A little straigtening up around St. Francis

I finally took the five minutes needed to straighten up this area under my tree in the backyard.  The St. Francis statue came from Pella and has been under the tree for a  few years.  I've added three rocks and a brick from my childhood home (which was also my dad's childhood home).  Two of the rocks were brought to the yard by my grandfather from what I was told.  He would bring them back from his travels through Illinois and Michigan.  The smaller rock in front we called the "rose rock" due to its shape and look.

Before

 

 

After

 

"Well", time to get back to posting

It seems this time of year is when I find the most frogs and toads in my deep window well.  And the heavy rains haven't helped.  Toads have to hop and drop basically while some of the frogs I'm finding jump feet at a time and it must be quite a shock to drop that far.  But they all seem to survive.

First up, two different Northern leopard frogs were down there at the same time.  Could be a couple?

 

 

And a few days later, I saw this toad...possibly the biggest I have found in my yard.  It didn't look happy but they never do...

 

 

Goodbye friend

On Monday, we said goodbye to our faithful companion Russell.  He came to us in a miraculous way on November 2008.  He lived a little past 12 years and we enjoyed him for almost 11.  He leaves a big void.

We moved in our current home in June of 2011.  My interest in the outdoors did not start with this house and surroundings and not when we got Russ.  But I credit him for giving me a reason to go out every day, to look out our back window at what he was barking at and for giving me a reason to take him on walks.  Because of him, I've been able to get some memorable pictures and video over the years.

I will still put out my trail camera and I'm still going to look out the back window, but not without thinking of my "sheriff" who patrolled the back yard knowing something was going on out there.

I could post hundreds of photos of him, but I don't need to.  On the right side, there is a category for Russ and that's enough.

Goodbye friend.  It won't be the same without you.

"Barbara" finally bloomed!

Cindy was given a lilac bush from her dear friend Cindy Francis when Ruth passed last year.  I posted pictures of it getting planted and we had some late summer buds last year.  Over the winter, the deer really chewed it back and there was less bush this spring  But lilacs are resilient and it bounced back with green leaves and buds.  We thought it would take another year of maturity to bloom but that changed in the last few days.  Here is the bush we call "Barbara"...''


 

 

And here are this year's calibrochoa after surviving high winds and hail...

 

 

And finally a Mother's Day gift from Amy and Steve to Cindy...

 

Flowering trees and bushes

Spring is about things turning green but it's also about the "flower show" from trees and bushes.
Just catching up on what I've been seeing in the neighborhood.  Our small lilac bush is likely a year from blooming but it is trying.

I think these are crabapple trees based on what's planted in the neighborhood but this "sleeve" of flowers has me questioning if maybe some type of cherry tree?

A spring favorite - lilacs

 

 

And this little flower is part of the mustard family.  Known by many names including yellow rocketcress.  This is just beyond our fence and caught my eye enough not to mow over it...

 

A Bunting We Will Go

I was looking out the back window on Friday and I was thrilled to watch this Indigo Bunting.  I've seen them close by but they don't usually stay long enough to enjoy...

Signs of spring

We're in that time of year waiting for things to green up.  But there are other signs of spring for me like birds returning and blooms on trees.  Here is what I've been seeing in the past few days...

Magnolia tree in bloom

 

Northern Flicker

 

 

Eastern Kingbird

 

And a year-round sight...