Friday's Report

 

The tulips are starting to fade as the rain and winds have beat them up for the last few days.  We had tornado warnings for a couple of hours last evening and went to the basement for the evening.  We have been through one tornado a few years ago at the old place and we now don't hesitate getting to the shelter space. Back then we had to deal with getting a semi blind 90 year old man down narrow bad steps. I also had to drag the border collie across the dining room wood floor and take him down while the sound of a freight train was roaring our way. We had houses and barns destroyed just across the way. 

 One lone iris bloomed this morning that is on the northern side of the house. There are three or four more buds on it so we will have more color.

 In the front yard gardens these two plantings responded to the heavy rain. I was surprised to see them all opening at about the same time. There too are plenty of buds on these two plants for longer times of blooms.

 

I have plant wars going on here. I guess I will pull or dig out the tulips as the hosta is special and I want it to grow larger.  With them crowded the tulips didn't bloom anyway. I don't know who the crazy gardener was that put the hosta in late in the summer with the tulips not in sight at that time. 

We have a cool 52 degrees F. this morning. I bought and spread some more top soil this morning. I also bought grass seed and have it down in the needed places. Others are out pulling weeds in their yard and a commercial company is busy mowing a neighbor's yard with big equipment. The one other neighbor is out with his new puppy and talking across the fence to another neighbor. The other newest neighbors have bought a new refrigerator and it is being delivered. It is like the whole of the world is out and about after the big long lasting storm.  It is an active place today.

Thanks for stopping by today.  

First Iris....More To Come

 The first iris bloom is out this morning. I have been watching the buds in the front yard but not in the back.  When I saw that one spot of color while working in the backyard I immediately went to see what it was all about. It is one of my cemetery iris.

 

I was out this morning laying  out bags of soil in the back corner of the lot. The grass isn't growing there and now that the tree was removed it is getting good sunlight. I spread the dirt out and looked up to see the crimson king maple leaves from underneath the tree. They actually do look red from the underneath when the sun shines through but all in all the leaves look brown as a whole. 

This is another view of the locust tree in the front. The colors are little different than a regular tree with a green yellowish tint on them. The leaves on the tree are different also by the way that they resemble fern leaves.  

The yellow tulips are a nice addition to the front garden.  the creeping phlox looks good up against their colors. 

 I mentioned these iris in the front yard planter and we will see which one bud will bloom first. With working in the yard this morning with dirt I realized that I didn't buy enough. After the many trips to the hardware to fix the supply water valve yesterday I just didn't want to go back today. I need about two more bags of the treated top soil and also I am out of grass seed. I really could use a new flower pot for the a fern that I bought the other day.  Maybe tomorrow I will go. It is less than a mile up our hill.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Windy and Warm

 This geranium variety has single flowers on its fancy leafted plant. The variety can be invasive but easily cut back,

 while wandering in the front yard I noticed with surprise that this iris has buds on it. It is one of my favorites and originally was in a cemetery where I harvested one rhizome.  Photos will follow as the warm air is helping for the blooms to form. It was a breezy but warm walk out there that seemed pleasant after a long winter. 

 

The next variety of tulips are now in bloom. It is a soft yellow and I seem to have spaced out some of them wildly with big spaces. 

 The locust tree has grown a lot since we moved here. It was a young tree and now is a full large specimen tree dominating our front yard. It is one of the reasons I haven't hurried to replace the one flowering tree that we lost last fall. It may be too many trees as this one keeps getting larger. 

I spent the morning driving back and forth to the hardware store for a water supply valve for our bathroom stool. The one that we had started making load noises as if it were the turn off valve went bad. I bought the first part to replace it and it was not just right. One connection was right but the supply tank connection was too small. I took the new one back, and the hose, and the old one back to the hardware.  I required communication with a guy who knew plumbing at the store. We finally found the right part and I returned home and replaced it. Then I returned one more time to the store because I wanted my money back for the wrong part. I did buy some soil for spreading on my one area in the yard where no grass is growing. I just carried the dirt back and forth with me and I will unload it tomorrow. 

I have too many wrongly purchased parts in my tool room that I really just had to make one more trip to get my money back. The helper showed me how to repackage it for the return. I felt like a yo-yo. They were glad to see me each time.  Thanks for stopping by today. 

Tuesday's Things.....

 I successfully moved some bluebells to the back of the house. It is a strong plant once it gets established. 

 The trees that one inherits when they buy a property can be a good or bad thing. This is a crimson king maple tree. I like the shape and it is a wonderful shade tree. I am not a fan of the dark deep red-brown color of its leaves. There is never any red on the tree except when there is a new sprout of a leaf on the trunk or like right now. The sun is at just the right angle to change the colors to red for a moment. The leaves really are not red but the sun shinning through the new leaves can show that for a moment. In most cases the leaves look black to me and as the tree looses its leaves in the fall they are a dark, blackish color. I am still glad the tree is there. Both of those two trees have grown taller in the eseven years that we have lived here. 

