Fall has started........

Stella put out a couple of more late blooms knowing that these will be it's last before the snow. 

This is the last of the coneflowers and they too are fading fast.  It is not a pretty sight.




Have a good day and thanks for stopping by...............

Saturday's Posting

A zinnia with it's floral crown seems to be a little weathered. The rains aren't hard on them except that the whole stem likes to lay down on the grown but the wind does beat them up a bit.

The statment is so much softer with this fading rose that what you see in zinnias.  My wife's camera is a marvel compared to my retired joint and shoot.

It has been hot and Yellow Kitty prefers to be out on her porch than in the cool basement.  She lays in the sun and them moves to the shade.  Her serious job of guarding her territory goes on into the night until  I bring her inside to guard the basement.

Have a good weekend and thanks for stopping by my blogspot...............

Mowing and moving day.........

I spent Wednesday morning and part of the afternoon mowing my yard.  As I mow I see things that need to be done but normally don't take the time to do.  Wednesday was different as I went to the tool shed and found my best spade and started to work.   I moved a newer hosta from an area that was away from the house and we were never able to enjoy it.  I dug it up, split it into two plants and brought to the side  yard gardens.   I will photograph the actual plant in a few days to show you the design and color of it.

My neighbor shared this flag iris with me a few  years ago and I decided it just wasn't doing well next to the fence.  I left half of it there but move a good part of it out five feet away from the fence so that it would be in the sun.  I know it grows like a weed next door so I need it to be in the hot sun.

Also out at the corner of my property I have this redtwig bush that is becoming overgrown.  I also notice that it was sending out sprouts and creating new plants next to it.  I dug up the end of a runner and have a very good start that I planted next to the front porch stairs.  It will look good there and it is nice to get a free shrub.

I also moved another smaller plant of which I don't remember the name. It was being crowded out by the yucca plants.  It has smaller yellow blooms that are on a fern-like foliage stems but I just can't pull the name out from my little gray cells.

I am substitute teaching today in the high school.  It will be very hot today and I will be nice and cool in the newer air conditioned classroom.  There aren't going to be many teachers gone the first of the year but some are off doing or attending workshops. I did sub for a sick teacher last week who had a summer cold.

Thanks for checking in on my site.........Friday is coming!!!

Saturday's sortings.........

The creeping blue bell has been mowed down as it died out a month ago, but look at this. Rain and cool weather made the plant along the edge grow and bloom.

I think this is a katydid.  I had blogged one a few months back and this may be the same one.  I do tolerate correction so bring it on if I am wrong.

I liked how the zinnias regrouped and started putting out new blooms. There are a lot of dead heads that have fallen to the side but as a whole I am having another flush of color.

We worked on the house Friday and we both are really exhausted.  My dad built a leanto porch on the back of the house right after he built the new house in 1970's. It is closed in with windows, I guess it is a sunroom.  He didn't use good materials on it and my wife and I are trying to recreate it's feel without rebuilding it.  I had to replace three bottom rows of siding and I am adding a good storm door to it's entrance.  We painted and nailed and patched everywhere.
I have learned a lot of skills in my years of carpentry and am proud that I can figure out how to make a good patch in siding or fix a rotted fascia board.  The solution I really wanted to do at the very beginning was to tear it off completely and leave a concrete slab as an outdoor patio. Brothers don't think the same way and I guess we will be able to fix it.  I just don't like the busy work, time required and detail it requires to repaint all the windows and fix the trim. We need to try to figure out what to do with the interior of it with the minimum of work and money. It has antique wainscoting on the interior with oriented strand board.  The stand board is ugly and dark. Once the outside is done, maybe we can fine the best solution. 
It is Saturday and we are going to do something for ourselves today.  We have been either sick or busy doing whatever.  It is time to waste a day away.  It isn't going to rain so we can visit bookstores and a variety of store.  I hope your weekend will be enjoyable and thanks for stopping in.........

Focusing on Friday..........

A rare capture of an orange zinnia. The zinnia's didn't die, they revived and put out new buds. I did collect some flowers for seed and I will share more of that later.

Seasonal change brings on new adjustments to our lives.  Our ability to adapt is a struggle at times but we are promised another spring to start it all over again.

Thanks for stopping in............

Impatiens Plant.......

I thought that this New Guinea Impatiens plant would look nice in this piece of pottery and it does.  The problem is that it didn't grow.  It has been brought in now and maybe it will grow in the dining room window.

Thanks for stopping in.......

I became impatient with the spelling of impatiens as I had originally spelled it (impatience) wrongly.

