A flock of four were hanging around the neighborhood yesterday. In the afternoon I looked out and these two mallards were sitting on our neighbor's roof. The look a little bit confused. 

 On the roof of the nest house over is a pair of ducks. They seem to be resting up there and just looking around for something. 

 

I promised to share visuals of my one flowering tree in the front yard. When the area was first developed some parts of the development were required to plant flower trees along the streets. Our development was done later by a different company but a scattering of flowering trees are in our area.  Lots of them have been cut down but the healthy ones are still there.  I my larger tree removed by the city last fall as the strong wind storm of the past had destroyed the center of the tree. I then had a new large section start to die and it was ready to fall. Our tree really isn't a pear tree as the very small fruit that develops is more like an very small apple. I don't remember the variety's name. 

 

 

I connected that small green hose up to the drain pipe a few days ago. I checked it this morning and the many rains that we have had, caused the barrel to be full of water already. I didn't expect it to fill so quickly. We did receive another inch and a half of rain in the last 24 hours.  Having been through three years of drought this is such good news. I know the gr ss and weeds will grow better. 

We are having a cold day today with projections of rain. I did empty my rain gauge to get my own measurements. The reported rainfall for our city should be in a north end of the town verses south end of town report as the weather is different when you have a stretched out city. We are closer to the Des Moines River and the big lake that gives us a little bit different weather. The Des Moines River should be full again.

Thanks for checking in today.
 

Thursday....Ozempic Day

The first to bloom of the dozen I planted last fall. I really had forgotten that I did plant them but I remember now that I wandered around the garden placing them in different locations.  I have few also in the back yard gardens. I have always been fascinated by them and remember them back on our old farm in the early 1950s.

In the back yard the red bud is starting to turn color. It is subtle and is worth the wait as they slowly fill out with full blooms.

The past rains have given us another inch of rain. I didn't empty the gauge as it is suppose to rain for a long time. I want to get the total when it finally stops raining.  This added to our other rain of an inch and a half are all welcomed totals. 

We have always been reminded that our last frost date is May 15th. I keep thinking I will start taking the geraniums outside but I will wait. It will be nice to get them outside where they can get watered naturally. 

I have onea flowering  tree in the front yard after losing its partner last summer. When I went to the hardware store I saw all sorts of trees that are in white blooms but hadn't been looked at my own. It is in bloom and I may have to go out in the rain to get a photo of it. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  

 I take Ozempic for my one of two forms of diabetes. I always say the day of the week with its name, the day I take it. I won't forget to take it this way. I really haven't lost the 15 pounds on it as the others who take it for weight loss and are non-diabetics. 

Middle of the Week

 It was time for an adventure. The propane tank needed to be filled again. I take a photo for the hardware people to see to prove I do have the tank for refilling. I also needed to buy new parts for my one toilet. The job of replacing the mechanism in the stool is done but the tank sits next to the grill. I want it to be warmer before I attempt to get that heavy tank back inside my grill. 

 While I was getting ready to drive away there was the mallard duck sitting in my neighbor's yard. The pair have been hanging around. There are stories that mallard duck pairs do nest in the suburbs. The taking of them to a pond after hatching really is impossible around here. 

 It is going to rain this evening.  It is suppose to rain all evening and through the night. We can use the rain. We had an inch and a half the past rainfall and it was the most rain of any place in Iowa. The way the wind and rain and hail hit it seemed like it should have been a greater amount. I do have my guage out to get a new measure of the moister that falls from the sky. 

I recycle the water that I remove from the aquariums. The peperomia is really responding to all that nitrogen with all the upward growth of the plant.

The day seemed busy and carrying heavy propane tanks can take a lot from the body. Also the repairing the stool with new parts means being down on your knees crawling to get  parts detached and reattached. No leaks when I turned the water back on and the part I replaced is a lot quieter when the water fills the tank. 

Thanks for checking in today. 
 

