Sunday Afternoon........

It is too cold for them to every open completely. They have a nice pattern on the outside of each petal.

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A promise of sun for this morning but the temperatures did not rise. It is a bright day so that makes it a good day.

The rearrangement in the living room works great but this table doesn’t work anymore. We will purchase a smaller square end table for the spot.  The table is my oak table of lots of history.  It sat in the kitchen of John and Iva Horton.  The kitchen had a wood stove that sat probably four feet away.  It had a old farm sink with a hand pump for water from a cistern.  The stove was eventually switched to propane gas and a well eventually brought water to the same country sink. The table was covered with an oil cloth and two chairs which had not backs were slid under the ends of the table.  I was just in college when I got the table and Iva didn’t really want me to have it if I was not planning to use it.  It has had the honor of being used so many ways including in the living room of our new home. It will have a new use but that will be in the future in a new room.

While looking for an archived oldie but goodie to share to day, I found this. I don’t know if was moved, if I broke it, or if it is just hiding somewhere.  I really liked this mug but I do remember that it chipped easily.  It is a sunny afternoon today and I am glad to post today. Thanks for stopping by today.

Saturday’s Clouds......

A sunrise that is reflecting off of the clouds in the northeast.  The colors are better here than in the actual sunrise.

It is a not a great sunrise as we are again having an overcast day. I can tell the tilting of the hearth is giving us a sun that shows up just to the left of the dark roof of the house.

Latter in the morning we still have the clouds covering the sun. The tree is the locust tree that grows in the front yard.

We have been in the house over two years and just now rearranged the living room furniture for the first time. The couch and the two wingback were switched.  The couch cabinet goes with the couch so it now is like a divider between our dinning room and living room.

I am thinking this is a female house finch. The pattern on its chest is one clue and the subtle  red see \n  on the one wing with small feathers.

It is very cold today with the temps close to freezing at the start of the day. We have been to the bookstore and we are home to stay now.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Friday’s Finds......

Overcast skies seems to be our norm for a few days. The sun has come forth a couple of times this morning.

The crocus do open up during the overcast skies but the do close up in the afternoon because of the cold and low light. I have some white crocus on the property but I am going to have to go out and find them.  I had photos of white ones next to some daffodils in a last years photo.

This planing of chive is already doing well enough for harvesting. Things are green back there but the tomato patch sure looks dead.

The house finch are on the staging tree making plans for something. They have been eating at the feeders. I am thinking that it is about time for them to build nests.  The males are putting out brighter red feathers.

The spring weather today is not going to be very warm but the light is more like spring time as it lights up our house more brightly.

My friend, who blogs from India,  shared a sparrow on his street.  I wasn’t surprised to see they had sparrows but I had not thought much about it. I am sure the sparrow is doing well all over the world.

We are taking my wife’s friend off for lunch today.  It is her birthday and we will give her a good day. She loves Asian buffets and that will be good.  I hope everyone is doing well today.  Thanks for stopping by today.
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A Cold Spring Day......

It is a cold day and some of the birds are out there eating to warm up from the almost frosty day.

The cowbirds like the free handout at the feeders.  They like the vertical feeder and can fit there without falling.

Claus Oldenberg and his wife design large sculptures. The downtown district in Des Moines has a large umbrella that they created.  It is called Caruso’s Umbrella.  This shuttlecock is one of ten or more that are scattered all over the south lawn of the Nelson Atkins Art Museum, KC.  They are unusual to see so large but  they are positioned as if the kids have left them out on the lawn over night after playing the game.

A  borrowed photo from the internet shows two more of them in the front yard. This photo was taken during the summer when you see that green grass and leaves on the trees. I didn’t see leaves or even buds on trees when we visited there last week.

I was browsing through a magazine a few weeks ago, in fact I bought the magazine, but they called these plants snake plants. I know they are sansevieria and there are different sizes and shapes. This is the one that I keep splitting up and planting in other pots.  I have too many of them. I didn’t intend to leave this one here in the entry but it does look good there.

Being so cold outside we really don’t want to venture out but we will.  I need to pick up a new battery for the truck and a bank visit is warranted. Krispy Kremes is next-door to the bank and we will stock up on some of the.  I did find that I can freeze them.  A shot in the microwave will bring them back like new. With birthday cake in the house I can’t justify sitting down and eating them but I can store them when there is an emergency.
I hope all is going well with you all out there.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Wednesday’s Wandering.......

