365 in Zanesville & Muskingum County, Ohio

DAY 222 - Sinking Mailbox

2009-04-19T06:02:00.000-07:00

Two years we had the privilege and outrageous expense of "being sewered" by the county. The sewer's main line was placed under the road, which did mean less mess in the yards. The line was sunk really deep -- 20 feet or so. Now there's now a slight problem occurring. The ground is settling, the road is cracking, and things are sinking. Here's Sam sitting next to her mailbox. It's probably sunk about 2 feet, and still going down!

DAY 221 - Come Sit A' Spell

2009-04-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

DAY 220 - April Showers

2009-04-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

Bring May Flowers. . .

DAY 219 - Faithful Guard

2009-04-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

DAY 218 - Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T07:06:00.001-07:00

DAY 217 - Snow

2009-04-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

Not snow yet -- these are petals from the white magnolia tree. But a dusting of snow is expected tonight!

DAY 216 - Happy Birthday Paul

2009-04-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

Poor Paul -- he came home from work to find this in his front year. Love the pink flamingos. . .

DAY 215 - Blowing in the Wind

2009-04-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

DAY 214 - Pretty in Pink

2009-04-02T16:44:00.000-07:00

DAY 213 - Off to the Library

2009-04-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

DAY 212 - Gettin' Ready to Bloom!

2009-03-31T15:36:00.000-07:00

DAY 211 - Martin House

2009-03-30T16:41:00.000-07:00

DAY 210 - Apostolic Christian Church Window

2009-03-29T18:45:00.000-07:00

DAY 209 - Rainy Day

2009-03-27T08:02:00.001-07:00

DAY 208 - First Flowers of Spring

2009-03-25T13:38:00.001-07:00

DAY 207 - Signs of Spring

2009-03-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

The white magnolia is ready to POP. . .

DAY 206 - The Coal Train

2009-03-02T05:23:00.000-08:00

Twice daily this long train lumbers through Muskingum County from the coal fields in SE Ohio to the Conesville Power Plant in Coshocton County.

DAY 205 - Duck

2009-02-22T15:45:00.000-08:00

This guy was preening after a quick dip in the canal downtown.

DAY 204 - Which Way to Go?

2009-02-21T06:50:00.000-08:00

DAY 203 - Pretty House

2009-02-19T05:04:00.000-08:00

I'm always surprised at the gorgeous houses you see on some of these little, obscure country roads. I can just imagine the setting in the summertime.

DAY 202 - Shoulda Gone Here!

2009-02-18T06:50:00.000-08:00

Drat -- we could have gone here to celebrate Valentine's day!

DAY 201 - Fallout Shelter

2009-02-16T04:46:00.000-08:00

Sign of the Cold War. . .

DAY 200 - Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T16:52:00.000-08:00

DAY 199 - Bank Doors

2009-02-13T04:45:00.000-08:00

These impressive, huge brass doors are on the main branch of the Huntington Bank downtown. The bank was originally the First National Bank of Zanesville, then sold out to Unizan, and now Huntington.

DAY 198 - Left or Right?

2009-02-10T16:23:00.000-08:00

How often can you say in all honesty, go to the middle of the bridge and turn left/right. . . you can on Zanesville's Y-Bridge.

DAY 197 - Any Basketball Fans Out There?

2009-02-09T16:42:00.000-08:00

The grandparents of Sacramento Kings basketball player Kevin Martin live here.

DAY 196 - Old Town Antique Mall

2009-02-07T12:15:00.000-08:00

One of Downtown Zanesville's antique stores -- unusual old building.

DAY 195 - More Vases

2009-02-05T16:47:00.000-08:00

These 6 ft vases are just sitting on a vacant lot on the bank of the river near the Y-Bridge.

DAY 194 - Cleaning the Driveway

2009-02-04T09:36:00.000-08:00

We took a drive down a little country road and found this farmer valiantly trying to scrape some of the ice off of his downward sloping driveway.

DAY 193 - Little Country Road

2009-02-03T16:43:00.000-08:00

The main roads are finally cleared of snow and dry, but the little country roads are another story.

DAY 192 - Ice Fishing Anyone?

2009-02-02T11:12:00.000-08:00

See the white tent on the pond in front of the house -- must be some good fishing in that little pond.

DAY 191 - No Swimming

2009-02-01T08:03:00.000-08:00

That's Dillon Lake in the background, totally iced over.

DAY 190 - ICE STORM

2009-01-29T04:22:00.000-08:00

The past 36 hours have been interesting. The 10" of snow that was predicted turned into ½" of ice. That huge storm tracked just slightly north and we got the ice instead of big snow. To add insult to injury mother nature then dropped 4" of snow onto the ice. Some areas to our north got 15" of snow, but thankfully they didn't get the ice -- give me snow any day! We lost power for about 10 hours yesterday -- power may not be restored to all people in the area until Saturday.

