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Wrist to Flowers

Yesterday’s 10K really took it out of me. Could I be getting old? SAY IT AIN’T SO!!! More likely I do not lead a healthy enough lifestyle. Be that as it may, I am feeling too drained for anything but a quiet Wrist to Forehead Sunday Post. Luckily, I have a few pictures of my backyard to brighten things up.

Lots of yellow!

Going out my back door yesterday, I saw our Brown-eyed Susans were going great guns.

A longer view.
And the other side of the deck.

I continued down the yard to check out the Rose of Sharon and Black-eyed Susan’s.

Yay! More blooms!
Another angle.
More Black-eyed Susans as well.

As usual, flowers cheer me up. I still feel tired but not nearly so ready to swoon (you know, dramatically posed with the back of one wrist against my forehead). The coming week looms ahead of me, a threat or an opportunity? Time will tell. Time is certainly a blabbermouth.

In the meantime, I am almost up to 200 words. With six pictures, I call that a respectable blog post. Thank you for tuning in.

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Hate the Heat, Love the Flowers

And yet I am not becoming noticeably smaller.

I am not a fan of summer. Sun worshippers can feel free to hate on me but all I can do is shake my sweaty head, very slowly. Oh, just listen to me whine! I am starting to hate on me myself!

Please ignore the weeds.

One good thing about summer is flowers. We started out ten years ago with one humble Black-eyed Susan, purchased at a sale to benefit Herkimer County Humane Society. Just look at them now!

Another view.

The Brown-eyed Susan’s just magically grew. They have expanded as well. I just can’t bear to cut them back.

Please ignore the hideous deck.
I think they are pretty.

Our Rose of Sharon is not as bloom-filled, much to our disappointment.

I see one flower!

Other Roses of Sharon (Rose of Sharons?) In the neighborhood are more colorful. If it becomes cool enough for a comfortable walk, I will try to get a few pictures for a future post.

In the meantime, I have managed to make a post of, well, not quite 200 words (I keep clicking on the counter up top to check). And it was not too painful (at least for me to write; obviously I cannot speak for any possible readers). Ah, there is 200. Keep cool, everyone!

Not Late, Liverpool!

This is my Slacker Saturday Post. It is almost a Guest Blogger Post, because, although I am still me, I am typing on my sister Diane’s laptop on her patio in Liverpool, NY. I had meant to make my blog post in Herkimer, before I left on today’s adventures. Unfortunately, I was too tired and needed to take a nap.

I got up around 4:30 this morning, because I couldn’t sleep. I went for a run, did some house cleaning, threw in a load of laundry, talked to my Mom on the phone, etc., etc. Then next thing I knew it was after ten and I had not yet make my blog post. I went out into the yard and took a few pictures, thinking an update was in order. I tried but found I just had to go upstairs and lie down. Here are the pictures I took:

Look how pretty!

I was delighted to see our rhododendrons blooming. I think the tree gets a little bigger every year, but of course I am too lazy to try to find a shot from last year for a compare/contrast.

It IS growing!

I took an update of our Rose of Sharon. It seemed a little brown earlier this year but appears to be greening up nicely.

More here, and more to come!

I went out front to get a picture of our daisies, which have started to bloom. I can see where we will have many more. Additionally, I see plenty of buds on our peony bush. So I guess this shot is in the nature of a Preview of Coming Attractions.

My niece Gillian just took a few pictures of me, my Mom, and my sisters Vicki and Diane. I thought I had downloaded one to this space from my phone. Alas, it seems not to have taken. I feel this does not matter, since I am over 200 words. Score! I am not late with my blog post! And I have a very silly picture to share on Wrist to Forehead Sunday. As always, I hope you will stay tuned.

After and Before?

Time for a quick Throwback Thursday Post. I am tired, as usual these days. In my defense, I mowed my lawn with the non-power mower in the warm weather. OK, I did a pretty lousy job. And I am a big baby. You knew that about me.

Damn it looked good!

This is our Rose of Sharon in April 2017. April! At least, it was in the blog in April. Perhaps the picture was taken in a later month of 2016, because our Rose of Sharon does not look nearly this good now. Oh dear. And yes, I am obviously too lazy to go take a picture of it now.

A little back lit.

I overcame my laziness to walk out back and take the above shot. There is actually more green than I had realized. Now this post is less of a Throwback, but I do not despair. It can always be a Non-Sequitur Thursday Post.

Preview of coming attractions.

