Flowers in MN

There were several little libraries in Duluth, this one was my favorite. I didn't take a book, because I didn't have anything to replace it with, but I did take a photo! 

These images aren't in the order I took them, silly blogspot! But, they are all flowers around my aunt's house. She is fond of flowers that help out the bees. Minnesota will pay you to do this, so my weeding was kept to grasses choking out flowers in beds. Just in case I pulled something I thought was a weed and wasn't! 

Am not sure what this orange flower is. I rather liked its perky look. When I find out, I'll get some seeds. I figure anything that can grow on a hill over Lake Superior can grow in Eastern Oregon! 

There were several colors of forget-me-nots. I brought some seeds back, unfortunately, I can't find them~ They were tucked in an envelope with a letter from a friend. 

These two are backwards. It is a houseplant my aunt picked up years ago for less than 20$. Now, it is fairly large and blooms often. I liked how the dying blossoms turned into little mummies! 

There are a lot of wild bunnies in the area. This one seemed to prefer eating dandelion seed heads! It was difficult to sneak up on it to take a photo. 

This is another bush my aunt has that I fell in love with. Amazing scent. But, magnolias do. 

These pink flowers below are also one I'd like to have around here. There are a lot of blossoms in the head and they are fairly tall. (the ones above are an azalea, I think)  One of the things that surprised me was how many plants here are similar to one's that grow there. Although, because of the lake, the climate changes quickly in just a few blocks! It is much warmer at one of my cousin's houses than it is at my aunt's. Oddly, I didn't take any photos of my aunt's house! It has been renovated and is the same, and yet not. 

Mother's Day 2021

Here, he could exist; "but mere existence is not enough," he sighed; "to live, one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower!" ~ Hans Christian Andersen.

Above is one of a trio of tulips that has been blooming since Mid April! They are the only ones of this color in the yard. 

These tulips are under choke cherry trees and looked spindly this spring. Lovely blooms on not very sturdy tall stems. 

We had meals with Dorothy two Sunday's in a row. The first Sunday we went to the newly reopened Long Branch. Grandpa always wanted to play card games before the meal arrived and the tradition has carried on. Jon chose to play a game called 'Golf'. Except Dorothy didn't remember it the way the guys did. Dorothy won the first game, because she accidentally played twice in a row. Even though they were playing with 8 cards and the sister's don't do that. She said they played it all the time and when Steve asked her who taught her, she said, 'Grandpa.' Who also taught the guys!! Later, Dorothy was a bit annoyed at the way Jon was playing. She said, "We don't play like ordinary people, we like to let everyone see if they can make a match." Steve responded with, 'You would't want to win or anything...." She also said, "I'm glad you two don't play with us!" 

After lunch, an elderly lady with a cane walked up to Dorothy. The lady had on a mask and said happily, 'I thought I recognized you! But, I don't remember your name.' After a bit of chit chat, the woman walked off and we asked Dorothy who she was. Dorothy replied, 'I recognize her, but I don't remember her name!' 

The next Sunday, we invited Dorothy down for dinner on Mother's Day. While we were still getting things sorted, Jon showed off some of his photos from up on the Ranch (see previous post). He and Steve also brought in a pair of kits for her to meet. These are Maude's, they are about 11 or 12 days old here. 

After dinner, we took pictures. Always a good idea. :o) Besides, we needed to move after our meal of shrimp skewers, grilled chicken, and various salads! 

We saved dessert to eat with a game of Triominos. Chocolate cake with perfectly chocolate chocolate frosting and ice cream. The game was a bit annoying, thankfully the mom's were ahead by the time we opted to end the rounds. Dorothy was sent home with a few leftovers and when Jon got back he realised he forgot to give us surprises! Grandma's bird feeder is still on a side table. 

On Monday, I got more surprises! 7 painted lady caterpillars. The kit is supposed to have 5, but I'll enjoy the 7. At least 2 are guaranteed to turn into butterflies. Unfortunately, I didn't realise they were supposed to be kept at a room temp of 68 or more, so the not so little guys (after a couple of days!!) are upstairs where it is a bit warmer. Jon watched them for quite a while, when they were still downstairs getting acclimated to being in a container not surrounded by packing material in a small box! Hoping we can witness changes. Jon doesn't remember this from Kindergarten. I do!!! 

The Middle of October

The world has so many lovely things. Sunsets and flowers and fun finds. 

I was surprised to find violets amid the dandelions. 

Steve took out all the sunflower stalks, they are a lot of work!!! 

Mittens and boots go paw in paw! 

Jon brings home the oddest thing from work. These were a 'lost' part of a shipment and the shop split them up among the employees. 

We had a series of frosts, so picked as many of the flowers as possible! 

 

Oregon in October

When I left AK, the leaves were changed and it was rather chilly. Oregon still have many flowers in bloom. 

Steve also found some fun certificates of his dad's. 

Outside, we found owls had been in the yard and left several pellets. I was going to cook them, but I really did not want them in my oven!!! So, they were lightly baked and are in foil in a sealed ziplock. 

Moses was intrigued by the balls that smelled so interesting! 

One of my favorite flowers, Calendula. 
 

Absolutely love nasturtiums!!! They had more green than flowers, mostly because many bugs also enjoy nasturtiums. 

Steve purchased this for me before I left for Alaska, it still looked great when I returned! 

Geranium. 

June Flowers

This post is mostly about one iris. But, there will be a few other flowers! I love how the CA poppy bed looks this year. 

 When Hugh Jackman sings about the beautiful morning, the lyrics mention the corn being 'as high as an elephant's eye'. Eastern Oregon can have beautiful mornings, but it appears the catnip is as high as the windowsill!!!

I've not had many iris this year. Jodie thinks they might be crowded, she's probably absolutely correct. I'm also glad we didn't have the odd bug that ate hers! I tried to google long thin beetles, but no luck. I had one white iris, several yellow, a lot of purple, and the burgundy ones. This particular one was even more striking, it was more of a velvet brown. Although, you can't tell from the photos! A lot of fun closeups.

 A different angle and the light changes the colors completely!

 This bottom one wasn't supposed to be added, but it looks like an ocean animal. Thus, it stayed with the rest.

 Laughing iris!!

There is also a rose vine that has a lot of lovely red roses on it. 

Maude Hart Lovelace is one of my favorite authors, it fits this post perfectly! 

“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.”