Buds on magnolia tree

This is the main state route. These vehicles were part of a long line of vehicles following the snow plow down the road. The road is still icy and treacherous. Level 2 snow emergency, which means stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.

Another shot of the magnolia tree entombed in ice.

Here's the driveway -- about 2" of icy slush. Then we got 4" of snow on top of that! Thank goodness our neighbor arrived after dark with his tractor and slow blade and cleaned off the bulk of the drive.

Rhododendron and azalea bushes -- the sun finally appeared late in the afternoon after the storm exited the area.

This is our little side street -- a snow plow had been through once already.

Rhododendron flower bud

Azalea flower bud

Electric power line

Neighbor boy having fun

Birdfeeders were really busy today

DAY 189 - Icy River

2009-01-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

This is the Muskingum River about 2 miles north of the Y-Bridge -- totally iced over.

DAY 188 - Y-Bridge in Winter

2009-01-25T14:46:00.001-08:00

Here's the Y-Bridge in winter -- there's a little ice along the shoreline on the right. The river up and downstream is solid ice. The movement of the water over the dam upstream and the confluence of the two rivers coming together creates enough current to keep the water reasonably icefree around the bridge.

DAY 187 - Y-Bridge Mural

2009-01-24T13:58:00.000-08:00

This mural covers the entire side wall of the Zanesville Dental Center downtown.

DAY 186 - Cold Playground

2009-01-23T12:11:00.000-08:00

Mom took me for a walk at Dillon State Park today -- no kids on the playground for me to play with, but lots of good smells! I left a bunch of p-mail. . .

DAY 185 - Woodpecker

2009-01-22T16:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks for lunch, lady.........

DAY 184 - Finally Some Blue Sky!

2009-01-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

The last week or so has been so gray and gloomy -- today finally some blue sky!

DAY 183 - Stone House

2009-01-20T06:25:00.000-08:00

Embossed Effect

DAY 182 - Dillon Dam

2009-01-19T13:18:00.000-08:00

Dam at Dillon State Park on this cold, gloomy wintery day. . .

DAY 181 - Heatwave in the Low 20's Today!

2009-01-18T17:39:00.000-08:00

DAY 180 - For the Birds

2009-01-17T15:46:00.000-08:00

Temperature this morning: -17

DAY 179 - TEMPERATURE MINUS 11

2009-01-16T04:50:00.000-08:00

7:51 a.m. Temperature -11

DAY 178 - The View Outside Today

2009-01-14T13:03:00.001-08:00

4" of snow and still falling. . .

DAY 177 - We Buy Gold

2009-01-13T20:51:00.000-08:00

DAY 176 - BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

2009-01-12T08:04:00.000-08:00

Single digit highs by the end of the week -- I'm so ready for spring!

DAY 175 - Green Metal Roof House

2009-01-11T06:52:00.000-08:00

DAY 174 - Ivy

2009-01-09T13:15:00.000-08:00

DAY 173 - Snowy Morning

2009-01-08T15:07:00.001-08:00

DAY 172 - Hartstone Pottery

2009-01-07T04:57:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite places to shop. . . one of the few surviving potteries in the area for handmade stoneware dinnerware. If you're ever in the area, it is definitely a "must stop."

http://www.hartstonepottery.com/

DAY 171 - Orange Doors

2009-01-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

Now I've seen many white, burgundy, green, black, and brown front doors -- but an orange front door is rather unsual around here.

DAY 170 - Fat Jerry's Alligator Alley

2009-01-05T15:44:00.000-08:00

Local watering hole. . .

DAY 169 - Church Architecture

2009-01-04T15:36:00.000-08:00

Interesting church architecture. . .

DAY 168 - Horse and Jockey

2009-01-03T06:37:00.001-08:00

Unusual front yard decoration. . .

DAY 167 - Old County Home

2009-01-02T07:32:00.000-08:00

The 100+ year old county home was vacated in November of 2008. The residents were moved to a facility owned by a private healthcare business that was vacant at the time. Now, the question is does the county continue to finance a county home with tax dollars or turn it over to a private organization.

DAY 166 - Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-01T15:04:00.000-08:00

The first morning sky of the New Year

And traditional New Year's dinner -- barbecued pork ribs, fried cabbage, and potatoes.

DAY 165 - No Fishing

2008-12-31T13:36:00.000-08:00

I drove through one of the area's hoity-toity areas yesterday -- homes probably start at $500,00 and go up from there. This one is currently under construction with this huge pond in front of it.

DAY 164 - Snow's Coming??

2008-12-30T18:15:00.000-08:00

The highway department must think bad weather's on the way -- on my way home I saw they had started to treat the 4-lane -- see those lines on the pavement -- that's a salt treatment that they put down before snow hits.

