Friday Final Day

 It is standing and ready for ornaments. I can put things on  quickly and some years I make a game of it and put twenty on and then walk away, repeat off and on all day. 

 

I walked the property this morning to find some things to shoot. The yellow leaf is a rarity and I don't have a clue where it came from, I suppose up the street. I mowed up leaves again this morning and it wasn't too wet. It was vert cold. I had to wear layers. 

The burning bush in the front is dropping leaves quickly. I saw one single leaf float to the ground while I was taking the shot. I guess it goes fast as they drop one at a time continually. Things are looking pretty dead outside now and these reds are really welcomed. 

 The mum was amazing. It had all the blooms on it die when I first planted it. It then just rebudded and bloomed again. I am glad that it is still alive. Sometime they just die when I plant them out this tine of the year. 

 

The one rose and the buds are frozen in time. They will eventually dry up and never bloom but the plant has shut down with all the freezes.

 

 

It costs a lot of money to get all these tubes and vents. The furnace is sucking air in for combustion and the one pipe is doing heat exchange. The new air conditioner also get two tubes and thermometers.The furnace is space age tech and I do like it a lot. I manage it with my phone as well as the wall device. We have no loud blower noises and the change of temps is gradual and consistent. 

 Thanks for checking in today.      The neighbors did get moved in, late in to the night, and all the trucks are gone. 

Thursday's Things

 We are boxed in as our new neighbors are moving in today. It is the same company that we used to move here eight years ago. I am not getting paid for this ad. The men who moved us in were such great guys who treated us with respect. They loved our dog Barnie as he kept track of them as they moved things out of our old house. He was older and he wanted to wander out into the truck. 

 It is a blank canvas ready to be painted. I put this one small tree up for the grand kids to see over Thanksgiving.  I don't have any new ornaments to add to my collection for this year's tree but I did get some really fancy garland for it from the great crafts store.

Tomorrow I will do some more mowing around the tree. I just need to mulch the leaves under the tree as I don't need to mow the yard. I had to wait for the neighbor boys to get out of the photo before I shot it. They were out playing basketball without any coats.  We are suppose to move into a warming trend again. 

Thanks for checking in today.
 

Not My Fault

 It isn't my fault that I bought six donuts today. They were marked down to fifty cents for the whole batch. They sucked me into their sale. A diabetic is not allowed to buy such a thing but once in a while I can have a half of one per day. My wife got the other half and I had fresh brewed coffee with mine. 

 Even though we moved in over eight years ago, we are still shifting things. I ran across the plate that belonged to my wife's family. It has the calendar displayed all around the rim and the year of the calendar is 1913. 

 The center landscape displays the country home and the cows being tended by a young warmly dressed boy. The hat looks European and in the background is a stone tower. It is an amazing antique plate. 

 I had a doctor's appointment this morning. I lost my GP three years ago as the one I had moved on to another clinic. Life got busy and I had not found another but now I have a GP again.  I had two other specialists keeping an eye on me but Medicare really require me to get this new doctor. He is a mature doctor and communicates well at my level. It was nice to ask questions about the drugs that I am taking as I was using the pharmacy as a source for information. I return to see him in another month as we need to get to know each other better. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Today is Almost Done.....

 The outdoor tree doesn't always hold its ornaments. The fallen one was returned to the tree this afternoon. The grass is still green at this point of time. 

 The other red color in the back yard is almost gone. The cold weather has encouraged the burning bush to drop most of its leaves. It keeps looking like snow is the next thing to happen back there.

 

We had a rain early night and everything is still wet. I didn't mow up the leaves today as I want tit to be dried out so they will mulch up well.. 

 The morning panoramic view didn't include the sun. We were gray most of the day and we were cold too. I hope we would have some warmer weather tomorrow.

I have been doing battle getting the company to come pick up our old washer/dryer set, When they brougt our new ones they claimed they didn't have room to take the old ones back with them. I didn't understand that and I didn't understand why I had to  spend most of the morning getting ahold of the company to schedule a pick-up.  I normally don't give bad comments on the evaluation but I left them negative comments on the evaluation. I told them I wouldn't buy anything from them ever again. I probably would but I was mad at the time. Anyway, we have to wait until Thursday to get the old pieces out of the garage. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Move On

 The Sunday morning view has an interesting shaped set of clouds. The sun isn't quite up but maybe it is as the house blocks my view. I could crop this down so one could see all the great colors on the clouds on the left but then I woul have to cut out the cloud formation. 

 The sun causes an orange color on the red burning bush. I have neighbors who never park their cars and truck inside. The neighbor across the street has five or more vehicles and the garage is full of tools and a beat up old truck that doesn't belong to him. So there seems to always be a truck next door, or the cars across the street, or two vans up the way in the opposite direction, which are always out for us to see and be in my front yard photos.

