs.

“I was a Boundary Waters snob,” said Greg Lais, founder and executive director of Wilderness Inquiry. “I thought Mississippi water was kind of a low-grade dump, a place to be avoided,

until I started going there. You’re totally impressed at what a beautiful river it is, at the wildlife. You don’t even know you’re in the city.”

Wilderness Inquiry runs dozens of Mississippi River trips every season, mostly with school and community groups, in partnership with the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area and other agencies. Its goal is to get 10,000 kids on the river every year. I went on one of its weekend trips open to the general public with my husband and three children.

We started in the parking lot at Hidden Falls Regional Park on a weekend morning in mid-June. A school bus took us upriver to our launching spot at East River Flats, a level grassy park just below the Weisman Art Museum on the University of Minnesota campus. We stopped at the bathrooms in the U of M boathouse and then gathered for instruction.

“Don’t use the paddles as shovels,” one guide announced, just as my 8-year-old son started to grind his into the dirt. We learned how to grasp the knob at the end with one hand and place the other on the shaft so our hands were about a shoulder width apart. Then, we learned the pizza stroke.

“Imagine you’re sticking your paddle into the oven and you’re trying to slide out a pizza, so keep the paddle flat,” said Hoffman, our leader, as he demonstrated how to bring the paddle out of the water.

Wilderness Inquiry owns a fleet of two dozen voyageur canoes that accommodate six to 10 people, seaworthy canoes that can withstand the wake of a barge without tipping. Seven of them were pulled onto the sandy beach for our trip of 60-plus people.

Hoffman set plastic step stools in the water, and we climbed in without even getting our feet wet. My 8-year-old eagerly volunteered for the bow position. I braced myself against Hoffman’s shoulder as I slid onto the woven seat next to my 11-year-old son. My husband climbed in next with our 5-year-old daughter, followed by a couple from Minneapolis. Hoffman pushed off and hopped into the stern.

“Put those paddles in the water,” Hoffman called from the back. “We’ll be rowing like Vikings here, all together.” He told my 8-year old to set the pace, and we turned downriver.

As we paddled, Hoffman shared river trivia: The Mississippi is more than 2,300 miles long. It drains 40 percent of the nation, nearly everything between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians. The heavy winter snow and spring rains raised the river to unusually high levels this year.

On the day we paddled, the river was flowing at 16,000 cubic feet per second. Imagine standing on the bank and having the equivalent of a dozen Olympic-size swimming pools flow past every minute. But the greenish river with its swirling

spots of foam still felt lazy to me.

We passed under I-94, the sound of traffic barely audible. Minutes later, we approached the arched bridge at Franklin Avenue. A pile of logs had snagged at the base of a massive concrete piling.

“When we get under a bridge, I really like to make a lot of echo,” Hoffman said. So we pulled in the paddles and hollered.

One boy howled like wolf and was answered by a reverberating pack.

Seen from below, the bridges no longer seemed like utilitarian roadways. They were awesome sculptures that rose from the forested banks like a series of triumphal arches we passed under on our journey downstream. Other things looked different from the river, too.

“We take these kids down here, and they’ve driven over the Mississippi River a thousand times, but they’ve never touched it,” Hoffman said. “They’ve never been on it. And they can’t believe they’re in the city. They think they’re in Quetico, out in the wilderness.”

We saw a kingfisher dive for fish, a family of mallards and a goose followed by a gosling. We saw great blue herons flying low or wading in the shallows and swallows that darted out of holes in the rock. And we spotted a bald eagle perched on a high, dead branch.

After decades of decline, the bald eagle has made a comeback, and four years ago, it was removed from the list of endangered species. At that time, Minnesota had more bald eagles than any other state, except Alaska, Hoffman said.

“Can you guess the state that had the next highest number?” asked Hoffman as he paddled. The answer surprised me: Florida.

We saw people fishing from the bank, but mostly we saw only traces of human activity. We passed steep beaches of white sand that had been sucked up and dumped by a vacuum dredge, evidence of the Army Corps of Engineer’s effort to keep a 9-foot channel in the river for navigation.

We also saw candy wrappers and chip bags in the water and shredded plastic bags that had caught on low hanging branches when the water was higher.

“Here’s a bit of nasty history,” said Hoffman, as we paddled past what looked like a steep concrete boat ramp. It channeled storm water runoff from Minneapolis. “They used to pour sewage directly into the river,” he said.

