There are no golden geese

Well...at least not here. We have the lovely Canadian geese. While cute to look at when they're goslings, these geese can be very territorial.

Plus they have teeth on their tongues.

On. Their. Tongues.

We're working getting them out of the complex by spraying a goose repellent around the property. So if you smell anything like a grape marker, that's the repellent. It isn't harmful to dogs at all, we're just trying to get them to a different home.

Getting to Know you

It's been a little crazy around the office this past week, so I'm sorry that I haven't been able to update the blog!

I was really excited for some tips around the garden in the last post, but we didn't get any :( You still can comment on this post or the last one with some tips for us!

I bet you're wondering who you're going to get to know today. Well that would be Kory Leighty (pronounced Leichty) who is the Property Manager of our wonderful community!

What are your hobbies? 

               Golf & anything else outdoors

Who is your favorite sports team?

                Pro: Indianapolis Colts

                College: Indiana Hoosiers

What is your dream car? Pagani Zonda

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? Pizza

What is the one dish that you will never, ever eat? Casu Marzu

What’s your favorite recipe to cook? Tomitillo Shrimp

If you could paint your office any color, what would it be? Yellow to promote creativity & energy

What’s the oddest place that you’ve ever traveled to? Haleaka National Park

What is the one thing you’re most proud of? My wife

What is your favorite and least favorite fruit and vegetable?

                Favorite: Apples, Asparagus

                Least Favorite: Banana, Tomato

Have you ever had to serve on jury duty? No

If you could go back to any time period, what would it be? Why? Renaissance, for the art

What is the one movie you wish had a sequel? The Usual Suspects

What is the longest book you’ve ever read? Cat in the Hat

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Astronaut

Do you have any phobias? Snakes & Spiders

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is our Property Manager! If you have any questions for him, please comment on this post and we will have him follow up with you.

How does your garden grow?

Have you started your garden this year? Our wonderful maintenance staff tilled our community garden this week so we've had a few people start planting (including myself).

So far we have cucumbers and tomatoes poking out of the ground, and some onions and carrots have been planted.

I have even started my bell peppers inside which is a new venture for me.

There are a ton of places on the internet that you can find to give you good tips on your garden. I use sproutrobot.com (the free version). You can type in your zip code and it will let you know the best time to plant your seeds. This week (if you're in the 40299 zip code) it would be good to start planting your cabbage, chard, turnips, or start your eggplant inside.

Here are some more tips that you can use around the garden:

-Use leftover tea and coffee grounds to acidify the soil of acid-loving plants such as azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, gardenias and even blueberries. A light sprinkling of about one-quarter of an inch applied once a month will keep the pH of the soil on the acidic side.

-Vegetables need lots of water, at least 1 inch of water a week.

-Here are the essentials for tools: spade, garden fork, soaking hose, hoe, hand weeder, and wheelbarrow (or bucket) for moving around mulch or soil. It's worth paying a bit extra for quality tools.

-Don't grow too much of one thing. Growing more would be a waste of time, space and precious soil resources. Unless you sell at a farmers market stand, aim to grow only as much as you can use.

-Aim to harvest in the morning, which is when plants are plumped up with nutrients and moisture. Preserve the flavor and nutrition of leafy greens, root crops and many other vegetables by refrigerating them, but don’t chill storage onions, sweet potatoes, shallots or tomatoes. 

-Harvesting early and often helps keep vegetable plants in reproduction mode longer, which in turn increases yields.

If you have any tips, feel free to share with us! And also, let us know how your crops are going!

Apartment Tour

How well do you love your apartment? We here at Blankenbaker Crossings happen to LOVE our apartments! All of our office staff and our maintenance staff live on the property, and most of us lived here before we got our jobs here. We live here so we treat our community like our homes and make sure that you our residents love it as well.

  

We've had a few of our residents let us know what they do love about us, and we'd like to know what you love about your own apartment. Even if it's not ours.

Our apartment complex has one and two bedroom apartments, and they're very spacious! They've got fully outfitted kitchens, a massive butlers pantry, sprinkler system throughout the apartment (in case you're not so good at the kitchen thing), walk in closets (in both bedrooms if you're renting a 2 bedroom apartment), an intrusion alarm system, and washer/dryer hookups.



I know there are three bedrooms in the collage, but two of them are in our two bedroom model (the white and red ones) and the green one is in our one bedroom model. We have a lot of residents that love to grow different fruits and veggies in our community garden, and of course who doesn't love a good swim in the pool every now and then.

We'd love if you came to check out our property, and possibly your new home! We've got a spot for you right here

Maintenance Tips

I've got a few more interesting tips for all of you residents (or future residents) out there!

I know you know you're supposed to clean your garbage disposal on a regular basis (we talked about it in the last tips, just put citrus peels or ice cubes down there), but you should also clean the splash guard! If you've got a funky smell coming out of the drain, don't just assume that it's down in the drain, it could be the cover.

These are super easy to remove. Make sure that the disposal is not on, because we'd like you to have all of your fingers, and then grab hold of the splash guard and pull it out. You can toss it in the dishwasher or clean it with a scrub brush.

Now if your other sink drain (the one in your bathroom) is clogged, a lot of people's first reaction is to use drano, or some other chemical to unclog it. This can be rough on your pipes and cause them to wear out easier. Plus it's not so good for the environment either. Our lovely Assistant Community Manager, Laura, was telling me about Zip-It*.

