Perennial Gardens All Set for June!

Frost in Late May :-( Note to Self: Cover Tomatos Until June

Frost hit the Tomato plants hard this morning. The temperature got to 30 degrees last night. We covered with newspaper and soaked down everything good. This morning at 5:30 I resoaked the entire garden. The frost was all over the place already.

The peppers are a maybe.. everything else will survive. Beans and squash are popping out of the ground today.

The dark is a little frost damage on the potatoes.
Next year the clear plastic hoop will move to cover the tomatoes until June.

First Day of the Water Lilies

Baby Calf, Just Born, Tries to Stand on its Wobbly Legs!

Our dog Lucky was barking at something across the street. When I looked out the window and saw a car had pulled over to look at the cows, I saw a brand new calf! The people in the car said a calf was just born.

Slowly I walked up to the fence and sure enough this was a brand new calf. Click the arrow on the picture above to watch a one minute video of it trying to stand for the very first time!!

This was one of the first times that I've noticed a cow have her calf right next to the fence!

Lucky under the Apple Blossoms

More Blossoms in Early May

Apple Blossoms and Hostas

Just the beginning of all the Beauty.

Why I Love Living Here in the Spring

New baby cows across the street. They're so sweet and innocent!

Front Steps in Bloom

Linda's Poppies -- Best Year Yet!

I think the poppies that Linda sent me are going to have their best year ever. Especially when you consider that they don't bloom until around Ben's bday, six weeks from now!

Sun & Warmth: Daffodils before work and then again at Lunch Time

Thursday morning, April 2nd before work.

Thursday around 2 pm after a morning of sun!

Welcome Spring! (I think??)

QT and the Squirrel in the Bird Feeder

This little guy jumps from the chimney onto the bird feeder to get the good seed. No fear! Even when I go right up the window and shoot with the flash!
Meanwhile QT the cat watches with mild interest, almost growing bored with the squirrel's antics.
Beatiful red cardinal at nature's beauty spot.

Nearing the Beginning of Spring

Today is a heavy frost, but I can tell by the way the birds are chirping, the squirrels scampering and the bunnies hopping around that it's going to warm up today. Already some flower stems are peaking thru the soil. I reviewed March to May last year and am so looking forward to spring!

Great Blue Herons Nesting at Cuyahoga Valley National Park

I'm so lucky to get to drive through a National Park a couple times a week. The Cuyahoga Valley National Park is right on the edge of Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and just about 6 miles from the border of Hudson Ohio where I live.

This week is especially fun because the Great Blue Herons are very actively nesting. You know those giant birds. They look like a teradytal or dinosaur bird... huge wing span but very long legs.

The largest nesting area (in the world?!) is right on Bath Road in Akron at the 3rd most popular national park in the country. Majestic and bizarre, I learned these unusual birds mate, not for life, but for the season. So next spring they pick a new mate I guess!

March 1st Feels Like SPRING IS HERE!

I know, I know. I'm just excited. Today feels like spring is in the air. I'm going to go out and take off the last remanents of Christmas decorations and blown twigs, maybe even finish raking some of those leaves that didn't get picked up when we got the early snow. Soon I'll be able to start working in my gardens.

WHOOT!

Compare this to almost a year ago on the first day of spring when we still had some snow around.

Cold, Icy Winter

Christmas Fun On Line

Don't you just love this time of year!? Fun, yes. But because I find it stressful, I'm always on the lookout for something that adds fun and cheer to the season, without a lot of work/effort!

Here's some fun interactive websites of Christmas Cheer:
Track Santa!
Explore the NorthPole and play games!
Disco Dancing Santa
Have a Tasty Fun Time!
Elf Yourself

Trying to Bloom Out of Season

I saw some really big buds on this rhododendron yesterday. Hope that this out of season bloom doesn't mess things up for gorgeous color in the spring. I'm planning to plant lots of daffodil bulbs this morning -- even in the rain!

Kale and Holly in Hudson

Raining today, so I'm really glad I got these photos yesterday during some sun!

Fall colors at my new office

Having Herbs at our Finger Tips

We brought this self watering container into the house about 2 weeks ago. Hopefully it will continue to grow and flourish throughout the winter so we can have fresh oregano, parsley, thyme and dill...

Time to Get A' Raken!!

Fall Colors

Lucky Loves Apples -- Norwegian Elkhound

Lucky likes to chase apples as much... or more... than chasing a ball. Maybe he likes the taste!

I've decided that he is a Norwegian Elkhound. Here's a photo.... what do you think? The indoor photo is a different dog but is a representative photo of a Norwegian Elkhound. Looks a lot like Lucky

I think he's pretty smart, but the breed standard is supposed to be just average. I've seen him catch sight of a ball or toy in the small dog section over at Silver Springs park and then realize he has to run down to the water, swim around the end of the fence and then come back out if he wants that toy.

Obviously he can't read (I think!) but he knows that space is for the small dogs and he's not allowed in it.

End of the Season for the Garden

This past weekend we pulled the tomato, squash and pumpkin plants out of the garden in preparation for winter.

The hostas and yellow/orange black eyed susan's have faded. I pulled seedlings from the Black Eyed Susans (the little short ones) and I need to pot up some of my daisy bunches for my sister for Friday.

Because I managed to reformat the SD camera storage card by using it in both a Nikon and a Canon, I am having trouble opening it in the computer. Yikes. Time to troubleshoot that problem.

Tree Down on the Hudson Green near the Gazebo

Of course the city workers had it all cleared up in about 2 hours after I took this picture. They really do a great job keeping Hudson Ohio's green looking great.

Storm Damage - not too bad

I just keep thinking about the folks in Houston and Galveston. Here's our little bit of storm damages... and it wasn't even really classified as a storm!

Bird House Gourds

Pumpkin

This little pumpkin came from the seeds of a "100 pound" pumpkin. We'll see how much it grows before halloween -- only 2 months to grow!

Vegetable Garden 9-1 compared to 7-2-08

Hot and dry this September 1st.

Green and Lush this past July 2nd.