Wednesday’s Mentions.....

At the southeast end of the house the William Baffin rose blooms many flowers. It is a very hardy variety with its heaving climbing branches.

The wave petunias are slow this  year.  I have had to keep watering them as they don’t seem to be rooting in very well.  I have them planted in a couple of different locations and it will be interesting which spot was the best for them.

I like flowers that look like wild flowers.  I don’t like where the former owners have planted them.  The grow tall in front on fat knock out roses and it looks strange. I did move some of them out of the front planter and may do some more moving once they are done blooming. I don’t know the kind of flower that it is but I bet one of my friends will know.

The weather seems to be raining all week but I am not sure that I might have to water them more anyway.  The raised bed work well if there is a lot of rain but they do dry out quickly.

The Obama administration decided to remove all of our jet aircraft from the Camp Dodge near here.  They did increase the helicopters and drone technology but those are not as exciting as jets. It is nothing for us to hear these helicopters flying over night or day. Sometimes we see them flying in a formation of four or five together at a time.  I know they said it took a lot of money to train the Queen’s oldest grandson to fly a helicopter.  I think training pilots goes on over here.  It is also a reserve site for weekend training.

Most of my hosta are budding or blooming right now.  This is one of my favorite varieties. It hasn’t been in this location for very long times so it will be big and beautiful next spring. They don’t seem to mind the clay in the soil but it takes them time to get itself established.

I have a lot of hosts that probably need to be thinned out.  I am thinking of a new area to start a hosta garden around one tree.  I would rather have hosta growing around the one tree than having to use the grass trimmer around it.

I am dodging rainy weather today in deciding when to mow the old yard at the old place. I was warned of rain this morning and we had sprinkles down here most of the morning.


We are going to escape this afternoon and hit the bookstore for a while. We went for groceries yesterday.  Our store can be such an adventure if you hit it at a prime time.  We were late afternoon and the place was filling in with people as we shopped.  Big grocery stores and lots of people makes for a State Fair environment. We were glad to get out of there with our cart full of food.

It is Wednesday and I hope everyone is doing well.  Thanks for your checking in on my post today.

Out and About in the Back Yard.....

My yard guard should feel right at home.  All the old stuff came with him to the new place.  I moved the bench with bricks along with the iris and antique rose bush.  They sit over in a small corner next to the big blue spruce tree.

The tomatoes are kicking in and starting to get a lot of new growth on them. This variety is a stout-looking plant.  My puny little replacement tomatoes have taken off too, as they are liking the soil I planted them in right in the ho

I watered everything this morning as we were dry.  It is suppose to rain today but it doesn’t look like much will be received.  I watered while a light sprinkle l was going on but it stopped before I was done with the garden hose.

I saw this guy fly through this morning.  I have a screen on the window and I couldn’t get much of a photo.  I may have to remove a screen from a set of my double windows so I can take photos better through them. I saw the red flash by when he flew in or I wouldn’t have noticed him.

My young neighbor finished his last section of fence over the weekend. We were not here but it should not have taken very long as it was like a six foot length section.  It makes the plantings on the far corner of our property look lots better.  We lost the view of most of his little kids play house.  We can see the top of it yet but we now have more privacy just as he does too.

I seem to always leave things round to be in my photo.  I am not using the planters at the end of this area and they need to go into storage. The old wagon wheels were from the farm where my wife lived.  The farm was originally her grandparents’ farm. I put them there to get them out of the way from the building and now I think I will leave them  there.

A backyard plant that is of a blurry columbine plant.  If it does as well as the last one I planted it should look good here next spring. It is planter over in the corner where he finished the fence.  That whole garden area is filled in with a variety of things.  The liatirus is just about to bloom in that area.

One last backyard shot of this buttercup.  I accidentally move this when I moved a peony from the front yard.  It really has made a good splash of yellow where it is at.

It is a dull day today with clouds covering the sun.  I couldn’t take pictures of the full moon last night as the clouds were also blocking the view.  I heard it was to be a strawberry moon.  I also heard that the earth is going to start tilting back again. It is almost too much for an old man to keep track of.

It is Tuesday and I don’t have a lot more plans for the day.  Yard work is done for now and I will take the afternoon off.  I am wishing everyone to be well today.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Kansas City......

We visited KC for our 35th wedding anniversary.  A couple of days away was good and treating ourselves to food and sights of the place was good.

Our concrete and steel hotel kept us safe from storms and heat. It was a two day get-away and we enjoyed it.

Art museum and Country Club Plaza were fun. We ate at the Crown Center’s restaurant for our anniversary and had lunches at the Nelson-Adkins Art Museum’s Roselle Court.

It was hot enough for people to use the pool.  I thought about diving off the balcony but the pool was away from the side of the hotel too much.