Just north of the Lake Street Bridge on the Minneapolis side, we glided past the angled silhouette of the Minneapolis Rowing Club, a spare and elegant modern building nestled below the trees. I had never seen it, even though I’ve eaten on the patio of Longfellow Grill, just a couple of hundred feet above it on top of the bluff.

“This is really interesting to me because I’ve never seen the city from this angle,” said my husband, who has run for years on footpaths on both sides of the river.

We pulled in for lunch ahead of schedule on a sandy beach on the Minneapolis bank below Lake Street. When our guides offered to show people to the park’s rest rooms, my first reaction was to wonder how there could be rest rooms in the middle of nowhere? We ate lunch on a blanket and the kids traced tic-tac-toe in the sand.

We also got a geology lesson from a National Park Service Ranger Abby Olson who was on the trip. Millions of years ago, the entire Twin Cities area was covered by an inland sea, she explained. As the sand settled to the bottom, it became sandstone. Mud and silt settled into a thin layer of shale, and then as the sea creatures died, their skeletons were pressed into limestone. We could see the three layers of sedimentary rock on exposed sections along the river.

My kids were more interested in how the river gorge was formed millions of years later at the end of the last ice age. More than 10,000 years ago, a massive waterfall in present downtown St. Paul eroded upstream, carving out the steep banks on either side.

“Anyone heard of a waterfall in Minneapolis?” asked Olson.

Yup. St. Anthony Falls is what’s left of that 200-foot waterfall. And, St. Paul residents have bragging rights. It was bigger when it was on our side of town.

As the waterfall eroded upstream, huge chunks of rock broke into the river. Thousands of years later, when the riverboats started coming, the rocks blocked their way, and that’s why St. Paul is where it is. It was as far north as the riverboats could navigate, until the Army Corps of Engineers showed up.

When we climbed back into our canoes, we could see the three white arches of the Ford Street Bridge straight ahead. This time, my husband sat in the bow, I sat next to the our daughter and the boys were seated behind us.

“Mama, I’m paddling,” shouted the 5-year-old, who had spent the first leg of the journey snacking and looking around. When her paddle hit her brother’s paddle, he scolded her for not keeping pace. Then, the boys bickered with each other.

“You’re going too fast,” one said to the other.

I bet the voyageurs were more coordinated. Hoffman told us that those early fur traders would have paddled 57 strokes per minute, and just to show us, he shouted out the seconds like a metronome and we struggled to keep up, suddenly feeling the breeze in our face.

“Now, imagine doing that all day,” Hoffman said. No wonder voyageurs died young.

We approached the Ford Dam around 1 p.m.

To the left of the dam was the powerhouse built to supply electricity to the Ford assembly plant. We could see the big blue Ford sign above the trees.

To the right were the twin locks known as Lock and Dam 1, one of 29 lock and dam systems built on the river by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to even out rapids, deepen the channel and make the river navigable. (The locks at St. Anthony Falls were later numbered 0 and 00).

“Imagine a giant bathtub with two big doors on each end,” said Hoffman as he steered us into the right lock and up against the wall. “We’re floating in the top and once we get inside, they just open up some drains and all the water comes out.”

It felt like we were coming into a dock, and a worker leaned over to hand my husband a line.

“Don’t tie it to anything,” instructed Hoffman. “Just hold it and keep the rest loosely coiled by your feet.” (Apparently, some boaters have tied on, and when the water level went down, their boats were left dangling in the air until a lock worker shut off the drain and cut the rope.)

After the other canoes glided tightly next to us, the doors closed and our tiny flotilla was corralled by two concrete walls and two sets of massive metal doors in a space a bit longer than a football field and about a third as wide.

We waited. Nothing seemed to happen. Then, someone exclaimed, “Wow, look at that,” and pointed to the wall. We’d dropped a few inches, and we could see a line of exposed wet concrete that had been under water seconds before.

“We’re really starting to move now,” said my husband, and he reached to slap a wet handprint onto the side of the dock above the water line. Within a couple of minutes, his handprint was far above his head. We were going down, but we couldn’t feel it.

“If you look behind us, there is water coming through the seam between the doors,” Hoffman said. And sure enough, water poured through the length of the crack. The metal doors were the only thing between us and a wall of water.

“It is totally normal,” Hoffman added reassuringly.

