Midddlle of the Week

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Things for the Day....

 My drainpipe sculpture got to see the rain run out of the spout. He got to see the water off of the roof that had an inch of rain fall on it. The dog is checking things out also . We really needed that rainfall and hope more will be coming. 

 The morning after looked like this. The grass looked a bit greener this morning and it was good to have rain.

 It was time to take down my smaller dead sunflowers. I live in town and have to cut everything up to make it possible to get it into a tall sack. I use to complain about it but I just go with it now.

 The birds had stripped all of the seeds out of them so I didn't worry that I was taking them out too soon.

 I still have to late bloomers that are bringing in the birds. It is getting pretty sad looking but there are seeds there for the taking. 

 

 

I worked outside this morning in the wet grass. I have worked at many different things but one included carrying bags of dirt down the hill. I put in my last stepping stone this morning and now I will be tweaking it. The hill to my new gate is uneven soil that leans and cause me walking problems. The stones are level with the world and I can now walk up and down that distance with firm steps. 

Thanks for stopping in today. 

Beginning of the Week.....

 It is a marvelous specimen and its starting to fade. I could not have caused this to do it but it did bloom wonderfully. I thought that I needed to get some more shots as it may never happen for me ever again. 

 Another pink rose is perfect as the season for them is going to end soon. There are not as many of them but they like this cooler weather.

 The moss rose is doing well in some parts of my garden and in other places it too is fading.  I planted some of it into the ground  so it will come up on its own next spring. 

 

My late germinating pumpkin seeds have me enjoying blooms but I will never have any pumpkins.

 

I continue to see one monarch at a time showing up at the patch. Maybe the migration will get to be stronger and it would be great to see many more.  

I mowed the backyard this morning and messed with my stepping stones project again. I get one stone dug in and leveled per day as it is hard to do. The clay packed soil is though to spade up and then the rocks that I have are very uneven. I have to place them in on loose soils to get it down to settle level. I do have to go back and adjust them days later because they didn't settle in firmly.  It was a great day to be outside today. Thanks for stopping by today.

Sunny Sunday

 Two different flowers from the same seed. I don't understand the genetics  of zinninas but the variety of genes are different in each of its seed even if it comes from one flower. 

 The color of the one zinnia is exactly the same as the marigold flowers. I didn't like the tall marigolds in the one flower bed but in this one the tall ones are just as good as the zinnias in color and  height. 

 I was surprised to see this glad put out a spike and bloom. I last picked a stalk of blooms about a month ago. I was getting ready to just toss these bulbs out all togehter. I will rethink it. 

I cut the stalk and brought it in for us to enjoy. It becomes a bonsai arrangement as I don't have any of my antique bud vases anymore. I must have tossed the vases in the move and I do regret that. I thought I had too many but now I don't seem to have one. 

We are having a quiet Sunday. The neighbor's newly selected realtor was out and busy next door today. She and her husband came to fine tune the yard with all sorts of tools to get rid of weeds. Two daughters were at work too so the four of them made quick work of the yard. Hopefully the new realator can sell the place quickly.  

It is pleasant today and we warmed up to good even temps. Thanks for stopping by today.
 

Checking In Today

 There is even a certain beauty to dead roses. The bouquet is about gone but my wife's painting of the iris is a everlasting beauty. 

 While working outside this morning I was carrying my phone. I just had to sna; a shot of the new bllom. 

 The zinnia patch evolves into the morning glory patch as the volunteer vines start to take off. They are everywhere and I do cut them back as they do cause problems with the zinnias. 

 We have a guy in southeast Iowa who does a garden and cooking show on the net.  He actually writes for a major paper in New York City but his old farmhouse and garden is in Iowa. He always pops up in Reels sharing recipes and house remodeling. I won't do that thing but I will do a photograph series that tells its own story by the items you see. I am not promoting the gelatin but there are only two sugar free  brands out there with only one flavor.  As a diabetic this process happens every four or five days. I can feel like I am getting sweet with my meal. The strawberries taste great in the gelatin.

