Musings

Big event today: “crowning” of new veterinarians! With the degree officially conferred in two sentences by the President of the University heeeemself at the end of the whole production. We won’t mention the speaker who wound himself (and not the audience) up for a few minutes, then launched in a list of ten points, several minutes on each, before winding up blah blah blah for a total of 37 dull and droned minutes. However, we got to see Our Gal become Doctor Gal*! 🧡❤️💛💜💚💙🐱🐶

And she’s taking a month off before she starts Her New Job, after a bazillion years straight of schooling. Whew! It’ll give her time to move! 🧡❤️💚

Posted at 9:19 PM | Comments Off on Congrats!

How luxe to have these blooms at your front door. How great that the front door is to a basement apartment and adjacent to the sidewalk where I can stroll by! [Yes, I’m ALMOST strolling!]

Continuing with the week’s theme of construction projects…I saw this scene this morning and thought: the neighbors are getting their new driveway made today!

Then in the afternoon, trucks and men and equipment gone, but no concrete setting up—frames were empty! Found out the load was not to spec—and the second one sent back for the SAME REASON! They’re to try again on Monday morning. Here’s to success!

In the meantime, the neighbors must climb a ladder to their front porch to enter the house. Stalwart neighbors. And limber.

Posted at 5:21 PM | Comments Off on Lilies and ladder story

These are tiny, delicate blooms in a lovely shade of kinda-pink. That’s an official color name IMHO.

Posted at 6:25 PM | 2 Comments »

Out earlier than I have been—after I heard afternoon temps were to reach the low 80s. LOW 80s!!

Found another local construction project—a new roof. Big pile of plywood I assume was the roof decking (with a few shingle bits attached), but in strange squarish rectangles, not the standard 4×8 size, but looked about 3 and a half by 4 or so. Seemed strange.

I certainly would love that porch if I was living in that upstairs apartment…with a roof.

I have no title ideas. I was going to do “Late,” as if it would be clever that would have a different meaning for each picture…something along the lines of late azalea, not early; and late roof, as in used to be a roof…kinda—see doesn’t work….

Posted at 7:26 PM | Comments Off on Late azalea & unroofed*

I do enjoy the fancy-petals on this iris.

Wondered what this equipment was for. Had to be for a back yard project (but what?, asks nosy me). As I was snapping this, the contractor drove up in pickup with trailer with more equipment, so I had no chance to look up the driveway. He wondered what I was up to. Lotsa wondering during that interlude.

And…May is here.

Posted at 7:56 PM | Comments Off on May Day

The ferns are forging forward.

The rhodos (in the shade) are abloom.

And this, I hypothesize, is AT&T fiber splicing equipment (and personnel inside).

Posted at 7:35 PM | Comments Off on Busy in the neighborhood

Love the tendrils and extra fillips of green on the buds and bud-stems of this red-red-rose.

As usual with my plant photos, I’m trying to focus the way I want, and miss the insects, unless they’re front/center bees or similar. Not delicate spider at 5:30 just off center….

Possibly, you may recall that Goo-Fiber came to our neighborhood last year, and we got powered up in mid-summer. Now, I see the AT&T folks/contractors are playing catchup on the same streets. This is the hookup stage, when people are working in trailers and the back of trucks with the doors open, that delicate work of splicing, I think. In the meantime, there are extra bits hanging here and there. This one has a temporary tether; excess flopping does seem dangerous.

Posted at 7:13 PM | Comments Off on Flowers and power

This flower spike is less that a foot high. If it keeps up with its neighbors, it’ll reach at least six and maybe eight or more feet, with, I expect, white blossoms. Next week I’ll check on its progress….

The red leaves are Acer palmatum/Japanese maple, while the green are some kind of oak. There are a “confusion*” of oaks in this state…. I especially like the lacy, serrate, palmately lobed, pointy maple leaves.

* My reality; my term.

Posted at 7:06 PM | Comments Off on Lookee lookee

I found a young magnolia, about four feet tall. It sported this magnificent blossom on top. Viva!

With an extra ration of Friday-humor, I titled this photo: bee-decked peony. 😎

Posted at 8:50 PM | Comments Off on Whitish blooms

As you may know, Dad was quite the gardener. His tendency was to tend (ha!) plants that produced edibles. He also grew some flowers, because he knew Mom loved them. He only kept one rose bush downstate, because they took too much fussing. The rose grew next to the grapes and on the same trellis.

Dad also wasn’t much for bulbs, like these iris, although we had wild ones that survived on their own on the property up north. Now, in the sense that you plucked them out of the soil in the autumn, and replanted in the spring, onions are darned similar to flower bulbs. And he did grow onions (and garlic).

The dogwood was totally in Dad’s wheelhouse, in that it takes no fussing once it’s established. However, the dogwoods of southern Michigan (that I remember) are swamp-loving red osier dogwoods, and so not suited for the downstate yard. Today, I was surprised to find this one in bloom; the others I saw were the pointy-petaled dogwoods—the rest of the round-petals have finished.

Progression of the dogwood blooming season…and today is 101 years since Dad was born. Me, I don’t garden much, but I’m good with photographing garden products, whether fruits, veggies, or blossoms.

Posted at 4:09 PM | 1 Comment »