April Showers/April Flowers (Part 4)

73° - Bright, Sunny, Clear -

Cut the grass where I need to put the strawberries - will till in the morning. Kinda tired but not hurting.

34*--mixed, mostly snow, rain.
ric~such a close call w/dogs. Scary.
Marsue~hope the forecast is wrong-miserable driving condidtions. Friday is as cute as ever.
kelli~there's snow on the ground from October-April; it seems so "natural" that I don't give it much thought. Summer is great, but to me, it seems more like a lull in between winters.
Dyson~Glad you're doing well and feeling good enough to be doing yardwork.
hi to all as I'm way behind today.

Kiska: does the squirrel eat out of Frank's hand?

High of 60s today and rain most of the day. Still raining in fact. lol. Tomorrow chance of severe storms.

Bad thing about the storms coming tomorrow is I have a big shipment of plants coming in. We will be unloading them in the rain. UGH!!

My favorite Mavs goalie.

Looks like we 'might' actually get some rain tomorrow!
Got 1/2 the plants out of the Roof GH, trimmed, weeded watered and sprayed... when needed.
JUST got them out in time.
White Fly had just gotten a start....
Maybe lost 10 plants but all throwaways we just pitched in their cause we had room.

The EE's look Great!... Mau we have maybe 100 BD's! lol!
The two big Mandevilla came thru perfectly.
Remember me bitching about taking 3 hours to unwind them last Fall....lol!
They already have 3' of new growth.
The other one looks iffy...

Here's Robyn's new project.
She did everything but rip the boards down.
It was a learning experience for her.
Built and rebuilt 3 times.... ;-)
Tomorrow we'll get her some more blocks.

Ric

Ric~love the photo of the project Robyn is doing and, seeing the photographer, too. Very nice.
marsue~no, at least not yet; the squirrel does love the sunflower seeds and keeps the chickadees away.
pepper~great pic of the goalie. Hope you won't be unloading in a rainstorm.
Snowing now the -rain didn't stand a chance.

We're watching Canna come up in the front yard.... kiska is watching it snow!
Man!

Mom told me that I used to feed the squirrels every morning.
I would pop across the street and eat breakfast w/ the neighbors.
I was a VERY early riser as were they.
Then they would give me peanuts for the squirrels and take me home.
Mom would come out and find me sitting on the porch swing w/ them climbing all over me.

We always fed the ones at our later house by hand.
They were White Squirrels and loved Apple slices.

ric~so nice to have shared this bit of your life-sounds like a wonderful way to have started the day and made great memories.

51°. Our last warm night for a week. Rain chances today but I'll believe it when I feel it.

Marsue, good, no guilt :o) Wow, you parasailed! I love the name Fountain Trees! It is a much better image! That is the system that is to bring rain to us too. At least you can reschedule if the weather is going to be really bad. What a pretty tongue, LOL!

Dyson, I wish I had room. I want a strawberry wall, or semi circle. I hope it rains after they are in :o)

Celia, the runts are always the cutest. It's the right name for the cherry.

Sunfarm, they sound like good cheries! Do you get fruit every year? We bought peaches grown in Colorado and planted the seeds. I have two trees now. The oldest will fruit, but not every year. The bloms are spotty again this year. The peaches are big and good, but in the 7 years we've had it, only one good year with enough to can. We have to decide if it's worth keeping since it's crowding the Snow apple. The tree in the back yard has a blossom, but no fruit from it yet to know if it's a good tree.

Kiska, Frank and the squirrel is adorable!

Pepper, may it be a warm rain, but I doubt it. Volunteer to hand them out of the truck :o)

Ric, glad you got to the plants in time to cut your losses. Love your picture in the picture!

Robyn, you have my admiration for building a nice set of steps!

Kiska, that is the perfect adorable winter picture involving a bear!! I'll have to admit, it is a pretty snow.

Ric, that is a cute story! Wow, white squirrels!

I have AccuWeather up and the rain is just under us. The sky in the east is really really pink. I don't think I'll be weeding today.

My cabbage and pepper plants. I always bury the peppers like the tomatoes since they root up the stem too.

The cherries have been wonderful each year we have been here. I have a problem with a peach tree that I first noticed soon after we bought the place. It was tiny then--probably a volunteer from a discarded pit, but is now a good sized tree. It has pretty blooms each spring [see photo] and I have seen fruit up to about almond size that has never developed beyond that. I don't know if critters are eating the underripe fruit or something is causing it to drop before maturing. Anybody got any ideas?

