Visuals Only....

 

 

 

Saturday Sunshine.....

 I have been buying the hardy geraniums that are with mixed colors. I bought this one red one last year and it really is one of my favorite colors. This plant didn't grow this great outside all summer but inside this winter it has bloomed many times. I rescued it from a very dry spot in the arden and I really am glad that I did. 

This is the second winter for this begonia.  It has crashed though and seems to be struggling. I will try to get some newer soil on top of it this spring when I put it back outside. 

The purple oxalis is showing off with very healthy looking leaves. I have been watering it with old aquarium water which is full of nitrogen. When I change out my water in my aquariums I store it in tubs and use it for all of my house plants. 

Yes, I am still working on this pastel painting. I didn't like how dark it was so I am reworking trees and grasses making everything brighter and lighter. More blue sky showing through with that great color is really making me like the painting better. I like being able to come and go on it to solves its color and composition problems. I have added a couple suggestions of sea gulls that will be brightened as time goes by as I return to it. . 

We have a wonderful day of sun today. It warmed up to 55 degrees F. and is a nice day. People north of us are melting off their snow but we didn't have that problem.  Thanks for stopping by today. 

Friday's Finds.....

 A retake of the same crocus shows the bloom opening wider.  We still are cold so they aren't opening up much naturally. 

Green shoots of things are peaking through the crud that is still on the ground. You can see snow is mixed in with the leaves. I took the shot a day ago. 

Iris always fascinate me as they tolerate the cold weather without any problems. I have new iris planted that was given tome from the neighbor, south.  It will be interesting to see how theyt develop and grow for their first year. 

 I spent the past days sorting all of our meds, hospital, and dental bills. It is a big pile but I can take out the good parts of the pile and throw away all the excess paper sheets of info. We had two different hospital stays and a rehab, nursing home, stay for the year. We had me going to the dentist having major work done also, so I have quite a pile now to process. Three grocery bags of excess papers are in the bin now. 

We are gong on an adventure for supper to the Pizza Ranch. We will go for an early meal to avoid the Friday rush. It is still vindy but it has warmed just a little bit. We live only two miles away fro the place so ite really isnt much of an adventure. It will be nice to get out and about from the hosue. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Wind Be Gone!!!!

 

 I buy tulips in the early fall and plant them.  I know that I will be glad that I did later on and here they are. 

 I have forgotten the number that was in the bag but I just kept putting them down in the ground. It was cold outside this morning and I was out putting things back into place after 24 hours of strong winds. 

My neighbor lost two sections of his fence yesterday.  It looks like the one post was rotted off and the whole section down.  Another neighbor had built this huge visual screen with wood so nobody could see them in their hot tub when people walked down the street. The wind took out most of it.  I though it looked like a shabby, weak design. 

As a funny I will share that my wheel barrow got turned over on its side. The winds were so strong that they sounded like the many airline jets that go over our place. It was hard to know which it was as some jets were flying last night. We were too cold today for any more of my crocus to show open blooms. I guess the buds are fun to see but maybe tomorrow there will be blooms.  Our rain did not amount to much to even be measured. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Signs of Spring.....

 I had one single crocus bloom out front yesterday. I am hoping the rains will help open up more. 

The two flowering trees in front are budding.  I don't know exactly when they will open but they sometimes show up before I notice. I was talking with my neighbor out front in the cold windy weather and he looked up and said that tree is budding.

Our new wreath looks pretty spring-like. It replaced one that had been up for a whole year that was originally a Christmas wreath. Fake flowers are pretty good considering that real plants wouldn['t last for very long.

I have some outside work to do. I did a little work yesterday afternoon, taking down the dead sedum from last year. I also trimmed back some last stems of the mums. I need to trim back my roses but the weather and my ambition is preventing from getting it done. 

We didn't get any of the major storm in our area.  We are too far south to get the snow but theiy are having blizzard warnings in the north western part of Iowa. We really need rain but we are just getting mostly strong winds and sprinkles. Our grass is looking just a little bit green. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Tuesday Today....

 

It is one of those days when I needed to see the color red and the bright colors of the Peanuts characters. I am getting too old but I still can be entertained by these images. 

I rescued my sansiveria plants this morning by replanting them in better soil. I lost some of them so I added the different shorter variety along the front of them. 

I have an aquarium downstairs that at certain times of the year creates rainbows. The prism effect, refraction of light, takes place as the sun shines in onto the back of the aquarium and it cuts through on the side of it making a perfect clear rainbow. My robot thinks it must be special being lighted up like that.I don['t know how long it waas there but it was gone just minutes after I photographed it.

The warm weather is wonderful. I see I have one lone crocus bloom right now. Tulips are up and we are suppose to see a blizzard take place just north of us tomorrow. Tulips don't like ice storms so much but they are not bothered by snow.  We will see what tomorrow will bring. Thanks for stopping by today.

Monday Mentions....

 Some people call the oxalis a shamrock. My plant needed to be watered so it is sick looking. It will be up and open tomorrow the day after Pat's Day.

Some things I over watered has been sent outside today.  I lay it on its side hoping some excess water will drain out.  I may repot it all tomorrow as I had leaves drooping and falling from my abuse.The pot is a metal one and doesn't have a drain hole.Maybe I can find a different pot.

I was gifted these pots and tree seeds.  I only planted half of them as I didn't think the soil looked that great. I am going to plant the remainder seeds in good Iowa potting soil and see if I can get more than just one tree. I keep a light on this one all day every day to keep it happy. 

I took a quick trip to the grocery store to  pick up some necessary things. One hundred dollars later I had lots of things to eat.  I wore a short sleeved shirt to go there as we are just very warm.  I had to turn on the air to cool down the house a bit when I returned. I guess some of Iowa is suppose to get a blizzard on Wednesday. It is amazing how the weather is working. Sunday was a very cold day for going to church. 

I did walk the yard today to pick up stray things that have blown around from our high winds. It will be spring soon..  Thanks for checking in today.