Mother Nature is Smiling on Us

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This morning about 1:30 a.m. we had flickering power and a new thunderstorm. I stayed awake long enough to make a trip to the bathroom and then turn on our fan again before sleeping through the rest of it.

It was raining (still – again?) when we got up and had breakfast. Both doggies have been out and are back in – TWICE – both wet and happy from playing out in it. The cats are staying firmly in their cube beds on top of the woodpile in the garage, shaking their paws at even the THOUGHT of getting wet. The fish in the aquarium are unimpressed and bewildered by all the hubbub.

We usually shop for groceries on Sunday mornings, but we’ll hold off, not wanting our groceries to get any more wet than necessary. I’ve been on the front and back porches, though, a couple of times, enjoying the cool and the wet, the rumbling of the thunder, the blowing of branches, and the glorious smell of the rain.

Once this is over, we’re back into the oven that is Arkansas this year, so I’m soaking up all I can get.

Ahhhhhhhh!

Interesting Day

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The weather alert thingie in our bedroom woke me up early this morning – about 2:45 a.m. – flashing red. I got up to see what it was warning us about. A severe thunderstorm. That started about 3 a m.  There was an impressive amount of thunder and lightning, along with a good amount of rain – just perfect for feeling grateful we had a roof over our head, a strong house, and good windows – and then turning over and happily going back to sleep.

It was still raining, or raining again – though without all the fanfare, when we got up for breakfast. The dogs didn’t seem to mind going out to take care of business, but they were barking at the door only moments later. The wind was whipping trees around, so I closed the garage door for at least the morning.

We’re due for severe weather – rain, gusty winds, hail, possible tornadoes, possible flooding, and flying hair balls – this afternoon and evening, so the whole day will be interesting.

Both doggies have been out again and are happily playing.  The cats are curled up in their ‘cube’ beds on top of the woodpile in the garage. The fish are happily swimming in their still-clean water. The people are happy they don’t have to go do a bunch of errands today. We might drive down quickly and get the mail at the bottom of the driveway, but today will be a nice inside day for us.

Hold onto your hats if you’re in our area today. If you aren’t, I hope you’re enjoying the weather where you are.

Thoughts as Summer Begins

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“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.” — James Dent

 

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“The perfect summer day is with friends & flip flops.” – unknown

http://www.cafepress.com

 

“Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.” ~Sam Keen

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“Dirty hands, iced tea, garden fragrances thick in the air and a blanket of color before me,
who could ask for more?” – Bev Adams

http://www.pacifichorticulture.org

 

Mother Nature is Smiling on Us Today

http://www.boredpanda.com

We are FINALLY enjoying some much-needed rain this morning! Ahhhhhhhhh!

We’ve been having August-like heat with heat indices over 100 for a month or more now. Usually we move into this gradually, so it’s been a bit of a shock, particularly when we’re trying to get out to do gardening and yard work. Today is an ‘inside day,’ as we used to call it a gazillion years ago when I taught, and I’m DELIGHTED! I hope your day is wonderful, too.

Nice Storm

Iron Man Robot

Our wind and rain yesterday evening was impressive – hard rain and gusty winds. My husband waited out the storm in the shop. Our electricity flickered twice, but came on again quickly enough that our generator wasn’t triggered.

When the rain finally let up, my husband used the opportunity to burn all the trash that had been piling up in the shop, able to finally burn it safely.

When we drove down the driveway to go to town this morning, our robot beside the driveway (over 6 feet tall, weighing 250 pounds) was leaning into the trees. When this happened the last time, he went completely off the driveway and was head down halfway down the slope of the yard. We had to use a winch and my husband’s smarts to laboriously get him into position again. At that time, we arranged for a SECOND length of chain to be attached to his neck. The original went around his neck and was around the iron gateway post you see behind him. The second one is around his neck and goes around the tree down the driveway in front of him. The two together kept him mostly upright, just leaning into the trees. We were able to easily bring him to an upright position again. It’s an impressive wind, though, that blows him over!

No other consequences from the storm, thank goodness. Everything got a really good amount of water. All the plants are saying, “Ahhhh!” as we walk around the yard.

