Disappointed but not giving up

Today I had great plans. I was going to work out at the gym, plant my 15 hornbeam saplings which came in the mail on Wednesday, and then go buy a new bike. So, I got up at 6:55 to go to the gym. I have a training plan this Winter to build up my leg strength to prepare me for bike racing next Spring. I'm doing 250 lbs on the leg press right now and am anxious to increase that to 270 soon. I could do it if it wern't for my darn knees. Every time I try to increse the weight too quickly I get twangs of pain in my left knee. So today I stayed on 250, but I had a dull ache the whole time. I rode the stationary bike for an hour, and at the end I increased the resistance and stood up for three intervals. This hurt my knee too. I left the gym feeling discouraged and thinking I'll never be able to race if my knees keep acting up like this.

When I got home I did a little last minute research on the proper planting techniques for my hornbeam hedge. I discovered that late November is not actually a good time to plant. Early fall is good, but the ground is too cold now for any root development to take place. So I had 15 plants with nowhere to put them. I decided to plant them in a wooden trough and keep them in the coal cellar through the Winter and then move them outside next Spring. I think this plan will work fine, but it was rather disappointing to have prepared a bed, wait 6 weeks for the plants to come in the mail, and then not be able to plant them.

Here they are, the poor little twigs, stuck in a box of dirt in the dank, dark cellar.

As for buying the bike today, I just couldn't bring myself to do it after my disappointing workout this morning. I won't give up though. I've been dreaming about this for over a year, so I'm just going to have to take a break for 3 or 4 days and let my knee heal and then start again. This time I won't try to increase too soon.

The Eagle has landed

Rather, the Eagleman is taking off...

I've finally finished restoring a sculpture that's been hanging out in my basement for over a year. I took on the Eagleman just before I started a new job last October 23rd, and now finally, he's ready to go. The sculpture is about two feet tall and made of copper and brass sheet formed and soldered together over a plaster mold. The thumb had broken off, and well, both buttocks had dents in them. So the buttocks had to be removed, reshaped and put back on and the thumb soldered on.

This week I just finished matching the color of the repaired areas using a combination of chemical patination, automotive paint applied with a detail spray gun, and tinted lacquer. I ended by waxing the entire thing to give it a nice overall sheen. and protective layer.

Now the final splinter is out of my mind and I can focus on other things, like the kitchen remodel.

Not just gardening

I really love gardening. When I go to stately homes and botanical gardens I always come home with renewed passion for turning my own backyard into an English walled garden complete with espalier fruit trees, neatly trimmed hedges, a koi pond. Oh and I'd love to have a 100 year-old Yew tree somewhere.

My current project is planting a Hornbeam hedge (carpinus caroliniana) to create a little privacy barrier for the backyard. American Hornbeam, also known as ironwood, will grow into a tree if you let it, but it can be pruned back to form a nice hedge. I plan to leave a gap in it for a gate, and then eventually train the hedge up into an arch over the gateway. Here's me in front of what I want my hornbeam hedge to look like someday.

But the title of my blog doesn't just refer to actual gardening. I am a doer. I am happiest when I am doing some activity, be it trumpet playing, bicycling, home remodeling, silversmithing, or gardening to name a few. Since I got married three years ago I have been learning to just relax and be. My wife enjoys sitting at a coffee shop and talking or reading. This is hard for me. But, since I value her as the most important person in my life, and love spending time with her more than anyone, I now go to coffee shops on occasion.

So here I am, a doer, writing a blog, something I have long derided as a pointless waste of time. Well, I can't guarantee how often I'll write in it. Incedentally, my two incredible sisters both write blogs, which when I can sit still long enough I really love to read.