It is time to clean house..........

Actually it is time to clean out the garden shed. I need to rearrange things and maybe throw a few things away.  I can't walk into the shed anymore nor can I use the bench that is in there.  Then bench is loaded down.

I have posted these photos before and unfortunately I have added more important pieces of junk. Some of the garden things that can be brought out this spring, will help make things roomier.

I also need to give the shed a coat of stain on the outside as it is faded and looking a little weathered. 





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Zoo animals of my past.........

As I subbed for the band instructor in a study hall  this morning I am reminded of my visit a few years back to the zoo.  As in the zoo, some students are more needy for attention than others.  Some students are really shy and require nothing in the way of a teacher's help.  Some students really live on the edge and they want to test their boundries and others are ready to explode in anger.  I find that school really hasn't changed much since I walked away from the classroom a few years back.

It is Friday and the last day before spring break.  It will be a nice change to not have to set the alarm in the morning to get up and go to school.  Maybe I will be able to get out there and collect some new photos for the good of the cause of my blogland partners

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Thursday's Things..............

An accidental shot while I was working at the dining room.  The fake flowers create an unusual composition of color and shapes.  Not a photo to write home about but an interesting abstract.

My last waterfowl that I will be showing to you is a duck that I can not name.  I know they are up north and I know they are a smaller duck.  I have seen paintings done of them in natural settings.

As you can see I am on a hodge podge theme today.  It has been busy and I need to get outside and shoot some pictures.  We are still very brown out there but the lilies and tulips are shooting up taller and I could find some color out there.

It is a tech day for me today and I hear I have a big project coming up second hour. I can't imagine what it will be as things are so varied in the tech world.

We will be 80 degrees today and that will be ok for our heating bill.  We turned our thermostat down so that we would not being paying Alliant Energy so much money until next fall. Thanks for stopping by my post today...............

Reflection day........

I threw away my wreath. Before doing so I had to remove the small Christmas balls from it.  I placed them on the oak table and saw a photo taking opportunity.  There is even one piece of the evergreen laying on the table.   I try to maintain this spot as a creative area and this is all I can muster up for creativity today.

 Barney with oldest son Andy

Because things have thawed in our back yard, I have the privilege to walk the border collie up and down the sidewalks and streets.  I had back problems for a while ant that was a guarded activity.  He generally had learned to walk with me and stay my pace rather than drag me.  We had to work on that behavior as he likes to plow corn so to speak if he thinks he needs to go somewhere faster.

Monday evening it was late for me but we were out in the dark walking the streets.  It was a wonderful evening.  There wasn't any wind blowing, no rain coming from the sky and the temps were 60's.  The sky was clear and I could see all the stars clearly.  It reminded me of my childhood days when we would stay late out in the yard and look at stars.  The house was too warm and it seemed better to stay outside longer.

I don't know all the arrangements of the stars but it always amazes me how they are always the same. The sun and moon keep up their regular cycles and the starts continue to be in the same configuration.  It is a comforting feeling to know that despite all the nay sayers of the world that we really have not yet destroyed any planet and our space junk has not yet ruined the view.

The star formation of the guy with his shield and sword is always an easy one to find. The alignment of the four stars in a row is easy to view.  The large and small dipper seem easy to find when you are out in the open but my large trees keep me from finding it as quickly as others.

As we have two different zones of air traffic above us I find a small star, plane, traveling through about any time in the night.  It seems like an accent to the stars to see one or two planes up there at night headed on the redeye to some far off place.

I sometimes don't like to go walk the dag when I am tired and ready to go to bed, but the outside can be refreshing. Once I get my shoes on and find my coat and my hat, Barney is stretching and getting himself ready to go too, I am glad I went out.


Thanks for stopping by the old post today.............

Two and two...............

My wife started for me a collection of wild fowl a few years back.  When the trend quit being profitable the company of course quit making them.  So it was a short lived collection of a few years.  The black swan is one of my favorites even though I like all of them. There are others similar to this be they are just not the same in size of kind of material.

The wood duck is a favorite too.  I am showing you this view as I have discovered that the end of the beak is broken off and he looks snub nosed.

The field lilies or ditch lilies are coming up quickly. They crowded out some things that I did value but I guess I have to live with that.  I should have been smart enough to move the plants out of their way as they invaded but as the seasons go they just get swallowed up with the ditch lily.

Vinca has never really impressed me but I have it everywhere.  It just doesn't flower very well for me and I tend to just ignore it.  I have a large patch where it is very thick but the purple flowers are just few and far between.

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Spring growth........

It still looks very brown out there in the garden but the first to put out color is popping up out of the soil. I also have ditch lilies and another vine that is coming through the soil.  The violets will actually start blooming soon but I don't remember if they bloom first before the daffodils.  This is all deceiving as we can drop back into cold weather so quickly.  I really hope not.

As a footnote to a previous blog when I was concerned about getting my very heavy tv to the landfill.  The two landfill people picked it up and threw it into the back of the garbage truck, after reading the heavy sign I had placed on it, and the tv is now gone.

As you can see my new set has a great picture.  Thanks for stopping by my post.

Thinking tomato seed planting........

Maybe I will dig out my old seed box and see what seed that I have left to plant for spring.  It will be May 14 before we are considered frost free.