MORE plants and Scaredy Cats

Yup, I have more unusual plants. This one I was talking to Jake about. I am going to pass it on to the wonderful OSU people, too! We'll see what we have. Isn't it is pretty lethal looking? To get the real look, you need to click on the photo.

They are not in a useful part of the yard and if they do not turn out to have flowers or fruits, well, it might just be moved on to the firewood phase! It is kind of dangerous to run into!

And here is my mock orange! It has finally bloomed! After years of keeping it alive on the coast, it seems to like living here. Isn't it loverly? And an unexpected bonus plant! A Dutch Iris, I am told.

And last but not least. We finally got Teddy shaved for the summer again. And guess who does not recognize him!!!? And he looks so 'normal', too!!!!

Max was seriously stressed but held his ground, however, Moses was moving so fast, I was lucky to get this shot!

He's off and new link

Well, Jon has officially left the city. He is on his way to the East Coast and we will be doing all kinds of odd things around here to get stuff done! I added a link to the band tour. A drum major wanted to do this. We were told there would be few photos due to privacy issues, but there will tons of words. Anyway, if you want to read what the group Jon is with is up to, check it out! More on the later!

Reading Louisa May..I was feeling Alcottish!!!!

They hatched!!

Yippee! They did hatch and Jon says they look like camouflaged peeps! Personally, I agree! Now if we can only keep the peeps away from the cats! They have left the nest area now and are running free in the weeds. Killdeer are one of the few birds that can run soon after hatching. But, the parents still keep a pretty good eye on them, as you can tell!!! We thought it was interesting that the babies looked a lot like the shells of the eggs they were hatched from. Many birds are hatched from eggs that are blue or pale white and spotted and they look awful after hatching! These are more like chickens and barnyard fowl.

They hatched on Saturday, June 6.

MORE flowers and a nest hunt

I love my new yard. It has so many kinds of flowers in it! My Tillamook yard had flowers, too, but these are all new ones and it is exciting to meet them! Since I took most of these photos, we had a HUGE thunderstorm and many of them were flattened or otherwise disfigured. At least we have the proof in the photography!

My iris are GREAT. I love iris. They remind me of my friend Kanga and her mum. So far, I have the yellow ones and only one brown one that bloomed this year. I need some purple ones. When the yellow ones get too heavy, they fall and I bring them inside. They smell yummy.

My roses looked and also smelled great. They were not as handy as a cut flower as they only lasted one day. I need to save the petals next year, before the thunderstorms!

My very favorite flower so far this year, I do not have in my yard yet. My plant is about a handspan tall. I am looking forward to next year's flowers! These all came from friends and neighbors and they are wonderful! I was really surprised at how they fall apart so fast when they are done. Jon was wondered how so many petals could fit on one flower! I did explain it was parts of several of them, but it is still amazing how they work! I laughed when I saw the mess on the floor, I thought it looked like chicken feathers! So, here are the peony and petals (sounds like a rock group, huh?)

OK, now that we have done chicken feathers, here is a 'Where is the nest' photo!

Amazing, huh? The parents are killdeer and we are not sure if they are going to hatch, it has been a very long time since they were laid and they incubate for about 28 days. We really want them to, as they are in a very bad place. Steve almost ran over the nest a couple of times before he found it and now we try to avoid it, but it is very hard!

Just read a 'new' book. It is a 1926 Newberry called 'Smokey the Cow Horse' and it was very fun to read!

re entry of previous post of odd flowers

And here are my strange flowers. First is one of the white ones all blown, doesn't it look like a caterpillar?

We also have these red petaled ones. Very odd looking are they not? I would really like to know what these might be!!! They have blackish centers, but could not get a photo of that very well. I also noticed that the edges of the petals seem to die off. Then, we have this pinkish shrub thing. Actually, we have three of these in the yard. The one in the corner is the biggest.

And last, but not least, lilacs. They are so beautiful and smell WONDERFUL!
If anyone has any idea what these flowers are (not the lilacs) please let me know!!!

I had to delete the photos of the band (I did not have permission to post them) and lost the whole post! I was very sad as the flowers that were here are now identified! sigh. I am most sorry because I lost my comments that were made on this post! I don't get enough comments that I can delete them!!! LOL.

OSU rocks!!!!

