Sunday’s News......

It is Sunday and we are back from church.  They had a tailgate party after church so we got some free hotdogs and cookies. We didn’t stop for a meal and came home to a cold house and Barney sleeping soundly.  He likes it cold.  We fed him a meager meal and he is back asleep.  I have Mannheim Steamroller playing Christmas music on the television and the fireplace is on for awhile to take down the chill.  I have a good cup of coffee and a chocolate chip cookie to eat while sitting in my wing backed chair.  Cold and miserable wet weather is just not my favorite part of fall.  Our whole week seems to look the same for seven to eight days. The fire, coffee, and music makes me feel less bummed out about the day.  I hope to sleep for awhile and maybe not be so grumpy when I awaken.  I guess having a weekend is a good thing so maybe I should lighten up with the attitude. I hope everyone out there is safe and warm today.  Thanks for checking in on my blog.

Proof that Barney is nearby.  He has been brushed to perfection for his visit to the vet. He likes the visit to the vet but he thinks she talks for too long of a period of time.   Eventually he acts like, get me out of here.  Shots and toe nails trimmed and that made him tired and sleepy for two days.

Sit a Spell for a Visit......

Fall brings us lots of clouds and very little sun.  When the sun does shine we all thinks its a better day. We have had to run our furnace at night to stay warmer than 65 degrees inside and then we have to turn on the air again to cool off Barney.

The falling of the leaves has begun but it isn’t that much of a problem yet.  The red maple has leaves that turn blackish in color. When adding another tree in the yard I had to think about the kind of leaf that will be falling.  I haven’t planted my tree yet.  Instead, I called the digging hot line to report that they may want to come out and spot all the power and telephone lines for me. I immediately got a scolding that I didn’t use the internet site but he wouldn’t let me hang up to go do so. I will have white flags when they come to make the lines.  I figure a couple of people in the neighborhood would be concerned if I didn’t call.  By Wednesday, I will have the markings to guide my work. Did I tell you that I got to pick the color of the flag? The man was difficult to understand as he exhibited not liking his job and he slurred all his words together.  I think at the end he told me to have a nice weekend.

One more project to put in line of jobs to do.  I don’t know where I ound this chair but it appears to be an oak chair.  The paint is mostly flaked off so the stripping of it should be less of a struggle. It will make a nice accent chair in any room of our house.  I may hire the seat to be caned. I almost gave this away to the local antique guy but he still hasn’t come to check out what I would give to him for free.

I don’t know how pressed designs are done in these old chairs but I would think oak would be hard to do.  I guess I could be wrong about the kind of wood but I will find out when I start to sand it.

The vine is going to strangle the sculpture. I am assuming the former owners had to cut this vine back every single year. The vine is coming up through the floor and I will find its source and cut it today. The deck looks like it needs a new coat of something to bring back a color.  The stain was on there long enough to get the place sold.

We really didn’t use the deck much this year.  It sits in the direct sun durning most of summer. Now there is a little bit of shade from the house eaves but it doesn’t seem like a very private place to sit with four or five houses sitting right behind and below us. I used it a lot to do the grilling of burgers and it is convenient being right off of the dining room and kitchen. We have thoughts of adding a sunroom there but that has not materialized.

The fireplace does work well to take a chill off of the house in the morning.  We are staying home today on such a gray looking day. I hope everyone has a great weekend.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Time to Plant......

When it quits sprinkling I will head out and pick a final place for the tree to grow.  It is an Eastern Redbud.  We had  redbuds growing in our timber areas of the ISU campus.  It was so great to see them blooming up and down the hills of the campus as I walked the sidewalks.  I will take a photo when I finally get it planted today.  It isn’t such a big hole that is required but a layer of clay will have to be evacuated.  They are building a new lane of highway in the valley area near us and I cringe to see that good Iowa black soil going down under that new lane of highway.

The miniature roses seem to really like the fall weather and makes a great deck plant. More buds are ready to bloom.

We are off to get a dog’s nails trimmed today and catch up on some shots. We were overdue on the visit as he was going through old dog things.  He got a brushing again today and is getting to be cranky about how confining that it is while being brushed.  I wish everyone to have a good day.  Thanks for stopping by today.

A New Day........

Middle of the Week......

Subtle colors in the clouds last evening show up in the west. I pretend that I am seeing the Rocky Mountains instead of the houses and street light.

