Saturday's Stuff.......

These guys are so tough they deserve to live for a while before I take them out.  They are actually growing in a crack between my concrete patio and steps.

My tulip row looks really great right now and the peony bushes that are lined up against them are shooting up.  Soon the foliage of the tulips will be buried from the peonies.

In most of my photos you can see leaves in the background as I have waited to clear my different garden area.  As cold as it is getting at night it seems to be a good idea to not remove them right now.
It is getting close to being rhubarb season as you can see this new plant that I rescued from my fence line.  It seems to be liking it's new location.

I will finish off my post today with this bunch of tulips.  As you can see that the ones in the foreground are a different variety.  The yellow and orange ones will probably be gone by the time the ones in front get to be opened.

I framed pictures again today and I will share some of my skills later on in the week. It hasn't been a restful day for me but it is a relief to get so much of my work caught up.

Thanks for stopping by my post today.

Friday's flowers........

We had a nice rain last night and it was needed.  A little thunder and lighting to scare the dogs but it was all over with by the time for us to all go to bed.  I am going to mow this weekend as it is going to be impossible to do so if I wait any longer.  We are to be hot Saturday and Sunday and then the next spring rains will start up for Monday and Tuesday.

Thanks for stopping by my post today.  I is Friday and I am ready for to be done and finished.

A different kind of day........

Looking through the daffodils with the sun shinning give us a different perspective of the flowers.

It is spring and the cockatiels are thinking about nesting and raising baby cockatiels.  The year that I gave the one pair of birds a nest, I ended up with two different broods with seven new cockatiels.  I was able to give a couple of them away but I sill have five birds right now.

While watching the eagles hatch their eggs in Decorah, Iowa, I am amazed as to how small the eggs can be to get a grown bird.  The cockatiel eggs are the same way.  They are small eggs but those small wet birds turn fuzzy and grow in a few weeks into a full sized bird.

To be honest with you, I did put a nest like container on the floor of the one cage and place the eggs in them that the male was sitting on to keep warm. The male will sit on an egg and hiss at you when you come into the room.  I did notice that he is in there once in a while but I don't think the bowl like nest is as good as the closed box that they like to use.  I will keep you updated as to how persistent they are going to be and if they really do stay on the nest.

A sure sign of spring is the blooming of these yellow beauties.  I don't see as many of them out there any more but there are some.  I do have moles, I don't think gophers, in my yard and garden that I will have to deal with soon.

I have the solid purple wild violets and also these viola ones.  I like the foliage that they have and am glad to have them in the garden.

I received word a few days ago of a teacher friend that I worked with for five years that he had major heart surgery.  Last night his sister called and said that he passed away in the evening.  I am in shock that the guy who is 59 years old is gone and yet I was prepared when they described that he had seven bypasses and valve work done.  He moved on to another job after he worked here and we kept in touch once in a while.  I have lost a lot of teacher friends in the years that I have worked but usually they have retired and they were older than me.  I am still somewhat numb to what has happened and will find out later about the details of the funeral.

It has been four year since I lost my 61 year old brother suddenly and I guess this parallels my same emotions into one.  I am a tech guy again today.  I will tell of my adventure of screwing up the master admin  password on a computer yesterday.  It is common for it to happen but that's another story for another day.

Thanks for stopping by my post today.

Wednesday's wandering.........

The larger versions of this tulip is wonderful but the small ones put out a great show of color.

 

The small start of a red-violet lilac has survived the winter.  I had dug it from the alley plant next to  my parents home in Osceola.  The neighbor cut it down to the ground, trying to eliminate it.  Two stray sprouts were waiting for my rescue.

I looked out last evening and the squirrel was busy in the Chinese elm branches.  He was eating some sort of pod that was formed on the tree and I assume it was seeds. He was way out on the end of the flimsy branches and it almost seemed clumsy and clown-like. 

This shrub seems to be blooming a few weeks early.  I was surprised to see it turning white a day ago.

I am a tech guy today and will be setting up new computers today, establishing accounts and adding different applications to get them ready for use.  Thanks for stopping by my post today.

A Showing of Progress..........

Our temperatures have dropped back to our normal range but we still are way ahead of our season by a few weeks.  The forsythia will be gone soon but the red bud is starting to open to take it's place.  The sedum looks like small cabbages when they first come up and they stay green for a large part of the fall season.

I am giving tests in the Spanish room this morning.  It is day two back to school and I think I can get back into the groove of this job.  Yesterday I was the shop teacher.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Looking back.......

This guy was in kindergarten in 1955 attending school in Murray, Iowa.  He can remember the classroom and the hallway lockers and seeing some of his closer friends in the hallway, putting on their winter coats to wear while outside for recess or for getting ready to ride the bus home. My teacher Mrs. Willett, wore a dress everyday with red lipstick and spiked high heals. 

We were asked the question today in church about what we saw when we looked back in our life.  I really did squeeze in some happy times between the tough knocks in life. My wife takes me out for supper tonight at an Italian restaurant and I am certain there will be cake for my birthday today. Beyond 60 a couple of years is a new era in my life and I hope I can still remember from here on out the rest of the good years.

I head back to school today after a spring break.  The final eight weeks will come and go fast enough. Thanks for stopping by my post............

Photos for fun...........

My first tulips are these little ones.  They are a strange tulip as they open wide like the sunshine and then close back up like this by evening.

