These were our July 4th mini-desserts for after the barbeque, lightning-bug chase, and sparkler / poppers blowout. 

Photo Upload News

I've decided to spring for a larger memory account at the photo sharing website, Flickr. You can click here to see the photos in a strictly photo format, now, instead of having to think back......"now, when was she in Nepal? Where was that picture.......what month archive should I look through?". I see the stats....I know that it's really my family and friends that actually read the site, most friends check it out periodically for photo updates. By saving the Flickr link, you can see new photos at any time withouth having to read my little musings and ramblings. And no, I don't plan on uploading the home repair type issues to that site....it's just a means to highlight what are some of my favorite photographs. Enjoy!

Calling All Landscapers.....

I've got a landscaping dilemma. When facing my house, the left side is horribly unbalanced with the right as far as visual landscaping action, flow, and color. I've solicited my mom for ideas, but if any gentle viewers (to borrow a phrase from a friend) have any suggestions on something not too maintenance-heavy to add some zing to the left side of the house, please suggest ideas via the comments button! Now, the tree in front of that window is a crabapple tree, and it becomes loaded with flowers in April. I understand the little berry things it's growing now turn red at some point, so that'll be a nice addition of color. Also, and I don't think you can see it well from here, there is a vine that should one day reach that willow trellis adjacent to the front porch. That vine is a firethorn and will, come autumn, have bright orange little berries visible. But, the next entry is the right side of my yard - it's a great little mishmash of plant life, colors, and undulating patterns (you may not be able to see the little 'hill' in the front right corner of the yard). But this side, it's got an english ivy that's just really slow to act, and some lilly of the valley that have already bloomed, all along the hitching post front fence. I don't know what that corner shrub will do - it's taking forever just to leaf out. So, any suggestions for adding a little visual punch here would be appreciated.

Here's the right side of the house (when facing it directly). Now, see how much is going on here? There's the purple maple that I'm just standing under to take the shot, whose leaves you can see at the top left of the page. Hidden behind the fence are the new surprise lillies, to the right of them but washed out by background light is the yucca, lots of those tall stalky things with yellow flowers, and along the house are the red and orange lillies. There is also, to the right of the yucca but hard to see here, a shrubby bush with reddish tipped leaves. It's a cornucopia of color on this side of the house. It's pukingly Strawberry Shortcake looking, but I love it.

Don't you wish you had one of these, right now? A frozen mojito with new shades of purple verbena on the back deck. 

Thank goodness - the previously parched verbena are coming back, and eager to bloom! 

More surprise lillies! Not sure what kind these are but their stalks have a handful of additional buds yet to open. 

I am not sure what this is. It bloomed at the top of what looks like a bushy weed, except it was in the landscaped section of the yard, so I figured the plant's presence was intentional. It looks a little like echinacea, a common cold-fighting ingredient, but not quite.  

My yucca is now in full bloom - I love this plant. I was disappointed to run into one just down the block...but it's not nearly as tall, flowered, or nice as mine. When I make my eventual westward migration, I wonder if I could uproot the house AND the landscaping, and just take it all with me!? 

These little pentas are doing just great. They are (so far) totally worry-free. 

Here's the branch that embedded itself in the yard during the last batch of storms. It was a pain to get out of the ground....

This is the post-extraction shot. The branch, which I later realized broke into 3 long pieces, was about 8 ft. It entered the ground with such force that it embedded itself almost 9 inches.  

On a Sunday drive today, I spied this hawk flying parallel to the road. I slowed down (dare not stop!), dug out the camera, rolled down the window, kept pace with the bird, and captured this shot. And this was the only one, though I tried several more times. This bird was massively large; probably the largest I've yet seen in Ohio. Note the beautiful corn! Can't wait until that's ripe.  

This is going to be reeeealy hard to see. Maybe you can click on the image and expand it. I don't have the patience to fool around with the photos after I shoot them. The big white dot is that hawk - and he's being chased (yes, chased!) by two smaller black birds - think they're just crows; they weren't big enough to be ravens. The one closest to the hawk (that's not a speck of dust on your screen) was actually doing little aerial dive-bombs on the hawk. I've never seen behavior like it. The hawk could have taken them both out, probably, with one clean swipe. Maybe he's old and lame.  

Rural Ohio Roadside Laundry. This was a drive-by shot, should have pulled over to get a better image. I wonder if Sunday was this family's day to do the blues.