It is a lonely moon as it is still in view this morning. I didn’t expect to see the full moon in daylight but I am sure it was gone in a couple of hours.

I am having a down day today so the moon shows an expressionless view. Isolated and sad when it is there, at the wrong time of the day.

I bought a redbud tree today and a shrub to go next to it.  I told the clerk that I wanted to buy one of their fine spruce trees but I am too old to dig the hole. The blue spruce was tempting and so was the Black Hills spruce. If I can accomplish getting the redbud into the ground I guess I could back for one of them.  They are having a half price sale of everything.

The mammoth sunflower is holding its own.  The leaves are wilting from either the cold or the wind. I will shut down early today. I thank you for stopping by today.

Tuesday’s Takes......

This was a surprise to see yesterday as the most of the plant looked finish from many blooms.  There must have been one last bud on the plant.  Dinner plate hibiscus is call that because it is the size of the dinner plate.

The moss rose has revived after I pulled it in from out in the sun. They were planted late in the season and yet I did get some good blooms on the plants. The double boiler pan is from the farm where I picked it up from the trash pile.  I think it had been driven over by a tractor or maybe they used it to water the horses and one of them stepped on it.  The pan is distorted in its shape.

One of the jack in the pulpit plants put out seed.  I remember seeing these at as a kid in the timbers in the fall. I probably have posted this before but I took a new photo that is in focus.

This rose bush really has done well as a bloomer.  It has put our blooms at the same pace as the knock out roses. I only have red roses right now so was looking for something with different colors.  They were all sold out.

I applied ceiling paint on the old house kitchen ceiling today.  It was the popcorn texture and it didn’t go on really well.  I had the real thick plush kind of roller and it really worked well with only one coat of paint.  The kitchen at the old house is basically done now except for the fine touches of new door handles and painting the kitchen door.

It rained so much up north of us that our lake had been filled up ten or more feet again.  On Friday it was at such a low depth and today I was shocked to see how much it had been filled in again.  It was thirty four feet above normal the last time but rains of the north must of been heavy.  While at the old house we did receive a down pour too two or more inches over the morning hours. It rained so hard at one time that I could not see the neighbors house and it caused all daylight to be gone.

Have a good Tuesday everyone.

Today’s a Go......

Monday morning glow from down the street. An Air Force jet was out making patterns in our sky. It is to be a hot day today but it will start to cool down through the week.

The sun highlights the blooms on my deck flower garden.  The miniature roses are taking off with the many buds now opening. I have in the back of mind that I have to decide what to do with those roses in a pot during the winter.  People do plant them outside and they do survive over winter.  I can see the tag on the begonia is still on that pot.  I will bring the begonia and encourage it to bloom in the winter.

The vining honeysuckle has put out some berries.  I don’t recall seeing that last year but it does need to seed itself. The blooms have been few this year but there are some stray ones coming out right now.

My one monarch is still out there.  He flutters around me in the front yard and then shows up in the back yard later on among the sunflowers. There is no migration happening in our area so far.

It is rare that the flag is unfurled.  I think the southerly winds help to keep it wrapped around the pole and not flying. I need to wash down my siding on the house.  I was told the former owner had a power sprayer that he used to  wash the house.  The cubicle of the entrance actually collects a lot of street dust as the breezes circle through the area.

It is Monday and I will not work at the old place today.  I will get back to work tomorrow but  for now I am going to unwind a bit and putter.  Low labor putter is a good think I think. The weather is waffling as the earth keeps tilting. It certainly felt like winter on some of our past mornings but today it wasn’t so cold.  Sunshine is a welcomed sight and it makes adjusting to fall a lot easier.  I wish you all well today and thanks for checking in today.

Sunday’s Blog Time.......

It bent down so far that it is disconnecting itself from he stem. Hanging by a thread, the wind swings it back and forth and it bonks me on the head.

The now revived jade plant is looking more like itself again. It likes being outside on the step in the partial sun. I like how it has really greened up and matured.

The remaining few of good blooms amongst the other wise dead flowers. It will be time for snow and cleaning the bed for the season.

My new hollyhock should give me stems and blooms next season. I have a start that I brought from the old pace and one that I bought at wally’s mart.

We are having a beautiful day.  Our church celebrated its 75th year in Des Moines and we had good coffee and cupcakes after church. I hope everyone will have a great day today. Thanks..........for stopping by.

Saturday’s Shares.......