Since it’s still a bit cooler, I’m going to use the opportunity to try to get our trio of brick flower planters that run between our front yard and our driveway under better control. I’m hoping not to get bitten and/or stung, having sprayed everything with a good bug spray last week called, “EIGHT,” that’s supposed to kill the bugs, but not harm the plants, our animals, or us.

Have a fun day!

Mother Nature is Confused

KFSM 5 News, Fort Smith AR

Mother Nature seems to think that this is July or August. I know that “I” get confused from time to time, but usually Mother Nature has her act together.

We had a nice storm early this morning that cooled everything down, but it’s already soaring again.  We gave up early, closing doors and windows and turning on the A/C. I hate to think what our electricity bill will be this month.

I told you that I was stung by a scorpion for the first time in my life a couple of nights ago – in our bed! – on the 2nd floor of the house! SHRIEK! I’m much better now. Antihistamine and ice got most of the pain and swelling to recede, though I had a couple of days of skin sensitivity, as if I had been burned. You can still see a small red place on my arm – the only remnant, other than my memories. I stripped the bed and washed everything, vacuumed the bedroom and sprayed all around, but I have to admit I’m still gun-shy.

Each year we have what we call, “Year of the ____”  This year it seems to be ticks. We’ve used our normal flea and tick stuff we get from our vet. We have now added flea collars to our two dogs and two cats. (So far, the fish don’t seem to need any help. :0) )  We do a tick check on the animals every day and on US each night.

I called our pest control folks, asking if we could be scheduled as soon as possible for spraying. When she asked what the problem was, and I told her about the scorpion, and that I wanted them to spray for everything, including elephants, inside and out. She said a man would call us back, and he did within 10 minutes, saying he was on his way to our house for us to sign a new quarterly contract. While he was here, he called the office and scheduled a tech to come spray everything tomorrow morning! You really can’t ask for better service than this. If YOU live in the Fort Smith, AR area, call Tri-Hill Pest Control Incorporated

(479) 782-2847.

Mother Nature may be confused, causing our weather to be wonky and causing bad bugs to be quite prolific already, but I feel we are in really good hands with our pest control people.

 

Joke on Us

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I started mowing the lawn yesterday, in a rush because we were going to have thunderstorms in the afternoon. My husband came out and took over when I had finished about half of the yard. I drank some water and then went out to run the leaf blower to clean up the front porch, sidewalks front and back and the garage pad of all the grass and dirt.

We both came in breathing pretty heavily and drank water again and rested.

Can you hear Mother Nature giggling? She has a cruel sense of humor sometimes. I think she loves seeing us rush around and then NOT send the rain…

Beautiful Day of Nature

We’ve spent almost all day outside. The weather is truly glorious – sunny and a pretty warm 91 degrees. The temperature surge was a bit unexpected, but we rested a lot and drank lots of water.

First, we did errands – and even there nature was all around us. ‘

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As we started backed up off the driveway pad and started to go down the driveway, we saw TWO road runners running away, toward the garden. They both stopped when they heard us – tails up and as still as statues – then their heads and tails went down simultaneously and then headed away from us, streaking across the yard.

About half way to town we get to pass several neighbors who have horses. I always wave to them. Amber, our 93 pound yellow lab “puppy” was in the back seat of the car, taking a great interest in all the sights, sounds, and smells along the way.

On the way back, we saw

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It was hot by the time we got home, so I got the baby pool from the back porch, squirted the dust off, and then started filling it. Amber was immediately by my side looking really interested. Last year was the first time she saw the pool, and she would tentatively get in, dance around a bit and then jump out.

 

I was only able to get this picture, but she actually laid down a few times, looking blissfully happy, drinking some as she enjoyed the feeling of being wet and cooled off.  We’ll need to figure out how we’ll handle this if she totally immerses herself each time we let her out…

Walk Around the Yard

We hurried to mow the grass and blow the debris off the sidewalks and driveway pad, just in case the rains would come swooping in. Tonight we’re supposed to have a chance of rain, but the day has been gorgeous. I took a break and took some pics to share with you. My husband loves clematis, and we’ve been trying to get the vines to grow up over the deck. Failing that, and finally admitting defeat, we planted some in plastic barrel halves on the east side of our property between the house and the greenhouse.

 

 

For a very short time each year my camellias bloom. Usually they are immediately beaten down by a rain storm, showering petals everywhere and giving up for another year. Right now they’re blooming, so fingers are crossed they last for more than a day or so.

