Iris bloom & baby hawk

Well our iris didn't bloom as well as they normally do since we have had so much rain. But I did manage to get out and photo some and also spent time marking those to keep and those to get rid of. We plan to dig the entire bed and downsize it to 3 rows instead of 5. We will also shorten the rows as well as remove the entire small bed by our sidewalk. We only had one to bloom in that bed and it was never a pretty bed anyway. 

Anyway here are some photos of the best we had to bloom this year. 

Strangely our water iris (Siberian) that we dug growing wild have bloomed well this year. 

Our fruit trees are loaded this year. Our blueberry bushes have a lot of fruit but we had to cut back our oldest bushes severely so the crop over all won't be as good as normal.

Our clematis have been blooming as well even though we cut some of the vines way back last year.

I finally got around to taking photos of the hawk nest. It is hard to zoom in so close so wasn't sure what I was getting until I looked at the photos on my computer. From what I can tell, we have only one baby this year. I plan to get out today and take another as by this time the fuzz should be going away and feathers appearing. They grow so fast and soon mama hawk will be booting her baby out of the nest. 

Sadly this may be the last year to photograph the hawks. We plan to cut this tree. It is a sweetgum tree and is directly over our sidewalk in the front of the house. At our age, the sweetgum balls are really a hazard for walking. We can't afford a fall. Hopefully they hawk will find another tree nearby to nest in next year. 

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This is our yard dog Lulu. She is about 13 years old now. It is hard to catch a photo of Fred as he is always out and about. He is also 13. 

Our yard-house dog is Kinzey and she is a year and 7 months old and we are beginning to train her for a service dog. We have kept her in a large wire crate at nights in the house and last night decided to leave her out for a change. Well if we barely moved in the bed, she was there checking on us and finally I crated her again around midnight as she was keeping us away. I have just purchased a service dog harness and her lessons begin today.

We keep her in a pen in the backyard and she is so active running constantly that as you can see there is no grass any longer. Her play toys have to be tough enough to endure her heavy handling and strong teeth. So she has mainly buckets. She throws them up in the air and just loves making noise with them. We will try her again every night for awhile out of her crate until we can get her used to sleeping outside it for good. 

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Sonny got to visit with the new great grandson the other day. I had made plans with one of the daughter-in-loves to go shopping and he wanted to visit with the oldest son which we rarely see so he got a double blessing. 

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Another love of mine is old churches. We have so many in our area but this photo I found online. Love the lighting in this one.

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And as always

quick post

As usual I'm running out of data so this will have to be quick.

Our church has been doing some overhauls lately. We got new carpet and also a new piano. Our old upright had gotten to the point of having to be retuned every week and was costing us as much as having a payment on a new piano. We got a good deal for a baby grand and with a fund raiser or 2 have been able to afford it.

We have a nice band-choir. I really don't know what to call them as we do mainly gospel but we do have a drummer, piano, several guitars and lots of singers. But we really have more fun in singing and worshiping each week. We can feel the Spirit move each week.

Our main piano player had major surgery lately so we have had a couple of stand-ins but thankfully she is back with us now. 

I really haven't taken any new photos lately and still looking for our baby hawks. The iris are winding down and with all the rain we have been having, they look awful. We plan to downsize that bed to 3 rows instead of 5 this summer. And also take out our smaller bed completely. We are getting too old to work ourselves to death on flowers any longer. 

On a crafting note. I have finished several redwork baby quilt tops and only need to get backing and then bind and tie them. I hope to get enough to donate to Children's Hospital soon. 

And as usual...I have to share some photos I love that I've found recently.

And as usual...

Full moon

Last Friday was a full moon. I wasn't able to get out and take a photo as it was cloudy and rainy but got one the next night.

I had a hard time taking the photo as it was where I had to try to focus without leaning on a tree. I shake too much unless I lean on a tree or something, but I finally managed to get this photo. I took this next one and thought at first when I previewed the photo that I had broken my camera. I didn't realize at the time I was shooting through the foliage on the sweetgum tree. So have a good laugh.

My iris have begun to bloom. I have to remember not to take our Kinzey dog out when I work in the bed as she plows through it like a bull dozer. Since we plan to dig the entire bed up after blooming this year, I'm marking the ugly white ones and some of the multiples of purples as they seem to multiply much faster than my special ones. We plan to downsize the bed into 4 rows instead of 5. It will make it more manageable. 

These last 2 photos are some of my special iris I plan to keep but will divide to have more blooming in a couple of years. 

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This is a short post. Have a bunch to do. 

And as always....

The Glory of God!!!

First great grandson

We have our first great grand child. He was a BIG one at 11 pounds and 22 inches. They have named him Kashdyn (I think that is how you spell it.)

We had a small scare at first as he wasn't breathing right so he was flown to Children's hospital in Little Rock. But he is fine now and back home.

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A few more photos of flowers

Our apple trees have really been blooming this year and we are praying we don't get a drought like last year and lose them. The old granny smith apple is really healthy this year too as we usually fight cedar blight in it. The smaller Arkansas black apple is supposed to be blight resistent.

The dandelions are in full fuzz. Immediately after taking this picture, our dog Kinzey snatched it up.

Our blueberries are loaded with blooms.

Another of our tulips

These are wild thrilliums I replanted into my beds. They have spread and are really blooming this year.

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This was our main meal yesterday. Grilled chicken, fresh asparagus from the garden, potato salad, and Greek stuffed olives. 

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I have been gradually cleaning and organizing my studio. I had 2 boxes of fabric stuck at the top of one shelf that I had forgotten I had. It was given to me from a dear friend in Texas. She used to make baby quilts. Well these are the perfect fabrics for my redwork blocks I've been making into baby quilts. 

Here is one quilt top I finished. I ordered some flannel backing to finish it with.

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I think these tiny wood house with reclaimed driftwood are so cute. 

And as usual....No words needed.

Spring is definitely here!!!

Spring is here!!! We do have a few cold days coming up and we usually have a cold snap right at Easter. Wind is blowing today and you can see the tree pollen in the air. So I have only ventured outside to snap a few photos to share. 

This is my smallest lilac bush and it is in full bloom. The big one has not bloomed this year. I think this smaller one is more protected next to the house and it smells heavenly.

I call these Maypops. Not sure the real name but they pop up overnight and put a flower under the umbrella. Later the flower turns into a fruit. I have been told they make good jam but never found enough to try it. It seems this year there are more than usual.

The dogwood are in full bloom now too. This one grows out the roof of our shed. We couldn't cut it when we built the shed so just build the shed around it. It blooms every year. 

The war on fire ants begins.

I heard our hawk earlier this year but lately they have been quiet. I think the female is setting her eggs now. The next has not grown much as it normally does each year so not even sure they are still there. 

This is not mine. I do have a tall stump that I'd like to transform into a gnome home. I just think this is so neat. I like the church on top.

This is also not my photo. but the bluebirds have been back for awhile now and are nesting in our boxes. I heard the mockingbirds singing yesterday and that usually means they are nesting as well.