My neighbors window reflects what we were seeing last evening.  The sunset is not complete because all of the houses are in the road. But I did get a few that help to show a part of the effect.

This was taken right at its most intense time of bright colors.  While standing there taking photos it immediately started to fade.

It probably was to become a rain cloud but not in our area.

I haven’t been out there for a while with busy jobs and it did rain the in the past a few days ago.  I did empty the gauge of one inch of rain but it probably evaporated water the two days when I didn’t get to it to read it.

So this photo displays why I don’t get so excited for fall.  The zinnias are shutting down now and will mostly be dead by a week or so.  I will have to clear them by mid October.

The time to harvest comes about every four days.  I snack on them while I am out there working in the backyard.

I wore my winter coat outside this morning as it was so cold.  It is going to warm up to 70 degrees sometime today and it will seem nice with mild temps and sunshine.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Friday’s Findings.....

They seem to be neglected but this one is blooming anyway. I never got this one transferred to real dirt and it seems to be doing ok it the companies’ dirt.

The white one also seems to be growing well with me not paying attention of it. The white is harder to photograph but it s a beautiful set of blooms.

The one monarch seems to keep hanging around.  I can’t be certain that it is the same one but it is odd that we have only one. The neighbor to the northwest was mowing his yard and this one guy was busy flitting about.

My rose that I bought as a cheap bargain last fall continues to show off its wonderful red blooms.  I never know what to expect when I pick up a gallon bucket and a few stems and leaves but this one had done very well. I spent some time picking off spent blooms of the front yard roses.  It takes a lot of time but I have buds forming already for their final showing.

I worked at the old house today finishing up the job of painting all of the cupboards. This photo is of the new floor being put in last month. I shifted the tile at a half lap and it made it looks so great rather than line them up corner to corner. You can see some of the old blue that I had to cover on the cupboards. I ended up putting two coats of a semigloss enamel on the cupboards and did not like it.  So I added two coats of a satan enamel on top of that, same paint company, and it covered up great. My neighbor was over to share dreams today and he was so excited about how great the kitchen did now look.  I am doing things backwards as I still need to roll a ceiling paint on a popcorn ceiling. I have a large roll of butcher paper so I will cover everything up before I do that. New handles and the ceiling is that last to do. I have stared a punch list for each room and this room will be punched done very soon.

Hey, it is good that the weekend is coming.  It has been an active week with stories to tell that I can’t tell, about some neighbors at the old place.  Things do always get complicated and I keep surprising myself that I can land on my feet. At my age, falling down would be expected. but staying vertical is something to be glad about for me. Helping people out can sometimes turn into a disaster.  Life is good. Now I will wave my magic wand and say have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by today.

Sky views........

It seemed like a gray morning when we got up an this photo shows why.  The clouds and fog make it dull looking outside and the sun is jus now coming up behind the tree.

I want to make a pot of coffee and came back to find this.  One doesn’t dare blinking as things change so quickly.  It is a familiar sight from the deck in the morning. That sunshine will be all day and I am sure it will burn off all the moisture with it becoming 90 degree F.

The monarch showed up in the asters in the afternoon and I was able to follow it to the backyard.

 It gave me some great poses and the colors were so nice and clear.  The shapes of flowers determined as to which way they can eat.  This flower’s head required feeding with the wings closed.

Swinging his wings open was sure welcomed by me. The colors are so clear and the wings look unblemished as looks like a newly unfurled butterfly.

The changing of the moon’s position each night has helped me to see it more clearly as the days go by.  Mars show up clearly near to the sight of the moon but it won’t focus in for me to share. It is a reddish dot and they say is larger looking to us right now.

I am home today and will be doing various chores. A lawn mower may be pushed around a bit in  the back yard before it gets too hot. I have tomatoes to pick again today.  If I can get the roses trimmed back one more time I bet I can get some more blooms. It is borderline time for the seasons and it gets hard to try to keep things going as if it is still summer.  I have a peony bush to move today trying to find it a better place to grow in better dirt.  It is hard to find when clay soil is everywhere.  I keep store bought black soil around all of the time. I keep misspelling words and am a little blurry today so I will stop writing now.  I wish everyone to have a great day.

Wednesday’s Wings......

They are hanging around for now until the head south some more. It is entertaining to watch them when they fly and eat during a rain. I have yet to see on of the hummingbirds have a red ruby band on its neck.

It is the middle of the week and we are having a pretty nice day. Thanks for stopping by today.