Happy New Year's 2008

2008 it almost here, I wonder if I will be able to stay awake to see the new year in..........doubtful :).

As seed catalogs arrive earlier and earlier each year I stack them up until after the first of year, three more arrived today, but after tomorrow I can start browsing, YEAH! Spring is just around the corner, right???? Select Seeds arrived today, it is my favorite catalog so I may have to look at that one tomorrow. We have a very quiet day planned, I am going to watch the Rose Parade start to finish on HGTV as they air it without commercials.

Have a happy and safe new year, I feel 2008 is going to bring some changes in my life.

Pretty Birds

Well, the Christmas rush is over. It was another wonderful holiday season with the one exception of my Dad's health. My 59th birthday passed with little fanfare, I wanted to get to Reiman Gardens and the butterfly house for my birthday but that did not happen with all the other things going on.

We have had one storm after another with ice, snow, rain and fog, what is next a tsunami? :)

I have noticed something at my feeders that I have not witnessed in all my years of feeding the birds, juncos are coming and eating out of the feeders, they have always been plentiful around here but they always ate off the ground, this year they are regularly at my feeders, I am not sure if they have gotten smarter or hungrier :). The Carolina Wren is still a daily visitor.

Merry Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas everyone!

Last Roses of Summer or First Roses of Winter

I didn't know what to name this photo, last roses of summer or first roses of winter. Since yesterday was the winter solstice, I guess I will go with the First Roses of Winter, what do you think?

Iowa is under a winter storm warning, wind warning, you name it and we either have one going on now or had one :), all these warnings followed several fog warnings over the past several days, the weather has not been good, that is for sure. It has just started snowing again and it is cold and windy.

Picture Taking for Christmas Card

Last Saturday I put some lovely holiday collars on the dogs and tired to get some pictures, they did not want any part of it, I did not get one decent picture.

We are under yet another winter storm warning today! Sounds like a good day to stay in for me, thankfully I have that option and that is exactly what I am going to do :).

We had some beautiful hoar frost this past week, but I was sitting at my desk at work looking out at it and was not able to get any pictures, darn it!

TGIF, Christmas Cactus, Begonias, Cactus Garden

Friday is finally here, it seem to be a long time coming.

My Christmas cactus is in bloom. I have several but my favorite is the old fashioned kind that has been around forever. I have a begonia in bloom as well. Last weekend, I had a bit a free time so I did a cactus garden.

Birds at the Bar

Last weekend during our ice storm the birds were busy at our feeders.........you can see the ice on the feeder. During a storm I usually fill the feeders several times, yesterday I think I either filled or dusted snow off of the platform feeders a half a dozen times.

Hibiscus in Bloom

I snapped these pictures of the some Hibiscus at the greenhouse.

We have gotten more snow! Probably about 3 inches so far, and it is cold.

Bromiliads

I took these photos at the greenhouse while shopping for our poinsettia. I love bromiliads but I do not have the room to grow them. I do have an earth star, I always think of my aunt when I water it, she had one growing in her kitchen window for years. I bought mine at Wal Mart a few years ago, I was surprised to see it there, but there it sat just asking me to purchase it.

White Poinsettias

Last of the poinsettias, I promise :).

Pink Poinsettias for Connie

Some pink poinsettias for Connie. The first one is kind of a dark pink, more maroon possibly but I thought it was pretty.

Poinsettias on Parade at local Greenhouse

Every year for many years my husband and I go to a local greenhouse that grows thousands of poinsettias, I take lots of pictures, we walk around and admire all the varieties and each year we walk away with the usual bright red one which is always our favorite. This is just something small but it is has become one of the highlights of the holiday season for me. The first picture is of the plant we purchased the other is just one of the greenhouses, there are more.

Our first winter storm has arrived, it was snowing when we walked the dogs this AM, by the time we got back home it had turned to sleet, while walking in the woods all of sudden you could hear that it was sleet and not snow. The weather has changed my plans for the weekend. I am staying in for the day. I am going to get started on my holiday candy making. Caramels and fudge are are on the agenda today. A couple of weeks ago, my oldest friend, (we met when I was 5 and she was 6) came over and we spent the day making caramels, her daughter is home from CA now for an early Christmas and she loves the caramels, so my friend and I made several batches, it was a great day.

First Winter Storm Watch, Carolina Wren and other things.

Well, we are officially under our first winter storm watch starting Saturday AM, I am supposed to get my grandsons this weekend (they live about 90 miles away) now I wonder if that will happen. I also need to get up to see my Dad (about 60 miles away) I am wondering about that as well. Time will tell, sounds like an ugly storm with freezing sleet, rain, and snow.

