Saturday's Stuff. .....

I am looking forward to see the flag iris to be in bloom.  I have two lared ones of these and somewhere I had a pastel blue one.  I don't think it is around any more. I do know that I moved it down here.

I was glad to see one more jack in the pulpit popping through a cople of days ago. All three seem to be real healthy and don't seem to mind the lily of the valley plants that are all around them.

I didn't plant this area but it seems to be doing good on its own.  I did add some rescued iris plants near this to get them started before I move them into a planned new location. I would grab rhizomes while at the old place to plant at the new place just to see if I had moved it already.

My yellow cemetery iris did travel down to the new place and really has done well. I like how it grew and became well established in just a couple of years.

The falls of this iris are whiter and more transparent that the uprights of the flower. I have two new iris in bloom now but they need to be photographed for another day. It is sprinkling right now so I am inside for awhile.

I got the truck unloaded yesterday and placed down five by the end of the day.  This is the row of pavers where I placed them while I put them in place one at a time.

 I am sure some of my blogger people think I am doing this job in a strange way. The normal way to put down pavers is to have the entire place level and prepared for laying the brick all at one time.  But for me, the design I chose to put down was to use two different colors of paver and they are different thicknesses. The red ones are thinner so the tan one sticks way up in the air.

So I am having to do each square one at a time preparing soil height for kind of paver and put limestone findings to level it for placing down the piece. One at a time is crazy and the checkerboard desing is the bad idea. . You can see in this photo where I have placed three new pavers to extend the patio.

This next photo shows where I have installed five tiles.  This morning I put five more in to complete the double row of five.  It is good to get that done.

In this photo it shows I have to work out a design to place pavers around the posts of the deck.  They were the posts that I used to make the potting bench.  All in all I got a lot of work done today but I still need to place eight more squares around the back side of this area. I am going to take some time to decide the final design but I can do it.

The work area looks rough but every time I p ut down another paver is looks better and better.

The sun is shining right now but we have thunder storm warning coming our way.  If I can I think I will sneak in a few tomato plants after I rest.  It should have done a week ago but they always catch up with heat and humidity working on them once they are planted. Thanks for stopping by today.

A Surprise Visitor....

I think the bird was stretching to see if there was any room left on the seed sock. I took this quickly as I was surprised to even see him out and about. Another surprise visitor were two girls walking up the street with their new puppy.  He reminded us of our little poodle with white fur and brown ears. We just happened to be out side as the two girls brought him by.  He didn't like walking and kept sitting down on them as they tried to walk with him.  I remembered our poodle also didn't like to walk so we carried him most of the time.  He did like the Minnesota North Shore where he could rout out some chipmunks once in a while.

Our neighbors to the north have lived in their home for eighteen years so that have their gardening processes down to  a science They have their tomatoes in the far garden and this will be for vine vegetables.

They have their tomatoes in now, after I took the photo. We are going to have some warm days and tomatoes take off when the soil gets warmed.  Their tomatoes were large enough that they put their cages up already.

I have one lone bloom in the front garden. The dianthus comes back each year on its own.

The geranium is big this year and has a lot of blooms on it.

There is one bud on this old rose. I will be able to identify it for sure when it blooms. It was moved from the old place ad is as old as the old house that sits there.  I am thinking that it is a pink one. It does prove that if you wait long enough the old flowers will hold their own but you have to wait two or three years.  I am going to make a frame to support this sometime this summer.

I have lots of photos to share right now as things keep growing.  I did get my truck of pavers unloaded and taken down the hill to the patio.  I had fourteen of them to move, three at a time with a wheel barrow, I got to have one load lighter with two bricks. I then ended up putting down three of them, adding them to the patio.  It is a lot of work and I have the energy to do about three a day. It feels good to get the job started.

I will go mow at the old place tomorrow morning if the weather hold. It may rain and I will have to take the day off.  I could only wish.  Thank you for stopping by today.  I do have some steaks in the freezer waiting for me to grill them. I had to get my gas tank filled and  Ace Hardware worked well for that.  Have a good day.

The Lawn and Flower Report....

I just clipped off a stem from my front yard peony.  It makes me mad when I do that with the weed eater. I put it in water but but I  doubt it will bloom out in a vase. These peonies have never bloomed at the new place in the back yard.  I am curious to see what kind and color that they are.

My growing conditions are different as a lot of my iris has not bloomed.  My neighbor next one south has two varieties in bloom right now. This pink one is tough as it did bloom last year and has come back strong again this  year.

The red twig dogwood shrub is putting out blooms.  I mowed in the back yard this morning and the grass really was too tall.  Things got busy and I just didn't get it done.  It looks good other than I have a layer of the mowed grass laying on top of the cut grass.  It will take a few days for that to settle in to the grass.

The yellow cemetery iris is going to put out a lot blooms this year. I like how hardy that it is and this is on its second year of being planted there.  I need to spend more time in the gardens as the grass is growing in to fast among the flowers.