 The finished work is like an artwork as it reflects colors and the glass bowl is perfect to enhance things. My Grandma Brooks' glass bowl is seventy to eighty years old and she would smile today to see me still using it again today. She gave me the large bowl with glass serving bowls while I was still in high school. She passed in 1972. I like my sugar free Jello and I really enjoy remembering her as I have the fancy feast. 

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Friday's Finds

 

Free flowers are great but they really are not free. It is a task to get the soil together and get the seeds in the ground. I baby the new growth  and transplant them to get a uniform bed of zinnias.  My remembering togo out and cut them for a vase is sometimes the problem. 

 

The cone flowers are gone but a few faded ones are still around.  I am busy cutting back things right now so it won't be so overwhelming later.

 I got a new day lily in the mail. It is in the ground already. I wanted to divide it but it just was too grown in tight to cut apart. I thought the title of the name was an interesting take for this past week. 

 

 We are in a drought zone again. I keep the dianthus watered but I have right now only one bloom. I water there often as I am keeping the mum alive. 

 

The pink rose is showing a few good blooms. They are not all over the bush but they are beautiful. 

The sun came out for such few times this morning that I took a picture of it. I was in one of my resting stages after working in the garden. I did go back to work. The sun is in the whitish spot beyond the house in it is glowing.  I am working on my stepping stone project again today.  I have only two stones left to get into the ground and that will happen tomorrow.  I will share photos and explain on a good day. Thanks for stopping in today.

Today's Things

 

 

I saw it at a distance from on my deck. I grabbed my camera and went down the stairs and out to the garden. It is so rare to see monarchs there was no question that I had about going.  

While out there I took some more zinnia shots. They are fascinating and I will plant them every year. 

The circle of golds seems to love our dry weather and they are growing in the shade. 

 The red is such a great color on these knock out roses. I didn't get them dead headed so they are not looking so great. 

 One last zinnia for the day. I don't have a lot of these in this color so I focus in and take a good shot of them to enjoy.

I worked in the front yard and on the back patio today. I had a lot of repotting of flowers to do and I did get it done. My wife had received flowers from a friend while in the hospital a year and a half ago. I took the two plants out of their commercial soil and put them into good potting soil. I don't know how I keep them alive for so long but now I have a kalanchoe and a begonia in individual pots. We will see how good of job that I did by seeing how they grow.  I have a new project going putting in stepping stones along the back of the house to our new fence. It is a lot of work but it will be good to get that done. 

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Middle of the Week, Again!

 The start of our morning looked like this. We did cool off to nive temps but will get hot again today. 

 While working outside this morning I picked a few more of these. I am glad that I am finding places for them to be shared.

 

I received part of my new order for flowers last evening. The three iris are already in the ground as I dug a newer location for them and put in new top soil to help then along. My property has so much clay  in the soil as they rebuilt and made hills for the development. I dug out a bunch of that hard clay soil and moved it to an area where I needed some yard fill dirt .The iris were on an end of the season sale and were really reduced price wise. They sucked me in with their colorful ad and I only bought three even though I didn't need any. I have too many iris. 

 I had to take a couple of breaks this morning. This is what I see. While I was sitting there it started to rain for about two minutes. 

 

 We are suppose to have rainy spells the next few days. I don't think we got much form the ten minute thunderstorm that we had at bedtime.  We are really dry and it would be great to get a few big rains. The humidity has cut back a little but it is summer weather so it isn't great to be outside. 

Thanks for stopping by today  

 

Tuesday's Things

 The changing of the seasons gives us great sunrises and sunsets. We never see the sunsets as we live on the backside of the hill. 

While working in the garden and clear ing dead flowers I turned to enjoy the rich colors of the zinnias and marigolds. 

Most of the phlox are dried out and are at the end of their bloom times. I decided to clip off the very dead ones to make it look better. I usually have to break of the stems after the major frost. I ended up with a wheel barrow full of waste again.

It still is pretty weathered looking but it does make it look better. I moved on to the yellow rose and made some major trimming on the bush.

I don[t have to give you proof of my work but I thought this looked like a good set up as I sat down for a rest.  It did become very humid and hot and I had to quit and come inside. The trash can go into the bag tomorrow. 

I have some hosta that are still looking great but the most of mine are showing dead leaves as our season changes. 

This has such good color. Thanks for stopping by today.