Windy Wednesday.......

 An evening shot as the sun was setting. Less color and mor into the grays.  It was cold out there which does effect the cloud formations.

A little bit of color showed up but never became strong when looking in this dirction. The big tree up the hill shows a great shape. 

Trying to stay ahead of the future frost I am collecting as many as I can an bringing them inside.  The stuff that sits out on the patio table will also have to come inside. We may not get a hard frost but I want to not have to rush at the last minute. I grabbed the salad bowl to bring some into the kitchen. I like the look of the bowl and it looks good with the red toamatoes.

 

 There are not a large variety of colors for zinnias so when on looks like this I like to take a lot of photos of it. I think this is the only one plant like it.

 

 

I have a lot of orange and magenta colors of zinnias. I have bought specialty colors, like all white one, but they did not retain the genetics for the next year or season. 

I worked at the house today, reworking some plumbing in the downstairs bath room A;; went well but of course I ran out of pipe.  I will finish it up next time after I visit Ace Hardware.  Thanks for stopping by today.

The Day....Cold.

 Begonia world with its shiny leaves and shiny petals. I will bring it in before it gets frosted. 

 

Twins but not identical ones. I am going to pick a couple of bouquets before the frost as I can keep some of the spirit of the zinnias inside for quite a while.

One rugged last bloom that showed up on the day lily. It isn't a great bloom nor a great photograph. It will be one of thirst day lily early spring. 

This is the nook downstairs next to the downstairs basement. If were a busy full family the drawers would be full of towels. It is just full of antique things, novelties and dishes. 

We do enjoy our sun room more as it gets colder. Della completed another painting out there the last few weeks. It is nice to get away from the television and sit outside watching birds and neighbor dogs. 

It has been a slow day for me but I did get the front yard mowed.  I had to wear a winter coat. The wind was cold. The grass was long but it is not so thick. Thank you for checking in today.

Barns and Stuff....

The rose contines to bloom even though it is very cold. It will be about 57 degrees F. all day today. It is too cold for working outside for me. 

 

A few of the monarchs are still traveling through. It seems too cold right now but if the sun comes out they will fly in and warm their wings.  I saw a tomato worm out and about this morning. It was a little much in a stupor but he was still alive.  I am trimming back the branches on the tomato plants a few at a time rather than just clearing them all at once. 

 

The f;ag iris puts out a long time foliage that looks good until it freezes.  I usually cut back the seed pods and I haven't done so yet, I have been placing mulch among the free growing things.  It is hap hazard right now but in the spring I will improve on the job.

A friend and former student of mine from many years ago sent me this  photo of two barn board paintings. I had painted them for his mother probably 35 years ago. He now owns them and is going to hang them in his man cave. It was a long time ago when people would bring  you things and say paint me a barn. They are rustic looking which is befitting for barn board paintings.

I asked him to send me individual shots of them both. I did have a copy of this one but the photo was buried in a box. It is rustic and contrived but it is what it is. I see that I dated this as 1988.

This one I painted for her as well as another one pretty close to it  for her boss.  I had no photo record of those two so I was glad to see that he had the painting. I am told by my students that it hung in their summer cottage as  students visited the place and came back to tell me they had seen it.. Spontaneous painting with the idea of making it rustic and yet a half way good compositition.  It is spooky to look back at my old work  I don't even want to wonder how I would paint it differently. I  so know that it is novelty art like any painting put on unusual surfaces. 

Brad is in a family of a twin brother, and another set of twin brothers, and one only big brother. They just lost their father and one of the twin brothers.  I am suspecting that the mom is headed for a condo.

Being from the farm I did paint a lot of barn paintings. I really don't paint any more. They do work better being painted on canvas rather than wood. 

Thanks for stopping by the blogspot today

Sunday......

 

Yes it was this gray this morning.  By ten o'clock it was light raining.  It looks like we will have sprinkles for most of the day. 