I have no way of knowing if these two are the same as last year’s pair.  The male sure has ruffled feathers.  They walked on my railing of the deck for a very short time and then took off to the neighbor’s fence.

The female cardinal is on stage this morning picking through the seeds to find the best one. All kinds of birds seem to be flying around to day appreciating the better warm temperatures.

My first piece of cake came late evening as we ate out at an Italian restaurant.  It is a second or third generation Italian family that runs it and the food is alway so good.  I had lasagna that came in a big bowl.  It was filled with sauce and cheese and then reheated in an oven. It is a lot of cheese used to fill in the space of the bowl.  I didn’t finish it but I did bring the leftovers home. The cake is a red velvet cake purchased at a bakery.  The frosting is so good on the cake. Both sons called last night for birthday wishes.  The old son and his two boys sang happy birthday to me.  It is a blast when you hear the 3 and 6 year old sing out.

The crocus have not opened for this morning but later this afternoon I can catch them in bloom again.  I need to trim back all of the rose bushes that grow on the next level of this area. I will put that off for another week because I am dreading the job. Timing them back does make them come alive.

Walmart knows my wishes and is now selling a form of a bonsai tree.  I have a lot of doubts about it surviving but at least I get to give it a try.  The tree has been forced into a bonsai shaped trunk.  I can’t have any idea if the treated the roots in the correct way. I do get to now trim out all of the excess leaves to help form it into a bonsai-like tree.  The rocks on the edge were glued there so they would be easier to sell them. If they weren’t glued the rocks, if left loose, would probably not stay there during the shipping and sale of them.   I  could see all the gravel getting caught in the conveyer belts of the store. There was a large tree offered on sale but I thought if this one lives I could always go back and get a different one.  They had an evergreen type of tree that looked great but I can imagine seeing it turn brown and die.

The house finch males are turning more red. This one had lighter brown feathers than the others. I had to look twice to see that it was so light colored.

No big plans today as the birthday day is gone now.  We are getting excited for my wife’s birthday now and our youngest grandson’s birthday.  Also by the end of the April we will have a new grandchild. I need to go buy a new battery for the truck but I first need to get the old one removed.  No other projects going on for now. Thanks for stopping by today.

1950 and Beyond.....

The former owners left us a couple of plantings of crocus.  They were just buds that last two days and then today they all opened.  They don’t last very long but they are fun to see in early spring. The tulips will have another week or so to develop.

Tulip leaves are not so exciting but there are a lot of new ones planted last fall. I don’t remember for sure what colors they are but that doesn’t matter.  What matters is that I forced myself to plant them way back then with snow threatening in the forecast.

We had weather that looked like this all day.  Today it is brighter but we are slowly moving to a better spring.

I will never get use to the idea that our house sits at an angle to the north south axis. When I walk out the front door I should not be seeing the sun on my left upper side. It should be in the south side window. I will probably get use to it but this sun will never thing in our south windows.

Well we started out with eating at the Original Pancake House. It is my birthday today and I will take it in stride. We bought a big tv for our living room afterward for a gift for me.  We will head to an old Italian Restaurant where I will have true lasagna. By the time we get all of the day finish I will be tired. I am going to approach my new age by saying that I plan on having more fun. The birthdays do seem to come around so quickly anymore but as long as I can remember how old that I am I will be grateful.  Thanks everyone for stopping by today.

A Gray Spring Day.......

House finches seem to be the dominate ones at the feeder these days. The female has the same markings as the male but doesn’t have the red feathers. They do seem to like the sunflowers seeds that are out there.

This fellow is actually lighter in color than most of them that are at the feeder. Its light brown color is nice to see. There is spilled seeds on the railing and this guy is walking the plank as he picks up the good ones.

A shot of the female cardinal as she dances on the far fence railing. I had to snap quickly as she didn’t stick around for very long.

More memories of the visit to KC.  The Roselle Court at the art museum is a two story classical styled place.  The skylights are great and the vaulted ceilings in mother balcony and bottom walkways make one feel like they have travelled back in time.