Morning View

 The visual was a surprise but the actual view of my camera's shot was better than I thought it would be. 

 The color is wonderful even though the blooms of the hyacinth seem undeveloped.  I don't think our weather will ever give me the blooms that you see when they are grown in a green house. 

 The red bud tree is starting to show more color. It has a few more days to go to start looking showy. At a distance one can see a haze of the color. 

 The sky color looks great with this view of the tree in the foreground. We had an inch and of a half of rain last night. The wind plus the hail made it into a very noisy storm. When the hail started hitting the north west end of the house I couldn't figure out what was happening.

 My birthday card was another creative one this year. My wife can find them on the net and I get paper sculptures that open up as the card is open.  We usually do our taxes after my birthday so today was the day. It got complicated as the preparer had to call one of the companies to get an accurate set of figures from an investment we had closed down in the middle of the year. The preparer and I had to talk to a non-English speaking person. I had to prove that I was the person who owned the investment and I kept reading off numbers that were on one of my papers. Eventually she agreed that I was who I said that I was. The preparer had the same problems with her speech so we ordered a new printout that should be in the mail in the next two days. We will have to return with that printout to finalize our tax filing. If we didn't have the exact paper we would probably be audited in two years and also fined. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Monday's Mentions

 Spring is here as we just finished having a wind storm with rain and hail included. The iris is coming up in the warmer spots around the house. Tulips are a little slow this year as it seems too dry for them. 

 My peonies are also starting to shoot up starts. I like how they are so red at first and then do green up.

 My neighbor lady moved away but here early tulips are in bloom. I didn't get too close to them for the shot as I don't know the new owners very well and felt I couldn't walk over to them. 

 I normally share the morning shot first but I am still getting use to my new way of down loading photos. I have about two more processed to do now and have to get them all into a folder on the desk top.  If you get close to the shot you can see the jet trails up there out early in the morning. 

The hail storm we just had lasted for about ten minutes. It was loud and I at first didn't know what it was. I thought my ice machine in the freezer was malfunctioning.  The rainbow was great but I couldn't get a shot of it. 

Thanks for checking in today.  

Sunday Night

 A surprise view of jet trails in the sky this morning. The pilots got creative for some reason and gave me an unusual sight.

 When you only have your phone you can't get a good shot any robin in the yard. 

 I can enlarge it but the photo quality it really bad. The robins have been back for a few weeks now. They are glad it warmed up as they can maybe find bugs along with the dried berries from last year. 

The best view of a robin for me is the small sculpture that sits on our fireplace mantle. It is fun to pick it up and hold it in your hands. 

 

It has been two years ago that I had to call 911 for my wife to be taken to the emergency room. It ended up being a full year of healing from becoming so seriously ill. The rehab process was a long one and the end result was a God given healing from such an awful time. I know when she is well when she has her studio set up in the sun room and she is back to doing her lifetime love of creating art. It makes me smile to see her back at it. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Weekend Has Started

 A view of my two goldfish as seen through many reflections. The reflection of the lace curtain above was a surprise to see for me. 

 The rocks remain through all sorts of weather. They were placed there in the fall and survived all the snow and rain. It really is my own natural sculpture on the landing of the stairs. I do see one of the rocks is about to fall off the ledge. 

 I was looking through today as no vines are on them so far. I started some light blue morning glories this morning in my starter tray. They take so long to germinate and I thought it would be worth a try even though  I can sew seed in the  planter below later on when it warms up. We were at below freezing temps this morning. 

.Some of my iris that are in warmer locations are really shooting up already. It is fun to have the iris get established and have lots of blooms. Tulips will have to bloom first though before any iris show up. 

 At a certain time of the year, for a couple of days, the sun shines through one of my aquariums and rainbows are formed on the floor below. I learned about prisms while in the elementary grades and sixty years later I get to see a natural one made with my fish tank. The colors are so pure in this one. 

Thanks for checking in today.