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.

Lazy Sunny Afternoon

I took these pictures Saturday or Sunday, can not remember which :).

Sunday Bloomy Sunday

The blooms are getting further and further apart but it is still unbelievably warm.

Playing in PSP

I had a bit of free time today, so decided to try out some filters in PSP. Kind of fun. Same image before and after.

Yesterday I went to Soy Basics Candle factory in New Hampton for a tour with my step-daughter, we had a great time, we both make candles and buy supplies from them. They took us on a tour of the whole factory, they make soy candles for shipment all over the world, their web-site is kind of an off shoot of the business, the web site sells supplies for soy candle making for hobbyists http://www.enchanted-lites.com/. We got to "sniff test" all the fragrance oils. We bought some Christmas fragrances. I stopped to see my Dad who is doing a bit better, I think he has a funny color, kind of yellow, I don't think that is a good sign. But the Doctors are watching him so we shall see.