Middle of the Week.......

It was a hot day and in the afternoon the clouds were looking like this.  I don't know if they were used to create the storm but we did have a storm pass through in the evening.  It was a wonderful rain.  It came down quietly and in large amounts.  We were needing rain.  At one point during the rain it cleared a little and the sun was shining while we were still getting a lot of rain.  Rain in the sunshine is always fun.

Asiatic lilies are not bothered by the rain.  They hold steady and don't buckle under from all the water. Daylilies are not so good about that but I only had one blooming anyway.  I still have not purchased a tiger lily but this is a good substitute for it with the spots on the inner part of the flower.

I am walking a little slower today as my muscles did take a hit from shingling the small area of roof yesterday morning. I actually like shingling but the slant of the roof, which is necessary, and the heat from the sun makes the job  less enjoyable.

It only took my an hour and a half to do the small new area.  I was hoping I could do it all on the ladder but I got half done and realized that I was going to have to crawl onto the roof. I couldn't reach the top area of the eight foot distance. The shadows of the ladder are pretty clear but I don't understand the foreground shapes as I took the photo while standing on the ladder. The rain we had yesterday proved the shingles to be good and all the water rushed to the edge of the roof and down.  I have a new longer piece of gutter to put up on a cooler day. When I was finally done and everything had been tossed down to the ground, I had to crawl back onto the ladder to get down. My wife was standing there watching as I got down in a slow motion.  I did have a very large Japanese yew behind me that I could have fallen back onto like a cushioned net.

I really don't remember when was the last time that  this clematis had bloomed.  I took down some of the support system for it as I was not expecting it to ever bloom again.  I will need to unwind it a bit and put it up on a new support system to get it to not lay down on my porch steps.

I am still waiting and watching to see it now bloom.  It has done so well to be grown in this new location.  I didn't get more than three or four blooms in the former location.

Another plant that I am waiting and watching with is this regal lily.  I almost lost this plant and I think I have finally found the best place for it to grow.  It was a bulb from a parent set of bulbs that belonged to my grandmother in Murray, Iowa. My mom had it at her house on the farm and then moved it in to the Osceola home.

I had it planted in three different locations.  The conditions where they were planted and the trees were shading them out or the advancing other plants were smothering it. This location is a little dangerous though as the ferns are advancing on it.  I have to had pull out the ferns to keep them from spreading.

I transplanted some morning glory plants into this old Flour tin.  This morning they all looked really strong from the rain they had in the evening before.  I will set this next to the latice right next to the back door.

We have errands to run today.  We will head to Des Moines over the noon hour and get home before it gets too hot. We are looking at more hot days for quite a while which is typical Iowa weather.

I appreciate your stopping by today.  I hope all are have a good middle of the summer kind of life.