There is rain in the area today and a lot more forecast for tomorrow that will spoil any outdoor activities on the farm or for the 3-Day Event at the Horse Park near Lexington. DD is planning to work that. There are riders from all over the world competing. We had a brief shower yesterday evening, but all the green globs on the radar have not yet materialized into anything reaching the ground this morning.

50F

Details for Friday, April 23
Mostly cloudy this morning. A few showers developing during the afternoon. High 73F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Evening: Cloudy with a few showers. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.

Sunfarm, I think when it's a chance seedling you aren't going to get a good tree, like those they cross with others for the best features. (I just thought about that this morn.) Our peach trees really grew fast too. Almost like the weedy, small fruited, white peach. Your blossoms are pretty. Mine has a pinwheel effect. I just took the picture yesterday. My DD took a horse out a few years ago and won the grand prize. Barabas, an Egyptian. He had a heart problem. One day he was fine, the next, dead.

The map showed rain, close. I ran out in my flannels and sprinked every granule of Preen I had, on all the flower beds. Then I burned wastebaskets and dumped the garbage. I also brought the tomatoes and peppers back in the house and put them under the lights. It's going to be too chilly in the garage for the next week.

IT'S RAINING!!!

The blossom from the younger peach. This is the second year for blossoms. Hopefully the first year to get peaches.

30*F
It stopped snowing early evening last night, so other than freshening the old, didn't amount to too much.
Blossoms and plants-it seems to be another world out there:)) Love seeing your pics.

Rain, rain, rain...

39.8 °F with 54º for the high. It's been raining of and on for 3 days. It's kind of nice but I can't get outside to do anything.
Light Rain
Windchill: 40 °F
Humidity: 89%
Dew Point: 37 °F
Wind: 4.0 mphfrom the NW
Wind Gust: 12.0 mph
Pressure: 29.80 in (Rising)
Visibility: 10.0 miles
UV: 1 out of 16
Clouds: Few 1200 ft
Mostly Cloudy 2700 ft
Overcast 3500 ft
(Above Ground Level)
Elevation: 4383 ft

Yes, folks, I am much better. I got 2 new plants...an unknown Sedum and Gaura 'Perky Pink'.

rain, Rain, RAIN for the last 2 hours!
Finally!
Nice steady and solid soaking rain.
If the front stays steady we look to get at least 4 more hours.

Jackie that looks COLD! LOL!
Great shot!

I don't remember the squirrels. I was just a little tyke. About 3 years old.
The White Squirrels I love. They are not albinos.
For those of you not familiar w/ the Midwest there are Black and White versions of the Grey Squirrel. The Black ones live mostly in MI and northern OH.
Some have now been introduced here.
The White Squirrels lived in my parent's Black Walnut as long as I can remember.
Some years just one.... usually two... a few years back 6.....
they don't live long as the Hawks nail them.

Off to do some wiring.

Ric

Got ½ of the Strawberry plants in the ground - working on the other ½.

Had three plants left when it started spitting rain - they got planted shallow.

This message was edited Apr 23, 2010 4:04 PM

Rain ended with the warm front passing soon after noon. We had 0.17" rain, for which I am grateful but want more in the next couple of days to make a dent in our precipitation deficit.

Good luck with that.



I can understand that. He looks pretty cute. ;-) It looks like you had pretty good seats for those games. Do you pay any attention to the NHL? I don't really. I just check once in a while to see how the Kings and Penguins are doing. If we lived in a town that didn't have a basketball team, we might watch hockey.

Bernie, do you pay any attention to the Twins? I'm glad Joe Mauer signed a long contract with the Twins and didn't go to some place like the Yankees. I'll bet the Yankees are bummed about that. Jorge Posada is getting old and they don't seem to be developing a young guy to replace him.

We went to the beach today since it was going to be a minus tide.

Point Dume, Malibu, California (PWS)
Updated: 3:29 PM PDT on April 23, 2010
61.0 °F
Scattered Clouds
Humidity: 72%
Dew Point: 52 °F
Wind: 9.0 mph from the WSW
Wind Gust: 12.0 mph


The kind of porous stuff you see is tube worms, actually, tube worm tubes. They're pretty strong and you could walk on them, though I try to avoid it. I wouldn't want some 80 ton monster walking on my house.

starfish heaven - Their favorite food is mussels.