The Carolina Wren is back at my feeder for the 3rd winter in a row, I never see them in the summer. I don't know if they spend the summer here but do not come to my feeders or if they move on in the summer and whether they go back to Carolina for a visit, why they spend their winters in Iowa is beyond me..........

This little silver leafed begonia is one of my favorites, the leaves are so pretty, I imagine it gets flowers but this one has not flowered for me. I ordered a few new houseplants from Logees but I think I may have waited too late as they will not ship when the temps are too cold, so this may be an order I don't get until spring, darn it, it is my tradition to order a few new houseplants each fall but I think I waited too long this particular fall. I have been ordering from them for years as they carry lots of houseplants that are not available locally. I got caught up in the houseplant craze in the late 60s and early 70s and have never gotten out of it.

Shooting Star Hoya

Hoyas are wonderful plants, when they bloom, which in most cases is not often, Shooting Star is an exception, it has blooms on it most of the year. Most hoyas are very fragrant, Shooting Star is not but is a fun houseplant to have around.

A Late Veteran's Day Post

As I have mentioned in a few posts my Dad has been diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure and has been in and out of the hospital for almost 2 mos now. He is a WWII vet, he enlisted in the Navy at the age of 17, at the time he had never been more than 25 miles away from his home in North Washington, IA, they were put on a bus and taken to Des Moines and from there to California for boot camp and then to the Pacific Theater, he spent 4 years away from Iowa, he was on the first ship that went into Japan after the Japanese surrendered. He earned a purple heart and other medals, he gave all of these to my son last year along with his Navy uniforms. My daughter in law had a shadow box put together, it is a great display. My grandson took it to school along with the uniforms on Veterans Day, the teacher invited some WWII vets to the classroom. These are a couple of the photos, makes me proud of my Dad and of my grandson.

Memed by Shady Gardener

I have been memed by Shady Gardener so I must think of 8 things that someone might be interested in :).

1) I love to learn new things and wish there were more opportunities around here to take classes.

2) I must spend some time outdoors each day, no matter what the weather or I feel all out of sorts and that is not a good thing :).

3) When I retire I want to train one or both of my dogs to be therapy dogs.

4) When I retire I want to volunteer for the adult literacy program.

5) I wish I could retire tomorrow :).

6) I enjoy my own company.

7) I wish I worked in a library.

8) My garden is my refuge.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Reiman Gardens

We got snow today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it was the pretty kind that sticks to trees, unfortunately it was dark when I arrived home so I was not able to take pictures, but I enjoyed watching it snow from my desk at work.

Real life keeps getting in the way of my blogging, darn it! My Dad is home from the hospital again, he is very weak, I cannot believe how quickly his health has deteriorated. We are having a quiet day tomorrow so tonight I am going to update my blog and visit other blogs that I enjoy reading.

Tonight and over the next few days I am going to share some pictures that I took last summer at Reiman Gardens my favorite place to day trip to. The Butterfly House is wonderful! My birthday is next month, my husband asked what I wanted, I told him a day trip to the Butterfly House and to see the Christmas lights at Reiman.

This was an interesting ornamental pepper plant that was in a pot. One year several years back I was into the ornamental peppers and had several different varieties. They really are fun to grow but in this zone they have to be started in the house in January for the plant to mature to watch the peppers turn from green, to black or purple and finally red. I would love to have a wide variety of the peppers again to start from seed.

A Few Fall Pictures

I have managed to get a few fall photos, I was going to photoshop the phone lines out of the 3rd picture but have not had a chance.

Leaves, Warm Weather and Other Stuff

The weather was very warm today, it was 50 when I got up, quite a difference than yesterday AM when we walked the dogs, yesterday was windy and very cool. This morning it was almost muggy. Since the bugs are finally gone we have been walking the dogs in the woods again, Erin especially loves it, her nose is on the ground the whole time with her tail going a hundred miles an hour. The turkeys have moved on. We had a deer running down our street one night last week.

Today after getting back from seeing my Dad who is in the hospital again, I actually found the time to make more soy candles. I bought several new scents over a month ago and have not had a chance to try them out, I made Cinnamon Sticks, Victorian Christmas, Mother Earth and Nag Champa, which isn't new but is a favorite of mine and a couple of my friends.

I am sharing a couple of leaf pictures, not much else color wise in the yard right now unless you count my gazing balls.