The fountains at Country Club Plaza were great to see and all the Spanish architecture was good  to see too.

My night view is blurry but the light and colors are still great to see.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Be Back Soon.......

It’s Friday....

The young sparrows are out of the nest.  They have learned how to get free food already.  I have seen the house finch have lots of young ones out there.  I also shared the three robins that were chasing one an other in the yard. I also saw young cowbirds following their parents around in the yard. The first round of birds are done. I did see a goldfinch at the feeder but there is no photo proof of that.

I was out looking for some more seed for the garden.  The new seed from the two zinnia packed really did not do well.  I went to the grocery stores garden center and they had taken their seed packs away.  It tends to be closed down by the fourth of July.  Things were on sale and I bought a yellow rose.  I also picked up a red clematis and a yellow columbine.  I hope all of them survive.

The peony bouquet is highlighted by the setting sun last evening. It looks good on my old oak table. We bought some chairs to go with the table which I had to assemble.  The job was a little bit difficult but they looks good.

A Minnesota woman that was a friend of ours gave,e me a bag of driftwood.  I painted this lighthouse  scene  using the natural wood to look like the edge of the lake. Marilyn is gone now but I do have memories of her with her collected wood.  I am thinking I might have moved that bag of driftwood to the new place, but then again I may not have. I know where it would be if I had done so in a basket under the workbench. It is no man’s land under there but I can dig it all out to see.

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Thursday’s a Good Day....

I bought my first rose bush called William Baffin years ago in Grand Marais, Minnesota.  It was such a great bloomer and I never dreamed that I would able to buy another in my new home town. I need to get a trellis made for it as it is a climber. It doing well in the clay soil on the southeast side of the house.  Just like the one at the old place it seems to like the heat.

Last year’s purchase of this dianthus proved to be a short variety.  It sure was not short though as this year it grew to be a foot high.  I is of the carnation family and its height is like that.

It is proving to be a great perennial. I do think I have to trim it back to get a second blooming from it. You can see in the background the tropical canna plant I just bought.  It was tall and will be taller if I keep it watered.

The “knock out” roses are doing so well.  I am going to be busy trimming back all the dead blooms.  There are more flowers on the three roses than I have ever seen before.

I shared this on my other blog yesterday.  The color of the delphinium is really great.  I bought this at Walmart and it is really in good shape.  The move from the pot to the ground really did not jolt it. The place that I planted it is where nothing is in bloom.  I cut all the iris stems away and I wait for the coneflowers to start blooming.  The hollyhocks will bloom soon.

It is a strange photo when you snap it inside a glass house. The neighbor’s lights on his fence post show up clearly but the reflection of what is behind me shows up. The window of the kitchen shows up twice.

A busy day ahead with many things to do.  I mowed yesterday and trimmed out sucker plants in the gardens at the old place.  They will never look good as I am not there to maintain them daily.  I at least won’t have trees growing out of places.  I brought back some more iris starts and a single daylily that was growing out under a tree.

I hope everyone has a great day.  Thanks for stopping in today.

Wednesday’s Ways.....

Looking down from the deck balcony I was pleased to see this guy.  I think he was warming up on the rock slab which had been in the sun.  I had not seen him since the guy came and cut up our old deck. I knew he wasn’t hurt but I really didn’t know where he had gone.  He may live in a burrow under my stairs or under the blue spruce tree.

I zoomed in on him and he was looking up at me with the camera looking down on him. As long as he never gets into the house and there are not too many of them I am glad to have him out there.

I mowed at the old place this morning and brought back a few of the last of peonies from there. I dug up some stray iris and a daylily that was suffering all alone under a tree.  My yard didn’t really need to be mowed.  It had been seven days but it could of gone a couple of more days.  I think I will wait eight or more days next time I go up there.  It is easier to mow now with the grass slowing down and not being so thick.

I am hiring my yard to be treated for one year.  If it makes it look really great, I will do it again.  If not, I won’t hire them again.  We were not here the first time they came to spray but yesterday I was here when the young man showed up to do a granular treatment.  He walked up to me and kind of ducked his head at first when he saw me.  When I saw him I told him I do know who you are.  I sub taught for about four years and I had Brenden in school for those four years.  I remembered him and he was really pleased. I stopped teaching when he was in his sophomore year.  He didn’t know that I was in a new town but he certainly recognized the name.  He has been going to the area college here for the past year and has a first year in accounting out of the way.

This is not a great photo but the rose is situated being a hosta and I can barely get to it to photograph it.  I had moved it out of the way of workmen temporarily. who put in the footings for the sunroom and deck.  I am glad that I had as they did tromp out some things. I may try to put it back where it originally was  planted, once the blooms are done.

It has been a busy day and I am glad to get the blog up.  Better late than never.  Thanks for stopping by today.