Two Recent pics of Bill and I

Not as crisp as I would like but not tooo bad.

Sam's Fifth Birthday

Sam is Mr. Nascar Cool Guy with brother Stonewall standing by. Sam is also a great fan of Thomas the Tank Engine. His birthday cake has a new character in the array of friends of Thomas--Hiro.

Concentration

Loves putting Lego kits together!

October Birthdays

Let's see. Birthdays in October.
FL daughter-in-law Cindy October 4,
FL daughter Kerry, October 5,
Grandson Paxton 4yrs. old, October 14
IL Sister-in-law Dixie, October 25

Paxton opens a present of the book "Llama, llama, red pajamas". This is a really cute book about what happens when a small one is put to bed and his need to see mama one more time for reassurance. All the excuses and thoughts are so true and funny.

These are the lovely gifts that Nick and Kristi received on Amariah's behalf. I arranged the floral center piece and Phyllis provided 3 small pots of fresh flowers which added color and beauty. The shower was at Kristi's parents home that is" for sale". The house was empty and extremely roomy. It worked out great for our purposes. We brought tables and chairs, food, etc. It turned out really nice. Kristi thought this would be a more central location for friends and family to come to. There were 22 people in attendance. A pretty good turnout.

Herb and Mark --somehow I missed getting Mark's wife Linda in any of the pictures. I was puzzled about that when I put the pics on my computer. I thought I had captured everyone.

Kerry and Kristi after having our refreshements and Kristi is hoping to open gifts. However we had to play only one game. Yes, just one. Everyone was to write advice for the new mom and pop and they had to guess who gave the advice. The advice was witty- and- good- and- -theological. It was fun--really.

It looks like Andre and Matt are pondering food while Kevin and Bill are pondering conversation.

Carol and Phyllis visiting and resting a moment after setting up the food and other necessities.

Good Friends Mary and Jocelyn, and Brian's other half Sarah.

Nick and Brian solving the problems of Fatherhood? Probably not.

Silly Lucy. She says "Grandma take my picture" and then she strikes this pose. ?? Notice arm stretched out behind her.

That is better!! Always the joker.

Here is Clara and Doc. Clara seems pleasant enough but Doc seems to be staring down the camera. What's this look a little closer. Is there a hint of a smirk hiding there??

Kristi and Nick Wehlau Baby Shower(men and women invited)

Kristi and Nick expecting their first baby-anticipating a baby girl. Lucy and Alyssa enjoying one another

Tomato Plants

I pulled up my tomato plants this morning. Some varmit was eating the ripened tomatoes before I could get to them. There were only 4 or 5 green ones left and small ones at that. I decided it is time to start over. The next growing season is beginning for Florida, so I will try again.

Gardening

One other thing about the Zinnias. They have attracted butterflies of varieties I have not seen before. That is pretty exciting. Butterflies and Hummingbirds would be really fun to see on a regular basis. I would like to cultivate the art of a garden that attracts these lovelies.

Yummy tomatoes

I picked numerous cherry tomatoes from these 2 plants planted in my 4 foot square garden. I had a couple of stakes as you can see in the photo that they were tied to. However they outgrew the stakes and lay over onto the ground. My lawn care fellow has been very good not to mess up the tomato plants. I think he weed wacks close but hasn't damaged them and keeps the yard looking good.

I think when I replant the square I will not plant such tall plants. I didn't know that the zinnias were the giant ones. The smaller pom pom type would be prettier in this arrangement. I will probably plant future tomato plants at the back fence so the front yard doesn't look so messy with them all over the ground. It has been too hot for the green beans that I planted. They were leggy, thin, and didn't produce much of anything. Ugly actually. The cuumber plant got buggy and died. Lettuce didn't come up. Florida is very different when it comes to gardening. I may stick to flowers. I do better with those.

Mama and 4 baby ducks

This poor mama duck wanted to get through the back fence that seperates our mobile home park from the neighborhood behind us. I don't think she would like it if she is able to make it through. She keeps sticking her neck through the holes in the fence hoping the rest of her body will go through too and it doesn't happen. She is a long way from the canal where there is water and food for her babies. It is dark now and I see that she has settled down on the ground under my trees where the impatiens is planted. I was watering them and then sprinkled them to see what would happen. At first the little ones tried to hide and then the mama tried to drink the beads of water on her back and on the grass. Some puddles soon formed and the little ones got into the puddle and tried to swim. That was funny. But they were able to get better drinks. I tried to catch the mother to see if I could get them all down to the canal. She would let me get pretty close and as I would try to grab her she would slip away. You could tell that she was worrying herself to distraction walking back and forth by the fence trying to get through.