DAY 163 - One Last Holiday Photo

2008-12-29T07:45:00.000-08:00

This is the front of the St. Thomas Catholic School, across the street from yesterday's church doors.

DAY 162 - Church Doors

2008-12-28T15:34:00.000-08:00

St. Thomas Church

DAY 161 - ZBus

2008-12-27T19:39:00.000-08:00

Whenever I hear the name of the local bus company -- ZBus -- I picture the little guy on Fantasy Island yelling ZPlane, ZPlane!

DAY 160 - Furniture Tent

2008-12-26T10:46:00.000-08:00

This big tent has been set up in the parking lot of the local mall since Thanksgiving. It's from one of the large furniture dealers out of one of the Carolinas, South maybe?

Anyone for a sofa??

DAY 159 - Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T15:24:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

DAY 158 - Christmas Puppy

2008-12-24T05:18:00.000-08:00

While taking pictures around one of the area's ritzy neighborhoods, I spotted this big guy in the window. . .

DAY 157 - Nutcrackers

2008-12-23T13:17:00.000-08:00

Some big nutcrackers. . .

DAY 156 - Mediterranean House

2008-12-22T07:15:00.000-08:00

This is one of the most gorgeous older homes in the area. It's a Mediterannean/Spanish style house with lovely grounds. In fact, the grounds are open to the public year round. I thought the color of the ribbons on the iron fence was odd though, it's a bronzy orange rather than the traditional red.

In the fall, the owners and their helpers plant thousands of tulip and daffodil bulbs for spring bloom. Then, get this -- after they've bloomed in the spring, they dig all those bulbs out and put them out of the sidewalks in bushel baskets for people to take, free! I've never timed it right to get some.

DAY 155 - Adornetto's Pizza Tree

2008-12-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

This huge tree is in front of the Adornetto's Pizza Restaurant -- the pizza people come home for -- best pizza in the area from a local business. They have really gone all out this year with the decorations.

Here's the other side of the tree, with a big decorated sleigh.

And all the tall lightposts are decorated with garland and ribbon -- There must be 15-20 lightposts around the property.

DAY 154 - Old Iron Gate

2008-12-20T15:01:00.000-08:00

I didn't notice the horse's head when I took the picture -- this is the green-shuttered house from yesterday's blog.

DAY 153 - Green Shutters

2008-12-19T05:52:00.000-08:00

The green shutters on this old brick house in Zanesville's Putnam area make it perfect for Christmas decorating.

DAY 152 - Old Blue Doors

2008-12-18T15:44:00.000-08:00

I journeyed to Zanesville's south side yesterday to drop some donations off at the local Salvation Army. While in that neighboorhood -- an old neighborhood, and a poorer area -- I shot some pictures of Christmas decorations on some of the homes. This poor old house had seen better days, but the Christmas spirit was still there!

DAY 151 - Sleigh Ride Anyone?

2008-12-17T16:22:00.001-08:00

All we need now is some snow on the ground to add to this life size sleigh and horse.

DAY 150 - Iron Fence

2008-12-16T16:23:00.000-08:00

Simple, but elegant. . .

DAY 149 - Santa's Watching

2008-12-15T04:40:00.000-08:00

This lifesize Santa figurine is in the second floor front window of the elaborately decorated house I blogged several days ago. Here's another shot of it.

DAY 148 - Ready for Take-Off

2008-12-13T14:08:00.001-08:00

This is on the deck of yesterday's Christmas house. . .

DAY 147 - Yardful of Decorations

2008-12-12T06:30:00.000-08:00

I did a double take when I passed this house yesterday afternoon. Yep, I had to turn around and take some pictures. This pic doesn't even show all the decorations in their front yard; I'll post more tomorrow.

DAY 146 - View Across the Street

2008-12-11T05:53:00.000-08:00

Our neighbors went all out this year for Christmas!

DAY 145 - John McIntire Library

2008-12-10T10:01:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love those big, old doors. Since the library added a new wing, the doors from this old wing are no longer accessible. I'll post a picture after the holidays of the front of the building, it's really pretty!

Why wait -- here it is! The original library is now called the Carnegie Wing, funded by a grant from the Carnegie Foundation years and years ago. The new wing is barely visible off to the right.

DAY 144 - Simple Elegance

2008-12-09T16:29:00.000-08:00

You know, all the lavish Christmas displays in people's yards are nice, but I'm still partial to the simplicity of wreaths and red bows.

DAY 143 - Colony Square Mall Decorations

2008-12-08T15:39:00.000-08:00

Christmas displays greet visitors to the Mall. . .

DAY 142 - Hub Cap Wreath

2008-12-07T16:23:00.000-08:00

This was one of the more unique wreaths from the Festival of Trees auction -- a vintage hubcap center.

