#stone restorations

[grandstonerepairs]

How Is Stone Floor Polishing Beneficial?

Are you tired of seeing the old floor with cracks and dullness and thinking of replacing it? Wait! Have you tried stone floor polishing? If not, then it is recommended for you to try polishing before you replace the floor. However, stone flooring is smooth, classy, and easy to manage. Read more https://medium.com/@grandstonerepairs/how-is-stone-floor-polishing-beneficial-6b005a13c23

[arc-hus]

Reichenberg Conversion, Taufers im Münstertal, Italy - Werner Tscholl

[hometoursandotherstuff]

I thought for sure this was a European property, but it’s in Myerstown, Pennsylvania and only $519K for a huge, ancient historic home- it was built in 1720!

How can they ask only $519K for this big refurbished home????

B/c Pennsylvania has very reasonable prices for homes. LOOK at this. 

Can you believe this kitchen? The old cooking hearth is still here. Plus, they put in beautiful cabinetry. And, look at the ceiling beams. 

Is this the coolest? 

Then check out this Americana style dining room. Whoever restored this home did a great job. This is like a ballroom. Notice the powder room hidden in the closet.

And, it leads to a hidden laundry room.

This room with bath was used as an office. (I guess they went modern in the bath, b/c there wasn’t anything to duplicate back then, not even claw foot tubs or indoor plumbing.)

Amazing. Look at the patina on the door and the charring in the fireplace. 

Looks like original architecture.

Here’s a gorgeous bedroom. they left all the odd doorways and cubbies.

Another bath.

Beautiful large bright bedroom. I love that they left all the quirkiness- the tiny storage closets, and mazelike structure- look at the little sink.

Here’s the workshop that they used to renovate the house.

A gorgeous property.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/382-N-Locust-St-Myerstown-PA-17067/86536198_zpid/

[worstloki]

Is there any evidence that MCU Odin does paperwork or has everyone been imagining he has an office and written peace treaties stashed somewhere

[soul-of-the-hero]

When you realize that now both Zelda and Link have functionally died, lost themselves, and remained in a magical stasis for many years for each other

[rainintheevening]

Chronicles of Narnia 30 Day Challenge — Day 23

Any part of the books/movies that makes you cry?

A few places in The Last Battle, naturally. When the last stand happens and everyone is dying or getting thrown into the stable. But more so the end: "The dream is ended: this is the morning." I always start crying out of sheer joy and longing.

I confess the movies make me cry more.

Ed’s revival and his hug with Peter in LWW.

I tear up every time, even though I'm also always smiling.

In PC, when Peter stops outside the downed portcullis, and looks back to all the trapped Narnians, and Glenstorm's son nods solemnly to him to say it's alright, Peter should go, they were always prepared to die anyway, and Peter's so horrified... I'm tearing up right now, just thinking about it.

But also when Peter's sitting contemplating Aslan at the Stone Table, and the way his voice chokes and cracks when he speaks to Lucy, followed by the strength in his face as looks out over the Telmarine army. Yep, yep, yep.

And then VotDT makes me cry when Eustace says goodbye to Reepicheep, and then I cry on and off for the rest of the movie up to the actual sobbing that 'As I know all Narnians will miss them, to the end of time' brings on, and Lucy closes the door.

In short, plenty makes me cry.

[viridian-pickle]

[rebeccathenaturalist]

I have been wondering, since I plan to one day grow a sustainable food forest with lots of native plants, the thought of soil came up. Is there an important role to nutritionally poor soil? I ask because to my knowledge, some plants prefer certain soils and nutritionally light soils can be found in nature. I know this won't apply everywhere, but I do know there are plants adapted to at least tolerate deficient soil. When I tried looking this up I mostly got resources about crops in relation to nutritionally deficient soil.

@localcustard - Good question! So it's not so much that the poor soil plays a particular role, as the other way around--certain plants have adapted to growing in poor soil or other harsh conditions.

One example would be pioneer species, like certain mosses, ferns, grasses, various annuals, etc. that are able to colonize recently disturbed areas that may not have very good soil. Even later arrivals like early succession shrubs and trees may be able to handle poor soil. Generally these plants are able to subsist with fewer nutrients than other species. Many of them are nitrogen fixers, meaning they cooperate with soil bacteria that draw nitrogen from the air and turn it into a form that is more accessible to plants. Often the plants will have nodules in their roots or other tissues where these bacteria live; the bacteria get a safe place to live and access to sugars the plant makes through photosynthesis, and the plants get crucial access to nitrogen.

