Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Seeing Red on Wednesday.......


This geranium has been so good at blooming all summer.  I have had this plant for three summers now and it just keeps giving me great red blooms.  I keep it inside in the winter in the spare room and it just keeps thriving.

Yes, you can see my wife's camera is better than my expired point and shoot. The photo has true reds and is in focus. 

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Jars Extravaganza........


I spent the morning Monday helping sort through iron and junk on a farm.  I of course have a new batch of bottles to add to my collection of old jars. Vick's Vapor Rub and Noxema Face Cream both sold their products in the cobalt blue jars.  Some of the other jars here are ones I don't recognize.   The off center opening of the one clear bottle is an interesting bottle. I found a number of those and I don't know what would have been sold in the jar.

If my photos seem better than ever it is because that I am using my wife's camera to take my photos now.  It is a lot better than my point and shoot in which I lost the monitor function.  If the pictures seem blurry also it is because I am trying to figure out all the different settings.  The camera has a macro setting that doesn't work for me but the flower and macro setting at the same time seems to be the answer for close up shots.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Junkyard buddies.......

Archived photo of my favorite shots.

A photo that I took at a salvage yard in Grand Marais, Minnesota.  It was on the edge of town and they seemed to have a whole field of old trucks in various colors and conditions.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Front Porch.........


I hope you have a restful and fun Sunday.  Stay safe where ever you are living and don't let the weather get the best of you.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

A Favorite Photo of the Past.......


This photo stands out as one of my favorites of the past.   It has this great composition of showing a boy and his horse working at a horse show at the fair. It is an archived photo from three years ago but the show was one of my favorite experiences with these large horses showing their massive strength and gentle nature while obeying this young man's directions.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Maine Coastline.......


Photo taken off Mt. Desert Island, Acadia National Park in 2009.  We will see how much the hurricane will effect this state.  We were there back then and it was raining a lot on the weekend from the hurricane that hit the east coast in 2009.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Wednesday's wanderers......


An archived photo of geese who were touring the Iowa State Fair two summers ago in 2009.  The geese and their herder traveled about on the grounds of the fair all dressed up and showing off their neck ties and bows.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Monarch Migration.....


It was mentioned  on the television that our migration of monarch's should be happening soon. I have been seeing a lot of them around but not in masses like it eventually will look like around here.  I haven't seen as many different kinds of butterflies as I did last year.  The yellow swallowtail and some smaller ones have been around but no other kinds.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Monday's posting......


The wave petunias did not do well in my planter except for this one.  Most of the plants died back and this one just took off to put out a lot of color.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Gardens in a clearing......


I picked up a book about people who had a clearing on their property and they created special gardens in them.  Furniture, fences or structures that were special and looked sculptural were a part of each garden.  The clearings were really in unexpected places that made them look magical.
The book is entitled:

A Clearing in the Woods: Creating Contemporary Gardens

by Roger Foley (Photographer)

It made me think of this old wheelbarrow that I just parked out among my yellow squash vines.  I didn't have the heart to throw this barrow away as my dad had made it quite a few years ago.  Every year it was filled with dirt and loaded with petunias.  His later years were difficult with his health so it had been put away in a storage shed.  It was one of the last things I dug out of that shed recently and I didn't want to take it to the landfill.

It does seem like a sculptural form to me as I threw old pots inside of it and there it just sits.  The vines and other plants have just grown up around it.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

A humble blossom.......


Have a good Saturday.  I can see the time is shortening for my zinnia patch as they are all starting to weather. 

Friday, August 19, 2011

White Hollyhock............back and front


I really like the sculptural form of this flower and also the texture and color is so great.


I had taken the flower shot from the back side and when I approached it from the front I was surprised to find this bumble bee in nectar heaven.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Same old gazing blue ball........


I tried to hide behind the leaf in front of the ball so that you couldn't see me in the reflection.  It almost worked.  I do have a glow over my shoulder.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

New, old, dirty stuff...........


Cleaning out a garage that had never been cleaned in thirty years can give me lots of things to find.  My addition of new junk to my old junk collection. No it isn't my garage, I don't own a garage.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Sedum.....