I think this is called a hydroid. It's an animal, not a plant. This one was washed in.

The Twins are awesome this year. Team reminds me of 1965 when they played LA Dodgers in the world series. Bummer that we lost!
Any one in the lineup can hit a home run at any time, defense is one of the best in the majors. Decent pitching.
Twins built their team instead of going out & buying one like Yankees do. This day & age that don't work so good. I'm making the money, why should I play hard.

Raining here today. Started about 3:30 PM. Supposed to last until Saturday night. 55º
Everything is growing great guns in the garden. Now with the rain, look out!
Planted the late crop of potatoes yesterday. Onions are nearly done. Beans are up, 1st & 2nd planting of peas are up. Carrots & beets are up with a nice stand. Glads are poking through.

Neighbor farmer is celebrating his 59th birthday today. Said it's the first time he was done planting corn by his birthday. The rate things are growing, Alfalfa hay will be ready to cut in 2 weeks. Normally it would be Memorial day.
Weather liars say no frost in site.

I almost forgot, Strawberry-Rhubarb pie & fresh Asparagus were on the menu last night!
Normally don't see Asparagus until May.

Bernie

High in the mid 70s today with high humidity. Storms came in overnight and lasted to early morning. More storms on the way sometime tonight.

Rain was done when I got to work which was good cause they were just finishing unloading the plant truck. LOL. The assistant manager and I were joking that it would have been nice if I had been there 30 minutes earlier and the truck 30 minutes later. It seems to happen this way alot. LOL.

Spent all day pricing and moving stuff around. Have alot of plants now but my greenhouse still isn't full. LOL. I'll have to tell my floral boss to order more.

Here is a full shot of the arena. I've been in several areas but my favorite is just down and over to the left a bit. I get to see most of the action and have a good shot of the goal so can yell at the refs when they make a bad call. lol

I had promised pictures of some of the other resident dogs on the farm. This is Libbie Jean, also a "rescue" from being dumped at DD's vet clinic. She is the cutest of the lot, IMHO. She is a busy hunter and chased two deer this evening. I was surprised to see them so close to the house before she arrived. Getting muddy is quite common for her.

42*F Sunny, for the most part:)
pepper-great shot of the arena.
CG~sounds like a good day-to think there will be a harvest, of anything this time of year, is amazing.
kelli~loved your day at the beach; there are so many unusual types of life to see. Very nice.
Sunfarm-hope the rain comes to bring up the needed level.
Celia~glad you're better.
Dyson-love the term: "spitting rain".
ric~interesting info about the squirrels-
7pm last night-sundown on the fresh snow looked great - Had to step outside for "one more" pic of Pioneer Peak.

Libby Jean is so cute-lucky little girl.

Hi guys! I have been digging and weeding and I'm so behind with your posts!
Jackie, great pics! The Pioneer's Peek looks wonderful!
Celia, you have such wonderful blooms!
Sunfarm, you might have some bugs damaging the fruits. Maybe you can spray the peach tree with some bug spray. I just did that on my fruit trees. The apricot tree shows some drying leaves on some branches. I'll take a picture.
Sally, your veggie sprouts are growing!
Ric, great job for Robyn!
Kelli, those sea creatures are awesome!
Pepper , love your hockey pics!
I need to go out and dig some more. The weather is great, just a bit windy. It's 21C=70F today and sunny.
A bee in my garden.

Adina

Another one...notice the pollen bags on her feet.

54° with a bit of fog. Last time I looked yesterday, we had 1/2'' and then it rained some more. Then the Grandkids came.

Kiska, your snow is a world away too! I love how well you capture the snow falling!

Celia, be glad for the rain! It dries up much too fast! I love Gaura but it's too cold to overwinter here and too expensive to be an annual. It will be interesting to see the sedum. There seems to be so many different colors now.

Ric, ''if the front stays steady.'' We fell into the famous hole that happens over Nichols, but it did pick up again. Meezers5 in Wisconson thinks she has an albino squirrel, but can't get close enough to see his eyes. There are black squirrels in neighboring towns. We have red, but somehow a grey or two came and I'm afraid they will run the reds out. I don't like them. They have an awful squeal, and are meaner, while the reds chitter and get run off. Your parents have a nice memory.