Zip-it looks like a plastic zip tie but it has plastic tines on it. You just shove it down your drain, and when you pull it out, all of the hair (or whatever was clogging your drain), is attached and you can just throw it away. It doesn't look very pretty coming out, but it works wonders, and then you don't have to have the maintenance people come out and judge you (not that they would, but you would think that they were).

Now that the weather is getting warmer, you might turn on your AC just to check and make sure that it works. A lot of people tend to turn theirs on all at the same time, and if your apartment doesn't have the best maintenance people (unlike our apartment complex), you might have to wait a little while for it to get fixed. If you check it out now then the maintenance staff will have some time to come get it fixed right away.

When you're doing your deep spring cleaning make sure to pull your refrigerator out from the wall to clean underneath and behind it. This is going to save you a lot of time in the long run, because you don't want an extra cleaning charge after you move out to have the apartment clean it. Just be careful, they usually pull out pretty easy, but you don't want a rip in your vinyl!

While it is nice outside, unfortunately it means it's also nice for bugs as well. If you see any inside your home just contact the office and we can put your apartment on the list for OPC to come out and spray.

If you have any other tips, or would like to write a guest blog post, e-mail me at blankenbaker5@yahoo.com!

*This is not a product placement for them, it's just a really cool product, all opinions are my own and I wasn't asked to write this post by them

Restaurant Review

Garage Bar: Louisville, KY

This is a farm to garage eatery that has deliciously made pizzas. I went with my aunt to celebrate a wonderful wedding for her son that had gone off without a hitch. If it had been any warmer we would have sat outside as they have some pretty awesome seating.

They have a pretty good bourbon list, and it was hard for me to choose. So I closed my eyes and pointed. "Breaking and Entering" was the bourbon my finger landed on, so I got it on the rocks for $10.

The nice thing is their menu is seasonal, so you'll get something completely different each time. I got the butternut squash pizza which had walnuts, cherry tomatoes, arugula, fior di latte (mozzarella   made from cows milk, not water buffalo) & ricotta. It was so good! Silky texture from the pureed squash, mozzarella and ricotta, and then you had the crunch from the walnuts and the burst of flavor from the cherry tomatoes. SO good!

(not what I had, but still looks amazing)

My aunt got the country ham pizza and loved it! I just had a slice of the ham off of the pizza since I don't like blue cheese, and it wasn't salty at all. I think that it was sliced thin enough so you didn't get overwhelmed which is nice. I took a slice home for my husband and it was gone in two seconds. He said the dried cherries added a nice sweet aspect to it.

I'd love to go back on a Friday or Saturday when they have burgers, but they're first come first serve until they run out, so you better get there early. They even make their own buns which is awesome!

The atmosphere is unique, kind of loud inside, but very chill outside. There were two pretty large parties in the middle of the small space, or it could just be how seating arrangements go there, kind of a family style. When the waitress (who was fantastic, attentive, but not overly so) brought us our check, there was some old school candy with it. Bazooka bubble gum, an Atkinson peanut butter bar and two types of tootsie rolls.

I'm for sure going back, and I highly recommend you check it out!

Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot little puppies

Thankfully our apartment complex allows pets, I don't know what I'd do without my dog. Some apartments have weight restrictions or bread restrictions (as ours does) so make sure you talk with your complex before getting a pet.



However, trying to train my pup almost made me take him back. I know some of you out their with new puppies are having a hard time of it as well, so here are some tips for you.

-When you buy a crate for your pup, make sure it will hold him when he grows up. For right now, since he's small, section off the crate. Dogs won't go to the bathroom where they sleep, but if the crate is large enough, they'll go in one corner and sleep in the opposite one.



-Make sure that you're taking your pup out enough times during the day. Their tiny bladders can't handle holding it in all the time. A good rule is how many months they are, plus one. Make sure that you take them out right after they wake up, after they eat and after any exciting activity such as play time. As a side note, if your dog is like mine, take them out before you're going to have company over so they can empty their bladder...so as not to pee on your guests.

-Try and take your pup to the same place to pee each time you go out. And if they do happen to go to the bathroom inside, clean it up with an odor eliminating cleaner, or anything without ammonia (which smells like urine to dogs).

-Socialize them at a young age, and with other dogs their own age. And if you're going to be around a lot of strangers, bring treats so they can give them to your dog to create a positive experience.

-Unless your pup is taught what to chew on and what not to chew on, everything is considered fair game. Don't set them up to fail though, get down to their height and see what there is to chew on and make sure you put it in its proper place.

-For furniture chewing, pet stores sell a bitter spray so that the pup won't want to chew on the corners of your couch or the legs of your table. Just make sure they don't lick your mouth after trying to chew on the table leg, or you'll have a bitter taste in your mouth the whole night.



-Make sure to give your pup the love that they deserve. They need to be held so they develop that bond with you.

-Don't use your dogs name in a negative way, they need to associate it as a good thing. Don't say it when yelling, or punishing them.

-Hillspet.com has a great list of what to buy before you bring your pup home. Make sure to scout out local vets in the area. We have quite a few around our apartment complex, Metro Vet is open 24/7 for any emergencies you might have. Be sure that you're able to handle the responsibilities of bringing a new pet into your life. They can be cute, but don't abandon them once they get older and a little less fun. They're solely dependent on you for everything they need which can be a big responsibility if you don't think about it before hand.