Tag Archives: tulips

Still Hoping for a Garden!

Can I manage a Throwback Thursday post, that is the question.  I know, you thought it was to be or not to be (you know who you are).  I guess the main question is, can I make a blog post?

Wow, look at how tame they are!

Here is a nice picture from June of 2017. My front yard does not look like this now!  The daisies have taken over the place, although the peonies are still there.

More daisies!

This is my daisies in 2024.  I just can’t make myself get rid of them; they are so cheerful.

When did I ever have THESE?

This picture is from May 2018, but I do not remember having four orange tulips.  How pretty are they!  This year I had one yellow tulip, which I was very grateful for but did not get a picture of.

So pretty!

And here is perhaps the last time I had a container garden on my deck.  I thought I might go somewhere to purchase flowers and herbs for this year but did not manage to.  I did not even manage to sweep the helicopters off my deck and get it ready for containers.  Oh well, there is always tomorrow.  We’ll see what I can do.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

Late Tired Tuesday Post, But Here Are Some Flowers

I have no idea why I was so tired on Tuesday, but so it was.  I had a headache, but it was only a common or garden headache, not a migraine.  My primary care told me to keep a journal of my headaches, so I am doing that.  I tried to do it once before, sometime in the mid-teens, I think.  In fact, I have that little notebook right here (I have roughly 3,825 notebooks of various sizes scattered about my house).  Ooh, I kept it up for three months.  No insight was gained, I fear.

Random pic from my Media Library.

I throw in a picture of flowers to cheer things up.  This is the rhododendron in my backyard last May. I do not think it is blooming yet, but I haven’t been out back in a few days.  I fear I must start mowing soon.  Maybe rake up last year’s leaves, since I do not have one of them there mulching mowers.

These are cheerful, yes?

To continue the flower theme, here are last year’s daisies. I have not seen any daisies yet, but I have shared my one tulip bud and the beginnings of my peonies.  I also have some forget-me-nots now.

And the peonies are a little bigger.

I bestirred myself to get my phone and add the picture to my Media Library.  The tulip has not yet bloomed, but I took a picture of that, too.

 

I think it is a yellow one.

I am approaching 250 words (over that now), and I think my coffee is ready (you did realize I was posting early Wednesday morning, didn’t you?  I realize I did not specify in the first paragraph).  I adjourn for caffeine.  As always, I thank you for tuning in.

 

Three Pictures in a Post

I am instituting a new feature: Waste Not Want Not Wednesday.  I thought about it earlier, because I recently made a post with that title using pictures I had taken for blogging purposes but not used yet.  For once not too lazy to look back, I searched previous posts and found out I have published three posts with the title, “Waste Not Want Not.”  It is one of my favorite sayings and a rule I try to follow.

When I made my Pedestrian Post with Pictures the other day, I did not use two of the pictures I had taken.  I was fairly happy with how the post ended without them, so I let them stay in my Media Library for the time being.  They were two pictures I took in my own yard at the end of my walk.

Preview of coming attractions?

Steve (my late husband, for anybody just tuning in) and I never planted any tulip bulbs, but since we first moved in, one yellow tulip has graced our front yard. This year I thought it had failed along with the daffodils (which in fact I did plant).  Imagine my delight when I saw green leaves and a bud.  It is not in the same place the tulip was previously, so I can’t be sure it is the same tulip.  Nevertheless, I am delighted to see it and hope it blooms before something eats it.  Then again, bunnies gotta eat, too.

They’re kind of hard to see.

After I took the picture of the tulip bulb, I noticed my peonies had started to come up.  These magically appeared after Steven had finally conquered the blowsy day lilies that had been there.  He just kept mowing them down till they got discouraged. The first year the peony was one stalk, but it bloomed. It has increased yearly, so yay!

Today after my run, I noticed one little forget-me-not raising its pretty blue head.  Unfortunately, I did not get a picture, but I have one more shot to share.  I do like to use three pictures in a post.

I confess, not the best picture.

I took this one yesterday, when I went for my walk prior to 5 a.m.  I had overslept and decided to go for my walk while the coffee dripped, to make sure I took one.  I was feeling less than enthusiastic about the exercise till I saw the full moon.  Cool!  I was using my phone to Map My Walk (the app is actually called Map My Run, but it works for walks too), so I had it handy to try to get a picture.

Wow! I am over 400 word.  Good thing I wasn’t going for a Wordless Wednesday Post!

 

Weather or Not…

How about a nice Throwback Thursday Post. I put a period instead of a question mark, because I am going to make the post in any case.

Yikes!

This is a picture from March 2017. It makes me a little sad, because according to forecasts, I may be able to take a similar picture on Saturday. And I don’t want to! I want spring! Oh well, there is no point in whining; we must deal with the weather that comes.

Better rain than snow? Maybe, maybe not.

