Saturday, March 30, 2019

Google+ Is Disappearing

This post should only affect a few of my readers, but is information that I need to let you know...



Google+ is disappearing as of the beginning of April. If you were a part of the Google+ community and followed either of my blogs on there, this will concern you.

If you will see not be seeing my blog posts for https://thishoosiersheritage.blogspot.com or for https://fledglingendeavors.blogspot.com because of Google+'s disappearance, please do one of the following:


For https://thishoosiersheritage.blogspot.com :

  1. ) On the right side of the screen, look for the word "Followers" with photos below it. Click on the blue Follow button below the photos. That's it! You should be able to follow the blog now.
  2. If you would rather follow by email, look for "Follow by Email" on the right side. Type in your email address and click on "Submit". It will send you an email. In that email, click on the "Confirm" button. That's it! You should now receive a post whenever I add one to This Hoosier's Heritage!

For http://fledglingendeavors.blogspot.com :

  1. ) On the left side of the screen, look for the word "Followers" with photos below it. Click on the blue Follow button below the photos. That's it! You should be able to follow the blog now.
  2. If you would rather follow by email, look for "Follow by Email" on the left side. Type in your email address and click on "Submit". It will send you an email. In that email, click on the "Confirm" button. That's it! You should now receive a post whenever I add one to Fledgling Endeavors!

I hope you have been enjoying the blogs, and will continue reading either, or both, and in the future. If you have any questions, please put them in the comments below or send me an email at mypassionroad@gmail.com.

Sunday, March 24, 2019

Spring Has Sprung in Indiana!

It's not that I listen to inanimate objects or anything

But when both the outside thermometer🌑🌑🌑 and the calendar were talking to me....
Yay!!! Spring has arrived!!! ♡♡♡
It would have been downright rude of me to not listen!  LOL

They were conspiring with my steps counter to get me to take a walk. I am very easily brainwashed, so I gave in!

And, so happy that I did!!!!

It was so beautiful outside, and the temperature was perfect.

Beautiful sky and the tree is budding!
Some of the trees have started to bud. And the bushes (I think that's what this was!).

Even more budding going on!
The almost-deafening sound of bullfrogs led me down to our pond behind the Cabin and Guesthouse. As I was attempting to look for the noisy little buggers, I came across this blackish blob in the water.

What could this blackish blob be?
The hubby helped me devise away to get a closer look without getting my feet wet, and I was able to take a better photo.

It looks like we have a whole lot more of those noisy buggers coming soon! Lol

I am not sure of how fast the life cycle of frogs are, so I will have to do a little research. 

Frog Eggs! Tadpoles-to-be!
Guess I will be taking a few more walks this spring to do some scientific research on the this "blackish blob"! I love watching little squiggly tadpoles!

What signs of spring have you noticed now that spring is officially here on the calendar?

Leave a comment below, and tell me about it!

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Following Your Dreams: Advice from Pa Salt

You know you love to read when you are taking advice from a character in a book! πŸ“–πŸ“˜πŸ“–

Doesn't everyone! Lol πŸ˜€

But wisdom can come from many places. Pa Salt is a character in a series of books, called the The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley. He adopted and raised six girls to adulthood. As they are all starting to go out on their own, they learned that he has passed away.

Learning to navigate their lives without him, the wisdom he imparted throughout their lives starts coming to mind.

~ "Trust your instincts, Tiggy, they will never let you down."
That's what Pa Salt had said to me many times. "Life is about intuition, with a splash of logic. If you learn to use the two in 
the right balance, any decision you make will normally be 
right," he'd added...

                      🌜   The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley   πŸŒ›


●Intuition + a splash of logic (in the right balance) = right decisions●


What a wonderful formula for following your dreams!



Many times, we don't follow our gut instincts because we are too scared. We talk ourselves out of following what makes us happy, before we've even given it a chance.

So, take the advice of Pa Salt!

Pay attention to your intuition, gut instinct, or whatever you like to call it. It's trying to tell you something ~ like a wake-up call!

Now take that intuition, and add some logic. Reach for the stars🌟🌟🌟, but also study the skyπŸŒƒ
as you do.

Crunch the numbers πŸ”’, look at the logistics...do whatever you need to do.

Just don't give up on your dream!!!

Keep following your intuition, adding that splash of logic and keep them in the right balance!

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Crazy February ~ Flooding, Flu and Flat Tire

This has been one of the craziest February's on record, I think!

We haven't even hit the half-point yet, and have already dealt with flooding, the flu bug, a flat tire...

Last Wednesday and Thursday, our whole region was just hit with unrelenting rain on an already soaked ground.

Flooding was everywhere. Residential streets were filled with water, as it couldn't run off fast enough. In fact, this Youtube video will show some of the flooding in a nearby city. It gives a good glimpse into what we saw.

Many local country roads saw damage, too. We live on a gravel road that usually has only some flooding problems.

But, then again, this was fast & furious rain for two days on already soaked ground. It was not our "usual", that was for sure!

Flotsam & Jetsam-Covered Fencing
The flotsam and jetsam that covers an area after flooding happens should not be setting on the the top of a fence. It should never make it that high! 

Our neighbor's fence tells a different story!

Neighbor's Chair Took a Ride to
Our Drainage Ditch

This green chair took a little water ride down our neighbor's hill and landed in the drainage ditch across from oir house. 

No big deal, right?

But in this case, something small like that caught all the leaves and blocked the drainage pipe under the road.

Which means the water went all over the road, instead of flowing its normal directed path to our retention pond as in the photo below.

Normal Path to the Retention Pond
Our road in front of our house was passable, but extremely rutted do to the heavy, heavy rain. 

So, yesterday morning, we were awoken to this yellow beauty! The couny road people thought we might need a little help flattening our road back out.