DAY 141 - Festival of Trees

2008-12-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

Every year at this time the large meeting room at the Tourist Center is filled with elaborately decorated Christmas trees and wreaths -- it's the Festival of Trees sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. It is a fund-raising event to raise money for Chamber activities. This year's take was over $36,000 for the trees/wreaths and their accompanying incentive packages.

Here's the link from the local newspaper if you want to read more about it:

http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20081206/NEWS01/812060329/1002/rss01

DAY 140 - McIntire Terrace Christmas

2008-12-05T04:22:00.000-08:00

The McIntire Terrace area is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Zanesville. Several weeks ago I posted a picture of Zanes Grey's birth house, which is in the neighborhood (a rather small nondescript house). This is one of the big old houses in the neighborhood -- it's obviously been tenderly restored to its original glory.

DAY 139 - Look UP

2008-12-04T16:21:00.000-08:00

This huge snowman sits on the roof the Muskingum County Tourist and Visitors Bureau.

DAY 138 - Christmas at Seward Plumbing

2008-12-03T05:40:00.000-08:00

This house just looks so elegant with classic Christmas wreaths and garland.

DAY 137 - Pittsburgh Steelers Christmas

2008-12-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

This Steeler fan just had to keep his football banner up along with his Christmas decorations.

DAY 136 - St. John's Lutheran Church

2008-11-30T15:30:00.000-08:00

I've driven by this church for years, but it wasn't until yesterday that I really noticed the front of the church facing the cross street.

DAY 135 - Downtown Decorations

2008-11-29T15:51:00.001-08:00

Downtown Zanesville is beginning to look Christmassy -- the light poles are decorated with wreaths, candy canes, and other signs of the season.

DAY 134 - Let the Christmas Decorations Begin

2008-11-28T06:15:00.000-08:00

Driving home last night after Thanksgiving dinner, we spotted our first large Christmas display. Strangely, though, this street is usually ablaze with Christmas light and decorations on Thanksgiving evening -- this was the only one there so far this year.

DAY 133 - Thanksgiving Feast

2008-11-27T16:38:00.000-08:00

Just some shots of our Thanksgiving feast and festivities. My SIL always makes enough food to feed a small army!

Little Katy was helping, but I'm not sure how much was getting onto the turkey plate.

Black raspberry pie and home-baked rolls. . .

DAY 132 - Thanksgiving Decorations

2008-11-26T09:53:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving decorations are few and far between this year. I shot these pics this morning as I was heading to the grocery store for some last minute items.

DAY 131 - Time for a New Sign Maybe

2008-11-25T13:39:00.000-08:00

Business Equipment has been a downtown fixture forever. How it's managed to stay in business with Staples and other office supply stores in town, not to mention the internet, it beyond me. But do you think maybe it's time for them to update their signage?

DAY 130 - Hay Turkey

2008-11-24T16:01:00.000-08:00

Here's another one of those ingenious turkeys made out of hay. . . it's hard to tell how tall he is by the picture, probably about 6-7 feet tall to the top of his head.

DAY 129 - Faith UMC

2008-11-23T11:40:00.000-08:00

Faith United Methodist Church at night. . .

DAY 128 - Have a Gobbly Good Holiday

2008-11-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

The local dental office always has a cute saying on their signboard. . . I can't believe Thanksgiving is only five days away, then comes Christmas, then those long, cold winter months that seem to drag on forever.

DAY 127 - Another Cold Morning

2008-11-21T13:24:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, these cold mornings are now the norm rather than the exception. Except, it's been running about 20 degrees colder than normal for SE Ohio at this time of the year -- highs should be in the 50s, they've been in the 30's and today is only in the high 20s.

These snapdragons are still hanging on to the retaining wall and still showing blooms. They were definitely shivering this morning.

DAY 126 - More Vases

2008-11-20T18:10:00.000-08:00

More of those 7' tall vases around the area. . .

DAY 125 - Now for Some Smaller Trains

2008-11-19T06:54:00.000-08:00

Sunday we went to an open house sponsored by the Zanesville Model Train Association.

As you can see, they have a huge model train display set up on the 3rd floor of a local downtown business.

Kids of all ages were there in awe of the trainscapes.

Scenes ranged from cityscapes, to manufacturing facilities, coal mines, mountains and valleys. . .

And, a UFO complete with little green men!

DAY 124 - Snow

2008-11-18T12:51:00.001-08:00

Woke up this morning to the first accumulation of snow on the ground -- only an inch, but enough to cause school delays and closing.

DAY 123 - Trains Anyone?

2008-11-17T15:04:00.000-08:00

While passing through the lower end of downtown yesterday, I caught a glimpse of bright colors out of the corner of my eye. So, of course, I said "Turn around, let's see what that is."

There's quite a bit of slow train traffice that goes through the area -- the coal fields in the southern parts of the county send out a couple trains a day. And there's a new ethanol plant in Coshocton county next door that will be using the rail lines to ship tankers full of ethanol.