The sedum is getting ready for the fall.  The rains have it so tall that I may have to stake it.  It usually is shorter in size.

Monday, August 15, 2011

A very big bunch of surprise........


You can see that there are still some buds among the group that still have not opened.  They have done there best in blooming this year that I have had for many years. 

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Butterfly portrait........


Another butterfly with parts of it's wing missing.  I was glad this one finally settled in and let me shoot a few pictures.  It flattened itself out wide open while it was eating which is different than the others that close their wings while they eat. I didn't look this one up as far as identification.  I really don't think I have seen it before now. It is smaller than a monarch and is a lot browner than the photo portrays.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Surprising you once again......


Here is a closer view of the fast appearing flowers with an unplanned back lighting effect on the bloom.


The surprise lilies have multiple blooms on the end of each stem.  It almost makes them have a disorganized appearance as they bunch up on the ends of those stems.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Surprise.........lilies



I mentioned in one of my blogs that the Surprise Lilies should be up pretty soon.  In an almost overnight time span they sprout and here they are.  I think they should actually open their blooms  in another day.

If you are not familiar with these lilies they sprout out their foliage in early spring and then it dies back completely.  A month later or so up comes the shoots for blooms.  They are called Naked Ladies is some circles and some seed catalogs.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

A texture filled day.....


I know no facts about this thing. I know folklore. and as soon as I share it, I will hear  the truth about  what it is from one of you.  It is the same material as a train rail,  only it a smaller version.  I have another one, the same version as the small one  but larger that is a foot in length like that of a train rail.  I think they were made for people to hammer out their hot metal and other things.

I am going to use it for a gate stop for my blue gate.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Tuesday's two blooms......


I rescued this rose from a dumpster a few years back when I was working for a grocery store nursery.  It was dead looking, no leaves and yet it had green stems.  It was a great save.

Monday, August 8, 2011

A blanket of flowers........


The rain brought us a brighter view of flowers.  I have coneflowers that have died because of the heat wave of many days but now things are turning around.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Bean Pods............


We had a high down burst of wind a week ago and the wind was so strong that it blew these into my yard.  They came from the neighbors tree which reminds me of a locust but I really don't know the name of it.  It has a fern-like leaf structure.  I get volunteers of the seed in my flower garden every year but I think it is kind of a messy tree so I don't move them and try to grow one of my own.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Rosette........hollyhock.


It was slowly opening up yesterday and after our one inch and a half rain it is now open completely today.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Another flash of red.......


My zinnia's are mostly magenta in color but I do have a few red ones in the bed.

Check out another blog that is celebration red week, by clicking here.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

White and red all over.........


Petunias love the heat as long as you keep the soil wet and they don't have to be in full sun the whole day.  Don't water them for a few days and they are goners.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

It's a jungle out there..........


Vines love hot weather and as you can see this volunteer vine is doing well.  It will cover up flowers like the coneflower at the bottom right and eventually will take over the daylilies.  Their foliage is actually good to look at but it does get to be too much when it covers over the entire plant.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Phlox.........summer blooms.


It continues to be very hot and the phlox seems to be enjoying it. I have a lot of blooms that are in full color now.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Getting my ducks in a row.........again!


This is an archived photo to fit my theme for the day.  We turned the house in Osceola over to a realtor and the only one thing he found wrong was that I needed to mow and cut down the weeds.

  Yes, I have been ill and yes it has been two weeks so we will head down this morning very early while it is still under 80 degrees.  The grass is very dry so it isn't hard to get that done, but the heat has made all the weeds grow large.  I have an electric weed eater so I will take a long cord down and get the job done. My lungs are still a little touchy and if it gets to be too much I will just go back again the next day.  It is over an hour's drive to get there so I hope I don't have to return.

My own yard is about five inches tall but that is good as it is the only green looking yard in the neighborhood.  It was again not by choice that I don't have it done but it looks like it is a good thing that I don't have mine cut short like everyone around me.  Maybe Tuesday I can address that problem and  have more of my ducks in a row by then.

Thanks for stopping in and do stay cool, no matter where you are.

Blurry Blue Cup Day.....

 It is Monday and I am a little blurry eyed today. It is fitting then my blue cup is blurred a little because it is in low light. I was too ...