Weathered Warrior........

My little elf has lost his way because the goose in which he was flying has lost his head.  I still like him in his beat up sort of way and I think that he can stay until he has lost it all.

I moved three golden privets away from the north side of the house.  They had been there 15 years and never would grow. Moving them out into the sunshine has caused them to doubl in size. They actually are very healthy and put out that great color.

It rained this morning enough that I had to walk the dog.  The fernleaf peonies are ready to open. I hope they wait until the last rain tomorrow so they don't get spoiled.  I have five of these planted in different locations of the property.  All but one has buds on them.  The one is a transplant from a year ago so it needs to mature some more.

Thanks for stopping by my post today.

The Frst Iris to Bloom........

This old fashioned iris is from the property in Osceola.  It really isn't a family iris other than my parents had it planted against the garage for thirty years.  Who knows where they found the starts but probably from some neighbor.

As you can see in the background is a dandelion in bloom and also there is a view of a peony bush that was transplanted there last fall.

The weathered tulip will be dropping it's petals very soon.  The 60 mph wind has dislodged a lot of the petals of the tulips.

Aronia berry bush is going to put out some fruit.  I will give the berries when ripe to the neighbor lady to add to her other bushes' fruit that she has growing.

The lilac season is almost finished.  I did get my yard partially mowed last evening.  I had to set the mower deck on the highest setting. I was cold with my parka hood pulled up to keep warm. The grass is very uneven so there were places where I was not mowing anything.

 I have two lots so it takes me a couple of days to push a mower around the property.  I did have a lot of sticks to pick up as I did different sections.  My old mower started one more time after I cleaned the spark plug and put gas in the carburetor.  It started right away with out too much complaining.  I have to admit that I only had gasoline that was intended for the chainsaw.  It has some oil additive in it and the old mower seemed to like the extra oil.  I will purchase gas before I finish mowing the orchard area.

I am following a nice young man around with him to his classes today.  We have a full schedule today and by the end of the day I will be well versed in Health, English, American History, Science and Math.  He is doing a visual presentation today as to how to make chocolate chip cookies.  His mother taped it on her phone (sideways) last night and the video is being shown.  There will be cookies to eat after the video.

Thanks for stopping by my post.

More Early Blooms........

The viburnum is another of the shrubs that blooming early.  The little flowers in the center are not open yet but when it warms up again it won't be long.

I brought in wood phlox many years ago and planted them along the west side of the house.  They don't do very well there but I do get some blooms from them.

The last tulip to bloom is this one.  It is a small bloom. With the wind I had to hang onto it with one hand while snapping it with the other hand.

It is Monday and it seems to be a diverse day of being various staff positions.  Thanks for stopping by today.

A Late Bloomer.....

I don't remember planting these tulips but they did come out as a surprise to me.  There must have been a dozen of them as I have planted them in two different locations.

As evidence to being late bloomers you can see the fading tulip in the background.  I have one other set of late bloomers to photograph and it will be moving on into the peony and iris season. 

My wife and I went to see the Titanic movie yesterday.  It is an experience of the event beyond any love story.  The class rules of rich and poor, the treatment of woman as property, and the opinion of your own importance in comparison to others tends to fade away when 1,500 are ready to face death. 

I really enjoy reading about how actual models of the boat werecreated three different ways to created the movie. The ship was almost life size that was used for most taping. The platform part of the one set actually was lowered with hydraulic arms into the water and water did eventually ruin the wooden grand staircase.  The sets were reproduced from drawings and photos. The costumes, food, furniture and even suitcases were recreated from historic refeences.

It is a three hour movie and when the air conditioning starts to blow cold air into the theater it does make it more authentic with the iceberg being viewed on screen.

Celebrating my wife's birthday today by eating out after church. I baked a cake last night for her and we will have a quiet afternoon and eat some cake.

Thanks for stopping by my post today.

Saturday's stuff.......

The globe alium is ready to explode and today's rain will help them out to make them burst into bloom.

One of my people in which I am still framing work left these off the other day.  She plans to use them for a church sale. It can be tedious work but it makes my friend very happy.

She had two of these in the shop for wedding presents.   I do the carving on the mat to tie the three pieces together with the design.

She does a great job with the hearts.  She would give them to people thinking they could use them for Christmas ornaments, but most people have me frame then along with the name.

The hostas are very early this year with all the warm weather.  I did see some freeze damage on the plants.

Thanks for stopping by my post today.

Bunches of Blooms......

I am sure that it was cold and windy the day that I planted these tulips.  I must have dug a large hole and tossed them in around the outside edge of it.  Then I must have filled it in and rushed back into the house.  Most years I buy the tulips that I run across in late fall and then force myself outside to plant them in winter weather.

My neighbor gave me one of her aronia berry bushes when she purchase some for her property. I believe she was concerned that her five plants wouldn't survive and maybe my one would.  She actually has all but one surviving.  This is the first year for  mine to bloom.

  The plants remind her of her past life as an part American Indian  living near the Pine Ridge Indian reservation.  She admits now that they really don't taste so good but they do mix in with other types of berries to make good jam.

The wild violets that grow all over my property have enjoyed a long spring.  The freeze did bother them a little but they are still in bloom.

I am an aid today following a nice young man around to his different classes.  I may get plugged into a last period class when a coach leaves for a track meet.

It is Friday and the rains are disrupting our plans for the weekend.  I know we can live with rain but sometimes we fell less spontaneous when the weather is not great.

Thanks for stopping by my post. 

Thursday's Things

I like how the early sprouts of leaves on the rose bushes are red.  I actually have a rose bud on one of my bushes but I have no photo to prove.

I have a chokecherry tree that must be ornamental as it never puts out fruit.  It does bloom each spring and the fragrance is wonderful.  It is looking a bit weathered here as the blooms are starting to fall off the branches.

Another view of my lilacs. We had a third night of almost freezing but I think it will be warmer than that from here on out.

I took 42 new photos last night while wearing my winter coat.  I am too busy and it was after supper and I decided I needed to do it or I wouldn't have any new shots for the next few days.

I am a techie today, all day, and already have a techie headache.  Staring at computer screens while installing or directing computers to a printer gets to be painful.  I worked with ipads this morning and that is a whole different machine as far as  I am concerned.  I liked working with it if that was all I would have available but the set ups are so different than a laptop that I have to relearn whichever type of machine that I am working.

Thanks for stopping by today.