Tuesday's Things.......

The checkerboard is always a striking decoration.  There are a set of three of these pots but one is busy holding an African violet. 

The camera continues to pick up reflections as yellow instead of the true color. It would look great if it were the real colors but the camera likes to mix them up a little.

 
It is not a pretty sight but the very old house has paint layers from a very old paint that is flaking off of the cedar siding.  I am not done scraping this but I did get about a half hour in last night scraping the old kitchen side.  I will layer on thick coats of primer before I paint it with the new top paint.  Primer does soak in old paint to some extent and helps to make the whole area of paint stick better.  Most of my house I have replaced all of the siding but the south side is remaining authentically old. 



It is a busier life again as I give up 8 hours a day to the school.  I am on day 2 of the long term subbing job.  I will have to get into my groove as the days go by.  I will be on my own completely tomorrow and I think things will go good.  

Thanks for stopping by today.

Forgot my Title.......Monday

It is Monday and I really didn't get much in the way of new objects to photograph over the weekend. It was a busy weekend and I ended up picking raspberries, tomatoes and apples.  I have plenty more to do out there but I am back to being a teacher again.

Orange seems to be the predominate color this year among the zinnias but there are a few other colors.  I have a bud that looks like it will be yellow but I doubt I ever see it bloom.  I really have enjoyed the zinnias and I can take shots of them everyday.

Our cold snap last week removed all the morning glories from my picture taking activities.  The vines didn't like the wind chill of the 32 degree F. temp.  I noticed a couple of my hostas didn't like the cold either.  Everything else hung tough.  I guess too the tomato plants seem a little bit in decline because of it.

I am beginning my first week as a science teacher. I am subbing today as a sub as he took people on a field trip.  Tomorrow I spend the day with him as he teaches so that Wednesday I will be fully in charge.  As long as I have enough to do give them work this will be a good job.  I review with them more than a normal teacher as I want them to be accountable for every single days lesson.  I think asking questions to check their knowledge is the only way to get them to learn.

I have a lot of daycare photos I would like to share but he is with his group in most of them and I don't think I can share the group photos.  I did crop him down out of some but the phone photos are from the daycare provider.

AJ is growing up fast and that is what I want him to do.  I want him to grow up, be healthy and learn all that there is to learn.  They have taught the kids how to sit around a table and eat at the same time.  They look at books at the same time and they know how to get into a line to be led somewhere.  He isn't even 2 yet so he is growing to be a good group participant.  One of the students is his best buddy and another little girl, it is told, he helps with her to get things in order.  I like hearing those kinds of things.

I hope everyone will have a good day and thanks for stopping in on my post today.

Sunny but Cool Sunday...........

All the moisture this summer has paid off with me having one more harvest of rhubarb.  I picked my one batch and still need to return to pick another patch.  This batch spent the night on the top of the garbage bin lid as I now remember that I forgot to bring it in yesterday afternoon.  I was carrying in a large bag of apples and a smaller bag of tomatoes and didn't return for the rest.  

The ladder against the shed lets me reach a lot of apples and if I get up on the roof from the other side of the shed I can reach another big batch of apples that is still hanging on the tree. Those at the very top will have to drop down on their own.  I have been near when an apple falls and I really don't want to get bonked on the head by an apple.

 While I peel the apples and slice them into small pieces my wife is making the topping . She also is putting in the sugar, cornstarch  and spices while we cook up the apples.  It speeds things along and we can whip out a cobbler in very little time. I like to wash things up as we go so we can pull it off stress free.  Did I mention that it is so good warmed with vanilla ice cream on top of it?

I am going to peel up apple batches for freezing so we can have apple desserts all winter.  I will need to freeze the rhubarb also.

We are going to warm up a little more today.  The sun is shining and we still have some wind.  We didn't get close to freezing last night.  My large container of oxalis were shocked a little from the very cold the night before but it is inside now and looks like it will revive to good as new.  I may take it back outside again for the week. I hear people out there mowing but I won't do it until we really do warm up some.

 I really had not noticed that the everbearing raspberries have revived for one more picking.  I will go out this afternoon and try to pick some of them. The mosquitoes are practically gone because of our near freeze two days ago.  I stayed away from the area because of the insects so I have not been checking on them. I have never had this late of picking of them before this fall.