Then, the Jurassic Park downriver gates opened and we paddled out. Suddenly, we were in the sunshine. Motorboats zipped past. After seeing no boat traffic north of the lock, we had entered the party zone.

We crossed to the St. Paul side of the river, splashing over the wake of a motorboat, which prompted my daughter to cheer. Hidden Falls Regional Park was in front of us, and we saw people fishing from shore and playing in the water. We made a spectacular landing among a crowd splashing on a small sandy beach.

Three hours after we started paddling, we were back in civilization. We gathered in a circle for goodbyes and then went our separate ways.

“It was amazing how secluded and peaceful it felt on the river,” said Dan Gainey of Menomonie, Wis., who had come on the trip with his sister and three children. It was the first time canoeing for his daughter Catherine, 12.

It was also a hit with his son Charlie, 17, who has Down syndrome and competes as a swimmer in the Special Olympics.

“I like to explore nature,” said Charlie, who now wants to go on a three-day paddling trip with Wilderness Inquiry in the Apostle Islands.

Maja Beckstrom can be reached at 651-228-5295.

THE SCOOP

What: Touring the Mississippi River on voyageur canoes

Where: Mississippi River from East River Flats below the University of Minnesota to Hidden Falls Regional Park in St. Paul

Information: Wilderness Inquiry; 612-676-9400; wildernessinquiry.org

When: Public trips offered Aug. 27, Sept. 25, Oct. 1

Cost: $45 per person

Target audience: Preschool and older, all abilities

Crowd pleaser: Going through lock and dam

Avoid: Getting sunburned. Wear hats and slather on the sunscreen.

Tip: Pack a picnic lunch to eat on the sandy beach.

More: Read previously published family outings under “family fun” at MinnMoms.com.

Family Outings: Paddling canoes on the Mississippi is a post from: Garden Seat Swing

Tags:ford dam,river trips,wood canoes

What do you think of this beginning? Critism please?

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 06:00:23 +0000

I asked this before, but I revised it and was wondering how it was know. I was wondering if you think the writing’s good, if it’s interesting, anything that needs to be improved, and also, if you could, do you think you can tell me what you think is going on? Like who the characters are, the lands they were talking about, etc. I was reading it over and was corious what other people would think of those things. Music poured through the window and into the study. The sound of flutes and panpipes trying to compete with the banging of drums drifted in the air. Children shrieked and cried out elsewhere in the town, probably somewhere in the square. Joel stared out into the yard, hoping he could catch a glimpse of the musicians. He knew it was hopeless, even if they did come past the house, he would never be able to see them over the fence. Just like every year, he’d have to go out to town. Sighing, he rested his hands on the top of the window and pushed it down, blocking out the faint but beautiful noise that was calling to him. “You don’t even want to go out?” Berin asked from the desk behind him. “I do,” Joel started to say as he turned, “it’s just, I hate seeing them. It always makes me feel bad. We’re here in a rich house while all the other orphans starve on the street.” Berin slammed his book close. “Nothing we can do about it, we just got lucky. Be thankful.” “I am, it’s just-” “Last year there were a lot of elves,” Berin sighed as he looked dreamily up at the ceiling. “Only time of the year humans don’t seem to dominate the town.” He drifted off into a thought, probably of other elves and their far-off homeland that seemed to be a world away. The kind of thoughts he always had that time of year. “I’d like to go with them one day, travel through the country all the way to Vittora. See the castle,” Berin continued, “or better yet, travel all the way Kinsley.” “Vittora would probably be easier, you could walk there.” “Jeffery would get me a boat. He knows how much I love Kinsley. Don’t you want to travel? See your ancestors land?” “No. I’m fine here. Not to mention, there’s not much in Grassamor for me,” Joel sighed, sinking into a chair next to Berin. “Then come to Kingsley with me! It’s much nicer there, not to mention they’re more accepting of…” Berin trailed off and looked at the desk. “Mutts?” Joel finished for him. Berin opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by boats slamming against the wooden floor in the hallway. The door swung open and both of the boys turned to see Jeffery standing there. Dirt covered his clothes that clung to his skin. Drops of sweat covered his forehead as he tried to catch his breath. Joel looked down at his feet, he hadn’t even bothered to take off his mud-covered shoes. “Is something wrong?” Berin asked, getting up from his seat. Leaning against the doorway, he tried to catch his breath. “I ran from the town hall,” Jeffery gasped. He swallowed, wiped his forehead, and stood up straighter. “It’s, nothing. Joel, go take Xavier and Amelia to the festival. I need to talk to Berin.”