Here are our daisies in 2017. None have bloomed yet. In fact, that space is currently dominated by forget-me-nots, as I showed in a more recent blog post.

Just a couple days ago.

It seems this blog is a bit flower obsessed these days. I find that appropriate for spring. I hope to do some real gardening this weekend. I will have even more pictures of flowers to share! As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

Late Post Friday

Here I am once again, typing in a post (OK, picking out one letter at a time with the stylus) early on the morning after I was supposed to make said post. Yes, they are only my rules for me, but I feel I should follow them a little better than I do. But never mind that: on with the post.

I am still figuring out this new editor and somehow put these two vaguely related photos here. I daresay I could get rid of them easily enough, but I prefer to just go with it.

The picture on the left is Pete’s Tavern, on North Main Street in Herkimer, NY. The one on the right is Herkimer County Courthouse, further up Main at my beloved Historic Four Corners.

Next annoying thing about this new editor: I can’t see my word count as I go. How will I know when I reach my goal of 200 words? Shall I count them, as I did back in my pre-computer school days? Let us not resort to drastic measures.

This is turning into a Non-Sequitur Post, as I accidentally choose another photo and go with it. This is the Rose of Sharon from our backyard. I need to do some yard work this weekend. That might make a better blog post.

I am just going to admit here that I am fighting another bout of depression. I hesitate to say so, because my mother reads this blog and I do not want her to worry. Then, too, I can hear some people saying, “Poor pitiful you! Stop whining already!” Oh wait, that is my inner critic. But perhaps she has a point. A cup of coffee, a good run. I’ll be fine.

And I will strive to make my Saturday blog post on Saturday .

Susans, Sharon, Johnny, and the Crocodile

Aren’t they pretty?

I went outside just now take a picture of the Brown-eyed Susans I previously mentioned as peeking over the edge of the deck.  Looking at my Media Library,  I wonder how different this shot is from others of these flowers.  However, I took several other shots before looking at my Media Library,  and I see no reason not to share them as well.

A wider shot to show volume.

The Brown-eyed Susans have really spread out since they magically appeared a year or two ago.

Who wouldn’t want an alligator in their backyard?

Full disclosure:  this could be a crocodile.  He has been in various parts of the yard.  Right now he is where he can get maximum sunlight.

Please ignore the weeds.

My Black-eyed Susans have a lot of blooms. I find them cheerful.

Also looking pretty good.

I grabbed an update on our Rose of Sharon while I was in the area.  Then I thought of our Johnny Jump-ups, which I had noticed are also looking well.

My favorites!

They have not jumped up elsewhere yet, but they have filled in the little area where I planted them.

I hope to plant more flowers next year.  Then I might have more variety in these blog posts.  In the meantime,  I feel this is a better post than my usual Wrist to Forehead Sunday.   Does anyone agree?  Discuss amongst yourselves.

 

Sharon and Susan Love Friday

This morning, when I still had high hopes of this being a good blog post, I took a couple of pictures of flowers in our yard.

I love my Rose of Sharon.

The picture I took of our Rose of Sharon earlier this week was rendered problematic by the placement of the sun.  Today I got out in the morning, when the sun was conveniently placed on the other side of the house.

A slightly better angle.

I took two views, although I see now that they are none too different.  No matter.  I feel they are different enough to include both.

I feel a little brave, showing my lack of attention to weeding.

I have a few more blooms in my Black-eyed Susans.  As I took the picture, I scolded myself about all the weeds.  As I have said before, I really must up my gardening game.  I did not take another picture of my Brown-eyed Susans,  because they did not look much different from the last picture I took.

This is the last picture I took.

I hope this is sufficient for a Floral Friday Post (is that a real category?  I guess it is now).  In any case, I guess it is enough for Lame Post Friday.  Let us move on to our weekend, shall we?

 

Planned or Not, I Got Flowers!

I thought I would do another Floral Photos Post.  For one reason, my Brown-eyed Susans started to bloom a few days ago, and I have been meaning to share a picture of them.  I noticed a few other blooms this morning, when I was trying to bring a little lawn order into my life (not very successfully,  but let us not worry about that now).  I went outside with my Tablet this evening to see what I could get.

Pretty!

I was pleased to see more blooms.  I only saw one little tiny one a few days ago.  The Brown-eyed Susans kind of magically appeared a couple of years ago.  This year, they are growing great guns.  When the other ones start to bloom,  I will take more pictures.

There were fewer Black-eyed Susans, but I am happy to get any at all.

