DasHaus Aug./Sept. 2017
In the gardens House on the hill looks like something out of a fairy tale.
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CONTENTS
Check it off.............4 It’s the time of the year to be prepare just in case.
At home6 House is hopping with country charm
Spruce it up........10 Paint can add some flare to your front porch.
Das Haus is published and distributed by The Hays Daily News, 507 Main, Hays, KS 67601. Find it online at www.HDNews.net. Copyright Š 2017 News Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Das Haus is a registered trademark of The Hays Daily News. Printed by Northwestern Printers, 114 W. Ninth, Hays, KS 67601, northwesternprinters.com. Publisher, Patrick Lowry, plowry@dailynews.net Advertising Director, Mary Karst, maryk_ads@dailynews.net Designer, Nick McQueen, nmcqueen@dailynews.net (Cover photo by Jolie Green) Account Executives: Joleen Fisher, Eric Rathke, MacKenzie Albers Creative Services: Chris Dechant, Jennifer Funk, Jessalyn Brungardt
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Linda Beech is a family and consumer science agent with K-State Research and Extension in Ellis County.
It’s time to be prepared
A
4 DAS HAUS Aug./Sept. 2017
re you ready to take the challenge — the challenge to organize your financial life in case of emergency? Just one flood, fire, earthquake or tornado can wipe out a lifetime of savings. Having family records organized and up to date, including medical, insurance and banking information, can help in your dayto-day life, but is especially important in emergencies and natural disasters. Prepare Kansas 2017, a social media campaign from K-State Research and Extension, will share tips and challenges to be more prepared for emergencies and natural disasters. Prepare Kansas will run through September to coincide with National Preparedness Month, coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The online program will teach ways to help protect your family finances from unexpected events, walking you through the steps of creating a household inventory, checking your insurance coverage, and preparing a grab-and-go box. These can make recovery from many difficult
situations smoother and faster. “Disasters can be widespread, like the wildfires Kansas experienced earlier this year. However, for every disaster that makes the news, there are many more isolated storms, fires, accidents and other emergencies that we don’t hear about. A flooded basement where important paperwork is stored, or not knowing how to reach family members in case of an emergency, can be just as devastating to an individual or family and recovering from them all is difficult,” said Elizabeth Kiss, K-State Research and Extension specialist in family financial management and co-creator of the Prepare Kansas social media campaign. The September Prepare Kansas Facebook Challenge will be interactive, with information and resources to help individuals and families be better prepared, and providing the opportunity for participants to comment and share their own information on what they’re doing in regard to personal and community preparedness. Follow along on Facebook to
learn more, view Facebook Live videos on preparedness, take the challenges, and share how you are preparing your home and workplace ahead of financial disaster. Weekly topics to be covered in the Prepare Kansas campaign this year include Prepare a Household Inventory; Review Your Insurance Coverage; Create a Grab-and-Go Box; and Family Communication. The formal Prepare Kansas Facebook Challenge runs through September only, but emergency preparedness information from K-State Research and Extension is available year round on the Prepare Kansas blog at blogs.k-state. edu/preparekansas/. Join me, and others across the state, as we follow the Prepare Kansas online challenge and get prepared for disaster. We all can feel more organized and a bit more at ease should our homes or workplaces encounter disaster. Want to learn more? Contact me at the Cottonwood Extension District, Hays office, (785) 628-9430, to schedule a disaster preparedness program for your Ellis County group.
