Around the Yard

All through these hot days, it has been a delight to walk around my yard and enjoy. Yesterday was no exception. Even before I went outside, I spotted this turkey hen sunning herself.



And, when I did go outside, Mr. and Mrs Mallard were waiting for me. I now have only this pair visiting the feeder, and they have grown quite tame. They will tolerate me working in the yard (big of them, whose yard is it anyways?) and they know that I am the human who feeds, so they come running when they see me with the feed bucket in hand.



My "old" flowers are both in bloom. I don't know if it was my Grandmother or my Mother who planted these, but I do know that they have been here for as long as I can remember. I did get rid of a lot of this iris a few years ago, but I was hoping that this group would flourish, there at the end of the downspout. They have and, this year, there have so far been no winds to knock them over, so I can really enjoy them.



That's the same reason that the peonies haven't flopped yet, either.




The varigated wiegela is doing quite well.




But, in spite of the fact that I have been watering it faithfully, I think it's just too hot for the red weigela in front that gets a lot more sun. The flowers are coming out, and fading almost immediately. It's a pity, because this bush is usually my outstanding performer.




I have some of the flowers that I bought last week planted. I'm waiting on others until it cools down, because I have to dig a new garden for them, and right now it's just too hot for me to work that hard in the sun.

Begonias



Geraniums



I forget the name of this little flower, but I just had to buy it, because it is so gaudily cheerful.



I decided to let the sheep sorrel grow around my pine tree, and I quite like the way it looks.



But the greatest joy of the day was seeing that, with great suddenness, one of the day lilies had shot up flower stalks, and, a lot of them. This is my "wild" day lily, the orange one that grows by the side of the road, all over the place. It's always the first to bloom and is a harbinger of things to come, with the fancier varieties.



It's going to be another hot one today, but I can always take a walk around my yard, and cool down.

A Beautiful Award, and News About Boggy

I got this award from Inga, whose blog, Desert Canyon Living, is one that I eagerly look forward to visiting. Make sure that you stop by to take a look. http://desertcanyonliving.blogspot.com/ I'm very honored to have received this award, and thank Inga very much.

Plus, I was very surprised and pleased to hear from the woman who bought Boggy Creek Dancer. Her husband found my blog about him, and she responded on it. Through that, we have exchanged email correspondence. Let me tell you, Boggy has landed in clover. He will be loved and cherished for the rest of his life. And, in a wonderful coincidence, this woman actually works for one of the largest Thoroughbred rescues in the country. Here's a picture of Boggy in his new home, with his new companions. He's settled right in, obviously. And, what a beautiful place he has to live in.

Webster Park

I went to a different place yesterday to do my walking. Webster Park is a very old, and very lovely park next to Lake Ontario. The computer blurb about it shows some lovely trails, so I decided to walk one of those.

Apparently, the trails aren't the focal point of the maintenance crew there. They are overgrown, with huge mudholes that make you stop and go back, and there are no trail markers. I got good and lost. I wasn't worried, because I knew that the Lake was on the northern border of the park, so I just kept heading in that direction, and, finally, reached it and got my bearings. The big grump was that I then had to road walk all the way back to where I had parked my car. My poor puppies were hurting by the time I reached it. No more trail walking at Webster Park for me.

In spite of this, I did see loads of interesting things. I found these flowers.

Viper's Bugloss



English Daisies everywhere




Dame's Rockets, too



Horse Chestnuts



And, these tiny, but pretty little blue flowers that were also everywhere. So far, I have not been able to identify them, but, I'll keep trying.

Edited to add that, if I go by Newcomb's Wildflower Guide, this flower is Persian Speedwell. Some pictures I have found of that look distinctly different, but Newcomb's is supposed to the the go to source so I think I'll go with that.




When I got to the lake, I stayed there for a while. It was lovely yesterday, all blue and majestic. It made me want to put my feet in. Some kids did.





Lake Ontario was really at its best yesterday. The water was so clear that you could see all the way to the bottom.



After I rested by the water for a while, I walked back to my car. I took short cuts through the park as much as I could. In spite of my crankiness about getting lost, it really is a lovely place, full of lovely picnic areas, and magnificent trees, from mighty beeches to one valiant old apple tree that I found gamely hanging on.





So, in spite of getting lost, I had a lovely afternoon. Then, I came home and soaked my feet, something which is becoming a bit of a ritual after a long walk, these days.

It's a Bright, Sunshiney Morning

But, only Becky Cat seems to be awake enough to enjoy it.



The other three, meh, not so much.





No bird seemed to be hurt in the making of this photo.



The first thing I did was run outside to make sure that there was no bird lying on the ground. There wasn't, so I assume that, in spite of the hit, the bird recovered enough to fly away. Kind of a spooky imprint, isn't it?

I'm Saved!

I mentioned a few days ago that I was really taken with this horse, Boggy Creek Dancer, but that I was fighting my self, because I knew that buying him wasn't the wise thing to do. Well, I found out this morning that he has found a home. I kind of thought that he wouldn't last long on the listings.

So, good luck Mr. Boggy Creek Dancer, as you set off on your new, and hopefully very happy, life.

Out of My Rear Window 5/23/10

It's a cloudy day, with the feel of rain in the air. The lilac is done, but, there in the back, you can see that the weigela is in full bloom. Other than a couple loads of wash, I'm not going to do much of anything today. I'll water later, if we don't get any rain.

edited to add that, I was thinking this morning about what I had written. And, I realized that, for me, now, weekends are generally like that, slow and easy. Since I retired, I find I do most of my running on the weekdays. Most weekends, the car doesn't even get started. I putter around the house, and take the time to enjoy what I have around me. No more having to rush around like crazy on Saturday and Sunday, trying to get all of the "business" done that I used to have to do. It's a lovely change.

It's Isobelle's Lady's Fault!

Isobelle Golightly's Lady and I went shopping yesterday. She had been telling me about the wonders of the Amish greenhouses in her area for weeks, and I really wanted to see them. After all, I had just about everything planted for the year, so I wouldn't be tempted to buy much. Riiiiiiiight!

I got so enthralled with the greenhouses that I forgot all about taking pictures of them. The plants are beautiful, and the prices are quite inexpensive. I ended up buying a lot of stuff that I just couldn't resist. Here's pictures from when I got home with everything.







I can't remember the names of everything that I bought, but the two big plants are a false sprirea and a honeysuckle (which I had wanted before we left). There are two of the most gorgeous orangey, yellowy begonias tucked away in there, along with a couple of geraniums, and just tons of other stuff.

Now the big problem becomes "Where the heck do I plant all of these things?"

After we finished shopping, we drove to a place that the Lady knew of to have lunch. On the way there, we saw a herd of Highland Cattle. Of course, I had to stop and take pictures. They are the most delightful, hairy beasties.





As always when I do something with Isobelle's Lady, I had a wonderful time. But, next time, we're going someplace where I have no excuse to spend money.