Freeze and Thaw......

 

We had a high of 35 degrees F.  The birds needed to hang out and eat a lot of seed to keep warm.

 

 

I brought in the reblooming coneflower. It was a day too late.  I had not thought about it but it now is inside.

I have an iris that decided to also rebloom. I have it wrapped in cloth hoping it can develop far enough along that I too can bring it in. 

I spent my morning cleaning and reorganizing my shop this morning. I couldn't resist to snap a shot of my one Christmas tree that is ready to go out as an outside tree.  The ornaments remain attached to the branches and I didn't cover it with a sheet like i did some of the others. 

In the low wind chill temps my neighbor proceeded to get down the majority of his Halloween decorations today.  It had to be cold as the wind was blowing 17 mph and it is so cold. The kids were out and about last night with their winter coats.  I could see them out the back window.  I didn't participate with the tricks and treats this year as I just could not sit out on the front step and hand out the sugar filled treats.  I felt bad that I couldn't but I did think back about when covid shut it all down for two years.  It is a good time for me to talk to my neighbor kids that I only see at a distance.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Freeze.....

 

It is the season to bring out your plastic dinosaur and  scare the kids of the world. I use to admire the dino when I would see it on the top of the shelves in Wally Mart.  I now live across the street of a neighbor who bought one. 

The sun is shining on us today.  It helps to show off the locust tree with its yellow leaves. We were down to 24° F. last night and we warmed up to 40° F for our high. The freeze last night will be showing up on a lot of the delicate plants. I need to start mowing leaves again when it warms up a bit and more leaves have fallen.

I keep feeding the birds so they can keep warm. The one bird is watching for more warmth while the other is huddling.  He is a little bit blurred so I am blaming that it might be shivering. 

The hosta and rhubarb plants will be laying flat on the ground in the next couple of days. When I see this I know winter is coming. 

We have four vases of roses that I brought in a couple of days ago.  The blooms are really enjoying the heat we are providing for them.  I have hardy geraniums inside now too and they also are glad to be inside. I was out to do a few tasks this morning and I had to bundle up and cover my head. The garbage is a must but the other things of bringing in the hoses can be quick jobs to do.  

Thanks for stopping by today.

Sunday's Stuff.....with Words.

 I took it a night early so it isn't the full moon.  I did check last night for a true full moon and there was a complete cloud cover. I debate on how to crop the moon and sometimes I think it looks better off centered to enhance the black universe behind it.  It actually gives it a little bit of design motion as you look at it off-centered.

The zinnias that I brought in a few weeks ago are now also aging and fading. They aren't a perfect cut flower but they do seem to keep their color and life a lot longer by me bringing them inside. 

 

 

The challenge is to get this to bloom.  I planted it mid summer and it never grew. The dry clay soil and my watering didn't make it bloom. Now that it is potted and in the sunroom I see lots of growth.

The petite rose bud is now a rose.  It looked better in the pewter bud vase as a bud but this works too. 

We are having a quiet day inside as it is below freezing today.  We will warm up to 37° F. some time this afternoon.  I may grill burgers out there or I may just pull out the electric counter grill and cook burgers inside.  I like doing both.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Stuff of Saturday.....

 

It was a cold start this morning. The sun did come up but the clouds keept us from seeing it. The color was there for a very short time. 

 

 

Our first freeze happened early this morning.  We are not to warm up to above 36° F. The plants will show the damage in the next few days. 

The redbud will drop its leaves more quickly now. I still don't understand why the tree hasn't grown taller.

It did pay off to clip the roses and bring them in. We had four different bouquets by the time we had sorted them all out.  It was nice to get some of the pruning done as I clipped the blooms.  I will need to return and be more thorough pruning. 

I had to drain my two water collection barrels. I place garden hoses on them and drain them onto two different trees.  I went out after supper to check the progress and both barrels had drained.  I proceeded to try to roll up the hoses.  It was just to cold and they were kinking everywhere.  I had brought in my cushions to dry off so I just pulled the hoses inside too. This morning I was able to better roll up my hoses. I know a burggler would have had  fun trying to walk through that in the middle of night in the dark. 

The florist department of the grocery store knows that I am a real sucker and buying their plants.  I saw this palm that had to come home with me.  I have had the pot for a few years and I emptied it out for the new plant. In the old days they would sell these palms with just one or two stems. Having that many stems makes me wonder as to how that will work out or if some of them will die back. I am happy with my  purchase. 

Our son sent us this robot bug.  It has proven to work pretty well at cleaning the rugs.  It goes under the bed and dressers freely going where I can't do so often. It still is like a toy but yet it does do some work without me lugging out the big cleaner machine.  I will have to still use the large machine to do the deep cleaning of dust and dirt. It does get stuff up because I keep having to emptying it.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Freezing Time to Come.....

 It is time to bring in the last of the potted plants inside.  It is also time to pick rose bouquets.  The freeze will be happening overnight.  I have to rain barrels to get drained as well. Cold weather is officially here. 

I learned from a florist that one should cut a rose under running water and place it in the vase immediately. I took out my kiddie sand bucket filled with some water and dropped them in the water as I cut them in the very cold winds.  This bucket full has yet to be placed in vases.

I set up shop downstairs and did place these in vases as I trimmed each bush. The yellow bush had reset buds and started blooming again so I trimmed them off as if I was pruning it. 

I have yet to figure out how to cover this for two days. I guess I could use steel posts and a sheet. It is a feak of nature that it is reblooming but I will try to do something. 