 

Rainy Day

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“Widespread heavy rain and strong thunderstorms will be likely throughout the morning and early afternoon. Another round of storms will be possible late tonight into Friday morning”. -Joe – meteorologist from KFSM, 5 News, Fort Smith, AR.

I’m so happy that we again dodged the bullet of a really impressive-looking, multicolored blob of severe weather that might have come through here. I hope that everyone who WAS in the line of bad storms is all right today.

We just had some rain last night and will enjoy being inside and dry today as several waves of heavy rain – but not severe – come through.

Before-After Power Company

Yesterday I told you that the Electric company guys were here to cut back trees where they encroached on power lines. This is to increase the changes that their customers won’t lose power in a storm and that they can actually get to the poles to repair any damage.

This is a trio of three evergreens essentially grown together to make one bird habitat. We had to have part of the tree cut back pretty severely several years ago when we added geothermal heating and cooling in order for the big tractors to be able to dig and maneuver. If you look carefully, you can see a power line essentially going through part of the tree.

This is one view of the ‘before’ the power company did their work.

 

 

 

After – This is a bit different view, but you can see that they really cut the top out of the trees to free up the power lines.

 

 

Here’s another ‘before’ shot, showing the encroachment of the tree into the lines.

 

After – You can see in this pic that they essentially cut down half of one side of the tree.

I’m a bit sad. I don’t know what happened with all the birds that were living there. Hopefully, they’ll survive the trauma and come back, even though their digs are looking pretty damaged. The power company didn’t come to make landscaping changes – they came to protect their power lines. We like power, and we don’t want our trees to be the cause of anyone losing theirs. We also want the men working on the lines to be as safe as possible. It’s just a sad day when trees that have been there for longer than 30 years have to be sacrificed…

New Iris

Last fall I cleaned out the planter where the ‘new’ iris were, the ones from Nanna’s Iris Garden in Charleston, AR.  I transplanted iris all over the yard, and still have some that need to be planted. This is one of our new ones and I think it’s really nice. I cut the top bloom and brought it into the house for us to enjoy, leaving the rest to bloom outside.

I love this time of year, each time I take a trip around the yard, I find something that fills my heart.

Survey Tape

Arkansas Valley Electric Company

This picture shows some of the equipment being used, but the season is wrong, showing them clearing branches after a bad winter storm.

The Arkansas Valley Electric Company guy woke us up this morning, telling us that they were bringing their equipment today to cut branches that were too close to electrical lines. We have seen them on the main arteries of Greenwood over the past few weeks, sawing down countless branches so that we hopefully won’t lose power during spring severe weather due to trees falling on power lines and bringing them down.

I just came in from trying to mark all of our guy wires on the ham radio tower, plus electrical lines going low across the area where their equipment is coming up to make sure they see them. My husband brought a PVC pole we use in the garden for them to use to hold up the low hanging lines so the equipment can go under them safely. I also unplugged the electrical cord that goes from the house out to the greenhouse so it wouldn’t get run over.

They have a regular pickup truck, a big vehicle that has a radial type saw on the end of a long pole that can cut horizontally or vertically, as needed. There is something else that is causing big chips to fly in all directions, so we’re keeping our animals inside until they are finished.

The biggest problem area that I can see is our triple evergreen trees that are practically grown together, home to countless birds. The tops of the trees are really encroaching on the power lines. They might have to aggressively attack those to protect their power lines.

We are due for severe storms Thursday, so I’m delighted that they are out there now cutting away the stuff that might cause problems.

Greenwood Arkansas Tornado – 1968

April 19, 2018 marked the 50th anniversary of a tornado that practically wiped Greenwood, Arkansas off the map. It happened just after school let out on that day in 1968. 13 people died and hundreds were injured. Half the town square was obliterated, the tornado blowing away over 400 businesses and homes in the space of 4 minutes.

Greenwood Tornado 1968 – GreenwoodDemocrat.com

On April 19th of this year commemorations were held all over the city. Books were published by the Greenwood Democrat that we could buy, showing photos and giving details of that day. Farmers Bank also published a book that they were giving away to citizens.  People gathered to see a video, ask questions of the survivors, and appreciate what happened.  Others gathered at the square. Survivors recounted their memories of the day that devastated Greenwood.  The tornado was national news in 1968. They figure now that it was an F4 tornado.

