Iris and New Flowers

 Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Iris flowers on a neighbor's blooming boulevard. 

Dale and I went to Bachman's today and picked up some annuals. Shown above are petunias, pansies, and snapdragons. Not gonna plant them yet as it's supposed to be cool tonight as in the mid to upper 30s. These plants are pretty hearty but I don't want to take a chance. Tonight I'll cover them up.

Whirly Birds

Monday, May 31, 2021

Got the whirly-bird seeds of the roof today with the help of Mark's ladder. Who would've thought it would end up being such an emotional experience? I had a hard time getting up there due to some recent trouble with my knees and then I scratched my shin as had one foot on the roof and tried to maneuver my other leg over the top of the ladder. Wasn't sure how I was going to get back down due to the pain in my knees and on my shin. I felt scared, frustrated, and tired of doing things I don't want to do. It's what I've felt a lot during this whole damn pandemic. Anyway, the roof looks great. 

Clematis and Lilac Blooms In the Neighborhood

Sunday, May 30, 2021

Found these climbing up a neighbor's fence. I'm assuming its clematis. 

Mark's front yard lilac bush is soooo fragrant. Although the flowers are getting past their peak the smell is still very pungent. 

Many different varieties of lilac have been developed. They are very popular shrubs in parks and gardens throughout the world in the temperate zone.

When Dale and I moved into the house on Tenth there was a lilac tree in the area where our grill is now. It was nice having it outside the bedroom window. The first couple of years we were here it produced flowers but after that it didn't leaf very well and the blooms were rather shriveled looking. Some people I've mentioned it to have said that it may have been the soil. Personally, I think it was just old. 

Neighbor's Out and About

Saturday, May 15, 2021

It's so nice to start seeing some of the things you only see until the temps start warming up. 

Mike, our neighbor across the street, is washing one of his three cars.

Deb, next door, is chasing an evil bunny around her yard to get it away from her hostas which it is in the process of obliterating. It's taken up residence under her deck. 

A robin has taken up residence in our yard and built a nest on one of our drain spouts. The eggs have hatched and Dale and I have seen her bring food to feed her babies. 

Flowering Crabapples

Saturday, May 15, 2021

The white flowering crabapple trees are looking so beautiful. These are down by the cemetery at the end of the block.

Dale and I noticed how beautiful they are looking while driving by yesterday on our way to Kowalski's. From a slight distance they look like they are flocked with snow. 

Many of the pink ones are dropping their petals. However the one above belonging to a neighbor is still going strong. 

Anne

Monday, May 3, 2021

This was Anne on Friday afternoon. Her flowers budded but they weren't opening up.

However, the the 80+ degree weather on Saturday I think they got the push they needed. 

Cocktail Hour, Cigar Time, & Backyard Jazz

Saturday, May 1, 2021

Lunch with Noel today. Made it home by 4 p.m. which allowed time to get Athena walked and fed. It actually made it to 88 degrees today with moderate humidity! Perfect weather conditions for cocktail hour outside. 

Dale joined me and indulged in a beer. I drank a couple moderately sized martinis and accompanied them with a cigar.

Athena kept us company...

...while we listened to some recored live jazz by Ella Fitzgerald.  Lots of neighbors were in their yards as well. It's nice to see and hear folks in their yards. There's pent up demand to sit outside for extended rather than brief periods. 

Morning Walk

Saturday, May 1, 2021

Took a nice walk this morning. Already 72 degrees by 10:30. 

Still appreciating the azaleas which seem to be everywhere. One doesn't appreciate how many of them there actually are around the neighborhood until they're blooming. Otherwise they just look like any old shrub. 

Continuing to appreciate the sunshine after such a gloomy April.

I found Warren puttering in his front yard as I walked by his house. His cats said hello to me from inside his porch. 

Deb's Yard

Friday, April 30, 2021

Deb moved her azaleas from the front to the back yard. They look great. 

Anne is starting to flower. 

Athena checks out the smells. 

It's About Time

Thursday, April 29, 2021

Finally a day that feels appropriate for this time of year. April's been cooler and cloudier that normal. In fact, we had better days in March than in April. 

Photo taken near the mouth of our alley. I love the lime green buds on the trees. 

Jean's bridal wreath spirea is filling out nicely. 

Our front yard silver maple is starting to fill out too. 

Checking Things Out

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Jean did a lot of clean-up in her back yard. She filled many lawn bags. 

I surveyed our yard to get a sense of what's ahead for Dale and me. 

St. Joseph's Day 2021 - St. Joseph's Day Cigar

Friday, March 19, 2021

Quiet St. Joseph's Day. Wore some red. Had one of the little Cohiba cigars Warren brought back for me from Havana. Dale and I had pizza for dinner and Dove bars for dessert. Watched Big Bang Theory. 

Lilacs

Photo of a neighbors lilac tree taken just a few days ago. According to Wikipedia, Lilacs "...produce more flowers if left unpruned. If pruned, the plant responds by producing fast-growing young vegetative growth with no flowers in an attempt to restore the removed branches."

We had a beautiful lilac tree at the house on Stevens. I remember Mom pointing it out to me when we moved there when I was three years old. After some years it stopped flowering. We didn't realize that pruning the flowers was detrimental to producing more. I pulled off way too many. It remained for many years but Dad eventually had it removed. It was probably more a lilac bush than a tree but we called it that anyway. 

"In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house near the white-wash’d palings, 

Stands the lilac-bush tall-growing with heart-shaped leaves of rich green, 

With many a pointed blossom rising delicate, with the perfume strong I love, 

With every leaf a miracle—and from this bush in the dooryard, 

With delicate-color’d blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of rich green, 

A sprig with its flower I break."

  -From When Lilacs Last In the Dooryard Bloom'd by Walt Whitman

Peonies

June is here and the peonies have been lovely. The above are a neighbor's from about a week ago. We had pink peonies at the house on Stevens although I think ours were of a lighter variety.

Signs of Spring - Two Toned Lilacs

I love these two toned lilacs of a neighbor across the street.

Signs of Spring - Apple Blossoms

Crab tree of a neighbor up the street.

Peony Buds

Can't wait for the peonies to bloom. I planted some during the late part of summer in 2012. Deb was getting rid of them and asked me if I wanted them. They came back in 2013 but no flowers. They're back again this year but I'm not seeing any buds. I'll keep my fingers crossed. The ones pictured above are on Warren's blooming boulevard. I remember when my family moved into the house on Stevens so many years ago. There must have been about 10 peony bushes lined up along where the driveway bordered the yard. I remember watching the ants crawl over the buds and, being so young and not in the know about such things, asked Mom why they were doing this. She said they actually helped the buds open and that there must be something on the buds they liked.