What do you think of this beginning? Critism please?

Tags:beautiful noise,day travel,drums

Four walls of fun

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 06:00:13 +0000

Some playhouses are made of plastic, and some of construction scraps inexpertly nailed together. Others have fire poles, climbing walls, electricity and sophisticated architecture. But whether modest or mansion-like, playhouses are timelessly popular with kids.

“It’s because it’s their own domain, their own place, and parents have to knock on the door to get in. It’s a place for kids to have freedom and their own environment,” says playhouse designer David Stiles. He and his wife, Jeanie, have written numerous books about children’s building projects, including the just-published “Forts for Kids” (Lyons Press, 96 pp., $16.95).

On a recent sunny afternoon in his Atherton backyard, 6-year-old Jake Griffith was happy to show his domain to a group of friends.

“Who wants to see a trapdoor?” Jake asked as his friends and younger brother Josh, 4, clambered around the two-story English-manor-style playhouse. He points out how a trapdoor on the side of the house connects to one under a bench seat inside the house. The structure also has a ladder, a slide, a gangplank, a skull-and-crossbones flag and a couple of little doors so perfectly kid-sized as to make the house nearly grown-up-proof. But the three trapdoors are Jake’s favorite part, he says.

Jake’s mother, Calla Griffith, says she frequently hosts other kids in her yard, and the playhouse is a big attraction.

“They run in and out and all around, and down the slide and up the plank,”

Griffith says. She and her husband bought the house for $42,000 at a biennial auction to benefit Rebuilding Together Peninsula, a charity that helps low-income families with housing needs. Griffith is also on the Rebuilding Together board of directors.

This year’s auction of 15 playhouses — in styles from Cotswold cottage to modern minimalist — raised more than $500,000 earlier this month. The most sought-after playhouse, “Backyard Outpost,” evoked a forest ranger station, and fetched $60,000 at auction.

Luckily for families who don’t have that kind of budget, it’s possible to build or buy a playhouse for much less. There are compact, plastic playhouses available at toy stores and home improvement warehouses for a couple of hundred dollars.

For do-it-yourselfers, there are playhouse plans and lists of materials for sale online and in bookstores, or kits you can assemble yourself. Depending on the scale and complexity of the plans, a few hundred dollars’ worth of lumber and hardware and some sweat equity will yield a great playhouse.

Those who are not inclined to hunker down with a hammer for a weekend or two can buy nearly play-ready structures online — again, from plain to superfancy, like the $9,000 “Victorian Mansion” available online from Lilliput Playhomes. Or parents can hire a designer and/or contractor to achieve their playhouse goals.

But before zooming off to the hardware store or to hire a builder, experts say these are some of the issues to consider before adding a playhouse to your yard:

Depending on the scale of the playhouse, your city or town may require building permits. Also find out whether there are local rules on setbacks — that is, how close can a playhouse be to a fence or street?

What’s the best spot for it? It’s best if the playhouse gets some shade so the interior doesn’t get too hot, says David Stiles. And designer Barbara Butler, who has been building playhouses in the Bay Area and elsewhere for nearly 25 years, says she favors a site “which has a little mystery to it,” such as near a tree or in an unused corner of the yard.

“You want them to have their own spot, like a secret garden, a nook, a wild place,” she says. (Her “Oblique House,” in wildly bright colors, fetched $50,000 at this year’s Rebuilding Together auction.)

Will the neighbors be affected by the playhouse or its height? Stand on a ladder to see what the kids will be able to see from atop the playhouse, Butler says.

“If you’re looking right into your neighbor’s hot tub, you might have a problem.”

How adventurous are your children? Do you want a climbing wall or fire pole? Or just space for imaginative play? Kids use playhouses to develop new skills, Stiles says, from simple things like opening and closing secret doors to sliding down a pole.

Butler, whose company, Barbara Butler Artist-Builder, is based in South San Francisco, agrees.

“I think it’s good to put in some elements that are too difficult, that kids can aspire to,” she says. Monkey bars are a good example, she says. “Moms have told me it becomes a rite of passage in the neighborhood when kids can do the monkey bars all the way.”

If you’re planning a ladder, fire pole or other climbing feature, make sure the surface under the playhouse is soft enough for kids to fall on safely. Bark chips, rubber chips and sand are all options, Butler says.

