Sunday Stuff......

The bonsai look will have to go away this fall as I can't continue to grow it with this long branch.  It looks good in a container but it will just take too much room in the house to continue with its projected stem.

It actually is hard to photograph. I could put it back on its shelf but the raccoon that would crawl up over the gate area would keep knocking it to the ground. A total replanting really is in order and if it warms up again before winter I can do that outside.

I am not being very creative today with repeats of the same old flowers. The begonia above never was removed from its pot to be put into a planter.  I suppose I will have to remove and refresh some of its soil before I bring it in for the winter. I see I do have all three colors of begonia in this container.

I will close with a shot of my corn field in my backyard.  I didn't have to mow the yard for over a month or so.  During that time a volunteer corn plant came up near the garden shed and apple tree.  It actually has a small ear of corn on it. I don't think it will tassel so I doubt I get any corn.

The southern part of Iowa is getting rain  today.  We are a county above it but we are cloudy and cold anyway.  It is supposed to warm up to 69 degrees today. We will drive through rain when we head for church.   It should eventually be a pretty good day outside.  Have a great Sunday and thanks for stopping by today.

Saturday At School.........For Saturday School.

 

We are finishing off a great apple pie today that my wife made from these kinds of apples.  I have to hunt and sort through them to find any that I can use.  Lots of bruises and insect spots.  I did find this next batch where they size is larger.  It took me along time with lots of little apples to create enough for the one pie.  These apples should be a little bit easier.  I actually didn't know these apples were on that particular tree.  The one next to it was almost appleless.  I will try to take a picture of the next pie my wife makes, be it a peach pie or an apple.

The pears are too small to really make anything out of them.  I can eat one once in a while but to make anything out of them like jelly or sauce would be too difficult.  The tomatoes are still putting out a few last ones now. 

Evidence of our almost  half of inch of rain a week ago can be seen in the bird bath.  I was surprised to see that it hadn't evaporated already.

I am in Saturday school again this weekend with two guys who wish that they weren't here.  Both of them would probably be at home and be asleep right now.  I am about a fourth of the way through with them right now.  It is a four hour time to serve by them and I think also by me. One brought two pieces of pizza to eat for breakfast before we started our time.

I hope everyone has a good weekend.  The weather in Iowa has returned to normal for a while.  It actually is too cold at night for normal but it does give us daytime normal.  I assume the Colorado rains will be coming our way now as we have three or four days of rain predicted by Tuesday.  Thank you for stopping in to see what is going on here in central Iowa.

Friday......

It is ash tree Friday as I posted a different photo of the same tree on my Photo a Day blog.  The tree is a volunteer one that my dad had noticed along my property line back in 1976.  He said that it was an ash and they made good trees for the yard.  The person who reworked the house that I just had moved into had removed most of the small growth, bushes and plants.  I needed some trees and it was free.  Most people would call it a dirty tree as it puts out funny fuzzy spiral things in spring and then the seeds go everywhere all fall. It has been a good tree for me and yet the virus is coming its way soon.  I am just waiting for the insect to come and kill it and I will have to remove it.  Until then I will just enjoy it.

The fence from my son's workplace was given to me a few years ago. When putting it into my yard I thought a  little decoration on the posts would look good.  The wood pieces are of course factory made by machine but they do capture some of the history of the design of the old fashioned ones. 

 

My final finish today will be a shot of the verbena blooms.  Even with rain and extra watering, I see that I am not going to save my sedum.  I guess once it hits a certain time and the water just isn't there and the sedum will just go back to dormancy. 

I am not working today but will be back at it tomorrow for a half day of Saturday school.  I need time off my feet again as my other leg is starting to get worse as my one leg is getting better.  I don't think standing on concrete floors all day helps anything.  I guess I will go out and take some photos of things as I am out of photos again to share. 

Thanks for checking in on me.

Two Bees Today......

The bees do love this sedum.  I haven't watered it for a few days as the rain of a half inch and the cooler weather has helped things.

My new cactus has some new growth.  It has been inside most of the summer and it actually grew while it was inside.  I did bring it out and put in partial shade for the rest of this season.

I am teaching in an At Risk room today which consists of me spending a lot of time helping with homework.  Only a half day to work today and I enjoyed our cool morning getting some things done.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Foliage Day

 

We actually had a rain storm last night.  There was first a small shower during the sundown with it being sunny and rain falling from the sky.  Then in the middle of the night the thunder got our smallest dog up and me with him and it was raining.  It is strange to see water running down the street and off of the porch roof since it had not done so since June.  It was cold and wet back then. 

The one middle photo of the hosta shows it trying to revive from our summer weather. I felt sorry for it and started watering it some when I watered my containers of plants. 

It did cool us off a little but it will be warming back up today one last time.  It will be 89 degrees in the metro area which means we may hit 84 degrees F. today.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Tuesday......

The roma plants have all ripened now at the same time.  They started off with just a few ripening but now the whole lot is ready to be picked.

It is the same color as the tomatoes.  I guess I just created a theme.  Every night the planters get to be watered.  Especially after a day of 99 degrees F.

As if this is a bookends type of blog, I will finish with more tomatoes.  This variety could  have put out larger fruit but still they are doing well in spite of where they have to grow.

I am in the special needs room today after a day off yesterday.  I will again follow a young man around the building to his different classes.  I bet it will be another day of early dismissal because of the heat.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Monday

The marigolds grew up from seed in the planter and it has slowed down its growth.  The little buds are growing and I haven't a clue when the large blurry bud in front will open.  It will be very hot the next two days again and marigolds do like heat.  I will water them again this evening after the heat wave.

My prickly pear cactus seems to hold its own with no care from me.  I watered it a couple of days ago but it is a tough desert plant. The cactus seems to love all the heat and looks healthy.

My other cactus planter is in a stoneware container.  The two varieties seem to like being together.  The tipped over cactus was a newer one that was given to me and I need to get some tongs and replace it into the soil.

More peaches were brought to our door last night.  They were all large ones and they will become pie.  The first batch that I picked a few days ago have been sliced and placed in the freezer.  Well actually only half of them were frozen as they had a lot of green ones in the batch.  Today we will prepare them for the freezer.   We also have some apples from the orchard to deal with getting them ready for pie filling and they too will be put in the freezer.

I have today off and it is good for me.  I need to rest a little more before I go back tomorrow. The heat is to be great today reaching almost 100 degrees F.  School will be let out at one o'clock today and probably again tomorrow. 

Thanks for stopping by my post today.