A COUPLE OF OUR GARDEN FLOWERS

 

I was a bit worried about the flowers out front. We have had a lot of heavy rain lately and early this afternoon (7-1-25), a very loud thunderstorm. At the first opportunity I checked them out and am happy to say that, for the most part, they are hanging in there. There were no perfect petals, many had fallen off and only two of the plants have blooms right now, the Coneflower and the Ditch lily.

I am hoping to plant more of them as time goes on.

In the photo above you can see a hosta in the top right corner. I don't know what color of flower it will produce yet. 

"Happiness is to hold a flower in both hands."

~Japanese Proverb~

The above photos are mine. Hopefully with a few sunny days and lots of tender loving care, the others will be blooming soon. 

Great minds think alike as the old saying goes. Our son just sent me the rest of today’s photos on his walk, before I had finished my post. I told him I was just about to add my coneflower pictures from the garden. 

Whenever he and our daughter-in-law are out on a walk, they will often send photos. We are a photo-loving family and often send what we have taken. Photography is a favorite hobby we all share. If there is anything they know his dad would like, they send those too. Today he was on his own and saw the flowers which he knew I would love, as well as the little lending library, and what came with it. I love the fact that some dear person had put an umbrella over the box. A talented person also painted the word ‘peace’ on its pole. There are several who have added to the story garden, which brings a smile to most. I recognize Alice in Wonderland, the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter. Our son and daughter-in-law have taken their own books to that little library. On our recent tidying up of things and opening of boxes, I found several old children's books I used to read to him when he was little. I have asked him to add them the next time they go that way. They are still in very good shape, almost like new.

These photos cheered me. It is an important reminder that there are still many kind people out there.

I asked him if I could share and he said absolutely. Thank you son!

And thank you for stopping by everyone.

I wish you all a great day!

NOT A LOT TODAY

 We decided to go out for lunch two days ago.  There was a 30 percent chance of rain and the skies looked blue when we went outside.  First of all I wanted to check on the flowers to see how they were fairing after the hailstorm we had last week.  Still pretty beaten down but the next bloom should sort them out - fingers crossed!  This coneflower had some kind of insect on it.  Looked like a bee but wasn't a bee, at least I don't think so.

When we got on the road the skies looked like this.

We had lunch and probably would have run a few errands, except the skies started looking like this.

and those clouds...

they just kept getting darker, and we saw lightning in the distance.

So, we decided we would try to get home before the rains came, though we stopped at the drive-thru coffee shop on the way.

Not long after it started sprinkling...

and turned into pouring.

At least we didn't have to water the plants that day.  How's your weather?

SIBERIAN IRIS' AND THEN....

you will see what happened a little way down my post.  But first, I am going to share a few photos from the front patch of our garden.  It was a bit bare, and we needed some color.  

Our garden isn't as large as some but even so, we are no spring chickens and at this stage of our lives we are grateful for extra help.  There is a very nice gentleman who takes care of our garden for us.  Last year I asked him if he could plant a few flowers in a bare spot at the front of the house.  He names flowers that would grow best in a particular spot.  I let him know what colors I am interested in, naming those seen in catalogs.  The place we needed them is in part shade, and his knowledge about such things has always impressed us, and I appreciate his honesty.  If I pick something he will tell me if it works and if it doesn't.  I am happy to compromise as he has never failed us...

and has known us long enough now that he has a good idea what we like.  We trust him! 

I liked everything he planted but my favorite was the Siberian Iris.  I love their deep, rich red with darker shades.

So, as pleased as punch with the way they were blooming in their second year, I took photos.  But yesterday (6-16-23) this happened (excuse the utterance at the end of the video - I usually keep them out of my vocabulary).

The start of it...

and the middle of it.  It hailed for 20 minutes, the rain half an hour afterwards.

Those icy pellets bounced inside the family room with such force, I was picking them up half-way across the carpet, at least a dozen feet inside.  (Our son, when he visited on Father's Day, after showing him the videos said, "Why didn't you just shut the door Mom?" "I had to take my photos!" I replied, and he laughed because he knows his mother.  (He lives 14 miles away and had no hail.) 

This morning as I write (6-17-23) we have had several storm chasers knocking on our door, asking if we wanted them to take a look for damage.  Gregg has already taken a walk around the house to see if he could see anything amiss.  He also contacted our insurance company requesting an inspector.  One of our neighbors had a new roof put on a few days ago.  We are keeping our fingers crossed for them.  Our next-door neighbor had someone inspecting his roof just now, and there are similar scenes all over the neighborhood.

I picked up a few icy pellets after the storm.  They had been much larger and were already melting in my hand.  Hundreds of new leaves had been knocked down.