 

While messing in the basement store room, I was looking for the toy storage tubs to pull out for our visiting grand children when they come next week. I saw the train and pulled it out. It is one of my grand daughter's favorite and I thought I would just sit it out on the table. I know she is getting too old for it but she likes to look at it just like I do. It is a magical toy. My neighbor next door had hers out in the garage sale and I should have bought it. Two iare better than just one.

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The deck had to be built around the above fireplace so extra support poles were put in to keep procthings sturdy. I had the brackets from and old house that my dad tore down 65 years ago and I thought they could be put on display in between the two posts. The house was my uncle's house and before that my grandfather's house. It had all sorts of ginger bread decoration on the sweeping front porch. The glass panel with four panes was from my neighbor's porch that he tore down. They all fit together great. I should put a swinging porch swing under it. Maybe I can do that next spring.

 Our economy has come back after four long miserable years.  The woman next door did sell her house. The house behind her east, also just recently sold. They had five dogs in the yard yesterday. The house across the front of my neighbor's house, west, has also sold now. All three sold in the last two months. There is a house down the street that is still unsold but I am going to keep watching it. I kept telling the neighbor next door lady that she just needed to wait as things in the country would settle down. The new people are a young couple with many dogs. The one next door are a couple closer to our age, who are downsizing. I have yet to see the age of the people who bought that other one.  The moving vans are keeping busy. Maybe it is because we are bad neighbors but the ones who moved in south of us two years ago seem to be sticking around.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Sunny and Cold

 The morning sky was full of clouds. It was cold out there on the deck while taking the shot. 

 Trying to shoot the sun I had to go out beyond to the outer side of the deck to get the sun in the picture. The blue dot that is hidding in the clouds is the moon.

 I have the first Christmas tree sitting out on the downstairs table ready to be brought up stairs. I put up the one small tree on the chest of drawers for Thanksgiving. The grandkids like to see it up when they come for Thanksgiving. 

We are cooler today with the high being 54 degrees F. It is going to stay cold now as the heat spell was unusual for the season.  

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Saturday's Stuff

 The sun shining on the burning bush makes an outstanding batch of color. It has grown into a great specimen shrub.

 My pedestal doesn't look right. I guess I need to go back to the drawing board on this one. I like that I got it to be taller but I don't like the narrow boxes below it.  I do need to get it fixed before it snows as things do freeze up and I can't get the parts lifted off the base. 

 The stems that I removed from the old pussy willow tree are rooting. I didn't think I would have any luck with it but the stems act like they have been moved into spring. I have sprouting leaves and roots all at the same time. I have added some sand now and a hint of black soil to keep the nutrients going in the water. I have four stems so I could put one or two at a time in soil and still have some in water on reserve in case it doesn't take.

We had an early delivery of a washer and dryer this morning. The came at 7:15 in the morning. We had good warning that they would be at the time but it seemed unusual. Our two machines came with the house eight years ago and they were used back then. We didn't know how old they were but the dryer had to be repaired a few months ago and it then stopped working again. My wife thought we needed to just buy some new ones. They are both being busy washing and drying right now. We are having one more pleasant warmer day today. 

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Friday is a Warm Day

 Fall is here as leaves are falling and the flower gardens are all spent. Looking out from my patio you can see the crimson king maple has dropped only half of its leaves. It sometimes waits fro the snow to be on the ground before it drops the rest. A portion of the burning bush is a bright red almost hiding behind the cupola. 

 

I used the grass catcher to collect the leaves from my locust tree in the front yard.  I had three batches of it as I worked the front. It is mostly the small petals from the tree and not much in the way of grass mixed in it. Two of the batches dumped here have been leveled and I have a large sack of dirt to put on top of it. 

My tree stump is not removed yet. I don't have to pay for the whole job until it is done. I am sure the day it is finally removed the bill will show up the next day for the total tree removal.  The tree guys contract out the job so they are held hostage until it is done and the whole job is finished.

 

The purple dart is from one of my neighbor boys. It is a shock to look down and see them but now I just smile. This is the third one the I have tossed back over the fence. The one boy likes to shoot baskets a lot the the father plays catch with both of them off with footballs and baseballs. 

 

As I looked through the mess of things that did get wet, this did not. I found the original pencil drawing that I had done of the old school building. I taught in that school building for four years before I was moved to a newer section. Eventually the building was torn down and a new modern one was built. I had prints made of the pencil drawing that I found and this print was hand colored by me.  I sold many of the prints as lots of the kids that attended there did have some good memories of their school days. 

I drove north of town and unloaded the truck of its recycle bags for leaves and twigs. I had nineteen of them and I thought I should do it on a warm 74 degrees day. It was free for the dumping and I was glad to get them out of the truck.  

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Thursday's Things

 It was a different kind of morning with the dark clouds out there. I didn't think it looked so great a first until I went out on the deck. 

 When I turned to look west I saw these interesting different kind of clouds. Out from the spaces of the clouds there was the moon. I tried to get a close up with my camera but a large cloud blocked it out. The white speck is the moon.

 Another shot lets us see that true red color. The newer bush is doing well this year.

