west to the East

 This is the view to the west as the sun was setting. Threatening storms were on the news. We did get rain from all of it. It has been raining each day for forever. I dump the rain gauge each morning. We had just under an inch of rain yesterday. I should be writing things down but don't. 

 

As I rune with the camers the sky is showing such great blue colrs with the pinks on the clouds. 

 As I turn to the east the colors are wonderful. The clouds are all along the edge of the horizon as thunderstorms are headed our way. I find the colors in this view to be so soft. It is such a contrast to the bright reds and orange of the sunset in the opposite directions. 

 The multi-petal tulip has some of the same colors in it as the pink clouds. The rains have made the tulips bloom well this year. 

Today is my wife's birthday. We will celebrate going out for a meal this evening. I think the weather will be good for us to be out. The rains for today ae staying north of us. We did have rain in the morning for a while. Our temps are the kind that you can't wear flannel shirts anymore and a light jacket would be best even though it looks strange wearing a coat. I went over this morning ot the grocery story to pick up some loose items. I always buy flowers for my wife as well as a very small birthday cake. I was pleased with thr roses that I found and the cake is decorated with small balloons. I shold have made it mysel but I find it convenient to pick out something at the bakery at the grocery store.

Thanks for stopping by today. 
 

Tuesday Start

 A heat wave was going to hit and the clouds were reacting to it in the morning. We now have tornado warnings. 

 The back yard needs to be mowed. I am just going to wait one more day hoping it will be cooler. The redbud is showing off its color now as the blooms are now opened.

 It is a "looking through" shot as one can see the blooms are open fully. The color green is welcomed at this time. We have had so much rain and it is so great. 

 Over in the corner of the yard next to the red bud the wild violets have a lot of blooms. The rains have made them do this. 

 This was always a sure sign of spring when I lived on the farm as a kid. I liked picking them and finding small jars to put them in to enjoy.

 In thr front yard my Rembrandt tulips are looking good. They are planted in with a row of peonies so as they tulips fade the peonies are up and covering the area. 

 The flowering tree is in its prime right now. As a tree is isn't looking that good as storms have broken out lots of limbs. Once the leaves sprout out it will look pretty normal. 

The work begins with the mowing of the grass and the pulling of the weeds. I think I have lost a couple of rose bushes. Our winter was so warm and then so cold that they look like they just didn't make it.  One was a newer bush but the older one was very established.  It is a part of the nature of things when it comes to gardening.

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Spring Suff

 

 

 

 

 

Robin and Blue Spruce

 

 

 

We had another rainy day. We have been in need for it for so long that I won't worry about it being too much at this point. We drove by some low level swamp areas in the valley today that have not been filled with water for five years. The birds, frogs and maybe some fish will come back. My yard will need to be mowed in a few days to clean it up. We still have such windy days and the wind from the south is welcomed. The mourning doves are back and there are many of them. I am sure thay are nesting already.

Thanks for checking in today.
 

The Saturday Report

 

 The grackle was feeding while the sun shined and its colors from the sheen of its feathers. The green colors of the head of the bird are so great and the different browns are subtle until the sum brings out the different colors.

 

 The sparrow has a lot of different browns showing in its feathers. The patterns are also created by the lighter colors of outlines on its different sets of feathers. 

 Yes, it is time to see some peony actions. The do sprout up quickly oece it warms up and the ground warms up. 

 I took a blind shot of this bird. It may not look like it but it is a very large bird. It was soaring, floating on the winds.  I am thinking it is a juvenile bald eagle as it is solid brown in color, with its wing span being so large. The head is not white until the second year of age. Being close to the big lake and the bald eagles do live all along the lake's edges. The like to fish from the lake. 

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Friday's Finds

 If I were to buy a new one of these I see thay are described as Cleveland Select flowering pear tree. They do not bear real fruit but a small fruit that is the size of a cherry.  I lost the larger on last fall as it had too many parts of it die down. The city came and took it down. 

 I was becoming impatient with the tree as it didn't seem to be very showy. I see now that the rains and time helped make it bloom better. It is just s as white as all the other trees in the neighborhood.

 

 The red bud is looking bright as the blooms start to open up more. The tree is a great looking specimen tree in shape and color. 

 

 The wild violets are blooming. I had only purple violets at our old place and here at the new place they violets are mostly purple and white. 

 This company hires the best photographers to sell their products. I am tempted to buy some potted iris and yet I have over planted things around here. I guess I could put some in the back corner where I took out the scraggly tree. The set of groups of kinds that make it so tempting to buy them. I will try to not buy any today.

Thanks for stopping in today. 

 

Thursday

 A walk around in the yard gives me some new views on the world. The shot of the weathered birdhouse to the newer real sized house is great. 

 

In the backyard I have the William Baffin rose coming to life again with green new leaves. It wasn't pruned back very well but the rose doesn't really care about that as it will just grow anyway on whatever is there. 

The red bud is still being so slow at opening its blooms. I guess the longer it takes the longer we get to enjoy that haze of color that is one it. 

 The workmen who removed the tree in the backyard moved my bench for some reason. Maybe they just accidentally hit the stone top with their equipment. Whatever it was they replaced it back upside down. The chunk of stone was from the old place. The kitchen had this kind of stone as its foundation material. They had taken some of it away to get from the basement to under the kitchen. This one ended up buried in the backyard. It is so heavy. The other side of it is smoother. The researched material says it is limestone, dolomite, sandstone. 

The basement was added to the main part of the house years after the house was built. The kitchen was like a summer kitchen, extended away from the main part, as the wood burning cook stove kept everything hot. They didn't put the basement under the kitchen so that is why the original stone was left under the structure. The house was built in 1912. The basement was added during the 30s. 

 I was glad to see the workmen didn't scrape away my hostas that are planted around the bench. They are just now poking through.

 

The grape hyacinth are always fun to see as that purple just pops a great color against the green. It seems to be spreading everywhere and I like that. 

Thanks for checking in today.