A View of the Suburbs....

Having been a farm boy  I would never believe that I would someday live in a modern suburb. Living in the old place was really more living in the past as it was un older town with our 1900’s house. This area is almost fourteen years old now.

I had waited too long to mow my front yard and I had dead grass laying everywhere.  I mowed it again yesterday and used the grass catcher to clean it up. The guy to the south there has a perfect golf course yard which I will never be able to compete with.  He does have less yard in front as his lot is a wedge that fits with the forty five degree turn in the road.  I was going to  crop out everything but my yard but I think the whole view has more to tell as you look down the curve of the street.

A Different Bloom.....

It isn’t a normal variety. The blooms have never bloomed with its flowers sitting up right. The seem to grow on a stem in a horizontal position.  I bought it because of its color but there was never indication that it had some flaws.  I had to pick a few blooms as my project in the yard was running into them.  They would have been damaged if they had n to been cut.

A Dry Day......

Our weather people all agreed that we are going to have a dry morning. It was on the tv weather report but... when I got up to see outside I see something different.  I think maybe after it stops raining that we will have a dry day.

Honeysuckle Vine.....

I inherited this vine and really do like it.  It didn’t so so well last year as we didn’t get a lot of rain.
That will not be the problem this spring as the rains keep coming. It is planted at the top of the hill so there is plenty of drainage. The flowers seem like fan shapes. I also like that they are orange flowers.

Unknown Future Blooms......

I am in anticipation of what the variety is comes as it is the first time for this iris to bloom.  It took it two years in the ground to develop into a blooming plant.

So here it is in bloom. It is a variety that I collected from my parents home years ago.  It grew along the south side of their garage next to an alley.  I bet they are still blooming there today.

A Daily Occurrence...

We are experiencing rain everyday.  Many times it is in the early morning. Tornadoes happened out of the blue in two different cities on different days. This cloud gave the southeast a lot more rain.

Scattered Seeds......

The birds are slow to return to the feeders that I moved to the far end of the new deck. I always spill seed as I refill the feeder from the large bag. The sparrows are liking that they can eat off of the deck floor.

The Season of the Iris...

I have shared this variety before but this is a better shot of multiples in bloom.  It is an old fashion one that is medium sized in comparison to the hybrids.  I really don’t have any hybrids anymore except for one white one.  I will work on that by buying one a year. We had heavy rains throughout the night.  I was glad to see that I didn’t have any stems of flowers laying on the ground this morning.

Pure White.....

The challenge was to get a clear photo of iris when it is bright sunny day.  I took a lot of shots but most of them were blurred from too much light. This one white iris was at a good location with the sun shining down on it and I did get this shot. I will return in later afternoon and try again, as I have four new varieties of iris blooming today.

Goldfinch Pair......

A photo of two goldfinch birds is evidence that I have them at my feeder. This is the first shot that I have taken this year as they have not been around the property. I had seen a flit of an image going by a couple of days ago but yesterday morning the pair came to get some new thistle seed. The back view isn’t the best but I am glad I can now verify my sighting.

A Pairing.........

The cemetery iris is the smallest of the iris blooms.  The next size up can be seen next to the yellow iris. The purple one is still small compared to the hybrid iris. These two were picked because of some weather related accidents.

Feeding in the Cold......

A  spontaneous shot with a feeder placed in a bad spot for viewing of a feeding bird.  The house finches have come back strong in the back yard.  I saw a goldfinch once yesterday but they don’t seem to be around this year.  I bet they are regretting that they went north too soon. I will fill the thistle seed feeder today and try to find a different way to hang it.

Spring Bloom.......

I am glad that I have succeeded in establishing a bed of this kind of iris.  The old place has lots of group plantings like this and it has taken a lot of time and patience to get them replanted at the new place.

Saturday......

Iris Season Begins.....

The iris was the first to bloom.  It made the move from the old place and has now put out some blooms. It rained a lot the past few hours so I doubt it looks this good now but you can see there are many more buds showing in the photo. This is a small iris which I classify as a cemetery iris. That is where it originated.

PM to AM.......

While bringing in the flag last night and I looked up.  There it was shining brightly. The moisture in the air gave the camera a challenge to focus through the thin cloud.

The earth is tilting back.  The sun use to be behind the house on the far right of the photo.  Now it keeps creeping to the left side of this scene.

Belated Roses......

They were purchased on the day after Mother’s Day.  It was not so busy yesterday and they were ready for me to pick them up.

Cloud Formations.....

The whole day we could see clouds like this all around in the sky. It didn’t warm up a lot but it was pleasant enough outside.

Monday Morning....

I have a lot of blooms about to open so I can have some new photos of different subjects to share. The iris and fern leaf peony will be open soon.  The regular peonies are budded but it will be a while before they open. We will have a warm week so I can get outside and take some photos.

Spring Contemplations.......

Having spent the winter inside this year the angel boy is soaking in some light sun rays. 

Balcony Views.....

The balcony gives us a new and different kind of view. We picked out the white railings as the normal wood railings seem dull.  The sun is to my back and you can see the shape of the house and sunroom in the shadow.

Tall Peonies....

The Rembrandt tulip has such striking colors looking like a paint brush has been used to create the color. The beginning of these blooms did not have a background of peonies.  Now you can see the peonies have taken off and tower over the tulips.

Globe Allium.......

It is cold and windy keeping these blooms from really coming out in full bloom. Tomorrow it starts to become warmer.

Wet Deck.......

The old deck is long gone and the new deck was built over in front of our living room windows. The rain is heavy and the cedar wood shines with the water standing on it.

Balcony and Carriage Light.....

We have a new outdoor light.  We have gained a new view with our new balcony on the deck.  It helps to enhance our views as we look out on the world. We bought the light in a hurry and the electrician explained that it has many special features.  It will turn itself on when it is dark.  It has a setting to tell the device to use a lower projection of light. It also has a motion detector on it that works at night.  One other great feature is that I can flip the switch up and down and it can act just like a normal porch light.

Tulip Power....

These multi-colored flowers do have great patterns.  The top one is a six pointed star. I do think that is one of the Rembrandt tulips.

Neighborhood View......

The two pine trees belong to the neighbor southeast of us and the flowering crabs are at the back of his yard.  I had wondered why the one tree had a red overcast in the fall and now I understand.  They were the crabapples that were still on the tree.The green leafed tree in the background is the one that I see in all of my sunrise shots.  It still has a partial dead branch in it.

A New, Different View........

Saturday morning, looking out the door of the sunroom, the sun is bold and beautiful. I now can walk out onto the deck and get this next shot.

I shot this view before the top photo.  The sun is peaking through at the horizon and the whole system was moving away from that area.

Vertigo Central.....

When we selected the white railing for the deck we really did not know how pleased we would be with that decision.  It is 14 steps of exercise and I need the exercise.  I can see grandchilderns having a lot of fun on them.

Bouquet of Spring......

I brought in one of my tulips from the front yard.  The wind or whatever broke it off at the base.  Other flowers in the vase came from the old  place.

Other flowers from the old place are tulips and some lilac flowers. The lilacs are not quite open as spring seems to be slow there.  It became cold and is very wet from so much rain.

Peony Tulip....