We got two inches of rain.  Very few towns around us did but we made it on the map of high rain numbers. We needed it and I did here some thunder in the night.  The wind is so strong that the streets were all dried off and I wondered how I get all that water in the wheel barrel. 

I am going to bundle up now and attach garden hoses to my two rain barrels. I drain the water onto the redbud tree and the other bluespruce tree.  I think it helps them to get through the winter.  The neighbors to the north each have one red tree, different variety, but both of them are red.  Sadly the one will start dropping leaves pretty quickly.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Things of Thursday.....

 

One eye is on you at a time.  The angel fish has side by opposite side eyeballs. It does make it seem like it is looking at you as it turns sideways to see you. It actually wants me to feed them some more food.  

We received a rain in the night to help green up some plants. The clearing of this garden has started as phlox and lilies have been cut down. I will work on the Siberian iris leaves in a few days. My gauge said we had three fourth of an inch of rain.  It came in small periods of drizzles. 

The front flowering trees in the front yard started turning red some leaves.  It is slow to turn so I have to rake things up quite often for along period of time.  By then end of the season the wind blows them away down the street. 

 

 

This leaf from the front trees has been blown into the back yard.  I have four trees that will cause me to rake or mulch. 

 

This is the negative part of mammoth sunflowers. The stems are so thick and the roots are hard to get out of the ground.  I use to plant six or more of these but this one seemed to be a lot of work. When the get a hard freeze they do get mushy.  Maybe by spring I will forget about this mess and plant a least one more again. 

It is a dull rainy day. We are not going to be cold until overnight Friday.  Then are temps will drop to a hard freeze. I will have more work created after the freeze but for now I am just going to take a couple of days off. Rest is will be good for my body.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Wednesday's Color....

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday's Thoughts and Things.....

 The dinner plate hibiscus is squeezing out a couple of more blooms while it dies. The leaves are all fading and the plant will be gone overnight when we get a hard freeze.  Since it went through a drought it thinks it is spring again. 

All the other cone flowers are gone and clipped off by me.  This one plant has reset buds and now it is putting out pale flowers. 

 

 

The red bud tree turned yellow overnight.  I remember that it will probably drop its leaves in a two day period.  

The closer view of the tree shows the great contrast of the leaves with the dark colored trunk and branches. 

I noticed this morning that it is time to trim the vine.  It is so long that it is blocking the view of the plants on the shelf below it. 

It was a neighbor day for me.  I spent time talking with the ones that are moving away from us. They needed me to listen to their adventure.  The guy wanted to show me a project that he is working on of taking a used door and turning it to be made into a headboard. They are living among boxes everywhere. Through the discussions I was offered their old headboard. She said she would take five bucks for it and I gave here twenty bucks. I told her it was such a good deal that I had to raise the selling price.  It is perfect for us to put in our spare bedroom. I was going to make one but this one will get a new coat of paint and I have instantly eliminated  a project. We have been here seven years and I still just didn't get it done.

The rest of the neighbor day was sharing my tiller with my other older than me neighbor.  He didn't just want to borrow the tiller, he wanted to share the experience.  He monitored and helped get things going tilling my tomato patch and then I helped him manage his two vegetable patches.  We had a long conversation afterward as if we were a couple of retired old farmers.  He is a retired farmer and I am a farm boy from the past sixty years ago. 

I am sure I will have difficulty walking tomorrow from tilling my plot but it is a good thing. No one had to call an IMT to rescue anyone and that was good.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Monday's a Start....

 The sun shows through and then the clouds do clear.  A sunny day today with us hitting 80° F. in the afternoon.

I clipped a couple of bouquets before I cleared the flower bed this morning. All zinnias and marigolds are now down.

It isn't a pretty sight when the flowers are removed. I do have some very healthy iris at the end of the bed.  I decided to give them some water to help their fall development before winter. 

I normally don't bring marigolds into the house because of the smell.  The tall marigolds put out long stems so they can be cut for bouquets. 

There was one lone bloom this morning. It is a weaker color bloom but I was glad to see it. The vines look like they have stopped growing and are in decline.  I collected seeds from the pink morning glories a few days ago. 

I spent time with my neighbor getting my still ready to go.  It took the two of us to remember where all the controls are and understand how it all works.  I inherited the tiller and I am sharing it with the guy and it made him happy to see me getting it out.  I had to take down my sunflower down today so I can till that garden area there with it out of there.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Sunday's Stills.......

 It is a clear sky with the temps at 48° F.  I have reached the point that I will just leave the heat on now and not change it.  For a while I was heating in the morning and then switching over to air in the afternoon. Our high today will be 64° F. 

And now there are six buds on the orchid. The seventh will probably be opened tomorrow. I repotted it in to new orchid medium and look at it now. 

My neighbor's clump birch is looking good.  I had to wait to morning to take its picture as the sun shines best on it then. The development made some strange lots, as this one is a wedge shape and the front has such a small yard which is tilted downward.  It is strange seeing it being mowed as he has to push up and down the short his to do it. They must have a worse incline down to their backyard than mine as one can see the kids play equipment way down the hill.

Here is the same clump birch being lighted from behind by the sun. I miss our birch from the old place but this one is a pleasure to see year round across the street from us. 

This is my dry arrid side of my plant stand. The cactus need little to no attention. I am struggling with my jade plant. I can't tell if I am watering it too much or not enough.  It was doing better when I was ignoring it. 

It is quiet this Sunday as people are sleeping in and the traffic is low to nil.  No work today and no college football games to fret over. Tomorrow will be a busy day again on the streets. We have no plans for today and resting is on the schedule. I made the grocery run yesterday and we are good for a few days with food and meds.  Thanks for stopping by today.