Rainy days...

Time for a nap.

February flowers

I've waited years to see one of these little i. danfordiae blooming in the garden. They rotted in previous attempts, but the well drained soil here seems to have done the trick. Such a cute little iris.




Grecian windflowers. Not sure of the proper name. A reliable late winter bloomer in our climate, it disappears by early to mid summer.

First iris of 2009

This cute little reticulata opened today. Such a nice bright bit of color. I've seen yellow buds coming out on a couple of i. danfordiae as well.


Miss Gracie has become so hairy she is drowning in her own fluff. Poor baby girl.

End of January...

... and winter is still here, but signs of spring are everywhere. The cyclamen are blooming and there are bulbs nosing out of the ground all over the place. Some of the very early shrubs are showing signs of new buds as well.


We're heading to Kevin & Adam's place tonight for dinner so I baked a cherry pie. This is the first time in years I have managed to get the lattice work to come out perfect. Isn't it beautiful?!

Deathstorm 2008

Well, the projected storm dumped its snow but the wind never materialized as they thought it would. We have about 8 inches on the ground now. It remains to be seen what todays expected ice storm will bring - if it shows up.


A break in the weather this morning and temps near 32 degrees sent us out to make snowmen. Aren't they cute?

Snow day! again...

So we've been having snow for days now, and alot more is predicted to fall this weekend. Here's some pics I took this morning. It is lovely, if inconvenient.


Little birds are all over the verbena stalks eeating seeds and probably scattering even more that I'll be pulling all spring as they sprout.


A woodpecker stopped by and made a racket for long enough for a few pics. This one turned out best. His red head was flashing in the morning sun. They are so shy, and we hear them often but rarely get to see them.


We put up the aluminum xmas tree last weekend. Even without all the lights working it is pretty.


And what is a blog post without some baked goods? Spent all last weekend baking for the family. Here's a shot of some cscones. I forgot to take pics of the rest of the goodies.


Happy holidays to all!

December blooms

Okay, really not the best photos I've ever taken but they are just to show how weird our weather is this year. these are blooming today. A lovely orange rose I rescued from Jim Allen's garden after he passed away (the camera just won't get the color and depth right - it is stunning), a golden geum looking fabulous with feverfew blooms, and a pink scizostylus (which normally blooms late but never until November here, which means we usually don't even get to see it before frost takes it down). This warm dry fall is extending into our winter.