weekend with family

Obviously being back to blogging doesn't mean a post every day ;)  but I did want to share a few photos of Brooklyn & Landon as they were our house guests for the weekend.  Our time together was a weekend of beautiful warm weather so we spent most of it outdoors.

Brooklyn arranged the fairy garden this year!  Grandma is still getting used to it but also felt it was great to change it up a little...

Landon enjoyed every minute outside playing with as he says "the pup dogs, Hersh Bar & Maya", riding on the ranger with anyone who will give him a ride, riding the little battery operated scooter & car and of course the "horsey" swing.

Since it was so nice out it was a perfect day for a project.  After falling a few times on my arched bridge when it was wet - I decided I wanted a safe flat bridge as design isn't as important as my bones.

Brooklyn and her parents helped Bapa Jeff build the bridge...

and Landon and her were the first to use it to feed the fish!

First Blossoms...

The first blossoms of spring are starting - today I noticed the first tulips in the front landscape.

I liked how these 3 were all in a straight line.

The forsythia have been blooming all week but looking pretty ragged from the past 3 days being very windy...

and I am hoping the next few days are better since the magnolia is almost ready to bloom.

We didn't go on our annual "finding spring" motorcycle trip this March so the early blossoms are much more exciting for me this year! Instead we took a February trip to the Florida Keys and I will show some of those photos in the coming days. Hope you enjoy.

Catch up...

I have blogged in weeks, this blog has been overwhelmed with spam comments that somehow get through all the filters and it is so disheartening that other than coming to delete them I have ignored the whole "blog thing". I finally decided to disable comments and if you like what you see - feel free to let me know by checking a reaction box at the bottom of each post.

If you are a reader that doesn't live in MN you may not know about the crazy weather we had the whole month of June. We had rain, rain and more rain and lots of cloudy, but still very humid days. One afternoon we had crazy puff clouds that my husband described as marshmallow clouds.

A little over a week ago our ground finally became saturated to the point it could take no more water and this is what our farmland looked like as well as my niece's driveway.

Since moving to this home in 1981, this is the first time we had standing water on our lawns and flower beds...

and a pail I had forgotten on the patio table was filled to the brim with just a couple days worth of rain.

It is July 1st and I have not had to water the inground gardens at all this summer and my potted plants I've only watered 2-3 times. While the garden is growing and blooming so are the weeds. Due to health issues I have not been able to go out and weed so I am getting overwhelmed with how bad it looks. Once again I will focus on some "tight" shots so you do not see the thistle patch that used to be my backyard, but instead the beauty of the gorgeous blossoms. Today's focus is on some of my clematis.

2014 Garden Party #6...

The garden is still full of weeds since I spent the last week loving on my 4 grandchildren but there is much beauty amongst the dandelions and thistles! Anybody else having a terrible time with thistles? I don't know where they are coming from but I have many and other locals are saying the same thing. Now on to the beauty…my current favorite flower(s) are my coral peonies. They are just stunning…

aren't they gorgeous? I purchased root stock from Hidden Springs Flower Farm and planted them in the fall of 2012 and they finally are at peak. Last year, I purchased and planted a yellow variety but no blossoms this year.

My old fashioned magenta peonies and a pink/yellow variety are also blooming - the medium pinks and whites are only budding.

The irises peaked earlier in the week…

the pastels are my favorites, especially the peach and pink.

There is color from the Miss Kim lilacs and snowball bush as well as some my Bourbon clematis, painted daises, shasta daisies, yarrow and veronica.

Maybe by next Thursday's post I will have the weeding done for some shots of the whole garden sans thistles :) Please click HERE to head over to Fishtail Cottage and view the rest of the garden party participants.

2014 Garden Party #5...

It's Thursday and that means time to join the Garden Party over at Fishtail Cottage once again! It also means little Aleah Jo is one week old, can you think of any better reason why I missed joining the party last week?

With all the rains we've had lately my garden weeds have grown by leaps and bounds so I chose not to show any big garden views this week until I can spend some time out there taming the jungle.  But amongst the bright yellow dandelion blooms are some beautiful blossoms finally opening up including the irises.

Everything is so late this year that I am still waiting for the peonies to bloom, but I finally have lilacs (the scent is heavenly), jack-in-the-pulpits, wild phlox, columbine and one lone guernsey cream clematis blossom.

The first shasta daisies have appeared…

and this big snapper moseyed across our lawn the other day. Except for these quick photos we kept the dogs and Bailey far away from those strong snapping jaws!

Serviceberry...

After planting a serviceberry shrub when I created my garden in 2000-2001, I couldn't help but awe at how much it was a bird magnet until every last berry was gone. The fact that it has beautiful white spring blossoms and great yellow fall color was the icing on the cake. Soon I added a serviceberry tree, behind the rock fountain for a spot for the birds to roost before going down to drink or bathe and then once again to roost and groom. Planting this tree was a decision I have never regretted, the tree version has the same beautiful white spring blossoms but has awesome red-orange fall foiliage. This week the tree was in full blossom so I always had my camera handy to capture some of the beautiful birds perched amongst the blossoms.

The indigo bunting is so shy I could never crank open my window before he flew away so these last photos are a little hazy taken through my dirty window. Getting them washed this weekend is high priority so I can get some better shots!

A few none serviceberry shots because Mr. and Mrs. Goldfinch are always so cooperative during photo shoots!

2014 Garden Party #4...

I am happy I made the goal of joining Fishtail Cottage's Garden Party each week. It gets me out to take photos of the flowers like I used to and I have discovered I missed seeing the garden up close and personal :)

This week the service berry tree and shrub are both in full bloom.

I love to take photos of the birds among the blossoms…

The tulips, daffodils and muscari are all bright little spots of color in my backyard garden.

The front beds are also colorful with tulips but our harsh winter has really damaged all my roses. A few bushes are sprouting new growth from the roots but some look completely dead.

I finally went annual shopping and bought enough to only do my planters. I'll have to make another trip this weekend for garden plants. I planted the front pots in a cherry color scheme and the patio ones are a hodgepodge of plants that caught my eye. I especially like the cherry/white verbena blossoms.

Hop on over to Fishtail Cottage to see what others are sharing this week. I always enjoy looking at other gardens!

2014 Garden Party #3...

Finally seeing small bits of color - almost makes up for the cold weather and scattered frost we are having each night this week.

Once again I'm going in at the garden party at Fishtail Cottage, click HERE to see the other's participating this week.

2014 Garden Party #2…"this bud's for you"

It's Thursday, and time once again to join the garden party over at Fishtail Cottage. Click here to see the rest of the beauty. I have nothing blooming except for 2 forsythia that are past prime and a few beat up tulips from the high winds the last few days. So I decided to focus on future blooms that will hopefully open soon.

Serviceberry Bush

Pagoda Dogwood

Diablo Ninebark

Miss Kim Lilac

Magnolia (white)

Fern Peony

Early Blooming Peony

Tulips

Pink Flowering Crabapple Tree

Wild Plum trees along my grove

Overall photos showing the early spring backyard garden today…

the trees in the grove are also just starting to bud out in the background…

at least there is some color in the pond!