The aging and decline of the zinnias always give me a new variety of shots to take for the blog.  I am so glad that Far Side sent me some red seed to remind me to plant zinnias this year.  I whined all summer last year because I had not planted any of them.  I had two patches this year and I may have more next year as they are not hard to grow. 

We are off to Sunday school today and we will pick up a sandwich and soup afterwards.  We both are under the weather from being in that very cold strong wind on Friday evening.  My wife has her cold returning for one more bout while I am just aching from the cold and past work last week.  Healing up is slower the older I get.   I hope everyone has a good Sunday and thank you for stopping by today.

Saturday's Solitude...........

Burning Bush

It is a very cold day and we are planning to stay inside all day.  It isn't going to really warm up much.  I had a freeze scare this morning when I saw we were almost 32 degrees F.  I had seen frost warnings and we were a county away from it.  We arrived home late in the evening from going to a visitation and I was not thinking about any freezing going on outside.  Fortunately we did not freeze but it was sure close.  The wind chill is very cold as we have had gusty winds for two days now. The potted plants look good now as the sun has come up for me to see them.

The really good stuff has not started to fall yet but some leaves are landing into groups for me to photograph.  The strong winds are loosening the early turned leaves and they do look like leaves raining down.  We are pretty green yet in the most part but the maples are the first to turn. I have learned that the early turned leaves of the birch are ones that immediately curl up and die and the rest don't turn for a few weeks.

My one planter of hardy geraniums keeps getting blown over in the wind.  It might just be the first thing to come inside for the winter. This is the reddish orange one that sits among the stronger true red flowers. I probably need to dump a large amount of water on it and it would weigh it down better.

This is a wet capture that I took a few days ago when it was misting. It has a very subtle blur or it could have been a great photo. I am running out of photos for blogging so I will have to venture outside for that later today.

We were glad to be able to see the family of my 2nd cousin Shellie.  Time marches on and everyone has aged so much.

Her dad is now in a nursing home as he was one of my older cousins.  The older brother of Shellie  is in his middle 50's now and I had not seen him for a very long time.   Of all my cousins from the family of a 10 member family, my dad part of that 10, Shellie's dad, Jerry, is the only one who has the exact features of my great grandfather Burgus. I never met my great grandfather but from the photos I have seen, he is an exact copy. His mother, my aunt Amye, partially resembled him in the woman version of him.  Now that he is in his upper 70's he really resembles him. 

I would wish for better weather but I will deal with it anyway.  I can see the whole town is staying inside for now.  Being out in the wind last night and traveling to southern Iowa did makes us both feel like we had colds again.  I think a lot of coffee and hot cocoa is in order for the whole day.  We may even put in an apple cobbler later in the morning.   Thanks  to all of your for stopping by my post today.

Garbage Day Friday..........

The red glories put out lots of flowers in the morning during the foggy mist of the day. The blue glories waited until the afternoon to bloom. We are cold today starting off in the 40's.  We also are having strong winds that are moving things around on the deck and side steps.  It is about time to move things into the basement.

There were a few fields that had been picked this week but we are wet again from sprinkles.  I saw beans being harvested and a cornfield had been partially picked along the highway to  Perry.  The wind may dry things out but it does feel like a damp wind at this point. I am thinking the farmers are getting in a little bit of a panic but it looks like we will have cool dry weather for a week. 

I hope this weather will slow the grass down as I don't really want to get out there to mow it.  I left one patch the last time I mowed and it really is grown tall now. The yellow leaves seem to be the first to come down.  I did see a very large leaf last night while walking Barney.  It comes from the yard west of me and they seem to blow down the hill onto my yard every year.

I refused to go to work today as I have things to do and a visitation to travel to this afternoon.  I will be starting my three week stretch of work to sub for a science teacher who is having his knee replaced. That starts Monday. The doctor says he should be down 5 weeks but he says he will be back in 3 weeks.  I am not making any plans until I know he can come back to work.

I finished up on the drain system that ran underneath the kitchen.  I have seen enough of that crawl space for the rest of my lifetime.  Everything works like a normal system now with gravity pulling the water down the drain with great speed and accuracy.  Old houses can get to be too much after while as there are water heaters and furnaces that do stand in line for attention.  I can now put in a new garbage disposal as the sink drain is up to code to handle it.