 I started this jade plant myself years ago. I had a broken off part and it just kept growing larger. I brought it in  from the sun room as we don't heat it over night. I could put it back outside but I found a place for it over in the plant stand area in the living room. 

I moved boxes around while clearing out the basement for the wokment. I shot a photo of one of my favorite boxes. Christmas is coming always soon than we wish it. A couple of the grand kids want me to put up the small tree for Thanksgiving so they can see it. One grandson wants to make lego ornaments for it.

Thanks for stopping by today.
 

Middle of the Week

 The morning was clear and we did warm up a bit. It will warm up to unseasonably warm by the weekend. 

 One lone bud really was dead as I brought it inside and it did not live.  I will be mowing up leaves tomorrow as we keep getting warmer each day. My redbud tree has drop most all of its leaves. I can mow and mulch around in circles until they are all chewed up. It will look like me going into circles for sure. 

 The red of this burning bush is so striking. Our weather really was good this year to nourish the shrub so it has great color. 

 My tree stump has not been removed yet. I haven't been billed for the entire job as the job is not completed. It is another company that comes in to do the job. I keep thinking the weather is so good that they could get to it. 

 Life has been busy. I won't share all that is going on but as things break down and get fixed, other things break down and have to be replaced. Busy means I forget to blog as my free time isn't free right now. The weather warming up makes things seem more tolerable. We meant for lunch today with our former neighbor lady. She is living a new active life in a retirement apartment where things are going on everyday. She takes one day off a week to rest and shop. She loves her cardplaying groups and the friends she has made in her new home. She is so happy. 

Tomorrow is another busy day. Thanks for stopping by today.  

Inside Reds

 

 

My mom always had red in her color choices. This is one of the many that she crocheted while watching people walk by her front window. She would rock and crochet and watch the world outside too and the tv might be on also. 

It was a severe cold outside today. I went to get groceries and meds this afternoon and it had not warmed at all.  For as cold as it was the pharmacy and store was very busy on a Monday.  I am glad to be home and being warm again.

Snowy Day

 It was raining when I decided to go out and shoot. I first went out on the patio under the sun room and took shots out of the rain. I found some things to take photos of and then went inside. There lay my parka and I just thought I can go outside anyway. In this shot you can see that I did make my cupola taller. I don't quite like how the base looks so I may have to bring it in and rework it. I guess I need to bring it in before snow falls so I can not have to fight things being frozen down. 

 I found this rose in the rain and took its picture.  It looks a little bit worn but still looks good. 

 While outside I looked down an saw this brilliant red leaf. I don't have a clue as to who's tree in came from but the wind blows leaves all up and down our street. It was so bright red that I first though it was one the kids candy wrapper that they had thrown on the ground. It looks very sculptural.

 While outside I checked on my bonsai starts. I read recently that you can't grow trees inside the house. At least if you want them to be strong ones. So I now have these out on the table outside for the winter. I know I just planted my new Japanese Bloodgood Maple out in the ground so I guess these trees will be outside too. The tallest one I grew from seed and a short pine tree I also grew from seed. Others I have harvested from my garden as maples come up here and there freely. 

 When I had my overgrown pussy willow tree cut down I took branches from it. I am very happy to see that the three samples that I cut have all rooted. I don['t know how long to leave them in the water. I wonder what would happen if I put a few tablespoons of dirt in the bottom of the water. I will wait and do nothing.  I guess I do have some sand that I could put in the jar. I am sure I could order a new bush for my wife from the internet but i though I could try this firs with the stems coming from our old tree .

 

 I didn't plant this spirea here in the rock garden area. I think I may move it as it dies back a lot. Also it crowds out the gas meter. I am waiting for the company to take it down so they can work on the meter. I am thinking it would do better in the ground and not in this raised bed covered with rock. It is big enough that I could dig it with difficulty and maybe even split it into two bushes.

 We have a great burning bush now after waiting for it to regrow from two years of drought. It died back also from the derecho breaking off parts of it. This is the best it has been in the eight years we have been here. 

We spent the day with two men in the house basement installing our new furnace, air conditioner and all went smoothly for a while. Then things went bad as when they turned the water back on and the glass liner of our water heater broke.  Our water pressure seems to be very strong right now. The water heater could have been disturbed by the installer who was connecting water to the humidifier of the furnace. I don't know what happen but the company, with our permission, had a new large water heater delivered with in the hour. I wrote out a big check and smiled. Mistakes do happen and we are glad that the new heater was installed and all is good.

Our new furnace was replaced because we had bearings going out of one fan and another fan dragging and not working correctly. The new furnace has all the bells and whistles of modern technology that makes everything work better. I can go to my phone now to adjust the thermostat. The air is in a modulating mode so the temps raise and lower gradually without great fanfare. It  runs so quietly and makes things seem much calmer rather than having a large amount of heat blowing out at you. It was an exhausting day with them here all day so today we are having a low key day. 

It has snowed all afternoon and it is melting mostly. We are suppose to drop to very cold temps tomorrow. Winter!!! Thanks for stopping by today.