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Designed for Versatility
AT HOME
Hopping home
Home-owners enjoy oldstyle feel in country home
to the hill T
IPTON — It looks almost like something from a fairy tale — the orange, two-story Georgian neoclassical house on a hill in rural Osborne County surrounded by gardens of evergreens, flowers and berries. And there are the toads, hopping all throughout the yard and gardens. “The farm is literally covered with them,” said Nancy Odle, who owns the 4-acre homestead with her husband, Troy. “It’s fun to find them. It’s like a wink from God you’re doing the right thing.” The toads and the design of the house reminded
6 DAS HAUS Aug./Sept. 2017
Story by Juno Ogle Photos by Jolie Green
Nancy of one of her favorite childhood books, “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame. One of the characters, Toad, lives in a grand home called Toad Hall. “Toad Hall was his home, which looks remarkably like this house,” Nancy said. The Odles lived in Lawrence for 30 years, but Tony’s family has deep roots in Beloit, and both have family ties to the Native Americans who lived here before settlement. When Troy’s grandfather died, the couple returned for the funeral and made return visits during the next year as the estate was settled. On one of those visits, a family member handed them a brochure about an old home about to go on the market. Being Kansas history buffs, the couple decided to take a look. “All it took was walking in the door, really,” Nancy said. When Nancy and Troy bought the house, a friend of Nancy’s who works in a Washington, D.C., archive, urged her to look to records to learn the
history of the house. Doing so led to a wealth of information, she said. Until the Odles purchased the house nine years ago, it had been in the same family, descendants of
German immigrants who first lived in a dugout and farmed 80 acres with wheat, soybeans, milo and cattle.
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Philip and Nicolas Gasper were the sons of those pioneers, born in 1877. The identical twins grew up and built identical houses about a mile apart. Toad Hill is Philip’s house, and Odle suspects its cellar is the original dugout home. Nicolas’ home still stands, and a family member still lives there. Philip’s house first appeared on county tax records in 1904, Odle said, along with the family’s livestock. By 1908, children and more livestock were listed. Philip and his wife, Katherine, were married in 1904 and had 10 children, eight daughters and two sons. One son, Charles, died at 2 weeks of age. The surviving son, Raymond, and his wife, Laverna, moved into the house in 1948, after his parents moved to Tipton. Raymond and Laverna had a son and two daughters. The Odles purchased the house from Janice Kohn, Nicolas’ daughter-in-law, who purchased the house in the 1970s to keep it in the family. It was Kohn who established many of the gardens and landscaping that attracted the Odles to the property. “We’ve worked with what she left, but we’ve done a lot of work, too,” Nancy said, surveying the front yard where tall evergreens form what she calls “The Harry Potter Entrance.” Stepping through the evergreen archway leads to a grassy yard full of roses, forsythia, vinca vines, hollyhocks, sedum and decorative wagon wheels, limestone post rock and, of course, toad houses. In front of the house, near the county road, is an area Odle is trying to plant to native wildflowers, collecting seeds throughout Osborne county and where a sign one day will let visitors know they are at Toad Hill Gardens. Odle is a master gardener, but said she learns something new every day, particularly about native plants. She’d like to try planting paw paw trees, a North American native that produces a sweet-tasting fruit Native Americans in this region would plant along their trails so they would have food along the way. Local historian Vaughn Rothenberger has shown her the remnants of a Pawnee Indian trail just a few miles from Toad Hill, she said. On the west side of the house is a Buddha garden, a feature popular in the Pacific northwest, Odle said. Although she is not Buddhist, she likes the practice of having a Buddha statue and decorating
it every day with a flower offering, like the irises adorning it on a recent spring day. “I’ve been collecting irises for 35 years,” Odle said, pointing out some with a purple so dark it’s almost black. It came from her grandmother. A variety of irises and lilies and Russian sage border the garden, and a stack of limestone rocks has become a “toad condo.” “We have jokingly said we are going to start our own gin distillery,” Odle said, pointing out a prolific, towering juniper tree. “I have actually sold some of the juniper berries online because people like to cook with them.” The juniper berries are not the only edible plants growing at the homestead. Behind the house, among the outbuildings, there are blackberry and raspberry bushes, along with strawberries.