Our visitation is in southern Iowa and we have been to that funeral home many times before now.  Shellie is actually my youngest cousin and she passed away at the age of 52.  We will probably see a some of long lost cousins while there of those who are able to come.  My two brothers won't come back for the funeral and I am assuming a lot of the older cousins from out of state will not be there. We won't return for the funeral on Saturday as we should be able to see Shellie's dad and her brother tonight and they are the  two that I want to see.

When we get to be dry for a few days in a row I will be heading back outside and get some work done. Homecoming activities that were outside yesterday were cancelled but tonight's game will go on even if there are snow flurries.  I hope everyone is adjusting to the fall weather here in the United States.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Thursday's Thoughts

The glue has held this guy together for the season.  His aging process has created wonderful colors and textures and it adds to his expression.  The angel either is wondering when I will take him in for winter or if anyone is going to come clean up this leaf mess.  The hosta in the background is doing a great job giving the angel a good background.  The hosta survived the hail and went on to grow large and lush.

The window box planter full of geraniums sits on the patio table now.  For some reason in the fall the box gets knocked off the shelf on the fence so I just moved it to the table. I will have to decide what to do with all the long vines.  Some years I trim them back and sometimes I just let them hang while in the house. 

During the summer I can break off parts and stick them into the soil to restart them but it is getting too late to do that.  I do believe we are beyond having any hot days anymore as it is foggy and looks like rain is on its way.  I could try to get them to root the next couple of weeks.

If the weather holds and time permits I am going to move some of this daylily.  It has grown very large since I brought it here from southern Iowa. 

I lost a cousin due to cancer a couple of days ago.  She is actually a daughter to my first cousin so I am assuming she would be called a first cousin, once removed.  Shellie had fought the cancer for over 7 years but it just invaded her severely this time and she lost her life. 

I use to see her and her brother on the school bus everyday as she was in kindergarten and then first grade as I was on my way out of high school. She and her brother we a couple of rough and tuffies as they grew up together.  I can still remember the two of them coming into their house and it was like a tornado of energy as they did everything together playing on the farm.

 She is a daughter of one of my older cousins and I really didn't get to see her grow up much after I left school in Murray. Shellie has two grown children just out of college and was divorced very early in her marriage.  We will go to Osceola for the visitation and maybe I will see some long lost cousins that will be back for the funeral.  She was close to my parents and one brother that died.  I guess her dad was close to my late brother as they worked construction together. Only at funerals did I ever see Shellie. She was the only member of the family that worked the quilting tradition out of all of my first and second cousins.  My mom was the only other one in the entire family that quilted.

The neighbor's sheltie is giving me the look as I take photos.  I don't ever go see her as she is on one of the electronic yard systems.  I don't want to get her in trouble by getting familiar with her. She is so pretty and it looks like well washed.  I hope they are nice to her as I never see them relate to her.  She does go to the fair with them and they take her camping.  Barney really would like to meet her but she is off limits.

Fall leaves will be the theme soon as our trees are starting to turn.  We are cold and foggy and it seems like a pretty dismal day.  I didn't get work today.  I didn't want work today.  I will be working on a major project trying to get it done. I did get my paint purchased and when the sun shines again I will be out there.  If I could just get an hour in a day  painting it wouldn't take long to be done as it only the one side of the house. 
I will shut this down for today and hope all are well.  Thanks for stopping in on my blog.

Middle of the Week..............

The actual rose is smaller than this.  It is a great bloomer and I would think this is the last to come off of this bush.  I have one more bud on another rose that may get bloomed out before the frost.  I have to keep in mind to trim them back for winter weather.  I try to cover them with leaves to help with the survival process.

My large pot of oxalis have done well this summer.  I am curious to see what happens when I bring it in for the winter.  I am hoping I can keep them moisture level even enough that it keeps on blooming.  It is easy for oxalis to dry out quickly and everything collapses.  The bulbs are still alive but they have to regrow all new stems again. 

i have another dianthus photo to share.  I use to have these kind of plants carry over from year to year. I imagine that the dry years affect how they carry over to the spring.

We have just started the fall season but the plants already know that.  The dahlia has one more bud on it and I am not certain that I will see it bloom. 

I am subbing again today but in the middle schools social studies room. I am supervising group work all day today and fortunately today is a shortened day.  Informal work is harder to direct than a classic classroom setting.  I am sure that common core principles admire the process but everybody talking about something seems less productive to me.

Thank you for stopping in today.