Square Foot Gardening

These are the flowers that I plan to put in my 4 Square Foot Garden. See the photos of my progress. Kerry helped me assemble the box, mix the compost, peat moss and perlite to put in the lined box.(lining is a weed blocker fabric which allows moisture to pass through) Hubby helped me drill holes so that I could get the cross pieces in place. These help to keep plantings separated. The theory is no weeds to battle, and you can grow about anything in only 6 inches of dirt. Plantings can be a mix of flowers and veggies. These flowers are marigolds and red vinca. A friend gave me 3 seedling tomato plants which I have now installed in their respective squares. It is probably too late for the tomato plants because it is going to get exceedingly hot. I have bush bean seeds, zinnia seeds, and coleus seeds that I will be planting also. When we get to the cooler growing season I will try some root crops like carrots, beets, onions, radishes, etc. Oh, I am going to put in some lettuce and spinach too.

Rose bush

See the new growth on the small red rose bush after I took all the old blossoms off. There are buds coming on. I look forward to watching this plant grow and produce flowers. The flowers are more old fashioned looking as opposed to a tea rose look. I do love the tea rose look with beautiful buds that explode into full beautiful roses. I am not sure I can grow those here. We shall see.

Progress

I think there is some degree of growth here. The rain has been wonderful for the impatiens. I think the pink ones which are on the outer edge have had their blossoms beaten off by the incredible downpours we have been having. It has rained day and night for at least 2 weeks now. We have been in a drought for so long that it really seems strange to be in a monsoon mode at present. What I remember about Florida was the brief afternoon shower between 2 and 4PM every day through the summer. And of course, the odd hurricane. That is not what this has been. We are not officially into the hurricane season yet, although not far from it. I think it is June 1- November 1.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is tomorrow. We are to honor those who have fought for our country and lost their lives and Veterans who have fought for our country, returned home and since have died. I recall it as a time when my parents would go to the local cemetery in Decatur, IL where most of our relatives who had passed away were buried. Mom would pick Iris, and Peonies if it had been warm enough for the Peonies to bloom in time. She might be able to include tulips and daffodils, perhaps narcissus, flowering almond as well. We would take a bucket of water, canning jars or coffee tins to use as vases. Dad would take coat hangers and make hooks that would bend over the makeshift vases and then press the hooks into the ground which helped to keep the flowers from being blown over by the wind. We would go to the grandparents graves first and then other aunts/uncles or great aunts/uncles. As we placed flowers we would remember things about those people. Things they liked to do, a funny story, places they had lived and so on. It helped us children to learn and understand a little more about our heritage. I liked those times with my mom and dad.

Now here in Florida we are unable to go to the cemeteries in IL but we have a little one that passed away here in 2007. A week or so ago I went to the little country cemetery where he is buried and placed an arrangement of spring flowers in the monument vase. Remembering......

The one who rules the Roost

This is the Rooster who rules the Roost of hens and chicks. Right now he has in his company only 2 hens without chicks. I couldn't get them in the picture with the Royal one. The 2 other hens still remain separate with their 13 chickens which are beginning to look more like hens themselves, they are growing so fast. This dude can be heard crowing any hour of the day or night. Midnight, 3 a.m., 4 a.m., etc. Wonder when he sleeps??

Front needs help

You can see the two front beds and yard look pretty bleak. We have been in a drought situation for some time. The last two days we have received some really good rain. These photos were taken several days ago. I have planted the red pintas in the flower bed beside the driveway. My new rose bush has been blooming well despite the lack of rain. It is suppose to be a drought tolerant one. I have trimmed all the past prime flowers off and waiting for the next round of blooms. See how the grass is practically non-existent in my itty bitty front yard. That is where I plan to put my 4sq. ft garden. I do hope it is an improvement and that I don't get any complaints from the park management over constructing it there. Other people have done things such as totally mulched their front and put edgings up around it. As I look at the photo of the front raised bed I am contemplating doing something entirely different there too. The freeze this winter destroyed my croton plants. I need to remove what is left of them. Perhaps move my crown of thorns pot and do........... something.......hmmm.

Happy Birthday in May

Grandchild #8 is all smiles with his new Carz outfit for his birthday among other things. Grandchild #2 in back with #10 in front of him. The blurr on the right is #3.

