Wish I was waking up to this.....

Instead of another day of gloom & rain! I know we have less extreme weather than other parts of the country, but this cold & gloomy weather is awful. I even started a fire again in the woodstove 2 days ago! Hopefully the weather will be better this weekend!
this is hail from Sunday night!

A Little Splash of Color amongst the Green...

We have sadly neglected our yard the past few years and are making a valiant effort to spruce it up this spring. As you can see the woods surround the house & this ugly concrete wall is holding up the hill. We have tried to grow ivy up it--only lasted a few years. Well, I got the bright idea to hang some planters on the wall & let the vines cover a little of it. So off I went to Ocean State Job Lot to get the wall planters.... Alan thought they were a great idea until he had to drill holes in the cement to hang them! I have filled them with geraniums and vinca vines--will try that this year & see how they work out......it doesn't get too much sun, so we may try other plants next year.

I bought some tomatoes and peppers a few weeks ago & finally started planting them. Decided my regular vegetable garden isn't getting much sun--the trees are growing---so I'm putting all of them in pots near the house. I will be underplanting with some herbs, too. Hope to have a great harvest. One of the peppers I bought is an Ancho--great for all the MX cooking we do!

A walk along the driveway....

Walked down the driveway the other morning to get the paper & took my camera with me...Squeak trotted along beside me just like a dog would---Rafe ( the dog) can only go so far because of invisible fence!

Right in the center of this photo is a bird on a limb--if you enlarge it , it's easier to see!

I like the contrast of the green viney stuff growing up the trees--as long as it's not poison ivy!

These barrels are along the road--I just finished putting New Guinea Impatiens in them & cleaning out around them--going to put more hostas in down there too.

This is the only flower that is blooming around the house at the present time. The irises should be out soon!

A few more from the parade....

These are ponies pulling the stagecoach--it was almost miniature size, but note the boy behind it walking along with the wheelbarrow...... Here's a better photo of the dog in the wagon.....

Happy Memorial Day

Yesterday we went to our town's Memorial Day parade. This is a small town, but the parade is still nice! My pictures aren't in the correct order of the parade, but you can get the idea! the Fire department brings up the rear--with the members--( volunteer dept.) then the 2 trucks, ambulance and air boat.

Our high School band--they march in 3 parades because the school is regional from 3 towns WA=Warren, MO= Morris and GO= Goshen). They do 2 parades on Sunday & 1 on Monday.

Gotta love this brownie with her dog in the wagon!

Some of the vets that marched....


And some of the Brownies & Girl scouts & Moms......The parade lasts about 15 minutes and then a ceremony at the cemetery & then some of them march back to the school. We watched from outside our only bar/restaurant & then went in for lunch!

Some sad news....

We had to put our beautiful cat, Bubble to sleep this morning, very unexpectedly. He took sick over the weekend & I took him to the vets first thing this morning.

I won't go into all the details except to say he had multiple clots around his heart & the vet said he was in bad shape. We've been going to the same vet for 25+ years & trust that when he said there was nothing we could do, he had tried whatever he could, but Bubs was too far gone.

I had had an appointment to take all the cats for their yearly checkup for this afternoon, so I will be taking the other 2 for the check up & bringing Bubble home to lovingly put him in our pet cemetery with the other cats & dogs that have graced our lives in the last 30 years. He was a part of our family for almost 13 years and was born on my birthday.....

I'm sure his brother ( from the same litter) will miss him a great deal, too!

Tomatomania!

Yesterday I went to "Tomatomania"--a plant ( mostly tomato) sale that is held a a local garden center--White Farm Farm. I have been a few times before, but this year's sale was much busier than when I've gone in the past. Barb, the nursery mgr & an Isla friend, said their edibles( veggies, fruit) sales are doing great--so many people deciding to grow their own this year. They had all the tomato plants arranged alphabetically--145 varieties! I had looked at their website at all the types & made a list of what I was looking for....learned the hard way--1st year I went I just walked up & down --too many types to choose from!

I arrived 15 minutes after they opened & the parking lot was already full. I ended up with lots of herbs, all the tomatoes that I wanted and a few veggies thrown in, too. Now if we could only have some warm(er) weather! Still a threat of frost for early next week!

This is part of the rest of the nursery--I did a post with photos at the end of April.

I planted most of the herbs yesterday, but will save the tomatoes, squash & peppers ( got Ancho plants) for at least another week.

Alot of grass to mow!

Isn't my brother lucky he has a 14 yr. old son to cut it all ?
These are photos in my brother's back yard! You've seen pictures when the river is swallowing up the yard--here's what it looks like normally......My Mom is in this photo--if you look closely, she's about in the center of the picture in front of a tree.

Looking at the Merrimack River....

Very peaceful on the river--don't see power boats very often; mostly kayakers & canoeists

Violets and apple blossoms

Don't know what these little white flowers are, but small & low to the ground like violets. We have a huge crop of violets this year. I walked down the driveway & in our front meadow--used to be a horse pasture ---there are hundreds!

And a few of our apple trees have blossoms--we decided not to prune them this year--they haven't been producing much in recent years, but are pretty......

Just a glimpse of the front pasture--it has apple trees around the outside & a few in the middle--the horses used to love it!

A few more tulips

For all of the tulip lovers out there, here's a few more photos! All of the same bunch of flowers, but different views & they are so pretty!

Enjoy!

Special Assignment--Tulips

I had a request for pictures of tulips from Wayne--thanks! I had to go to work yesterday so took my camera, thinking I'd see lots of tulips blooming on my way there. Spotted these along the way...... These were at the town garage in an area maintained by the Girl Scouts and the local Garden Club.

Unfortunately, most tulips look like this about now, even around here! They are mostly past their prime, but I will try & remember for next year!

These last 2 photos are from past years--taken in my yard......Wayne, I know they aren't the full tulips, but I still like them--love the red & white!

Rain, rain, go away!

Another day of rain--heavy with thunder and lightning early this morning! I know other parts of the country are alot worse off than us with tornados & wild fires--it puts it in perspective! But enough already! There are some pluses to all the rain--it's filling the reserviors & making everything grow!

And making wonderful water droplets for photos!

Between the raindrops

I've been trying to get outside to take a few picture of the flowers in my yard, but the weather isn't cooperating! So I thought I watch & go out during a lull...... A few of the tulips that are blooming

There's no place like home, there's no place like home!

I'm back from a week visiting my Mom & taking her to see her sister & a friend. I did get to spend a little time with my brother & his family ( thanks!). I had hoped to take lots of pictures on the Cape ( Cape Cod to those of you not from around here!). But this is the only one I took --it's the Sagamore bridge that you cross over to get there! Only other time I had my camera out was to take a few photos of my Mom( in pink) & Aunt Kay. We basically took her out to run errands & to eat! The trip got better after we left the Cape!