This white iris has put out two buds close together.  I have seen the two buds close together but usually they take turns in blooming.

I don't quite remember the actual color of this one but it will be out soon. The flag iris is getting ready to put on quite a show.  It has got itself really well established.



We are having a gray day with sprinkles once in a while. I had to come in because of the moisture while I was trying to trim grass.

Our state is suppose to be opening up more tomorrow. The death of the elderly continues. We are suppose to outlive it but we are made aware of it being out there.  We were told that the flu in November killed a lot of people too but we didn't broadcast it or share the numbers.  We both had that and it was the worse kind of flu that we had experienced of a long time.

I hope all are well and are not going to crazy.  I am beyond crazy but will plug along anyway. No appointments until the end of next week.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Middle of the Week Report....

I don't know the name of the maple tree but I do really like it.  It has one problem as it looks like the top of it had broken off at one time so there are two main branches at the top. I like the tree as it gives us and the neighbors behind us more privacy.  It covers us when we are on our deck and it shields them from our view when they are out on their patio which is below us.  I do like to see their little boy running around in the yard and we can see him once in a while. I think he is a couple of years plus old. He has a new born sibling that was born very early spring.  It is nice for it to be leafed from now to late fall.

Our neighbor to the north has a new lawn decoration.  It is a tall corn sculpture. They started to put out a goose decoy as I have my two geese out all the time.

I shared this photo on my photo a  day blog recently. The white iris is the one that blooms first for me.

I have lost track of how many are now blooming. There is a double bloom at the bottom so this is a photo of four.. Last year at this time the guy building the fence asked me if they were orchids. I guess he doesn't know much about plants.

As I sit at the dinning room table eating whatever meal, I see things moving out the window.  It is actually the flowers dropping their petals as the bouquet fades away. I kind of like the look of fallen leaves on the table.

We are off for another doctor''s appointment today.  That will be the last one until next Wednesday. It is rainy again today and I would like to take more flower pictures. I am thinking I need to get some tomatoes put into the ground.  We do have warmer weather coming next week. My neighbors have lettuce growing and if I could get that planted I would have some too.

I just learned today from a garden magazine that we moved from one cooler growing season to a warmer growing season. I sort of though we were blooming and growing faster at the new place and I now know why. It is a long narrow zone that we are in and us living on the top of a hill with the down side protected from weather does make us have better growing conditions.

The indoor oxalis plants are doing well.  Both kinds are abundantly blooming. The pink flowers belong to the green plant.

Lots to do and so little time to do it.  I wish everyone well.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Tuesday's Things.....

The front yard garden is coming back alive.  It is not looking real good as i haven't purchased any flowers at the green house.  The one at the grocery store is open but I just didn't venture out for that kind of thing yet.

I ran across a photo that my first cousin shared on the net.  It is a country school photo that includes my dad's picture. I have never seen him in photos being this young.  He is the little guy on the front bottom right. He was born in 1917 so this could be 1924.  I have another one similar that has his sisters in the photo and my dad has some facial features similar to Amye. It actually is his nose that looks just like his sister. It felt strange to be able to see something so far back in my dad's life.

This is the second photo of a different year.  The country school was east of Murray, Iowa.  In this photo my dad is again on the front right corner.  I think his brother Ralph is sitting next to him.

I do have a goldfinch coming to the sack feeder.  I don't see him very often but he is a flash of yellow when he flies by the house.

I am doing battle with my google photo storage today. I can't pull anything up so I will just stop writing. We took our friend to her second appointment today.  It was a long wait.

It is a gray day today and it did sprinkle in the morning.  I did not get to mow today even though I should have.  I hope everyone well today. Stay safe.

First of the Week.......

Two new blooms today. The white seems to be the fist to bloom as I see others have their iris of the same color blooming.

The iris is from our neighbor Judy. I planted it as one small piece and now it grows abundantly. Judy passed away this early spring so here gardens will not be tended to anymore. She had a large hybrid collection for a while but the last few years they dwindled down as she wasn't able to take care of them.

Some of the red twig dogwoods are blooming. They will develop red berries in which the birds will like to eat.  They have grown back since there trimming aback a couple of years ago.

The bloom is an unusual one but each flower becomes a red berry. The red of the branches is still bright but when it heats up they will turn brown. 

I picked another batch of asparagus on Sunday. I like that it keeps growing.  I think the rain will help it out some too. The one batch was devoured by the voles over the winter.

I placed a few of these down to kill out the grass. I won't have time to work on anything for most of the week but the pavers can smash down the grass for me. I have fifteen of these to lay into three rows.

We made a trip to the hospital today to take our friend for chemo therapy.  We usually just come home and then go back to pick her up when she needs the ride. Tomorrow she starts radiation sessions. It will be a busy few weeks and we are glad we can help her.

I need to mow again but will wait for a warmer, dryer day.  I will schedule it in to the must do schedule.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Sunday, just for show.....