A Bit of Rain

Well, we finally have had a bit of rain. The last time I checked the rain gauge, there was 1 inch. It has rained some more, but not very much. The rain has kept the temperature down. We had several above 100 degrees temperatures earlier, so the 80-degrees temps are nice. And, it gives us a break from watering the flowers.

The second crop of figs should start getting ripe. Lynda's hanging basket looks good after the milder weather. I wish the bougainvillea was hardy here in eastern Arkansas. Last winter we stored one in the garage. It survived, but is slow to re-bloom.

This year I have a few cleome growing. I first became aware of this flower in 1979 or so. I first saw them (or at least to really notice them) in the garden at John Quincy Adams' home. One of the gardeners gave me a young plant and I brought it back to Arkansas. Since they are good re-seeders, I had them in the garden for years but somewhere along the line we lost them. it's good to have them back!

July 2012

We've had several celebrations (quiet ones) the last several weeks. L.K. and I celebrated our 52nd wedding anniversary on June 25th, then the next week we had her birthday on July 2nd, then independence day, and today is my birthday (July 7). Two of Lynda's cousins (Carolyn and Valerie) came for a short visit and we drove over to Memphis to visit Lauri and have supper at the Bar-B-Que shop.They left after brunch today on their way to Mena to spend the weekend with their Mom in Mena before heading back to the Dallas area.We haven't done a lot of traveling this summer. I ended up having two surgeries to take care of some hernias. It wasn't real fun, but not as bad as I had thought it would be. The first was in March, and Lynda and Lauri took great care of me. The second was the latter part of June. I've about back to normal activity, now. (But that isn't all that active)!

May

It's hard to realize that it's already May! The roses were the best that we have had in ages. I've enjoyed sitting under the arbor with a cat in my lap just looking around at the blooming flowers.

A Beautiful Spring Day

Today was a lovely day. I slept a bit late and didn't go to church with Lynda. After lunch I did get some more shots of the flowers that are blooming.

Small cranes near a money plant. Azelea in background.

This is the area near the Baker Street entrance.

Azelea

Formosa azelea

One of our little rabbit statues among the aguga

More Springlike Weather

I saw the first azalea bloom on our bushes yesterday. The temperatures this week are supposed to 80 degrees are near. Of course we can probably expect a blackberry winter later in the spring. We hav

e reports that the bluebonnets should be pretty down in the Texas hill country this spring. We are hoping to visit Austin and points west after Easter, so maybe we'll be lucky again.

Springtime in Arkansas

Today was a typical spring-like day. Everything about it was nice, except maybe the wind. Some stormy weather is in the forecast for the latter part of the week. Here is a shot of the trumpeter swans that we saw about a month ago.

About two weeks later we drove back to Searcy to see some bald eagles that were hanging out there. We didn't see any. Next year we'll try to be a little earlier in January or February. Our drive wasn't a total washout since we did get to eat at Who Dat's in Bald Knob. It's a popular place so we had to wait a bit, but the food was delightful.

After the possum haw finally lost it leaves, it added color to the landscape with it red berries until in late February a flock of birds (not sure what) stripped the tree within two days. The daffodils, snowflakes, Carolina Jasmine, and forsythia have bloomed and have brightened up the place.

Our arbor with Carolina Jasmine

Forsythia and daffodils

Snowflakes and daffodils

Checking on the Arkansas Swans

Yesterday we drove up to the Heber Springs area to check out the trumpeter swans that have been wintering there. Lynda and I, along with Mike and Betty, arrived at Magness Lake about lunch time. We watched the swans and ducks for several minutes, then drove into Heber Springs and had a picnic lunch at the park.