Here is July 2017, after a rathe boisterous rain storm. I don’t think the picture captures it very well, but I believe there was mud everywhere. I include it to show a different season of troublesome weather.

And then there are flowers.

This is what I want! This is my front yard in May 2017. Our first spring in this house, 2006, we had one lone yellow tulip. Without putting in more bulbs, we have yet been blessed with more tulips. One of these years I will up my bulb game, and then we’ll see some blooms!

I hope to start having Mohawk Valley Adventures again soon and write blog posts about them. However, if we receive a similar amount of snow to the above picture, it might not happen this weekend. I suppose the suspense adds interest to the end of my week.

Monday Mistake

I was going to have a wonderful Monday blog post. I thought I saw on Facebook that Herkimer’s Downtown Chowdown was happening in Meyers Park. Food trucks and live music, walking distance from my home. Fun!

After work I took a short run, showered and put on real clothes instead of sweats. I was hungry but reminded myself to select something not too fattening from the food trucks. This was going to be great!

Imagine my disappointment to walk down and find the park empty. What had I gotten wrong? As I turned around to walk back home, I noticed some lovely tulips in front of St. Francis Church. So as not to make the trip a total loss, I took a picture.

I need to up my own tulip game.

Then I backed up to get a shot of the statue, too.

I Like him.

As I took that shot, I noticed the pink flowering tree. You can just see one branch here. Naturally I had to take a picture of that.

I need more flowering trees in my life.

After I got home and had a ham sandwich, I looked up the event on Facebook and learned that it is Monday, May 31st. Silly me! But at least I had three pictures for a blog post.

Full disclosure: I am making this post Tuesday morning (I never know what my WordPress timestamp says). I had my reasons for not doing this last night, but they are not very good reasons. These things happen. I feel sure that most of my readers will forgive me.

I Like Flowers

I mentioned yesterday that I might get out into the great outdoors for blog post purposes, rather than lapsing into my usual Wrist to Forehead Sunday. At least I made it out to my front yard.

So far they have not jumped.

I noticed earlier when I was mowing that I had a few more blooms in my Johnny Jump-ups. I purchased them last year from AW Greenhouse Gardens in Little Falls (just to give a quick shout-out to a local business). I surely must plant more flowers.

I did not forget them.

Here are some flowers I did not plant: forget-me-nots. I love them. I wanted to get a picture while I could still see them, because they are soon to be overrun with daisies, which I also love.

I guess the dandelion is a little more prominent.

I moved in for a closer shot, because I saw a white forget-me-not. I have not seen one of those before.

You can see where I stepped to get the shot of the white forget-me-not.

We have more tulip buds than previous years, but they are slow to bloom, or at least so it seems to me. I was delighted, therefore, to see this yellow one about to blossom. I look forward to seeing the others bloom. These have grown with no effort on my part. I would like to put down more bulbs. I like flowers.

A Very Little Yard Work

I took a short (very slow) run, thinking I might make a Running Commentary Post. Then I came up with something better. In lieu of my cool-down walk (I just love that expression “in lieu of”), I mowed the front lawn with my non-power mower and pulled up a few weeds and unwanted items.

In the course of doing this, I noticed I have a Johnny Jump-up! It is only one little bloom, but I was delighted to see it. I immediately decided to take a picture, although I finished my mowing and pulling first.

I hope I get more!

Naturally I took a few more pictures.

These are tulips, which is very exciting for me, because we have not had this many previously. We usually get one and feel happy with that, because we did not plant it.

Any guesses?

I was not sure if this was a flower or a weed, so I let it live. Does anybody know what it is?

I hope they are OK!

I spent a little time pulling up green stuff surrounding my peonies. I believe I sacrificed some daisies, but I also believe we have plenty of daisies. Last year something ate my peonies before they bloomed, or somebody came and took them all away. I hope for fragrant blossoms this year.

I did not do a whole lot, but I thought it was not too bad for after a run on a Tired Tuesday. No doubt I will share more pictures as the season progresses.

Aches and Pains, but Flowers!

I need all the help I can get!

I found a four leaf clover on the cool down walk after a recent run.  I open with it, because as I sat down to make my blog post, a voice in my head said, “Good luck with that!”

As I worked today, I thought that after work, I could go for a run, mow the lawn, or take a walk, and write a blog post about whichever I picked.  As I pondered my choices, I had to weigh which would wreak the least havoc on my back.  Hey, I’m middle-aged and overweight: I get back pain.  Returning to work after an extended break has caused some pain (YES, I am grateful I have a job!  We have been through this!  Sheesh!).

I apologize for complaining.  The fact is, most of us at work have been having more than the usual aches and pains.  I may philosophize about possible causes on Lame Post Friday (half bakedly of course) (ooh, here’s an autocorrect I’m glad I noticed: the computer put “nakedly” instead of “bakedly”).  For today, I decided a gentle walk would be my best choice.