Georgia O’Keefe’s painting of the apple blossoms looks a lot like spring. She is famous for her painted animal skulls and New Mexico landscapes. Her large flowers were some of her early trademarks as an artist.

Sargent’s lady in white is one of the more famous paintings at the museum.  He painted many kinds of things but made his living painting portraits for the wealthy.

An interesting feature at a rest stop along I-35 was this scattered herd of buffalo sculptures. The prairie in Iowa and Missouri did have large herds of buffalo roaming the area year round.

It is Monday with a good start for the week.  It is cool and the sun has not shown yet today.  Our grass is greening and the tulips are slowly poking through. It is too early in the start of spring to get too excited by changing weather.  Thank you for stopping by today.

Sunday’s Shares.......

Saturday morning the big red guy was enjoying the sunflower seeds. He landed on the back side of the feeder from my viewpoint but I caught him anyway.

Glancing down the way from the living room window I saw her on the fence. Both she and her male partner seem to have a nest going in the blue spruce.

I now have photo evidence that the robins are back.  There were a couple of them out front yesterday.  They probably can now get insects from the yard but the worms probably are not out yet.

The robin calls and their activity does help make us believe spring has come.  We have a gentle rain off and on that is helping to wash the dust and dirt off of things.

The cow bird adapted to the feeder and is eating from it.  It is hanging on tight and keeps looking around to see if anyone is looking. Our Lake Saylorville was overloaded with water from the north and it is over filled again.  It raised the ice surface though so there is open water all around the edges.  Bald eagles sit on the edge of the ice hoping they can see some fish coming to the surface.  The flooding in our area is minimal as the ice jams are all gone now and the rivers are just at banks level.

Monet’s waterlily painting from the KC art museum is one of the three that are out there in the United Stages at two different museums.

It is day three from our vacation trip.  We are still tired and moving slowly from all that we did.  I have lots of photos from the museum to share.  We are out and about this morning and will take the afternoon off. It is a gloomy, rainy day making it look more and more like spring. Thanks for stopping by today.

We Visited K.C..........

We left on Wednesday morning and headed south to Kansas City.  It had been a long time since we visited there.  We came home on Friday morning having a good time.  Our view of the downtown area is from our hotel room looking north. The city has spent a lot of money rebuilding their old city. The blue nest-like building is an unknown for me as there sports center is to the left of this photo.

We visited the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum two different days enjoying the art work and the old mueseum.  The building was built in an 1930s with neoclassical architecture. With a modern addition built a few years ago and complete renovation of their display areas, the place has become a wonderful art museum.

In the interior  of the building is an open two story courtyard used for different kinds of events but mostly a dining courtyard. I have taken more photos of that area.  I have more than I can ever share.

The place is called Roselle Court.  It has vaulted ceilings in the walkways all around the center court with a fountain.

The skylight is wonderful and the carved stone arches does take a visitor back in time. One could only imagine this kind of place in old hollywood movies, taken place in some country across the ocean from where we live.

They have a buffet set up to sell many things for one to eat. It is fun to fill up the tray and go down to the court yard and sit among the fake trees. When I say down, the main floor is three steps down from the vaulted walkway around the entire courtyard.

My wife wanted to try the coke in a bottle and I had coffee. The carving above the men’s heads is from a land faraway in Egypt. The museum holds a “coming out party” for the richer teens, a southern tradition.  From times before when we were there, it looked like the grandparents were having this tradition for the grandkids as they were graduating from high school and moving into adulthood.  We saw them do a rehearsal of this many years ago as they participants would line up and be announced as they walked through that doorway. There must have been a meal and dancing afterwards.

Anyone following this blogs knows all about the painting.  It is a very large painting of Jerusalem.  It was treated with more respect the last time we saw it but now they have it clutter or crowded in with a bunch of smaller paintings.

It really was nice to get away to pamper ourselves.  Due to our different family restrictions and personal complications we had not been down to Kansas City for 10 years.  We did go on our 25th wedding anniversary then for a one day trip down and back. The coffee there at the Roselle Court is the best. The mugs are small and I had to keep making trips to get more.

We are home now waiting for spring to show itself more robustly.  We are tired but we did have a wonderful visit. Thanks for checking in today.