It might be a “just” a playhouse, but it might take more time to complete than you think, depending on the complexity of your plan.

“Keep it simple and make sure you have time to finish it,” says Walnut Creek homeowner Dennis Bernal, a self-employed roofing contractor. Inspired by the cottage architecture of some Carmel homes, he built a Hansel-and-Gretel-style playhouse for his kids years ago, complete with a river-rock facade, a wavy, shingled roof, insulation and electricity. Though he began the project in 1999, he says, he still has more river rock to install on certain parts of the house.

Some playhouse experts advise getting the kids involved in the planning and building of a playhouse. Bernal’s design was all his, but he says he thinks his kids appreciated how hard he worked to build it for them. And his late father helped him pour the concrete footings for the house, adding to its special meaning for the family.

Artists Doug Hellikson and his wife, Karen, have “the luxury of space” on their residential/industrial property in Oakland’s Jingletown neighborhood, near Interstate 880 and the Fruitvale district. So they’ve built their kids, Vera and Roy, a continually evolving playhouse, Hellikson says, often using found or donated materials. The playhouse at times has encompassed a loft platform, a jungle gym, a sandbox and a swing. Recently, Hellikson added a climbing area made of old fire hoses.

“What I’ve been trying to do for the kids is give them potential and not really a finished product,” he says.

Even kids without yards can have a playhouse or fort, says Jeanie Stiles, co-author with husband David of “Treehouses and Playhouses You Can Build,” among other titles. Her own daughter used umbrellas and blankets to make forts in her Manhattan home.

San Francisco entrepreneur Gitane Royce has a slightly more stylish and substantial indoor option: She launched Modern Playhouse last fall after she and her contractor husband built a wedge-shaped playhouse for their daughter. So far, the company has two indoor wood playhouse products — Wedge House and Circle House — and will soon offer an outdoor version made of recycled plastic. Her wood houses are made of apple plywood with a light-colored maple veneer, and children can decorate them as they like.

“I wanted them to feel like they could paint the walls if they wanted to,” she says.

Spurring a kid’s imagination is in fact what playhouses are all about, Jeanie Stiles says.

“You can make a playhouse out of anything. It’s really what you’re doing in your head that’s important.”

Contact Sue McAllister at 408-920-5833.

Who doesn’t! Here are some online resources:

Family Home Plans, includes a section for playhouse plans, familyhomeplans.com”Forts for Kids,” “Playhouses and Treehouses You Can Build” and other titles by David and Jeanie Stiles, stilesdesigns.com

CedarShed, cedar playhouse kits, cedarshed.comLilliput Play Homes, lilliputplayhomes.comModern Playhouse, modern-playhouse.com

Specialty playhouse builder

Barbara Butler Artist-Builder, barbarabutler.com

Rebuilding Together Peninsula. To see photos of this year’s auctioned playhouses, visit rebuildingtogetherpeninsula.org.

Four walls of fun is a post from: Garden Seat Swing

Tags:calla,climbing walls,little doors,ranger station,sophisticated architecture

The Red Sox field their least hyped lineup and get a win

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 06:00:18 +0000

Dennis Seidenberg, Bruins Defenseman

Dennis talked about what he is thinking about doing with his day with the Cup, the team’s celebration at Foxwoods and the rolling rally, how Brad Marchand is the team’s hardest partier, what it was like playing alongside Zdeno Chara, the job they did shutting down some great scorers, how nasty things got between the Bruins and the Canucks, what it meant to see over a million people at the parade and resting up for next season.

Butch and LJ Open the Experience as the Bruins Rolling Rally rolls on in Boston

In for Craig, Butch Stearns is with Larry today, talking about the 2011 Stanley Cup Champions and the ongoing Rolling Rally in Boston.

Mike Milbury, NHL TV Analyst

Mike talked about when he actually thought the Bruins could take home the Stanley Cup, how the B’s really grew as a team as the year went on, what he thought about the demeanor of the Canucks team, the importance of Cam Neely’s role in the organization, how amazing Tim Thomas was this season, if Thomas could actually be a Hall of Fame candidate and what the Cup victory means for Boston hockey fans.

The Red Sox field their least hyped lineup and get a win is a post from: Garden Seat Swing

Tags:boston hockey,brad marchand,bruins,defenseman

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