Dyson, good timing! I have a couple entries in the flower list I keep that says ''threw them in the ground while it thundered and lightninged!'' (I don't think that's an actual word)

Kelli, you know sports! You have the best of both worlds. I love your beach too. How neat to see the nature show in person!

Bernie, I'm not into sports, but I know what you mean about ''buying'' a team. Takes all the sport out of watching, like two teams with 7' tall men dropping basketballs in. Boy, when you plant it comes up fast. I would expect it to be colder there than here. My stuff is just up! We've picked asparagus twice! May is when we expect it too.

Pepper, ROTFL!! Nice shot of the arena!

Sunfarm, she's a beauty! I love her name. DD has a dog.... and backwater nearby. Yuck!

Kiska, I love the new snow at the base. I thought it was fog for a minute.

Adina, you share my appreciation of the dandelion. They're beautiful. Now if they just didn't kill the grass. I love the pollen covered bee! Did you know that if you fill an upturned dishpan, or something with a shallow rim, the bees will drink water from it. I have them at my birdbaths, but sometimes they fall in and need rescuing.

With the moon filling out, it wasn't really Dyson Dark at 4:30 am. We could have occasional rain and a high in the mid 50's. North wind 15 - 20 MPH with gusts up to 30 MPH. Brrrrr!

57° -

Details for Saturday, April 24
Showers this morning then scattered thunderstorms developing during the afternoon hours. High 71F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Evening: Thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. Low 59F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.

Repaired two lights for Mrs Dyson this morning, one was a "night light" that needed better bulb contact (bent 1 small piece of metal) and the other needed batteries (I use rechargeable). Now what else can I do that makes it look like I am getting something done - but I do not have to work too hard?

Heavy rain and thunderstorms overnight. It's cooler(50's) this morning with a nice breeze. Everything is lush green and growing fast in our neck of the woods. Looks like severe possibly tornadic weather in some southern states today. Our friends to the south stay safe this weekend since it looks like your area is going to see severe to possibly tornadic weather conditions. We are on the back or cooler side of this weather maker and just have chances for more rain but nothing severe. Hot weather would bring on the mushrooms but no such luck yet! Have a great weekend everyone.
Cuckoo

43.6 °F with with 65º for the high.
Scattered Clouds
Windchill: 44 °F
Humidity: 58%
Dew Point: 30 °F
Wind: Calm
Wind Gust: 1.0 mph
Pressure: 30.08 in (Rising)
Visibility: 10.0 miles
UV: 0 out of 16
Clouds: Few 10000 ft
Scattered Clouds 20000 ft
(Above Ground Level)
Elevation: 4383 ft

My niece and I are going plant shopping today. Woo hoo!

Here's the Sedum, BP. I still don't know which one it is, though.

24*F Sunny w/mostly blue sky.
Reading about tornados, thunderstorms and wild weather, makes me wonder what my gson in Iowa thinks of it. He flies back up May 11and I can't wait to hear from him. It was his first school year there and of being out of Alaska; he really liked it.
Dyson~sounds good to me; was a good project to have finished. Do take it easy and w/out guilt:))
bp~looks like a blustery day ahead in your area.
cuckoo~so glad there's spring green and the hope of mushrooms in between the crazy weather.
Happy shopping, kwanjin..
hi Adina-love the pollen laden bee-the blossom is so bright and pretty.
My gson, late August, the day before flying down to Iowa. (his youngest brother misses him a lot).

Whew! You guys and gals make it hard to keep up! I've read all the posts but I won't comment on everything--would take too long and too much room! LOL Loving all the photos, though.

We got our rain, some storms and tornado warnings in the state, too, but nothing other than lots of rain in my immediate area. I was supposed to take a one-day trip to Jackson, TN today with some other DGers from central AR but I decided not to go because they were expecting some bad weather over there today. I hope those who did make the trip have stayed safe--and dry! Still raining off-and-on this morning with an occasional clap of thunder. Supposed to be out of here by noon but it is almost noon and it still looks overcast and rainy. No sign of the sun yet.

Knock-outs

Iris pictures for today.
½" of rain overnight.

NO ID on any of these.

Next.

.

From 2008 Iowa Round Up.

Rainy most of the day. Been dry about an hour or so now. Nothing severe, just steady rain.

Raining here now - it was threatening all day - planted 12 tomato plants (Big Boy), 16 Pepper (California Wonder), 8 squash (Yellow Crookneck), 7 cucumber & 12 Brussels sprout. Kinda tired.