Home Again 5-16

We are back.  It's been a busy few days and I'll fill you in tomorrow.  It is winter again...cold, wind, rain...yuck.  I'm turning in...ta ta for now! 

Reflections 5-13

Yesterday I spent a couple hours repotting my six orchid plants.  I bought orchid pots that have more holes and slits in the sides so they can breathe.  It is a bit of a different process from repotting a regular houseplant, but they are worth all the trouble...because they seem to take very little special care and are fun to grow.

This morning I opened the blinds on the bedroom window and there stood a coyote on the hill just gazing around looking for breakfast I guess.  Being that close there is no mistaking them for a dog...their legs always seem longer and skinnier than a similar sized dogs would be.

The other night the sun was slanting through my glass case and these reflections on the walls from a few pieces of my crackle glass intrigued me.  I thought they might look "arty"...they look like ancient art with the wall texture. 

Our Cool Park 5-11

Today was cloudy, breezy and slow to warm up.  We moved one of the rose bushes...it was too shady where it was and dug up a few shrubs we didn't want and planted a dwarf meyer lemon.  Larry mowed the weeds yesterday and today and they are hanging onto their green with these rains...which makes it pretty but means more mowing until they go brown for the season.  It is all so lush looking right now and with the house all fresh and shiny I took a bunch of pictures to share with you.

Here's Iris in all its sunny unfurled glory

This is one of my photos that I used a watercolor application on...fun.

Opening Iris 5-10

Well, if you hate flowers I guess you should read something else now :)

Larry finished painting the exterior of the house today!!!  He is really really happy about that.  He has been prepping it for months now and waiting for the weather to improve so he could get it painted.

Today I followed the opening of yesterday's Iris bud . 

Here it was at 10:55 catching a first ray.

Here it is an hour later, it looks like a rose that has had some petals ripped off.

It was starting to unfurl by 1:18

At 3:39 it had opened further than I expected

At 4:48 it had opened almost completely

More rain 5-9

It rained pretty good in the wee hours of the morning.  I had to trek out into it at 4:30 in the morning because a watering can was under the eaves and getting dripped on and was annoying the crap out of me and I knew if I didn't go out and move it I wouldn't get back to sleep.  I was afraid I would be awake for awhile after traipsing outside, but with that annoying noise gone, once I warmed back up I dropped right off again...woo hoo! 

Big thunder clouds rumbled around all day and poured more rain and hail down.  We were in Auburn most of the day which was kind of on the edge of the cloud bank in the beginning so we had good views of the clouds sparking and crashing.

This morning I was out with the camera...you know how I can't resist taking pictures of flowers and now that I have them again every day there are more subjects.  The rose bushes are growing like crazy...must be the fertilizer and many have teeny tiny little rose buds forming...it seems they put on an inch or more of growth every day or so.

We had a lovely dinner at Applebee's...they have a new Steak and Potatoes salad that is Weight Watchers, not that I ever diet, but it was healthy and light which is what I was looking for and it was really tasty...I was pleasantly surprised.  I could let you think I had been good, but I honestly must say that dessert was killer...haha!  Triple Chocolate Meltdown!  Larry and I shared...one of those little warm chocolate cakes with a scoop of ice cream and chocolate syrup all over it...YUM!

After we got home I planted the baby plants I picked up at Home Depot and sprayed the roses with the bug killer.

Get ready....set.......opening soon!

Yay for Mom's! 5-8

It was windy and gusty all night.  Today was cloudy, cold and windy...we took the day off and other than a couple of walks checking out the flowers in the garden that was it for going outside today.  For Mother's Day Larry gave me red roses and a chocolate covered old fashioned donut...lovely.  He wanted to take me out to dinner but I didn't feel like going out so I made us a wonderful spaghetti, salad and garlic bread dinner...yum. 

The wind was blowing the flowers and the sun came out a few times only briefly but I did get pictures of a few of the lovelies today.

My first iris bloom blowing in the wind

All the rest of these pics are of the clematis...

My Momma

Paint Mostly Finished 5-7

Most of the trim has been painted, the back side fascia board around the top needs its paint.  Next the deck floor needs painting and then the back deck/porches are getting rebuilt and then stained.  It looks immensely better though.  It will still be a work in progress for awhile...I need to figure out what to plant around the bottom of the deck to hide all that ugliness and the "front" yard there needs something done to it before around the house is done.  It all looks better in person...pictures don't do it justice.  The shed needs paint too somewhere in there...work, work, work for my Energizer-Bunny-Man.  Larry did tell me he found the hardest substance ever is made by wasps...where those mud nests had been knocked down...he couldn't get the part that attached to the eaves off of there...he was even scraping but was gouging the wood and just painted over the little blob.


After months of work and just before paint earlier this week.






Cloudy today but it is now Spanish Sand colored!



Before back in Feb last year from the street

Here is the after from the street

Yesterday my sister Lori brought home her new housemate.  This is Piper..an English Mastiff...being female she'll merely weigh 150 pounds when full grown.

 

It was windy and partly cloudy today and by dark was getting cold again and we have a chance of rain tonight...boo hoo.

Paint Day 5-5

Larry was up early tarping and finishing taping and prepping.  A friend loaned his professional sprayer and made Larry's job quicker.  He was spraying on primer when I left for my hair appointment.  After my hair appointment I went into Auburn and picked up the paint and got it shaken.  In the two hours I was gone he had finished with the primer and was ready for the paint.  The spraying was going so well and Larry had prepped so well with the primer that he sprayed the color on the house instead of rolling like he had planned.  It turned out beautifully.

Before

Starting with the primer

All primered....

AND, I'm not going to share a finished picture of the house until the trim gets finished......
haha....this is a stunning little pansy face

Over 80 today 5-4

Warm and gorgeous today...bringing out all manner of bugs...beetles, catepillars, butterflys, mosquitos.  Just doing our usual, working in the yard, getting the house ready for paint (Larry's doing that), I taped off the nine panes of glass in the back door which took forever.

Look at this clematis go...

Warm Day 5-2

A gorgeous day!  We started off with a walk...in a short sleeved shirt no less...  We saw a dead baby rattlesnake along the road...about twelve inches long, I hope never to see one here at home...scary.  Maybe my guard turkey will keep them away.  It cracks me up...how many people drive up to their house and have a turkey on their front walk scolding them, he took a nap out front under a tree and was hanging out most all day.

Larry worked on scrubbing down the house with a long handled brush and soapy water...he is getting ready to prime and paint...the last huge job planned for awhile.

Most of the roses are doing really well, we have a few lagging behind and some sending out the first flower buds....we can't wait.  We have been working on getting the drip system arranged just right so all the plants get watered without drowning or having dry spots.

And LOOK!  A clematis flower is opening already...they call it red but it looks more burgundy colored to me.  It is going to be stunning.  We have been enjoying the red clover flowers too...a truly beautiful clear red...Larry mowed around them so we could enjoy them.