People are saying it is the worst hailstorm we have had in ten years.  At least they weren't golf-ball-size like that time.  Our whole roof and siding were damaged badly.

Back then we had continuous rain between the inspection and the repair.  Many damp ceiling patches appeared in the garage, but only one large patch inside our main bathroom, and we were grateful 

  

There are two large wooden air vents on each side of the house, and one was badly smashed.  I kept thinking we were going to have squirrels, raccoons and birds taking up residence in our attic.  Fortunately, that wasn't a problem.  A few months  later our insurance paid for a new roof and all the siding, including the side vents and the frames around the windows.  We were amazed no windows had been broken. 

In our neighborhood there were contractors fixing dozens of homes for over a year.   The cars that had been parked outside had dents.  Every square inch looked like someone had taken the round part of a hammer to them.  But again, that was several years ago and this lesser storm may have given us a break.

It seemed to me that the hail wasn't quite as large but it was forceful, and because of the damage caused before, we don't want to take any chances.  

Gregg was away from home after spending most of the day visiting an old navy buddy 70 miles away.  I called him to let him know what was going on, worried that he might be caught out on the freeway as it was around the time he would have started back.  He was fine and there had been nothing where he was.  He said the closer to our house the worse it looked, but others have been mentioning it in other neighborhoods.  It took us all by surprise.  

It was misty afterwards, and there was steam rising from the ground.  I was curious and found on this page a term called "Hail Fog".  If you scroll down you will not only see that title, but others that give you reasons how fog forms.  Gregg said it was like a layer of fog rising from the ground when he was coming back into the neighborhood.  He had never seen anything quite like that before.

I took photos before it got dark (the two above) and again the next morning when I checked the plants.  Most of the petals had gone but there was this one left...

and a few other stalwarts with stems standing tall and petals still hanging on.  Resilient!  

We have an inspector coming around soon.  We are expecting rain for the rest of the week.  Fingers crossed!

MASON NECK STATE PARK - PART 1 - VISITOR CENTER

We haven't been here in many years.  I don't know why.  It's not as if it is any further than some of the places we have been to.  I said as much the day we decided to go when Gregg suggested it.  I was interested in how it got its name, and you can read that history here.

It was hot and humid but not so bad really, I have felt worse.  We managed a couple of hours walking before we decided to go.

But first, time to enjoy the park.  A statue of an eagle was outside.  This is one I took and below is Gregg's photo, which I used for my 4th of July post.  We took a few photos of the statue and Gregg took the one below.  It is my favorite.  

 I had fun with it later, removing objects to make it look like the Bald Eagle was flying.  I made him free-floating in Paint Shop Pro, and also used my ArtCard app.  I will share those eventually.

Below is the plaque about this beautiful piece.  I did a search and found a website for historical markers, and this was featured.  You can look at them at this link.  If you are searching for another historical marker, this would be a good source of information.  The sculptor's home page, sharing other pieces of his, can be found here.  He is exceptionally talented.

The plants were in front of the visitor center. I realized when I got home and looked at our photos, I didn't have many of flowers, except for these few.

I am always drawn to Coneflowers...

but can't remember seeing yellow ones.

There was also a Common buttonbush on our walk later on, and a couple of leaf photos (those will be part of my next post).  

The visitor center was impressive, and we enjoyed browsing.  On the floor is an area map and we are in the darker section, on the State Park side.  We are looking forward to exploring the wildlife refuge another time.

There is an interactive map where you can remove the buttons at the bottom, and place them where you have seen that particular wildlife, if you end up here after a walk.

A clever idea. Fun for little kids and big kids alike.  

There were birds on display.

I missed taking a photo of the ID of the gull above, but I believe this is a Glossy Ibis...

and A Great Blue Heron.

Another display showing, a Bald Eagle and a Juvenile Bald Eagle...

with explanation.  Enlarging my photos helps with reading.

On one wall a TV screen, and then there are wooden decoys, a punt gun for duck hunting, arrowheads, a page from the will of George Mason who is one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, old bricks, a recreation of a woolly mammoth tooth, petrified wood, and an old still.

Not for the faint of heart if you are not a hunter, but for many it was a way of life, to put food on the table for their families, and an income to put a roof over their heads.

A casting of a Mastodon Tooth.

We found a back room with terrariums.  In one we met Myrtle the Turtle.  This area looks like it is a classroom for young people.  We headed for the back door but first we had a look around. Myrtle was very curious and stared back at us through the glass.

Myrtle is a Red-eared Slider and you can read the information about her below and again, enlarging the photo will allow you to better read the information.

I also came across this cute frog.

I have never heard of a Fowler's Toad before.

A poster of various songbirds found at the park.

And that is about it for the visitor center.  We found a door open at the back of the building and went outside.  A follow-up post will be shared as soon as I can put one together.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.