Our shock absorbers and tires couldn't even begin to tell them how much it was appreciated!!

Our Heroes!
So, let's see...Flooding is over, check! Road is getting repaired, check! Flat tire is fixed, check! Flu Bug is gone, Hopefully Check!

After the time we've had this past week, this Valentine's Day will be spent with an easy supper, just relaxing and watching a movie, and getting a good night's sleep!  

Gotta take care of each other!! ♡♡♡♡♡

Thursday, January 31, 2019

Woodstove + Polar Vortex = Update

With Alaska deciding to move to Indiana this week❄πŸ’¨❄πŸ’¨❄, we have had several people checking up on us yesterday and today.

SO,... Even though it feels like we are living inside one of these icicles right now.......
Polar Vortex means Living Inside an Icicle!
We just want to let you all know that we have been plenty warm in the last few days.

Getting Toasty!
The 70° F that you see on our inside thermometer is actually about the lowest temperature that we have had. It seems to be running about 70°-80° F on a consistent basis.

We do have a couple of small space heaters that we may run, if needed. But, they have actually been used quite infrequently.

Our Lifesaver!!!
Yes, we are living in a "shed" that is being converted into a house.  However, these Amish-built sheds are well-constructed, and ours already has insulation. We have covered our windows with plastic, and the doorways have "snakes" blocking any drafts at the bottom.

Our woodstove is very economical, and uses a renewable resource from a sawmill. To him, they are scraps. To us, a blessing!

We are doing just fine this winter!!! How are you doing?

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Beautiful Way of Learning my Directions


My husband will be the first to tell you, I am extremely lousy at directions!!!

πŸš—πŸ”„ πŸš— πŸ”€πŸš—

Do not even bother using silly words like North, South, East or West!
That only confuses me more, and we don't want any of that either!! πŸ˜•

But, after witnessing a beautiful sunrise, I have come upon a great way of learning my directions...at least out here at home!


The sun rises in the East.

Front porch of Guesthouse, looking Southwest.

Southwest in the afternoon means long shadows!

Southwestern sun and icicles

A view of one of our disappearing ponds,
and the creek (in background), looking Northwest.

Looking Northeast at our other
 disappearing pond

Tell me, what do you think?

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Big Step Forward ~ Woodstove Is Installed & Ready!

Baby, it may be cold outside...⛄⛄⛄

But, thanks to the skill and knowledge of my hubby, it is SO much warmer inside these days! πŸ”₯😌πŸ”₯😌πŸ”₯

In the past weeks, he has taken us from this woodstove sitting on our porch (awaiting someone stronger than I to help him carry it in! LOL)...

To this beautiful, heartwarming picture!

Warm Fire 

How did we get from there? I am so glad you asked!!

Because he did all of the work πŸ”¨πŸ”¨, this post is only possible due to the expertise of my hubby! He had to write down all that he did, every step of the way.

Now, don't get me wrong! I did help! I handed him whatever he needed, and took all of the pictures πŸ“·

**Before I get started, I want to make sure that I add the following disclaimers:

  • This post is how we installed our woodstove. It is not meant for suggestions, requirements, or as a tutorial for your own installation.
  • Please consult the National Fire Prevention Association's website (https://www.nfpa.org) for codes and requirements for woodstove installation.
  • Also, Purdue University Extension Office has very useful information for residential woodstove installation. Please visit their website (https://www.extension.purdue.edu) for more information.
  • Always, always... Refer to the codes and requirements for your area!

So, now we can begin!

First, we had to put something down first to protect the floor from any heat damage. We chose to use pavers that we already had on hand.
Pavers for our Base
Pavers are not recommended by ghe NFPA because they can transfer heat.

However, our woodstove has a heat shield on the bottom. The heat shield reduces the heat to the floor.

Next, we worked on protecting the wall...

The recommendation for a back shield is to have it spaced 1" from the wall to allow for air flow. These little 1" square spacers seem to do the job nicely.

NFPA recommends 1" spacing for the back shield

But, where do you get them, you ask? Good question! ❓❓❓ He was able to cut them down from a leg from a broken grill. He had disposed of the old grill, but kept the legs because they looked like they could be useful. Good thinking! πŸ€”πŸ’‘πŸ€”

Leg from old grill was repurposed to make about 12 spacers
 for our 4' x 8' corrugated steel panel

The corrugated steel panel was then attached to the spacers on the wall,...

Corrugated steel panel makes a good
heat shield for our woodstove

But not before making sure the bottom gap was the correct spacing, also.

Installing back heat shield, using the pavers as spacing for the
bottom gap (min. is 1 1/2", our pavers are 2")
Once the steel back shield was firmly attached to the wall, the pavers were moved to their correct position to allow air flow behind the shield.

Pavers moved out to allow air flow behind
the shield. Cord for blower on woodstove.
Now, on through the wall, and beyond! A hole was cut in the wall to allow the "thimble" to fit snugly in place. 

I am learning all kinds of new terms with this project! πŸ““πŸ“πŸ““

Installation of certified "thimble". Rag was just to
block the cold air from outside!
The hubby then climbeded up on a ladder, and attached the stovepipe on the outside of the house.

Insulated stovepipe. 
One last step...He then connected the "thimble" and woodstove together with single-wall insulated stovepipe.

Single-wall stovepipe connecting to insulated
stovepipe before going through the "thimble"

Loaded it up with wood, and lit that baby up! πŸ”₯πŸ”₯πŸ”₯



When it looks like this outside...


But, we are rocking temperatures like this inside...


Makes it all worth it! 

It doesn't hurt either when someone gives you a full truckbed of firewood for only $20!

What a great way to keep warm and toasty!!!!