I got about two houses down the street when my knees started in.  What the hell, me?  I turned around, thinking I could at least take some pictures at my own house.  First I crossed the street to take a picture of the lilac bush in front of a neighbor’s house.

How have I never noticed this before?

Returning to my house, I took some shots of the front yard.

And a few dandelions.

I am so into forget-me-nots this year, and it seems Mother Nature is as well.  I see them everywhere.

I did not get to the tulips at their peak.

We had two tulips, but I did not get any pictures when they were at their prettiest.

A wider view.

This is a kind of a preview of coming attractions,  because the peonies and daisies are not blooming yet.

I see I am over 300 words, so I think I will save my back yard shots for a future post. I will try not to spend so much time blathering about my aches and pains!

 

More Flowers, While I Can Get Them

Determined to have something to write a blog post about, I took my Tablet with me on my walk to the post office, and I took the long way there and back.  For another reason, snow is possible this weekend, and I wanted to get more pictures of flowers while I could.

I guess you can’t see things too well.

It was one of those bright, sunny days where I couldn’t really see the picture when I was taking it. The above was taken near my house.  I especially liked the blue chair with a plant on it.  I also liked the artwork in the windows.  I appreciate people’s efforts to decorate.

Determined flowers peeking through!

Regular readers may remember this as the house that previously hosted the Plant That Ate Bellinger Street.  A couple weeks ago I took a picture of a brave daffodil brightening the area.  Today I saw a few more daffodils and a couple tulips.  I was delighted.

I think this is my favorite tulip color.

I turned away from the post office, because I knew had seen some purple tulips on one of my morning runs.  I was going to continue along Church Street for some red tulips, but I saw a couple of kids on bicycles and did not want to get in their way so turned down Henry Street.

I was tickled pink!

I was glad I had gone that way when I saw a pink flowering tree.  I love flowering trees and have only seen white ones so far.

I like the green ones too.

One of my favorite things about spring is the delicate green of trees just beginning to grow their leaves.

Oh, OK, one more pink one.

After I took a picture of the green, I tried another of the pink.  Like I said, I can never tell which ones are going to look good.

Look at all the yellow!

As I walked down Park Avenue (ooh!) toward Meyers Park, I saw a burst of yellow in a flower bed I have photographed before.  It turned out to be dandelions, but they looked so pretty, I took a picture anyways.  These are my favorite dandelions of the year, before they turn into puff balls.  I think the bright yellow looks so cheerful.

This was the first half of my walk.  I took more pictures on my way home from the post office, but I think I will save them for tomorrow’s post.  It will save my from having Lame Post Friday.

 

Sunday Stroll

Today was so beautiful I wanted to twirl around, arms outstretched, like Julie Andrews in that movie I don’t like but everybody else seems to.  What a clumsy sentence, just because I can’t mention a movie without injecting my petty opinion.  Never mind.  I took a lot of pictures that I would like to share.  On with the post!

There are actually two bushes like this.

I first wanted to go to a house on my street that seems to be unoccupied.  Perhaps the residents are merely elusive.  In any case, I took a picture of a bush on their front lawn and made bold to go up their driveway for a picture of some tulips I had noticed earlier.

I spy some hyacinth, too.

I continued down Bellinger Street in search of a magnolia tree I had not checked on lately.  I noticed a magnolia tree in full bloom on German Street during my run this morning so felt sure the other one would be photo ready.

I took two pictures and continued down Bellinger to St. Francis Church, where I had seen the Saint himself following Covid Protocol.

I appreciate those who set an example.

I also got a shot of the tulips in front of Francis.

I positively must plant more tulips in my own yard.

I continued on through Meyers Park to take a picture of the statue of General Herkimer.

This is a true patriot.

I walked down Prospect to Albany Street, where I saw a flowering tree.

I LOVE flowering trees!

I saw a person ahead so, with social distancing in mind, I ducked into the alley behind the stores.  This was delightful to me, because it is not a route I have taken in recent memory.  Imagine my surprise to see a Christmas decoration!

I often say we must take our joy where we can find it!

I continued on up Main Street and through the park by Basloe Library.  At the beginning of quarantine,  it was only when libraries closed that I said, “Shit just got real.”  However, I was able to enjoy some perennials in the flower beds.

Tulips next to daffodils: nice!

I leaned in to get a shot of some grape hyacinths in the same bed.

 

These tulips were a little further in.

I got home without further photo ops, then proceeded to my back yard, where there are some different flowers under my rhododendron. Previously there have been forget me notes, but I do not know what these are.

At least they are pretty!

I close with a shot of my one hyacinth, taken previously and inexplicably not used in a blog post yet.

SO delighted it came up again!

I understand the weather is not expected to be as delightful in the coming week.  However, I feel I can rejoice that I sufficiently appreciated today.  Happy Sunday, all!