Bauer Haus Spatlese 2009 Rheinhessen and German Buttercase Cheese

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Wine:

Bauer Haus Spatlese 2009 Rheinhessen         $9.99

[I’m paraphrasing various sources] This is a fruity wine, light and tasty with apricot, nougat and apple flavors.

Cheese:

Buttercase Cheese            $9.47

[Wikipedia] Butterkase is a semi-soft cheese with a golden natural rind, very popular in Germany and Austria for its creamy texture, buttery like taste. Its name, when literally translated means “butter cheese,” but the cheese is butter free.

Wine Review-

The wine was fine. The flavor was acceptable. It wasn’t anything special but it didn’t make me want to vomit, as another wine we tried did.

Cheese Review-

The cheese was ok as well. It was very cheesy, or how an American would expect cheese to taste. We ate it with some bread and it was perfectly fine.

A combined review: Both were good, not special, just good. They both served well on their own. They did not particularly enhance the flavor of each other. I would consume both if offered but I don’t think I’d go out of my way to get them. So take that as you will.

Spool cars

Spool Cars

We went to our electrical company and saved as many spools from the fire as we could. We chose 3 different sizes for our playground. The first thing we did was decide how to keep them from rolling about, as much as the kids loved that. My initial idea was burying them a bit but Husband was much smarter and suggested cutting them. So cut them we did.

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The kids enjoyed painting, for a few minutes at least.

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Hubby did a great job putting the steering wheel on.

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The results are great!

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Planter Box Porch Railing

PORCH RAILING PLANTER BOX

 

Before
Before
After
After

Our back porch had a trek deck railing around it. This railing was not particularly sturdy. The posts were cracked and it was beginning to lean precariously. Once the end post snapped I finally took action and removed the railing completely. Then I had to decide how to replace it. I finally decided on making a planter box railing. I thought this would be much sturdier and much more attractive. Plus I liked the thought of having my herbs closer to the kitchen (which is right inside the door to deck).

What to make that planter box out of was a challenge. I originally settled on 1″x12′ boards. However, I couldn’t find them in any of our stores. Ordering them in was also quite expensive. Prohibitively so. Around this time my husband began taking the cross pieces of telephone lines apart.

Here are a few pics of the materials used for the box. They are from telephone poles. My husband stripped them down and they worked just great!

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Here were these sturdy and FREE boards in need of a use. I immediately appropriated them for the planter box.

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I had to start by leveling out the lawn area.

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Our great pyrenees is a horrid fence jumper and we finally resorted to chaining him up to keep him in the yard. The area he was chained to was this lawn area and it quickly became a dirt and mud pit as he stripped it of vegetation. We finally electrified the fence and cured our GP of his fence jumping ways. We were all happy not to have to chain him any longer and now I could fix up the lawn area. I started with the leveling and then seeded it with grass. The seed took wonderfully and we had a lush grass lawn. Then came the realization that we were going to have to mow it and our only mower was the tractor. Grass was not going to work. So we tilled and planted clover. You can see that in my Yard Reboot post.

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Back to this railing. I leveled the area, trenched a level area for the boards and pounded rebar into the already drilled holes.

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I then started stacking these wooden boards, cutting and drilling where necessary. Unfortunately it turned out we did not have enough to go the full 5′ required for an appropriate height railing. So I made the board box level with the porch. I bought pig panels and 2×4’s to make a trellis/railing instead. Then it was filled up and planted with herbs.

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Oh, can’t forget the kiwi vine plan. In the corner of the box I installed a wood post and planted the kiwi vine right next to it. I’ve strung wire from the pole to the house and I am looking forward to a kiwi vine shade barrier.

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That barrier is obviously years in the making.

We aren’t completely done yet though. One side of the porch is being extended and made into an outdoor kitchen and I still have some work on the railing to do, such as painting and finishing off the top with a nice 1×2 board.