 

I have more of these tulips on the back garden. I must have had a large number of bulbs in that pack. I walked around everywhere and put them in the ground.  

Happiness is when the newly planted hosta come up in the spring. I moved them out to put in a rose bush and these look happy here nest to the front step. The hosta are up everywhere and they will look great with all the rain we have received has made them look good. I have a lot of grass seed in two different locations that just isn't sprouting.  I am still very concerned about three of my rose bushes. The look like I am gonng to have to cut them way back or even take them out of the ground. Our winter was so hot and cold all season so they could have been destroyed by that. I guess I can go buy new ones if the need be. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Monday's Mentions

 An afternoon still-life tells a story. The coffee break in the afternoon and a favorite sugar free cookie is waiting for me. A new cup of coffee and a new art magazine is waiting for me to review. My wife and I talk over all that is in the magazine studying the artists and their mediums. 

 Preciously before having coffee I ventured out outside and snapped some much needed photos for blogging. The yard looks good after it has been mowed and the rains have everything looking green. The front planter is starting to take form but flowers have yet to mature to make it look good. Iris will be blooming there and I will plant some annuals in there. 

 It is windy and the greens are swaying and out of focus. The background greens are in focus. It is an amazing tree that has doubled in size in the past years we have lived here. 

 My white and red Rembrandt tulips are a little later in bloom that the red and yellow ones. The hail and rain didn't do to much damage to the newer blooms. The older blooms are tattered. The peonies are not budded but I bet they will be soon. We are having a warmer week this week even though we were at near freezing this morning. 

 The yellow tulips are spotted here and there and are later than all of the others. I can get some good close up shots once they get full developed. We spent the morning buying birthday gifts for our second grandson's birthday. He turned ten and will receive his gifts late. We wrapped and mailed them out this morning and it will take a few days to get to the Chicago area. He has had a few parties and gifts keep flowing for the week so we like to be late at sending our gifts. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Saturday's Stuff.

We had hail again on Friday afternoon. The cold front created the storm and the hail. That front actully stretched from down in Texas all the way up to Canada. When I saw it on the radar it was a long stretch of a storm front with serious colors that say it was intense. Maybe today we won't get hail. 

 

I mowed the front yard grass this morning. It was cold, 50 degrees F., and I had to wear a parka. The wind blowing down from Canada made it feel very cold. I could have used a face mask adding to the hood of my parka. 

 As I started to mow on Friday morning I got interrupted. I first turned to see Mr. Livingston coming over to great me from our winter hibernation. He mentioned how disgusted he felt that we had to start mowing again. I shared that I had thought the same thing as I had to move the snowblower out of the way to get my mower out. 

While talking to him, a couple with their dogs came walking by with their dogs. They always stop to talk to me if I am out there so the four of us and the dogs had a get together.  You can tell that it was along talk as the dogs got tired of waiting and just laid down. Oh yes Mr. Livingston who lives next door is on the family tree of Dr. Livingston ( I presume). They talked window replacement costs and the woman evaluated again my front yard gardens. She loves what I did in the improvements of the front yard. 

 Our city has been invaded by mallard ducks. These two male mallards were walking around in the neighbor's yard a few days ago. A pair has a nest at one of our town parks and the city had to put up plastic fencing to protect them while they hatch out the egs. Our neighbors to the back yard keep chasing away a pair from their pool. The father sends the kids out to shoo them away when the see them in the pool. 

 

The birds are busy nesting and do show up for food. We have a resident cardinal pair this year and the male like to get to the top of our maple tree each morning and do his territorial call.  Having mowed my yard for the first time I can see I will have to do it every week, already. The grass was so thick and hard to push through that I am going to have to stay ahead of it. I have to get my body back into shape to mow. It will be good for me. I didn't mention that I liked it, but I am glad I am physically able to do it. 

I am going to bundle up and grill on the deck for supper. I am gong to do some smashed burgers on the griddle. They will taste good being cooked on the grill.  

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Spring Flowers

 The bluebells were always so magical to  see when I was a kid on the farm. Now I have them in a larger area in the front yard. I also started some in the backyard but they are slow to get established. 

 

 I always admired the creeping phlox but it does take over all of the areas as it spreads. I pulled out a  lot of it last fall but there is still some for everyone to enjoy.

 

 My fern leafed peony has buds with red showing. This plant is getting established now. I had to move it because of a fence being built. I have one other stray start of it with only one stem.

 

 My regular peonies are shooting up quickly and they have leafed out too. They won't bloom for quite a few weeks as there are no buds on them for blooms.

 

 

 The hail and heavy rains took off a lot of the red bud flowers. I still have a few on the limbs that  trying to bloom but the is blanket of flowers is sad to see. We have had hail every day that it has rained. This afternoon it hailed a lot more. We have tornado warnings again this evening. It is Iowa. 

Thanks for stopping by today.