A large garden patch will produce zucchini, peppers, corn, cucumbers and a variety of greens and herbs. They have tried raising various livestock including sheep and turkeys, but found they weren’t good investments, at least at the time. Odle was proud to show off her new batch of chicks, however. They will join her laying hens that roost in a large chicken coop off the barn. “We feed them lots of table scraps, leftover fruit and vegetable scraps, and it just seems to make the eggs taste that much better,” she said. One of Odle’s favorite parts of the house itself is the master bedroom, to which she and Troy added an exterior door to the back garden where they have coffee in the mornings. Another improvement they have made is adding a geothermal heating
and cooling system Troy installed. Waste water from the system waters the lawn. The centerpiece of the house is the kitchen, which always was the main gathering place, Odle was told by one of Raymond Gasper’s daughters. “It was always warm because there was a stove and a fireplace in the corner. There were whole winters,” the daughter said, where the family lived in this one room,” Odle said. Kohn, a professional cook, redesigned the kitchen and even did the work. “She pulled out all the wood flooring from neighboring farm houses, bleached it, sanded it, stained it and cut and put it back down,” Odle said. “You will see pieces of her around here, and it’s amazing. It’s the traditional one-chef kitchen, so there’s not a lot of room to work in there. “But I tell you what, this kitchen is phenomenally useful and functional. I have everything I could ever want in here,” Odle said. The formal dining room and parlor — where the home’s first bride, Katherine Gasper, displayed her bridal veil in a shadow box for 60 or 70 years and where area residents would often gather on Sundays after church for cards and ice cream — now function as the Odles’ office space and media room. What originally was a half-bath near the kitchen became a laundry room, which the Odles are making even more
functional by also using as a mud room. What was originally the master bedroom is now a bathroom that leads into the Oldles’ master bedroom. “We do all of our living on this level,” Odle said. “The second level is mostly for storage and for show.” At one point, the Odles had wanted to operate Toad Hill as a bed and breakfast. “We had a number of guests, and we just decided we didn’t really like having strangers in the house,” she said, especially with having only one bathroom. An upstairs bedroom originally was a bathroom, and the Odles have plans to revert it. “The pipes would freeze because it was on the north side, and so they ended up not using it very much,” Odle said. “We have a whole idea board of putting in a claw-footed tub in the corner, some really beautiful rustic sinks,” she said. Rather than returning to the idea of a bed and breakfast, however, the couple envisions turning Toad Hill into an event space for weddings and other gatherings as it was through its history. The northeast upstairs bedroom, which overlooks the driveway, is referred to as “the bridal suite.” “This is where lots of wedding parties would get together with their
maid of honor and hang out the windows and greet all the people that are coming,” Odle said. Odle has decorated the room with childhood items, both hers and her children’s — toys, dolls, stuffed animal and games. It also features a dresser that is identical to the one President Ronald Reagan had when he was growing up, she said. Another bedroom was perhaps intended to be the original master suite, judging from its size and the views, but its placement in the southwest corner made it unpleasantly hot in summer and cold in winter. Another bedroom still has the original carpeting, and another is the “boys’ room” with a hunting theme. On the south side of the upstairs is access to the veranda, where the Odles sometimes take a bottle of wine for some stargazing. Whatever plans for Toad Hill come to be, honoring the history of the people and the land is most important to the Odles. “On the tour of Toad Hill Gardens, we talk about history, the native plants, some of the Western frontier. This is very much alive and well where we live,” she said, noting if you travel not too far west, much of the land is pristine prairie. “It’s just fabulous. It’s what we fell in love with,” she said.
Berry Berry Quite Contrary Kayla Berry is a stay-at-home mom who enjoys creating, decorating and re-purposing old furniture and decor.