Our neighbor's Tom Tom is such a pleasant guy.  He likes to be petted by my wife and he loves to sneak onto the porch and eat Yellow Kitty's leftovers.  He was sitting out in the garden in the sun just watching my every move as I was taking photos.

My vinca vine does bloom.  It must bloom very early in the spring as I don't usually see blooms the rest of the summer.

Thanks for stopping by my post today.

Checking in for today..........

Birch and silver maple tree at the top.  Redtwig dogwood at the middle,  Snow on the Mountain at the bottom.

Thanks for stopping by my post.

Friday's Flowers..........

The daffodils are recovering from all the rain. I have one rose bush on the south side of the house that is growing like it is late April.  I didn't lose a single rose this year.  The New England bluebells are going to be open soon. The hyacinth is actually in bloom now but I have to show you the earlier photo first.

Thanks for stopping by today...........

Thursday's Things...............

A different kind of magnolia that is at the school where I work.  The rain has already made the flowers to be too soggy to be able to photograph them up close. I will try to get over to my neighbors when it lightens up and take photos of their magnolia tree. 

I spent a couple of hours helping a neighbor thin out her hybrid iris and this is on of my freebies.  I don't know if I will get blooms this  year but I will wait and see.

My genetically changed daffodil continues to be a mystery to me.  I have these planted in a couple of different places and I don't understand how they could change from the original daffodil shape.

Two years ago a co worker at school brought a huge bag of iris rhizomes to work. She had cleared a bed of lavender and violet iris and was giving them away to anyone who would take them.  Three of us divided them and I planted mine in a large circular area. I figured that I could move them once I could see what color that they were.  They look very promising as to being able to bloom this year.

I bought a cheap set of cherry bushes out of one of those catalogs that sell such things.  When they produce, there are thousands of little cherries on the branches.  The problem is that they are more seed than cherry pulp.  So when they do produce, I run them through a sieve and extract the juice.  They make a wonderful cherry jelly.  I takes hours to pick them but the jelly is wonderful

Even though this rose bush has survived a huge transplant and even though it has come up two years in a row, I am pleased to see it branching out leaves for the summer.  It just reminded me that I have an old rose in the basement in a bucket that I need to get into the ground.  Maybe tomorrow I can do that if it ever stops raining.

I have a lot of things to do this morning but we are aiming to head to a bookstore sometime this afternoon.  I will be going back to work on Monday and we both have been under the weather enough that we have just stayed home so far this spring break.

I hope you all have a good day.  Thanks for stopping by my post.

Wednesday's Collage..........

The forsythia is putting out a few blooms and the two varieties of daffodils can be seen above in the collage.  The robin was out in the rain looking for food in the leaves of the garden.  The blooming cherry is covered with white flowers.  I was able to take photos between the rains and the walking of the dog.

I finished a major project yesterday and also made some progress on some of my framing tasks. I have more framing to do but will be waiting for the delivery of a couple of frames.  I also need to buy a metal frame at Hobby Lobby to complete a new frame job that came in over the weekend.

A spring break I guess really means a catch up on your work break.

Thanks for stopping by my post today.

Promises of blooms..........

As it rains the nest few days these should be all in bloom.  One actually was open partially late yesterday afternoon.

The variegated leafed iris is popping up quickly.  It didn't do well where I had planted it, so I scattered it down the flower bed a ways just to see if that will help make it bloom.

The field lilies have really grown in the last few days.  They crowd themselves out so I suppose I need to thin them out a little this fall.  They are growing out onto the patio, maybe they will lift the patio with all their roots.

The fernleafed peony is up this high already.  I have another two sprouts near here that I am hoping for a different variety of fernleaf.

The neighbor's son in law had already snatched up a fernleaf peony that was of a multi-petal variety.  The neighbor was moving to a nursing home and he was taking away a lot of plants on the property. I was going to get a start of it and it was gone.  The guy was there one day and he didn't seem to feel badly that he had not shared but he gave me a stray root from the empty hole.  I am hoping that this is it, growth from the single root.   If not, I am going to go do some swapping with him when all my other fernleaf peonies are in bloom.  I hope he would give me a chance to trade. 


The rain overnight has done some damage to the blooming daffodils but I think they will straighten out once it stops raining. I will need to mow my yard in another week.

I thank you for your visit.

Spring weather can cheer you...........

Surprise lilies are pushing through.  Once they are in full foliage they will die down.  A month later or so the flowers will poke through their beautiful flowers.

Tilted tulip review of how things are growing.   The row of peony bushes are to the right of the tulips.  They are just barely sprouting up into sight.

Our state flower is the wild rose and as you can see the canes turn a wonderful red color before they sprout out their leaves.

It was a windy day Sunday and the cameraman leaned a little and the flowers were also leaning in the breeze.

We are to get rain today and it is suppose to continue for a few days.  It will really green up the grass.  Our warm weather has caused the magnolias to really start to burst open with color.  I need to venture around town and pick up the color.  Maybe this afternoon I can do that before the rain.

I am on spring break this week.  It means I can catch up on a lot of work that I didn't get done the past few months.  Illness and work day schedules have really kept me from getting things done. I have sticks to get up from the yard before the grass grows up and hides them.  From my photos you can see I have leaves to rake away from the flowers.  Bird cages are in need of a thorough cleaning and I have some Christmas village pieces yet to be boxed up and taken to the basement.

Time will be used wisely but I do plan to take time to rest.  Thanks for stopping  by my  blog.