Wednesday's ways.........

A green mood with all the green paint, mold and the background. A student at school threw this into the dumpster and I dove for it.  The hole is too small for a nest and I need to redrill that so I could get a bird to make a nest in it.

I am planning to get some seed harvested today as it is getting time when I don't want to miss out on the free seed. It can die and fall off the stem so fast that I miss out altogether.

I have been playing migration with the plants.  I take them in with the threat of frost and now I have moved them all back outside. We are suppose to have a warm spell for a few days.

I painted trim boards on the parent's house today.  They were not in bad shape but it looked bad in a couple of places with peeling paint.  I could have left it but that first impression is important in selling a house.  I don't think my dad had ever used a primer paint on his fascia boards and both the house and garage were down to raw wood in spots.  The magic of his extension ladder was incredible and I was glad that I survived it.  I finally got onto the roof and painted down on the peak trim board. It was safer that way. It was a low slopped ranch roof.
I cleared a lot of small tree growth around the property and cut down an oversized rose bush.  I do find the outside work getting to be close to being done.  I have a few more days of it but it is getting so I can see the end of that work.
My wife scrubbed kitchen cupboards today and that was a great improvement on the look of that place.  I have hinges to fix and the wood under the sink needs to be replaced.
One of the major projects left to do is rinse and vac the five different rooms with carpet.  I know that will be also make a great change in the appearance of the inside of the house. 
We are a month off schedule but as long as things keep progressing and things are getting taken off the punch list I feel very encouraged about the work. 
We found a neighbor that wants to take all of the strangling furniture left to get rid of. They want the desk and dresser and a few other things.  I also had a very cheaply made china hutch that they were glad to get.  It was not made of real wood and the bottom doors were plastic.  The overall appearance was ok as you get what you pay for, my mom loved it, but as a piece of good furniture, it was not.  I couldn't find a relative who wanted it so I am glad to give it to the nice couple next door.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I am in a restful, less stressful mode today, but do  have four frame jobs left to do.  I may work on them.  Take care.........

Stella o'Dora thinks it is spring.........

I watched the past few weeks in amazement to see this lily budding again.  I know that they bloom periodically but I didn't think it would strike out again this late in the year.

An old robin's nest fell out from under my garden shed roof. It had been only used once but the nest stayed there for a couple of years.  They are an amazing structure.

The time has come to thin and prune back the forsythia bush.  It doesn't bloom well anyway but it is the wrong time of the year.  It looks a lot like my nest photo with the textures of intertwined branches.

I hope your Sunday is a good one with lots of rest and some fun too.  Thanks for stopping in..........

Zinnia World.........

It was a couple of weeks ago when I was out snapping the last of the good flowers before a rain. The year has been too wet for them and they were not planted thick enough. I still had some beautiful flowers.  Many people don't notice the set of extra yellow flowers that a zinnia may put out in the center. They all don't  have this but a lot of them do.

This red zinnia has a funky shape and the color is wonderful too.

Another trio of blooms singing with bright color.  The blooms need to be picked soon so I will have seed for next year.

I still do not have my blogspot uploading status with photos working correctly.  I have adapted my processes to be able to post but I do hope it rights itself soon. 

Thanks for stopping by..........

Seeing triples.......

I purchased these by mistake a few years back and I didn't think they were still producing blooms but look at this. Blurry and all, they are triple headed daffodils on one stem. The wind is blowing and I had a difficult time getting them to stay still. They are sort of cute and if you don't look closely you think you are seeing groups of flowers. They are individual flower size about half the size of a normal daffodil.
From the stories one hears I am assuming this is a mutant that they discovered and the nurtured it to be a consistent bloomer. I don't remember it being so much later than the rest of my daffodils. They are fun. Thanks for reading....

Viola violet and purple.....

This is a lone violet sitting among my old fashioned rose bushes. Note the healthy Creeping Charlie.

The lilacs are just about to open. I think we will have some warmer weather soon and that will be great for opening up those little flowers.

These guys are my late bloomers. They seem almost statue-like and seem to be enhanced by the greens around them.
Speaking of greens, I just gave away about 50 tomato plants. I had planted a lot of them for Clarence to take care of and he is now gone. I think that I will only plant about ten or twelve plants this year so I have more to give away. The lady that I gave plants to was so grateful, and I kept saying no I am the grateful one. I just can't let plants die so I usually put everything in the ground. I had 76 individual tomato plants in just one section of my garden last year. This will free me up to plant other things this year. Thanks for reading.......