Through the tragedy, though, people rebuilt. Survivors with homes intact offered rooms, clothes, and food to those who needed them. Ham radio operators helped with communications. Surrounding towns provided help. Help was offered from far away, as well.

There were 2000 residents of Greenwood in 1968. Today there are around 10,000. Instead of giving up and going elsewhere, the strong people rebuilt the town, building a stronger sense of community than ever before.

The photos of the devastation tear your heart out. The people of Greenwood were stronger than 4 minutes of Mother Nature’s wrath, though – stronger than anyone knew.

My husband and I found Greenwood, Arkansas when he took a job in Fort Smith in 1987. We feel lucky to have found such a wonderful place to live.

 

Nana’s Iris Plus “Volunteer Rose”

We bought three different colors of iris from Nana’s Iris Garden in Charleston AR about three years ago.  We have several like this blooming now. I think they’re wonderful.

 

And when I was pruning our new Rio Samba rose bushes, I found this ‘volunteer’ right beside the front planter! If it’s a remnant of one of the bushes we had to cut down, we’ll try to nurture it and see what happens.

You probably already know this, but a lady at Sharum’s Nursery in Fort Smith showed me how to prune rose bushes to encourage more blooms. Ever since I learned this, I have SO much better luck with roses! –

PRUNING ROSES

• Take the spent bloom in one hand, and pull the branch out so that you can see the groupings of leaves. Find the first group of five leaves and prune at a downward angle right ABOVE the five-leaf cluster.

Rain!

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The rain started just after we got into the car in the Walmart parking lot early yesterday afternoon, and we’ve had showers off and on ever since. It’s very overcast and looks like another one is coming any minute. No severe weather this time, and for that I am truly grateful. (I tend to get nervous when the weather alert is flashing red and the weather guys on TV are telling you to bend over and kiss your nether end bye-bye…)

THIS rain is one where you can almost hear all the trees, plants, and grass saying a collective “AHHHHHH!” A nice, soaky, healing rain.

It makes my husband cranky, though, because his only thought is that we’ll have to mow the lawn again soon, when we JUST finished doing that this past week.

I have mentally switched from my “OUTSIDE to-do list” to my “INSIDE to-do list,” both of which are longer than my arms right now. I know I’ll never actually get either list finished – that just never happens around here. I just keep plugging away, telling myself that it’s better now than it was before I started, and make myself content with that.

I’m looking forward to getting something accomplished today, enjoying the rain, taking a break and curling up with my current book, and maybe even catching a nap this afternoon.

 

GrowingBolder.com

Have a wonderful Sunday!

 

Purple Iris

Deep purple iris are our favorites (although I like a lot of other colors). I’ve been working on trying to spread the purple iris all around the yard, since my husband loves them above all others.  Right now we’re feeling rich in purple iris!

 

This is toward the top of our driveway, on the right as you drive up. We have an antique computer tower perched on one of our brick planters. My husband put it there as a conversation piece years ago, but the birds now build nests in it each year. You can see some parts of the ’emu’ planters just past the brick planter. We’ll place my husband’s favorite periwinkles in those as soon as the weather warms up.

 

This is one of the clumps of purple iris that are finally happy along the side of the driveway. They make us smile as we go down the driveway. My husband remarks about them each time he sees them, thanking me for transplanting some there.

Mother Nature in a Snit

Mother Nature was in a snit yesterday afternoon and evening, bringing us a cold front with accompanying 60 mph winds, hail, rain, tornadoes, and flying hair balls. The sky was black in mid afternoon and I watched the hard-working local weather guys try to warn people in our area and all around us about when to dive for shelter.

Happily, though we got wind and rain, all the bad stuff either went north or south of us. We came through her bad temper well. I checked this morning when I took the doggies out, that the greenhouse was still standing, we didn’t have any damage to the house, my roses were still intact, and the square foot garden was still looking good.

We planted 3 new rio samba rose bushes recently. I’m just thrilled that they seem to be happy.

 

 

 

Even though it’s too cool to be comfortable outside today, I’m thankful to see the sun and our thriving plants.