I had spread this seed months ago but the weather just was right for it. Now you can see the lettuce growing and some volunteer moss rose. 

The yellow rose has returned with blooms again. It will be glad for the rain even though I have regularly watered it with the hose. A simple light rain makes the roses happy. 

It is a slow rain and a quiet day. It was so windy yesterday so a quiet day is welcomed.  I am glad the mowing was done in back so the moisture can settle in better to my clay filled yard.  I wish you all a good rest of the day. Thanks for checking in today.......

Saturday Stuff.....

 It was very hazy again this morning. The camera doesn't quite pick up the special effects that was being created from the smoke and heavy humidity. 

I think I will stop taking these photos but there is a chance that I could get one outstanding shot.  I was looking at the past months pictures and they do all loo the same. I keep jiggleing the camera so I got a slice off of the top. 

The view from the balcony shows the cottage garden. The area on the right is getting a new batch of mulch making it weedless. The late planting of the zinnias still put out a fantastic show.I still don't have a weather vane on my cupola. The grass seems to stay green  even without rain. I hope we have a late frost.

The wave petunia is coming back after the hurricane sent it across the yard dumping the soil out of the pot. It is a warm humid day but I did get the back yard grass mowed. It is a quiet Saturday. Our oldest son called and we talked grass edgers and we got the run down on how our grand children are doing.

A New One.....

 

It is not a sparrow. I looked out the window and there was a new young female cardinal sitting with the sparrows.

 I new right away when I saw the top feathers are still developing. I don't have a photo for proof but I did see an adult female cardinal a few hours later. 

 

A gardeners refuse can lay there for a day or two until I walk up the h ill to get a big trash bag. I am working on the trimming back of dead blooms and excess growth.  I finally got my fernleaf peony back into the ground.  I had to dig it out of its location for the men to build the new neighbor's fence. I had the roots sitting in a bucket over along the wall of the house. 

 

 

The moss rose is taking its last big bloom.  The greens are yellow because the days are shorter. I has done well after the tiriming by rabbits did give it a slow start.

Things have been busy around here but the day is going well. I wish you all to be well. Thanks for stopping today.

Memories......

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today.  Days can get to be long and hard, and also some cam seem short and easy.

Middle of the Week...

 

 

I have started feeding the birds again. There are not too many but the sparrows do stop by as a flock once in a while.  

 

I have evidence of a goldfinch with this blurry shot. I have not seen many of them all summer. The thistle feeder draws a few house finches.

I moved iris today.  I had a couple of them that did not bloom because they were too close to some bushes. I ended up spreading the into six different plantings from the two main plants. It was one of those jobs that can be put off but I made the move and did it.  I also trimmed back on my aging tomato plants pruning back the ones that have no chance to put out tomatoes. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

The Tuesday's Things....Tranquil Things.

 

 

 

 I worked at the old place today. I am still working on the yard from our hurricane storm. I took away another truck load of branches and sticks as I cleaned out the area where the electric company dug and fixed a line. The took out a third of my one row of spirea, right in the middle. I mowed weeds and tall grass around my garden shed, as the sticks are off the ground in that same area.  I have been moving soil into the ruts where the big trucks had been on my yard in that one area. It is discouraging as it doesn't look I have done much work when I leave each time but I know it is getting better.

I take one look at one of my old pictures and I can see things are looking a lot better.  I need a rain to help make some grass seed to grow. Thank you for stopping by today.

Monarch Mania......

 Yes, I mulched some more today, trying to block out water grass and weeds. I returned to the store to buy four more.  In the middle of the work I was invaded by monarch butterflies. 

 

I was taking a break when I noticed fluttering wings of many butterflies. I have seen a migration a few  years back but it was great to see another. Six or more were all over the zinnia patch.  I ran to get my camera

 

 

My rest from working was snapping photos.  I had to stand still for along time as they flew around picking the best flower. At the end of the shoot, only one butterfly remained. I actually walked away. 

Thanks for stopping by today.