Saturday, June 30, 2012

Hot.........


Heat, thunder showers and then there is more heat.  I will have to mow early in the morning and get my place cleaned up a little.  The weeds are tall and not the grass.


Friday, June 29, 2012

A Big Break........


It is a break.   I didn't know that the apple tree had so many apples on it.  I did notice that we have been getting very windy days and the down bursts were breaking off a lot of the tips of some of the trees. This apple tree had thirty or more apples on it which made it a heavy branch. Now they are history.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Snapdragons.........


I rescued these from a fate of being put into the dumpster.  The grocery store had put out many sad looking plants for almost free prices.  This plant is growing in one of my planters. I have to remember to water often to keep them going.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Another lily shot.........


This is a smaller lily but it still has great color. I keep it watered to keep it up and going.  It has the promise of many blooms with all those buds.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Sneaking a Drink.........


I keep a pan of water for my neighbor cats in which to get a drink.  Tom Tom, our friendly neighbor cat who lives on the porch with Yellow Kitty goes for the fish tank water.










A smaller photo of him after his drink is shown at right.  I couldn't get a clear shot of him as he was moving and so was I apparently.



I am keeping up my blogging but my reading of other blogs just isn't happening.  I will try to catch up sometime soon.  Sorry to be so busy and not be able to keep up.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Monday's Bloom.......


The daylilies are slow to bloom this year but this one looks great.  I like it's subtle color and green yellow center.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Coneflower Season........


My coneflower plants seem to have diminished in growth as I have less blooms than usual.  I thought they were pretty much a wild flower and couldn't be contained. I guess I am going to move some to a different location to see if they are getting too much shade.



Saturday, June 23, 2012

A Flash of Red........


I have a few favorites of the Asiatic lilies and this is one of them.  My lilies are all opening but their blooms seem to be heat damaged or wind damaged.  They all still look great and the lily blooms should last for a few more weeks.



Friday, June 22, 2012

Subtle Whites...........


The hydrangea are doing well and their large puffs of small flowers are a great thing to see. The light and the age of the different sets of blooms put out such great varieties of white.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Feeding the Fish.........


I discovered that I could use the setting on my wife's camera that is made for moving objects to take photos of my  fish.  The camera icon is a running person but swimming fish seem to be the same kind of thing that is a fish in motion.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Wednesday's Color........


While I was out in the very hot heat, grilling burgers on the patio, I snapped this first bloom.  The field lilies, ditch lilies another name, are putting out few flowers this year than normal.  Maybe it is because of our dry weather.  I really like the complex petals of this lily and really hate that it is so invasive.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Hardy Geranium.........


I still have my orange geranium.  I have lost track as to how long I have had it.  It winters in the house and comes out each spring. It may be on it's fourth year now.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Purple Splash.....


A new petunia bloom that is awaiting it's turn to be planted in the garden. We picked up some plants Sunday as the prices were on good sales.



Sunday, June 17, 2012

Sunday's Shot......


Yesterday was our wedding anniversary.  We were married 28 years ago in Grimes, Iowa.  We went out for dinner at a nice Chinese restaurant in West Des Moines.  It was a good evening and great to get to go out for the celebration. It rained in the evening just like it did on our wedding day.  When we left PK Changs the sun was shining through the clouds, just like on our wedding day.

We went to the Christian bookstore near there afterward and we just missed "her".   "Her" was Shawn Johnson the Olympic gymnastic star who was signing her new book at the store.  The clerk said it was a packed standing room only crowd.  We probably would not have been able to get into the store if we had arrived an hour earlier. She lives in the West Des Moines area but I am assuming she will move to the California home her family also own. Now that she has retired from gymnastic she is planning to go to college and continue sponsorships of products.

We are planning a quiet Father's Day and a good day to rest up for work tomorrow. Have a great Sunday.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

My Biggest Critic.........


Button always follows me out in the backyard when I am taking photos.  He is like a fuzzy shadow making sure that I am doing well.  This is one of my latest daylilies to bloom.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Hardy Geranium.........


The wind blew the planter off of it's shelf and I found it in a big mess.  I put it all back into the planter and the plants just kept on growing.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Hollyhock Day.....


As the hollyhocks swung back and forth in the breeze, I snapped them all in a vertical formation.  It was a lucky catch as I took two others that showed every stalk leaning to the left due to the high winds.




Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Reflections........


I am sharing another abstract of the surface of the water of the fish pond.  The light affects the reflection hourly and I never seem to get out there with the camera to capture a clear water pool. When it is clear you will be able to see all of the fish.  For today we will see the orange shapes in the abstracts shapes of sky and trees.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Weathered and worn...........


When the tornado went through town six years ago, the windmill took on damage that just caused too much damage to make it possible for repair.  It continues to be a garden ornament but it is not functional when the wind blows.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Yellow Rose.......Blooms Again.


This is the second stem of blooms that came a few weeks later than the first.  It seems to do fine with our dry weather.  I did carry a bucket of water over to it from the rain barrel to give it some extra moisture.




Saturday, June 9, 2012

Looking Through......


This hosta grows abundantly on the other side of my trellised gate.  I moved a different variety away from it as it was taking over it's neighbor's territory. It helps to shade the roots of my clematis, keeping the clematis happy and it's feet cooler.



Friday, June 8, 2012

Friday's Blooms......


The gift of three  flower pots had these wonderful petunia's planted in them.  I had to water them tonight as our light rain really didn't help much in the moisture department.



Thursday, June 7, 2012

A Rusty Bottom......


A view of the galvanized pail that sits outside on my back stairs.  I need to get the rust taken care of as I don't want to ruin this pail.  I have been watering the five tomato plants that I have planted in my backyard garden.  One tomato is in a pot sitting in a hot sunny spot.  The other five are next to the south side of the house where it is always hot and dry.  I will water them from my rain barrel all summer to keep them alive.  I just now remembered that I need to get out my fertilizer and use it.  That will help everything grow better.

I just soaked my pond filters in this bucket so it is back to being useful.  I will dry it out and maybe oil it a little.



Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Wednesday's Blurr.......


As I post this I just remembered that my wife's camera has a setting for motion.  I still like this abstract version of my fish.   I am fish sitting the science teacher's fish.  There are two koi and six or seven comet gold fish.  He was babysitting them in his science room tank from a neighbor woman's pond for the winter.  Unfortunately the woman passed away so he had no place to return them.



Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Time to pick.......


The berries are getting to be ready for me to pick.  My wife says she will bake a pie.  I usually make some sauce for ice cream and of course there will be jelly.  We  have given away our raspberry jelly to friends and family and everyone is concerned that there will be a good crop this year as they want more jelly.



Sunday, June 3, 2012

Needs some paint.......


The corner post of the outdoor bench contrasts well with the pine in the back ground.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Saturday's Blues......


It is a cool morning again today but we are predicted to get up to 77 degrees in the afternoon. I once again am seeing the blue globe outside instead of being in my basement.  The hollyhock in front and the vinca below are surrounding it. The spent seed heads of the globe allium are still around. There is a day lily that is to the right that has a few buds on it and it will blooming soon.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Friday's Fluff........


We received about an inch of rain.  It came in a form of a cold drizzle for a very long time.  The grass looks greener and it will help.  I can not believe it was so little in comparison to how long it took for it to fall.  We are going to warm up to 70  degrees today. It is good that it is Friday.



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 ...