Middle Week News

The migration of hummers has started and I have so many birds. They do not like each other like you see in some peoples photos of dozens sharing a feeder. I had stopped taking shots for a while as I could not get good lighting and they wouldn't hold still. This morning I could stand there and just keep snapping. I had too many pictures to edit.

My grandmother Brooks left the farm in 1963. She left behind the wash basin as she was moving into her first ever house to live in that had running water with a bathroom. I stopped by the old farmhouse many years later where the place was so rotted away and cattle were living in the back porch.  The basin remained in the dry sink in the kitchen and that became mine.  I use it for many things in the garden and think of Grandma Mabel Zella Wheeler Brown Brooks every time I touch it.

 

I threw out my old flowers and got some new ones as I have so many. It is nice to have fresh cut flowers and they actually put out more blooms when you clip them. I worked on my front circle raised flower bed this morning. I had dug out the purple sage on one side of it and planted a new mum. I also dug up some hostas and planted some older hardy geraniums. I took apart my cheap planter and threw most of the flowers in it away as they were dead. I did save the spike plant and put it in there until frost. Getting rid of the sage lets me put in annuals next year and bring back that flower bed. 

We have had great weather all day and it is cooling down a little this night. Thanks for stopping by today.

Birds and Things....

 

Labor Not on Labor Day

 

I read that the migration of the hummingbird has begun in our area. I have lost track of how many I have coming to the feeders but they do keep fighting one another. 

 This one seemed to be a young one. It sat and enjoyed the stand and didn't eat. I do have shots of him looking around at all that was going on at the other feeder. 

Out there my sunflower is putting out lots of blooms. It was late to germinate so it is the only one that looks good. All my earlier sunflowers are looking dead. 

Another shot from a bedroom window isn't such a great shot. I stalk the bedroom window to watch for the goldfinches that fly over and pick seeds from the older flower. They fly in so quickly and grab a seed and then they are just gone. At least we do get to see them. 

Out front the "knock out" roses are putting out a few fresh blooms. They could be deadheaded if I had the energy to do so.

Also on the front step the pathetic flower box from the grocery store is putting out one white petunia. The angel is not happy looking at the back of the pot. 

 I didn't find it in time to get it in the right sequence with this shot. The dead or dying sunflowers are becoming covered with the morning glories. The birds still sit in the area and get seeds. 

My newest hosta is doing better now that I have pulled out all the creeping phlox that was choking in out. When shopping for thes I had to look through everything on the shelves to finally find one that I didn't have in my collection. I divided this one to have two plantings. 

We have had good weather today. I was out and about in the morning but I didn't do any garden work today. I watched the neighbor mow is yard on a riding lawn mower. The yard actually is too small for him to use a rider but he can pull it off. He just has to drive around very slow. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Strays from the Past

 

 

 

 

Peace

 An interesting cloud formation was out there this morning. The whole view was good but when I looked up at the corner of the vista I saw this wonderful formation.

This was the actual view at half past six in the morning.  We were not cold last night as our temps are normalizing. The low 80s F. is good. 

 I spent my morning cleaning the two bird cages. It was more than just my routine cleaning. I really cleaned. I also filled up the birdbath in the yard with water and felt guilt because I hadn't water the tomatoes for awhile. I refilled the watering can and set to work. It didn't take very long and I know that it will help them to produce better. So as I watered I did another harvest of them.  I gave a large sack of these to friends last Sunday and maybe in another week they will want more. 

I took a break from folding for a couple of days. I did get some more done last night before our movie started. The magic number right now is 409.  Maybe you can catch my drift about what that number means. The story about a thousand cranes is not necessarily a happy one but in the story the little girl makes  that amount for the sake of peace. It keeps my mind sharp as I fold some each day. When I first started out I was folding them backwards. I would fold and then have to refold to get it right. I finally figured out where to start on the first step and I have been successful ever since. You mess up at the very first step it ends up in disaster for sure.

                                                               Thanks for stopping by today.

Friday Final Shots

 

 

 

 

 The day started out cool which gave me time to mow outside in comfort. The sun did hit hard so I had to take off the long sleeved shirt. I mowed my front yard and with a couple of breaks I also mowed the backyard. In some areas of our yard we are shutting down the green condition and it is getting dry and straw-like already. It is the end of the week and we have a grocery run to make this afternoon. Thanks for stopping by today.

Thursday's Here All Day

 The morning temps were warmer than yesterday. The clouds were gone soon and it proved to be a an low 80s day.

The front yard pink rose was liking the weather and can be seen here in the sunlight. I took the shot right before I started to mow the neighbor's front yard.  I was stalling because a woman and her little boy were coming up the sidewalk with a stroller with a baby. I didn't want to start up the mower until they went by the yard. 

Another view of the swallowtail from yesterday. This is a zinnia but the butterfly liked the marigold just as much from which to get nectar.

The William Baffin rose is puting out a few last blooms for the season. I didn't get the buds dead headed so it probably won't bloom all over again. 

The two tall marigolds fit in great with them being the same height of the zinnias. The shorter zinnias are so showy but I can take pictures of them and enjoy them. 

My yellow rose has two stalks that are reaching for the sky. It puts out great blooms all the summer season. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Middle of the Week....

 A swallowtail was at my zinnia patch again today. It was different one as the last one had damaged wings and this one was in perfect shape.

 It looks like it is an airplane but actually it was eating with its wings out flat, straight out.

 There were two monarch but only one stayed around when I showed up with camera. The one that stayes looked good on one side but actually had damage on its wings.

 You can see the damage on this side. It did seem to be able to fly normally which was hard to believe. 

I planted some pumpkins but I am sure they were too late to germinate. It does have some blooms on it now but I don't think there will be anything with actually any good size. 

We are cold right now in the mornings. We will now warm up and the nights won't be so cold. I worked in the garden again this morning and will start mowing grass tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by today.

Tuesday's Stuff for the Day....

 

 My marigolds are looking good now with this cooler weather. We now are needing rain. 

 

In my loose leftover seed I had some tall yellow marigold seed in there. They are as tall as the zinnias.

I spent some time this morning trying to dig out a major growth of purple sage. It was not an easy task as the plant shoots out large runner roots that help it to sprout. It was very difficult to get under it and cut off roots to be able to lift it. I know where I am going to plant it in the back yard but I didn't have any energy left to do it. I will do it tomorrow as I know it isn't going to die being out of the ground. It reminds me of a tough weed and I was tired of it taking over the circle garden. I also dug up some iris the was spreading too quickly. 

I thought that this one sunflower was going to be a mammoth variety but it isn't. It has multiple heads. I guess since it cam up volunteer in the corner and it was crowded that it just grew taller and had larger leaves. 

The knock out roses are not blooming so well as I haven't been watering them. I thought the rains would be good enough but they are partially covered by an eave.  The red is so wonderful to see. I remembered to blog today. Thanks for checking in today.