Painted porch F
10 DAS HAUS Aug./Sept. 2017
ront porches scream America to me. I don’t know why, but when I think of a front porch, I think of the American dream. I can picture women in their knee-length dresses peeling potatoes on porches 60 years ago as they watched their kids run around their yard, an elderly couple sipping lemonade watching the sun go down, a tired farmer plopping in a rocking chair on a porch after a long day in the field or a young father holding his newborn as he swings back and forth on a front-porch swing. I love having a front porch and decided I wanted to spruce up the boring grey cement floor with some paint. I used Behr Concrete and Masonry Bonding Primer and Behr Porch and Patio Floor Paint to create the look. Clean your cement with soap and water and then follow the instructions to prime your cement. Once you
have let the primer dry properly, your cement is ready to paint. I first painted the cement all white. After that dried, I measured out my lines for my stripes, taped them out using a T-square and then painted every other section with tan paint. I did not seal the paint with anything because I don’t mind a more worn look, but if you do not want it chipping off in any place, then I would recommend sealing it. I used a gloss finish because I didn’t want dirt sticking to the porch floor but gloss paint plus water does equal a slippery surface. If you are worried about that then I would suggest going with the flat finish when you buy your paint. Overall I absolutely love the finished product. What an amazing difference a little paint can make. For more home décor ideas visit my blog: berryberryquitecontrary.wordpress.com
Easy DIY projects to prepare your home for sale Looking to sell your home this year? These four easy weekend DIY projects are sure to get your home noticed by potential buyers. • Repair and refresh walls: Use spackling to eliminate those stubborn recurring cracks in drywall that appear as problem areas expand and contract with changes in weather and humidity. • Update kitchen and bath hardware: Small features like hardware can visually update a room. Keep in mind brushed metals are trendy and widely appealing when selecting options. • Revisit lighting throughout the home: Replace old globes and consider adding task and accent lighting. Additionally, under-cabinet lights in the kitchen are easy to install and really impress potential buyers. • Paint the front door: Simply clean the current door, protect edges with painter’s tape, and add a few fresh coats of exterior paint. Home renovation 3 tips to fix that fixer-upper When you bought it, you were sure the fixer-upper had the potential to be everything you dreamed it could be. Now comes the hard part: Making those dreams a reality. Get your project started with these three tips from www.health-womens.com • List it out. Before you begin your renovation, make a list of every smaller project you believe you’ll need to complete and then have it reviewed by a licensed contractor to be sure you’re not missing anything. • Top cabinets first. When installing nw cabinets, start on top and work down so the bottom cabinets aren’t in your way. • Built to last. When it comes to flooring, consider longevity. Oak or pine wood floors and ceramic tile can last 100 years. Home pest control 3 tips to stop mosquitoes from ruining summer fun Summer is here and warm weather beckons people into backyards across the country. Unfortunately, unwelcome guests like pesky
mosquitoes often want to join the festivities. Dr. Mark Beavers, Orkin entomologist, recommends these tips for keeping mosquitoes at bay this summer. • Minimize standing water — Mosquitoes only need a thimble-sized amount of stagnant water to reproduce. By refreshing water often or eliminating standing water sources, you can reduce the number of places mosquitoes can reproduce, according to Beavers. • Plant smart — Be sure to trim, prune, weed and mow often to keep vegetation under control because mosquitoes love to hide in damp, dark places. • Turn on the fans — According to Beavers, another trick is to use mosquitoes’ weaknesses against them. Most mosquitoes are poor flyers, so a simple deterrent is to make it difficult for them to fly. Consider installing a fan on your deck or patio, or even bring a portable fan outdoors.
Gardening: Beautiful edibles to add to your landscape Not all veggie gardening has to be boring. Try plants with colorful blooms and jewel toned fruit According to Houzz, here are a few varieties to try that will hold their own alongside ornamentals: • Artichokes are a dramatic addition due to their otherworldly appearance especially when in bloom. • Eggplants come in more than just a deep purple, try the variegated ‘Graffiti’ variety or the diminutive teardrop shape of the ‘Fairy Tale’ eggplant. • Lavender does double duty as a fragrant pollinator with pretty purple blossoms. Try planting it as a border along paths or curb strip. • If you need a deep dark and lush green try the Tuscan variety of kale (also known as Lacinato or dinosaur) which is as beautiful as it is nutritious. More Content Now
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