As these plants die, the nitrogen still stored in their tissues disseminates into the soil, making it accessible to later-succession plants that cannot fix nitrogen themselves. A good example is the red alder tree (Alnus rubra), a common first-succession tree here in the Pacific Northwest. It is a nitrogen fixer, and paves the way for later-succession conifers in many forests here. Historically timber companies have sprayed alders with herbicides when they pop up a few years after a clearcut because they didn't want the alders competing with the young Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) (or whatever trees the timber people replanted with) for resources. However, more recent research shows that the conifers grow better when the alders are allowed to grow, in part due to the nitrogen, as well as connections through the soil microbiome (more about that in a minute.)

Another example of plants living in poor soil is plant communities that are adapted to harsh environmental conditions. One of my favorite examples is the plant community that lives on serpentine soil in the Klamath Mountains in southwest Oregon and northern California. Soil is made partly of organic material from various decaying life forms, but it is also composed of minerals from eroded rock. This means that the qualities of the bedrock below the soil has a big influence on soil composition.

Serpentine soils (which may also include other ultramafic rocks) generally are low in nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, and other essential nutrients plants need. On the other hand, they frequently have high levels of iron, and often have a lot of magnesium, and heavy metals like nickel and chromium. Plants adapted to serpentine soils have had to evolve ways to deal with these additional toxins as well as a deficit of nutrients. Add in that serpentine soils are commonly found in places with harsh weather conditions and erosion, such as the Klamaths, and there's not much opportunity for the organic portion of the soils to build up. All of which means the plants native to the Klamath region are able to handle those poor soil conditions that would kill other plants.

So what does this mean for habitat restoration? Native plants are already adapted to the soils they evolved on for thousands or even millions of years. Some restorers actually discourage amending the soil where you're planting because aggressive invasive and other non-native plants will take advantage of the additional nutrients and out-compete the native species. Many native plants will grow just fine in amended soil; you just need to make sure to prepare to do some weeding as well. But it does mean that if your natural soil type has low in certain nutrients, you don't need to necessarily amend with those nutrients in order to make your native plants happy.

For myself, if I am starting native plants in pots I will give them a good 50-50 soil-aged manure mix to give them a good head start, and add a little into whatever hole I plant them in in the ground later on to give them a chance to adapt to the new soil. I still have to do a lot of weeding, but that's because I've chosen not to just totally annihilate all the non-natives with herbicides before planting. I also live in a fairly rural area with young, sand-based soil that is pretty close to its original form, so planting native species found in my area already goes pretty well as long as I'm also respecting each plant's need for sun, water, wind exposure, etc.

What you might consider is getting your soil tested to see what's in there. Often in places that have been changed over to agriculture, housing, and other development for many years, the soil has been significantly changed from its original form. It doesn't mean that you can't plant in soil that is heavily altered, but it's at least good to know, if you're going to amend the soil at all, what's already abundant and what's scarce.

Finally, I want to add in a quick note about the soil microbiome. Well-established soil has multiple layers of microorganisms, fungi, and other living beings in it, with different communities at different depths. Many of these will be species that native plants have interrelationships with (for example, mycorrhizal fungi that share nutrients with plants through the mycelium-root matrix.) When I am planting I try to disturb the soil as little as possible; rather than turning over an entire area of soil, I only dig where I'm going to be planting starts and other established plants so that the soil microbiome surrounding that hole can recolonize where I've disturbed it through planting. That soil microbiome is crucial to a plant's ability to handle poor soil, because it helps the plant to access what nutrients are available.

If you want to dive in deeper, a couple books relevant to the topic at Geology and Plant Life: The Effects of Landforms and Rock Types on Plants by Arthur R. Kruckeberg, and Savannas, Barrens, and Rock Outcrop Plant Communities of North America by Anderson, Fralish, and Baskin. Both are academic-level texts so they aren't casual reading, but they have a lot of good information relevant to how geology affects soil, to include nutrient-poor soils.

[urbansoulfarmer]

Propagating peach trees! This time I used a root stimulant.

