A Long Time

It has been a long time since I posted last as blogging has gone out of fashion.  I see it has been almost four years. A lot has changed. My mother passed away, Syd's mother, brother and nephew passed away. Our son had a set of twins and then another set of twins then he moved across the state. Then the biggest change of all, we moved. my yard full of flowers is not my yard any more.  So any pictures posted are from last year, and the other theme will change from flowers  and nature to the Twin Twins as we lovingly refer to them. Enjoy.

Spring in Potato Land

The calendar says spring and the flowers are trying to be beautiful, but mother nature hasn't decided it is spring. This is what we woke up to three days before Easter. Seriously, 3 inches of snow, and buried beneath it ....

Not these, they had already put on their performance. Sadly, the weather was too cold and I was too busy to go out and enjoy them it their full glory.

These are what were hiding beneath all that cold snow. It warmed up nicely and the snow quickly melted.

These Johnny-jump-ups will brave any weather, they are usually the first and the last to bloom. Some people refer to them as weeds, but I plant them anyway. I love their boldness. They can take over for a few weeks, so enjoyable.

I love the first blooms of spring, they are a warm up for what is yet to come.

Random shows of fall

The final frost was a little late in coming. I took a few shots of the most determined flowers.
The morning before we blew out the sprinklers they ran one more time. It was chilly to say the least and the ice coated everything, like a magical icy wonderland.

If you can't tell these are Johnny Jump-ups. Yellow Daisies

Petunias, obviously before the ice

the Yellow Daisies in their glory

Roses

Cosmos

Apple (I know not a flower)

Gillardia

Cosmos waving in the late afternoon sun

Maple tree that put on a it's own performance

Mother Nature was generous this fall with her colors

Second Sunday

Yes, I know, it has been three months since I last posted, two missing first Sundays. I am going to make up for it. This was the second Sunday in May. The lawn is greening up, the trees have their first buds. Sadly the sky is gloomy. That was our spring, gloomy, wet, rainy, windy, basically miserable not much to look at. What you can't see in the picture is that despite all the clouds and rain we did have a few flowers.

The trees put forth their share of blossoms (does wonders for the spring allergies).

I read, continued with my class at college, ended the public school year (yeah for summer break) blew the dust off the lawn mower and started planting the garden.

This is the second Sunday in June, still not a lot of sunshine, which made for a slow growing garden. The trees leafed out more, the grass grew, the weeds grew and I read, studied, and planted more garden. Through the month the flowers began to open in their glory. One day I counted Lilies, Phlox, Rock Cress, Daisies, Lion's Bane(not sure the name is correct), Johnny Jump-ups, ornamental and real Strawberries, Lilacs, Gold basket, the last of the tulips, and of course dandelions to make up a plethora of colors. There were several others but I can't remember their names.

Just a sampling of the orange lilies and the daisies.

We had some beautiful sunsets, something we have a lot of around here in potato land. This one was on the Fourth of July.

Which brings us to today.

This is the view for the next couple of months. Branches of green with glimpses of life beyond.

Three nights out of the week beyond the green this is what can be seen, soccer players running in every direction. Some nights it looks as if a bag of skittles has been spilled across the playground with all the colors. We throw open the windows and listen to the cheers of the parents. It's one of the happiest sounds on earth. Can't help but love it.

I'm up to 24 books read, it's coming along slowly but surely. I have also indexed a total of 2790 names for the year. Not doing so good with the arbitrating. We also turned in about 20 names for temple work. Hopefully the summer will slow down, the garden will grow (picked the first strawberries yesterday) and we can get some serious playing done.

Just a sample

I love to photograph flowers and am always striving for that blue ribbon picture of the perfect flower in my yard. Most years they are so beautiful it's hard to take just one, so I usually take around a thousand. These are some of the flowers that grow in my yard. I can't take responsibility for how they look. I just plant them and then let God decide how they will grow.2009 Tulips

This year they were beautiful but only lasted a day or two because of all the wind we had.
2009
Johnny-Jump-ups, so prolific, almost a weed

Against the sand stone we got in Southern Utah

2008 Poppies

I love poppies, they flutter so gently in the morning breeze. It's always fun to see what colors will come back and where. This is a unique shade of dusty pink.

One side of the yard. A picture doesn't do it justice.

This doesn't grow in my yard, I live to far north, but it is an amazing flower.

Night Blooming Ceres

It blooms one night a year, and only at night. About 8 o'clock you can see the buds begin to open and it's a miracle in motion. it reaches it's peak about midnight and immediately begins to wilt. The smell is unbelievable, so fragrant. It permeates the whole house.

I love to watch it.

In another corner of the yard can be found Sweet William in various colors, Canterbury bells, wild strawberry and lavender

Another favorite is lilies. I have many colors but I think this is possible my favorite color.

Poppies in the morning after the sprinklers have just run.

Canterbury Bells and Daisies

Poppies of every color grown where ever they want.

Of course every one needs an iris or two. I have hundreds, they grow and spread beyond belief.

Out front we have a Rose Tree of China. On a good year it's blooms are beyond beautiful, so delicate and lacy. Sadly this year the wind played havoc with it and didn't get many blossoms.

Thus this picture is from last year.

Thanks for taking a walk through my yard. Check back for more pictures.