Bits and Pieces to Share

 

 

Our winter visitors are here already. It seems early and they are hungry. I saw them a few days ago searching the mowed grass but didn't register that it was a dark eyed Junco. 

 I worked outside and decided it was time to rescue these hardy geraniums. They are so healthy, having grown strong with our frequent rains this summer. I had bought these as a bargain as seed geraniums and I did get my money's worth from them. There  are two other plants still out there but last nights hard freeze may have taken them. I didn't venture out into the gardens today as it was very cold and I found a project to work on inside.

 I snapped a shot of the leaves of my William Baffin yesterday. A third of the bush appears to be dead but the rest seems to be still alive after it dropped most of its leaves. The color and pattern on the leaves seems different than usual but I am glad to see it. 

 I was cleaning out my truck a few days ago and look what I found. I used the truck to move so many things down from the old place to the new place and this was apparent stuck in among things. The boys were young and I don't remember the puzzle but I assume it has a matching piece to complete the game. 1977 was a long time ago and Sesame Street was my oldest son's most favorite entertainment. 

 My wife was beating chicken pieces to flatten them for their coating of parmesan cheese. I got the meat hammer from my mom's kitchen drawer when I closed down her house. It is old and very heavy. Iron would be probably its make up. It is so much better than the wooden ones that I have seen on the market. The parmesan chicken did taste great. 

 We are enjoying the flower garden that I brought inside. They seem to be doing well with the warmth of inside and the keep opening up for us to see. 

It is Friday and thanks for stopping by today. 

Chilly to Very Cold

 The back view isn't so bad on these orchids. I am amazed as to how they are just blooming and I am not causing them to do so. It is just happening.

 The cactus is doing the same except there are not so many buds on it this time. 

 I found one more green tomato as I cleared the bed yesterday morning. It was a surprise but I welcome it to my collection. 

Went for groceries this afternoon and it was very cold. It is surprising to see the number of people still wearing shorts going to the store as the windchill was at 31 degrees F. with the wind coming from the north. I dressed warmer but I thought I would have looked stupid in my winter coat. I should have worn my winter coat.  It is winter weather right now and the days keep getting shorter each day. 

Thanks for checking in today. 

 

Middle of the Week

 

I am remembering my dad everyday with the flag at the door. Today I honor dad, uncles, cousins and friends who served in the service for this nation. I do take the flag in and out everyday. I don't salute each time but I say it once it a while.

 I worked today in the backyard, finishing up on my two raised bed gardens. All has been cleared with four recycle bags full of debris. I drained my two rain barrels also put water onto the blue spruce and also on the red bud tree. I found another green tomato that might ripen. I need to take off the greens of the hosta but I will wait until after our two hard freezes in a row, soon to come.

 I am finished mulching leaves in the backyard. Any leaves that fall from here on now will have to crumble and die in the snow. I need to now work in the front yard mowing and bagging up the locust trees little leaves. They have not all fallen yet so I may start to do the first half. I have roses to be trimmed back but I can decide what to do with all of them. Some roses may have to be cut all the way back where there is already so much dead wood. 

 I now have succeeded to get the two tanks that sat in my double windows moved. They will be great there and I will put many plants in the windows as it should be done. The one last tank's fish will be transferred tomorrow after the water has set for 24 hours, getting the chlorine to go away. It has been quite a process but I did pull it off. The temporary small tank sames me time as they are good for days if I wanted to do so.

 I went outside for some cleanup of things and our temperatures have really dropped. I may go out and clip a couple of roses and bring them inside for a vase. 

 I did get the flower harvest done. We will be too cold for them to survive. I wore a stocking hat to go get them. Thanks for checking in today.

Tuesday in the Backyard

 It has been a great season. Even though the rain storms and wind caused them to lay on the ground they still put out so much great color. The frosts has finally finished them off and I took the zinnias down. I pulled back a couple of the leftovers.

 The few that survived did start turning brown as we had many frosty mornings. I took them down today as I see the weather is going to turn bad on me. I have one more day in which I will pull up the remaining stems by their roots and shake off the dirt. 

 I ended up with three bags of recycle material. The roots I am going to toss in the garbage. I will have to take another trip to the north end of town to get to the bins. 

 I don't have a lake in my backyard.  This pan of water gives me a great reflection like a lake of the maple tree.

 The contrast of the old with a new bud seems sad. I hope the weather holds so I can see the bloom open. 

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Monday's Mentions

 

 

 

 It was a busy Monday with a doctor visit and then mowing my backyard. I had leaves to mulch and the tree has finished dropping leaves. I will return to finish mowing parts of the backyard and also start cutting out my zinnias. We have two good days to come before it gets windy and wet. I will stayon the task and get as much outside work done. We still need one more hard freeze so I can dig cannas and trim off hostas. 

Visited my neighbors this evening while getting my mail. It was getting dark and the whole family of four were out putting up their Christmas lights display. Lots of lights and inflatable things made it really colorful. I don't know if I will decorate outside this year. I wish I had an evergreen tree in the front yard but I don't. Lights on a buring bush doesn't quite cut it. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Sunday

 The norther flicker showed up for only a couple of minutes. He was gone just two seconds after I recklessly took a shot. The head would of been in the light but I couldn't wait for him to turn his head. I find the spots on this bird to be so unusual. 

 The freeze finished almost every single bloom. The colors are still good to see as it starts to wither up and die.

 This stray stem that grew threw the webbing didn't seem to get frosted. Most of them did. I can not start cut out big sections of them, bag the stems and dead leaves, and pull the roots getting the area ready for spring. 

 The red tropical has been brought inside as the sun room doesn't get heated at night. We have nine red blooms on this plant right now. Some people didn't think it would last us very long.

 I placed the green tomatoes in the depression glass bowl. They are taking a long time to turn but some of them have ripened. I am sure they won't taste so good but I can cut them up to put in spaghetti sauce. I am old enough now to not know where I got the bowl. My grandmother or my mom had it and I rescued it,

 The neighbor's maple tree was more colorful. I am not sure why it lost its red but I suppose they are at the stage of dropping and turning brown. They get a huge pile of leaves beneath this tree. I have some more to mulch but will get to it on Tuesday. I have an endo doctor visit tomorrow morning. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  

 

Saturday

 It is 31 degrees F. and the sky is red. We did warm up a but it was cold when I was working outside.

 

 

My painted table was dry this morning.  I had to do some shifting to get it from the storeroom to the main room. I moved it to the new place nine years ago and I finally got it finished into a  good condition for use. The drawer in the table of the school house desk was built deep so I can stow a lot of things in it. My goal is to use it as an aquarium stand for two aquariums. I want to move the tanks out of the window so I can put plants in the double window where they are now sitting. 

 Moving the ones in the window will not be an easy task. Fish have to be netted and moved out and all the water has to be bailed out. It will probably be a four day task as water needs to be removed and then water then has to be carried to fill them up again. It is a good physical workout for me. Plants will really like being in those two windows and I do need to shift lots of them from upstairs and from the other rooms. I dug up three geraniums this morning and put them all into one large pot. I like seeing them bloom in the winter. 

 The freeze didn't kill them and it was time to bring them in from the cold. I also had a white one along with the two pinkish ones. 

 My zinnias did get their final hit last night so I will be cutting down the whole patch soon next week. We are suppose to warm up a little the first three days of the week so I can get that done. I planted five roots of columbine this morning in cold, wet soil. I hope the sun does shine for a few days to get them established.  I have another set of five to plant in another location but will wait until next week. 

Winter isn't here but the cold makes me retreat and avoid it now. I guess I will get use to it and I will dress warmer as I do like to be outside. Thanks for stopping by today.