Why? Well, because two different persons suggested I check out my odd plants with the OSU extension office here in the area. So, I did. And they passed my photos on further. Finally, a man in Corvallis, Oregon responded with some pretty solid answers. Although, he did write that this is not definitive as he did not have an actual sample of the plant! Anyway, the pink flowers (Jake pegged this one) appear to be a tatarian honeysuckle bush which is NOT a friendly plant to have in one's yard. I will pull up the babies and leave the established ones! The white one seems to be a choke cherry bush, I will verify that when we see fruit! And last, but not least, the really odd red flowers are most likely a calycanthus occidentalis or spice bush plant. So, there we have it. Thank you very much for all your help and thank you OSU!

NOTE:am done reading Xanth for a bit. I got the last 'new' one read and am going to find something else to read.

Memorial Days, past and present

In the past, we participated in flag ceremonies with other scouts and scout leaders.

This is after the ceremony in 06. These guys are all grown up now...

sigh.

This is a 2007 ceremony. Jon is hidden..Tony is handling the flag.

This year, Jon and Steve went up to the Mountain ranch to do some stuff and Jon found a snake. Not just your ordinary every day little snake. This one is really strange. It turns out it is a rubber boa! I had no idea we had those here. One site we found suggested they are docile and very sweet..Jon agreed. Personally, I think it is rather ugly, but there you have it. I sent the camera and thought they would get lots of different photos, but they just got this little guy.

Not much else going on. Have one more Xanth book to read before I find something else!

AWWWK

Just a short note with no photos for now. The red leaves are really a FLOWER!! I thought it was from the plant with white flowers, but they are not..I saw one all open today and they are a flower. Very strange looking, in a kind of pretty way.

Took a break from Xanth, but am back in it again.

Mid May Flower Quest and Medieval Faire!

Hi all, our internet has been down..again. I have some photos here of a plant I cannot find in the books. Most likely because I don't know where to look. A bit like looking up a word in a dictionary when you can't spell it anyway! So, we seem to have an old fashioned garden. Lots of lilacs in purple and white, tulips that smell sensational, old fashioned roses, and a pretty pink bush that is in several places. However, this one is the one that is puzzling me at this time.

Here it is in groups of buds, in baby leaves (the purplish ones with the bird poo!!!!), in bud, and in partial flower. Now they are mostly all done blooming and look like fuzzy caterpillars! They also smell nice. Not as good as a lilac, but not too bad! The honey bees like them. If anyone knows what it might be, please let me know!!!

Steve also worked on a catapult and Jon a sword for the Medieval Faire we had at our church this weekend. Here they are in stages of before and after!

The Catapult:

The Sword:

The sword was used only for photographs and the catapult was used so much it was injured!

Jon was gone this weekend on a camping trip..we will post those photos after we get the disposable film developed! He found a bull snake!! EWWWW.

Quotes of our Days

All Creation is a canvas of green and gold

Covered with a canopy of blue and white. JWK

Daffs or Narcissus, purple and white money plants and money plants mixed with the best smelling tulips in the world!! And spring in the loverly tree next door with brand new leaves shining in the sun!

'Sunrise, Sunset. Swiftly fly the years...' One of my favorite songs from Fiddler on the Roof.

Very odd thing about this photo..It was purple colored, but came out orange. I need to figure that one out. Still looks good, though. LOL.

And last but not least:

God sees the moon, God sees me.

God bless the moon and God bless me.

Or maybe I could quote, "Space....the final frontier..." and encourage you all to go to the new Star Trek movie. Especially if you are an old Trekkie fan. It is AWESOME. In fact, people clapped at the end and when the characters let loose lines that we all knew and loved it was hilarious! I promise not to spoil unless someone emails and asks, but it was a wonderful spur of the moment Mom's Day present. (thanks, dear!)

I totally apologize

This was supposed to be my May Day post. However, I somehow missed doing it. Perhaps the computer was down again, it does have a habit of doing that! Anyway, enjoy the flowers!!!

This first one is a pasque flower plant and the second ones are a money plant. We have ones that have purple flowers and ones with white! Very festive and they last ages when cut! And in the fall they have the silver dollar coin shaped seed packets. They are much prettier now and I will add more photos later.
Daffodils that are just some of the many that came up after I planted bulbs that the neighbor gave me. I now have a different kind blooming.

These are Tillamook flowers. The first is a Camilla from Wendy's yard (not in focus cuz I was learning about my new camera) and the second one is a pile of buds! They are Rhody's from her yard that her daughter shared with me.

And here is a huge pixel photo that I took before I discovered the settings on the camera. The tulips are done now, but they were stunning!

Working on making a pond, so reading has been geared towards water type books. And Xanth. (I needed some puns!) Speaking of water, check out the cool fountain and very odd pool on the Travel Channel page.