Roses “A-bloom!”

We planted three new Rio Samba rosebushes recently. THEN, we of course had 2 freezes….. I’m happy to show you that the roses came through the freeze well and are ‘a-blooming!” (If that’s a word)

 

We love the Rio Samba because it’s like having several rosebushes in one. The bloom starts out bright yellow with a faint coral edge on the petals. As the bloom opens, more and more coral shows up.  As the bloom matures, the coral fades, but covers most of the bloom. At any one time you’ll see buds, bright yellow new blooms, and various shades of older blooms.

 

 

I’m delighted that so far, the new bushes seem to be very happy, blooming their little hearts out.

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Thoughts About the Rain

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“The richness of the rain made me feel safe and protected; I have always considered the rain to be healing — a blanket — the comfort of a friend. Without at least some rain in any given day, or at least a cloud or two on the horizon, I feel overwhelmed by the information of sunlight and yearn for the vital, muffling gift of falling water.” ~ Douglas Coupland

______

“Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards.” ~ Vladimir Nabokov

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“Never run in the rain with your socks on.” ~ Billie Joe Armstrong

 

Good Morning!

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I just took the doggies out, walking straight out to the garden to see if our plants made it through the night. It was due to get close to freezing this morning, and I debated whether to try to cover things up. I finally decided I had too many things to cover and would just hope for the best.

It wouldn’t have been the end of the world if the plants had frozen, but they were doing really well and I would have been very disappointed if Mother Nature had zapped everything.

Everything is good!

I hope that the weather is good where you are this morning. I wonder what the day will bring?

 

I’ve Definitely Quit Dancing!

piccsy.com

Okay. We were in the middle of a drought and it even caused bad problems with our water supply, making the turnovers in the lakes cause our water to have a bad odor and taste.  Wildfire danger was high. Warm, windy days were worrisome.  I started doing mental and physical rain dances, trying to get our area over the problem.

Mother Nature listened. I’m not sure if she saw and heard ME, or if a whole lot of people were also doing rain dances, but she delivered. Big Time. We’ve had rain, rain showers, heavy rain, storms, sleet, and more rain. I’ve definitely STOPPED even thinking about rain dances, but now I’m thinking Mother Nature is saying, “You wanted rain. Okay. Here it is!”

Today we’re due for MORE storms, particularly between 11:00 and 3 this afternoon with possible severe weather.  We did a group of errands this morning, paring our list down to one appt this afternoon, in an effort to be ONLY blown away, rather than blown away and DROWNED trying to get our stuff done.

The doggies came and demanded that I take them out a couple of minutes ago, insisting they would blow up if I didn’t take them out NOW. I complied, then came back for my camera, to record some of the beauty I found while walking around the yard. The storm today might wreak havoc with our yard, so I wanted to try to catch Mother Nature at her BEST – first.

Every day the wisteria gets more lush and more purple.

It SMELLS wonderful, too!

We have purple iris blooming in planters, in clusters around the yard, even off the edge of the civilized part of our yard, plus down our driveway.

 

We have buds on the three new Rio Samba rose bushes, and now some of the buds are starting to open up!

 

A knock out rose bush is starting to have blooms.

 

This is the north side of our square foot garden.

And the south side.

The winds really picked up while I took pics and walked the dogs. We’ll probably be right in the heart of the thunderstorms this afternoon, since we have to be out at 1:30. It’s a good thing we don’t melt in the rain. We’re thankful for our warm, dry home. Our doggies have already snuggled down for a nap, and even the two cats came in with us.

Have a wonderful day. Stay warm and dry!

Rain

DesiComments.com

“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.”
Langston Hughes

It’s “Wissing!”

When our wisteria starts to bloom each year, my husband says, “The wisteria is wissing!”

Each day it get a bit more lush, a bit more purple. We just love it.

 

Roses: New Growth and Buds

This is the Joseph’s Coat climbing rose bush that my friend Kay bought for me for my birthday. It’s putting on new growth, so hopefully it’ll be happy in its new home.

We planted three new Rio Samba rose bushes recently. All are showing nice buds, and SOME are about to open! Here’s bush # 1

 

Bush # 2

 

Bush # 3.

Between Rain Storms

“Raindrops on roses….”

