One lonely coneflower...........

I spent my day yesterday taking brush and tree clippings to the city landfill site.  I am not allowed to burn them in town, so we can take them out there and they burn them.  I did a lot of trimming as I was a few years behind in getting it done.  I didn't get everything out there so I will have to burn what I have left in my recreational fire ring.  If I cook marshmallows around the fire in the evening, it will be legal.

I loaded wood from the farm for a neighbor to use in their woodburner this winter during the morning and I kept loading up loads of brush all afternoon.  I need to give the old muscles a break today and mow my yard.

Thanks for stopping by...............I still have not shared the number of snakes that I have captured thus far.  Oh that will be another blog.

Volunteer vine and morning glory vine.......

n

I like the vine on my trellis but it actually is a hops vine.  A bad vine when you want morning glory blooms.

On the other side of the trellis, a morning glory is creeping up the ladder.  I will have blooms but they are late this year. They grew from last years plants and there are three vines growing.

Another thing that is late this year is the ripening of the tomatoes.  I have roma tomatoes but they still have not turned red.  It looks like it will be the third week of August before I pick my first tomato.  The yellow squash vine is putting out lots of blooms and I have a few small squash.  I think they will do fine even though they will need all of the fall to mature.

I spent the day yesterday trimming out mulberry trees on my property bordering the alley.  I am trying to take back that area and take it down to have nothing growing there but grass.  I want to mow and keep mowing anything that is volunteer in growth. I will need to remove a few small stumps.  There once was a set of peony bushes and some flowering shrubs but they are all going to go for the sake of ease in upkeep.  I trimmed back my very old lilac and also the neighbor's lilacs got a trimming by me also.  I know the city was ready to gives us warnings soon so I took us both back into compliance.

So today I will fetch the farm truck and take a few loads of brush to the city landfill site.  I had branches accumulating from the storm damage to my silver maples a month ago and it will be good to be rid of it all.   It is cold today and it is a good day to work outside.

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

Perfect imperfection.........

The color is so great and the lost petals are an addition to it's perfect form.  It still puts out a great show.

 

 

I found this to be an interesting composition even though it is the entrance to the house on the farm when it is all locked up. It brings up a song to my mind of Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves.  I will let you figure out which one of the above used the entrance frequently.

 

The phlox in my garden  continues to thrive but it is getting about time for it to drop it's flowers. I passed by them yesterday and the fragrance is so wonderful.

Have a great Tuesday.......I have many projects lined up to do but won't be able to get to them all.  I will pick and choose what to do around the weather.

Monarch Monday.........

I almost didn't get out there and plant the zinnia's this spring but now I remember why that I needed to do it.  The patch creates a feeding zone for many butters and also bees.

I have not seen many bees this year and people are telling me they didn't have cherries and other fruit on their trees this year because they didn't get pollinated.

A successful photo shoot.........

My very first photo of the swallowtail was unsuccessful as my straw hat scared it away.  My camera snapped and it was gone.

Once I had removed my hat and once it started to get into the nectar of the zinnia, there was not much that I could do to scare it anymore.  It was hungry and it was busy eating and I just snapped many photos.

The butterfly even changed flowers while I was standing there and didn't mind me holding a camera ten inches away from it.

It is nice that it moved around as I was able to get different backgrounds each move.

Just like the monarch, it moves it's wings in and out while it is collecting nectar.  I had to time my clicks with the movements of it's opening and closing.

A monarch joined in on the feeding frenzy and I will share those photos later.  I had 55 photos from that shoot and I continued working in the area and it stayed in the flower bed the entire time.

I took a photo of the same kind of butterfly last year and it too had one of it's back parts of it's wing broken off.  The wind and the weather must be hard on them.

Thanks for stopping by............cooler but still muggy here today.

A story unfolds...........

I was out the other day with my camera and the yellow swallowtail butterfly would not hang around for a phtoto shot.  Yesterday I was out mowing the orchard area and cutting back a few tall weeds next to my tomato patch and look who showed up. 

I know that you want to see more but not today.  I had a monarch show up also and 55 photos later I have a story to tell.  I couldn't believe how they both cooperated. 

I had a surprise call yesterday from my older brother saying he was in Kansas.  I thought that was strange as he lives in Arizona but he and his wife are driving back for his wife's  class reunion of her Methodist Nurses School class in Des Moines.   They will be in the Osceola area for ten days or more.

Forty minutes later I received a call from the other brother from California and he was flying in to Des Moines soon.  He said he was coming for his fiftieth class school reunion and by the way do you have a couch for me to sleep on?  So we had instant company last evening and he left for his celebration this morning.  I hadn't seen him for three years and we may get to see him again once more on Sunday.


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

Friday.......

My photo leans a little but I will go ahead and share it now.  Turtle keeps her company everyday and she keeps collecting water in  her trough.  Maybe I should have said the photographer seems to be leaning a little too much.  I was grilling corn and burgers and took a quick snap while I was out there.  It was very hot so I didn't stick around  to see if the shot was square with the world.

Geraniums are so simple and yet so complicated in their shape.  Do you see the four hearts?

 

It is zinnia mania as I have so  many photos of the zinnia patch.  I like how this one front flower leans so that it is a top view while the others are tipped with a three quarters turned position.

Spent time in Osceola yesterday and we are both tired.  We are walking away from the place now and the only time we will go down is to mow the yard.  We have nothing left to do to the house.  The realtor said we had it in pristine condition and it will be an easy house to show. The realtor officially put the sign up today and our responsibility towards the house is done.  

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