[nerajaana]

ARYA STARK VALENTINE’S DAY CHALLENGE

|| Day Three: Headcanon ||

306 A.C- Prince Aegon, son of the disinherited Hand of the King Rhaegar chose to marry not his sister but his half brother Jon Waters and his lady cousin, the she wolf of Winterfell, Arya Stark who’s said to resemble her aunt Lyanna Stark to an uncanny degree leaving the Seven Kingdoms shocked beyond measure.

[arc-hus]

Marble Quarry Renovation, Arzo, Italy - Enrico Sassi

https://enricosassi.ch/en/enrico-sassi-homepage/

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Mountain of the Lord's Temple

1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow to it.

2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken it.

5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

The Restoration of Zion

6 In that day, said the LORD, will I assemble her that halts, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;

7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from now on, even for ever.

8 And you, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

9 Now why do you cry out aloud? is there no king in you? is your counselor perished? for pangs have taken you as a woman in travail.

10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shall you go forth out of the city, and you shall dwell in the field, and you shall go even to Babylon; there shall you be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem you from the hand of your enemies.

11 Now also many nations are gathered against you, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look on Zion.

12 But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.

13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs brass: and you shall beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain to the LORD, and their substance to the Lord of the whole earth. — Micah 4 | American King James Version (KJVUS) The American King James Version is Produced by Stone Engelbrite. It is a simple word for modern word update from the King James English. Cross References: Genesis 35:21; Leviticus 26:6; Joshua 24:15; 1 Kings 4:25; 2 kings 20:18; Psalm 22:27; Psalm 25:8-9; Psalm 46:9; Psalm 48:1; Psalm 48:3; Psalm 72:3; Psalm 119:1; Psalm 129:5; Psalm 147:2; Psalm 147:19-20; Isaiah 5:25; Isaiah 10:7; Isaiah 16:5; Isaiah 21:10; Isaiah 23:18; Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 43:14; Jeremiah 31:8; John 16:21; Acts 14:16; Revelation 12:2

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Stately home built in 1930 in Wilmett, Illinois, especially if you love wood.  6bd., 6.5ba. $3.450M. It’s actually more castle-like than some of the castle-wannabes that we’ve seen. 

Can you imagine grabbing your mail and opening the door to this?

What a spacious entrance hall. And, it has the sculpted ceiling, plus dramatic stairs.

The wood is absolutely pristine.

This home is huge. Look at the size of the sitting room. There are doors to the garden, as well.

Large rooms, all open, can you imagine the energy costs? What lovely built-in shelves and look at the additional storage in the bottom.

Beautiful pocket doors.

The formal dining room has wonderful thick crown molding and wainscoting.

The kitchen reno is very good- I like the cabinet style, especially with the feet- they look more furniture-like. These corner cabinets are more than likely original, and the floor tile is perfection. Also love the tile wainscoting.

In the large pantry there’re beautiful dark gray cabinets and a wine fridge.

The family room has wonderful wrought iron gates.

It also has a brick floor, stone fireplace and a fountain.

Beautiful home office with a fireplace and built-in shelving. Look at the leaded glass window. Amazing office.

The main bd. has neutral restful decor. 

This is nice. 

The most sophisticated nursery I’ve ever seen.

This is a small office, but it would also make a wonderful sunroom.

Bath with a great vintage look.

The secondary bedrooms are also very large.

A home gym that could also be an additional bd.

Even the laundry room is beautiful- taupe cabinets and an exposed brick wall.

The spacious finished attic has a TV area and a game space.

The old walk-in safe is still here.

Now, this is a dreamy craft room. Can you imagine having your own craft space?

And, there’s even a kitchenette up here. 

Plus 2 more bds.

And, a shower. You don’t even have to leave for days. Have a crafting marathon. This attic is a ma’am cave.

In the finished basement is a cool game room and man cave.

There’s even a putting green. They don’t show it, but I can see part of a great fireplace.

And, there’s a nice shower room, too. 

Beautiful covered patio.

This home is perfection, I even see a rooftop deck. It’s on .40 acre.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/17-Canterbury-Ct-Wilmette-IL-60091/3377144_zpid/

[thesilicontribesman]

Castle Haven Iron Age Dun, nr. Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

[gomioujo]

Tile - Patio Inspiration for a large tropical backyard tile patio remodel with a roof extension

[soniadiez]