 

 

Before the Rains Came

Before the rains started last week, things were sprouting all over the yard. This is the lovely black elephant ear plant that Kay got me for my birthday, plus some iris and some phlox.

 

Amber hasn’t discovered the other hyacinths in the yard yet, so she has ONLY eaten one…. Also some iris and a rose bush.

This hydrangea is sprouting in one of the two brick planters we have to demolish soon.

 

The rose bush on the left is the Joseph’s Coat climbing rose bush that Kay gave me for my birthday. We’re hoping it will climb up the wisteria truck next to it. The plant on the right is a camellia that will soon have blooms.

 

Some of our twice-blooming iris!

 

A close-up of one of the branches of our redbud trees.

 

Surrounded by redbud branches….

 

This is one of the 6 or 8 redbuds we have in the yard.

As we stay in the house, or run through the rain, it’s nice to have so many reminders that wonderful weather is on its way.

Splashing

My Colorful World via Tanglewood Forest via Cathy Ruggiero

 

This span of rain is continuing through tomorrow. Friday is forecast to have NO RAIN, but then it starts in again Saturday and Sunday, and then again Tuesday and Wednesday – so far. Do you suppose the awful drought we’ve been in could be considered ‘over?’

Our washer and dryer have been running almost non-stop, trying to keep up with all the wet towels from drying our sweet animals. Why is it that animals love you most – and want to cuddle – when they’re wringing wet?

I’ll be almost afraid to look at my veggie garden and new plants after all this. Just a little too much of a good thing….

MEANWHILE – you would THINK I would be super-productive in the house, and even playing in my art room.  I have found that these rainy days are lazy days for me. I’m on the computer, reading good books, falling asleep under my cozy throw in my recliner….

I hope that you’ve been enjoying the week.

Mother Nature is Angry!

YouTube

Mother Nature is shaking her fist at us this morning. A tornado warning was just issued from our weather radio. I went online to find that the area in question is actually north of us. We’re just supposed to get “torrential rain” – up to 3 inches – today – or as far as I know right now. Since the rain is supposed to be pretty impressive all day, I took the doggies out to take care of things before the heavy rains start. It’s really getting dark outside now, as if it were evening turning into night time.

Today is an excellent day to have a warm, dry home. I’m talking to myself now, trying to get motivated to give our master bedroom and bath a good cleaning, since I won’t be able to do anything outside. I MAY opt to dive into the Lee Child “Jack Reacher” book I started yesterday, curled happily up under my snuggly throw in my recliner…

Cindy Basnett Thurman

“The richness of the rain made me feel safe and protected; I have always considered the rain to be healing — a blanket — the comfort of a friend. Without at least some rain in any given day, or at least a cloud or two on the horizon, I feel overwhelmed by the information of sunlight and yearn for the vital, muffling gift of falling water.” ~ Douglas Coupland

One of the Perks of Living Out in the Sticks

One of the many reasons we love living on top of our ridge line outside the city limits of Greenwood, Arkansas is the privacy.  We have our space without having to speak to lots of neighbors or having them look harshly at us because we don’t make sure each blade of grass is cut to the neighborhood specifications.  We have created out own little world up here and we love it.

We can pretend we own all the land we can see. :0)  We own about 8 acres. Our land goes down to the street in the front. Picture a hill with the top part cut off horizontally. That’s our land.  We keep a small part ‘civilized’ and let the rest be natural.

We absolutely love our view from our back yard. We can watch the seasons change. We can enjoy the firework displays of our neighbors in the valley below.

If we can SEE it, it’s OURS, isn’t it? :0)

Radiating Spring

We are enjoying a pretty early spring here in Arkansas. It makes me feel a bit guilty, so I’m trying to send some nice spring weather in all directions.

In my trip around the yard with the doggies, I found some nice things –

Even though it’s cloudy, the redbud is till showing up nicely around the yard.

Here is a close-up view of some of the redbud blooms.

The tulip tree is fragile, already losing a lot of its petals in the gusty winds we’ve been having off and on, but it makes me smile each time I see it.

Here is a close-up of some of the blooms.

These hyacinths are in one planter beside the front porch. We have some more in the planter on the east side of the house.

 

I love the contrast between the lingering winter and the redbud, plus the nice greens of the iris.

 

The first blooming iris of the season!