Early Morning Visitors

This morning I was getting ready to get in the car to go to work and I discovered the chickens, all of them in my impatiens flower bed! I started shooing them away and then realized I should have taken a pic of them in the flower bed. Ooops! They were already scattering. So I ran in, got the camera and took these shots. I tried to enlarge them so that you can see them better. They were running behind the homes to the east of ours. This gives you an idea of what I am up against in trying to protect my flowers. I thought only the little ones were on this side of the fence, but the whole crew is able to get through the fence. By the way, these two hens with chicks are only part of the whole flock. There is a rooster, and 3 other hens that don't have babies. They keep their distance from the chick brood.

Next project

My plan is to remove the grass which is mostly dead, level the area and place these red patio stones so that the carport is extended to drive one car onto.

I went out this evening and removed enough grass to place about 25 stones but couldn't get the job done. I found that it is extremely important that the ground be level. Very level. I don't have much in the way of tools to do that. I am thinking about using one of my 4ft boards to drag across the area as though I were leveling wet concrete. Then get Bill's bubble level and see if I am getting the job done. The ground is very sandy and very easy to manipulate. But pulling the grass roots up is not as easy. I am putting the weed block cloth under the blocks to prevent weeds from coming up through. I will be laying more than 25-12 inch square blocks but am doing it a bit at a time. Will post another picture of my progress from tonight. I failed to take a picture after I worked today.

More

Close ups of my impatiens and the arrangement around the grapefruit tree.

Chickens

This vacant house is across the fence at the back of our home. Recently we called the police when we saw 3 young boys go in around 8:00am. The house has been vacant for many months. Windows have been left open and I think the inside must be trashed. We knew these boys did not belong. By the time the police got there with a canine and flushed them out the final count of youngsters in the house was about 8 with one getting away. I never did learn what they were doing in there. Boys AND girls. Obviously others had gone in earlier that I had not seen. ANYWAY my purpose for this photo is to show a hen and 2 chIcks in the center of the photo headed for underneath the vacant house. They had been headed for my FLOWER BED!!! They saw me trying to get a picture and ran to hide. They have been scratching in my flower bed unearthing my plants and scattering my mulch till you can't tell where the mulch is. I have enjoyed watching the chickens until now. There are 4 hens and 1 rooster belonging to someone back in that neighborhood but I am not sure they are being cared for. 1 hen recently had about 8 chicks and another 5. So the population grew exponentially. I have noticed that the hen with 5 has lost 2 or 3 chicks by now. We have hawks and other predators that love a tender juicy chick.

Before and after

You can see in the photo with our grandchildren that on the left the evergreens go all the way to the ground and the grapefruit tree limbs hang almost to the ground as well. The other photo shows how I trimmed the evergreens. My trees didn't have any central branches. They spread way out. So they have a bonsai look now but it is nice to be able to walk under them. The grapefruit tree is much neater and the little orange tree on the other end now has room to breath and grow. Perhaps it might eventually bloom and bear fruit. I am assuming it is an orange tree.
Under the trees was bare sand. I thought perhaps since this area is shaded that I might be able to grow impatiens. I have not even tried impatiens before because I have had no completely shaded areas and the sun is too hot for them in unshaded locations. I planted fushia and white mounding type impatiens. I discovered when I watered them that the water rolled around on the surface of the sand just like mercury on a solid surface. I had not brought any soil in to work into the sand. My only solution for now was to apply red mulch to hold the water and absorb it for the plants benefit. It worked.

Trimming and Sprucing up

My neighbor has evergreens at the back of his lot just like ours. His, like ours were overgrown and had branches down to the ground like bushes you see that are overgrown and need to be removed. These are so big that it would be expensive and difficult to remove. As you can see he trimmed the lower limbs off kept the central ones and made a nice looking, neat, manicured look for his evergreens with tan mulch on the ground. I really liked the idea so started working on mine.

New Bird in the neighborhood

We have a Roseate Spoonbill in our canal. I looked him up on the internet and learned that this species usually travel and breed in flocks. This is a loner so for some reason he is outcast. Whether injury or just lost, but he seems to be eating well. The way he eats is to swing his bill back and forth in the water and when he hits something to eat he does just that. Eats it. Very interesting to watch. I think if you click on the picture you may be able to zoom in on the bird for a better look. He is in the center of the pic in the water by the bank across the way. This is another link to go to for some information and a closer picture of the Spoonbill. http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Birds/Facts/FactSheets/images/spoonbill.jpg