I planted the Black-eyed Susans on purpose, having purchased the plant some nine years ago at a sale to benefit, I believe, Herkimer County Humane Society.  They have expanded as well, but their area is becoming overgrown with other things.  I must clean it out but fear it is too late in the year to do much good.

These are new.

The Queen Anne’s Lace magically appeared this year.  When I was younger, I used to pick it and put it in food coloring to dye it.

Another uninvited guest.

The purple flowers previously appeared (with no effort on my part) elsewhere in the yard.  These blooms were amongst the chives that share the bed with the Black-eyed Susans.

I was very happy to see these blooms.

I had a hard time getting a good picture of the Rose of Sharon because of where the sun was; I could not see what I was photographing.  This shows the flowers, but does not do the whole bush justice.  I will have to try again one morning.

I am happy to see more blossoms appearing as the summer wears on.  One year I may actually plan my garden to be sure of it happening.  At least, I can hope!  Happy Monday, everyone!

 

Lawn Order

I fought the lawn and the lawn won.

I would say we fought to a standstill, but of course the lawn is always growing.  Kind of like my stomach, but let us not dwell on THAT depressing subject.  I was actually pleased with my yard efforts today, and I have a few pictures to share.

Regular readers may remember that I use a non-power mower for my grass cutting needs.  The advantages are that it is quieter, easier to start, and does not run low on gas and oil.  Additionally, I get that frisson of virtue for being more environmentally friendly.  Oh, and it is excellent exercise.

The main downside is that I need to mow more often than I am usually inclined to do.  In this case, I had not mown since last Sunday.  Note to self: don’t wait that long again.

I got the front done first.  It is easier and and arguably more important, because people see it.  NO, I do not care what people think!  Well, maybe a little.  Why would I not want to give the world a pleasant view? I had been working on the back for a while before it occurred to me to take a “before” picture.

It looked more intimidating in real life.

When I looked at this, I could clearly see what I had done and how overgrown the rest of it looked.  This view seems less clear, but I hope it gives an idea.  Photo taken, I had at it again and ended up feeling fairly pleased with myself.  Later on, I took a few “after” shots to round out the blog post.

Did the lawn win? Or did I?

The shadows show that time had passed.  I took a shower, worked on my novel, and watched a little Snapped (what’s a Sunday without an episode or two of Snapped?

Our Rose of Sharon

The Rose of Sharon took a while to start getting green.  At least it is definitely too big to be accidentally mown over (although it was Steven who did that, not I).

The Red Thing from Diana’s house.

This is a better shot of the above plant than I got before, and it has even more green.

Can’t have too many forget-me-nots!

I did not mow over my forget-me-nots!  After taking these pictures, I went out front.

Peonies!

Our peonies were eaten or plucked away by something or someone last year.  I hope they survive this year!

Alligator from Knoeble’s in Pennsylvania.

I put our alligator out front this year.  I would like to get some more lawn ornaments.

I hope to get more lawn and garden work done in the coming weeks.  I have never gotten as much done as I would like.  With so many things cancelled or on hold, this just might be the year!

 

Back Yard Blues — I Mean Yellows

See how many blooms!

After two failed attempts at making today’s blog post, I went out to my backyard and took some pictures.  I had been meaning to do a Rose of Sharon update, because it is getting more flowers. There is not a whole lot else going on in my yard, but one does what one can.

Another angle.

And a further view.

The last shot shows how big the plant is so far.  I imagine it will get bigger yet in the coming years.

I looked around to see what else I could shoot. The Black-Eyed Susans did not look a whole lot different from when I last photographed them, but I don’t think I have gotten a picture of the Queen Anne’s Lace that is growing amongst them.

I really must weed this bed.

I have already taken numerous pictures of the Brown-Eyed Susans,  but they are just so cute, and so much more plentiful than last year,  I couldn’t resist taking more.  At least I tried to get a different angle.

Butterflies like them too.

I’m standing on the deck looking down on them.

I limited myself to three, which was not easy.

Looking around the lawn, I checked behind the garage, where things sometimes get out of hand.  I once performed heroics getting rid of two pricker trees, and I have to keep an eye that they don’t grow back.  Tonight I noticed a plant with little yellow flowers.

It does not appear to have thorns.

I’ll have to try to get a better shot of it.  However, right now it is clouding up,  and I am hearing some rumbles of thunder.   Additionally,  I am approaching 300 words.  That is quite respectable for a Sunday post. Thank you for visiting, and I hope to see you all on Monstrous Monday.