DUCKS AND FLOWERS

Despite the rain and wind storms and the very hot weather, our outside flowers have weathered well and are looking good for half way through the summer.  Hope they make the second half as well.  We also have many ducks in the area.  We had three sitting on the dock this evening almost like they were "social distancing".  There are between 25 and 30 others that come around a lot and we discourage them from staying because of all the mess they make.  They are mostly the young ones from this years hatch.  They will make some hunters very happy this fall.  Enjoy the pictures.

These are the "social distancing" ducks.  I think it is a mother and two daughters.

Pretty purple flowers.

Some sorta red ones.

These sort of look white, but are really yellow.

Some pink ones.

This is a Day Lily that has the pretty purple flowers.  All the other ones have yellow flowers.

This is in a pot at our front door.  There were two other flowers in the pot, but they didn't make it.

This is a patch of Hostas  in front of the house.  Lots of flowers on them this year.

Patrick

NEW INDOOR PLANTS AND OUTDOOR GARDENS

We have two new types of indoor plants.  Two to replace one that died and two we haven't had before.  Our Christmas Cactus finally bit the dust this spring.  It had been on the decline for awhile.  Now we have two new ones that we hope will make it big time.  We also got two new Aloe plants.  Haven't had any of them for many years.  I use to have them, but they either died or got tossed along the way.  They are great for soothing a burn.  Just nip off a tip of one of the arms and rub it on the burn.  They also help with an itch sometimes.  My garden is up and growing, but I think this may be the last year.  I can't get them to grow like they use to, and I have tried several fixes to no success.  I think maybe I have tried to much and have the soil all screwed up.  The plants are nice and green, but just not growing big like they should.  The Cucumbers are taking for ever to grow and start spreading out.  Hope they make a crop.  I do have two nice Tomatoes and a Pepper plant in pots that are doing well.  I notice this morning that there is one Tomato on one of the plants already and several more blooms.  I am also experimenting with some Radishes in a pot.  The tops are growing well, don't know yet if they will makes Radishes.  Here are some pictures.  Enjoy.


These are the two new Christmas Cacti.  The one on the right has been planted for about 10 days.  The one on the left was planted today. 

These are the two Aloe plants.

The garden

The pot garden.  The Day Lilies are blooming nicely also.

Patrick

NEW TOYOTA

Pat picked up her new 2020 Toyota Highlander yesterday.  It has been a struggle, but well worth it.  The new one has been at the dealers for almost two months, but not ready because they couldn't get the leather material for the seats and we didn't want to take delivery until it was all ready.  The dealer tried to talk us into taking the car and bringing it back when they got the material.  We said no.  The material was coming from California and couldn't be shipped because of the virus thing having the company shut down that was sending it.  It did finally get here and looks great.  Pat traded in her 2009 Toyota Highlander on the new one.  For being 11 years old, it was in excellent shape and only had a little over 69,000 miles on it.  Hope the new one does as well.  Here are some pictures of both cars.

This is the 2009 model that was traded in.

Another shot of the 2009 model.

This is the new 2020 model.

Another shot of the new 2020 model.

Patrick

MISC. STUFF

Some pictures of recent things going on around the Murphy/Anderson residence. I will explain at each picture.

This is our Crab Apple tree in full bloom in the last week or so.  We are hoping it pollinated our Honey Crisp Apple tree which is near by.

This is the only shot I could get of an Indigo Bunting that visited one of our bird feeders.  He didn't stay long and I haven't seen him since.

This is my Cherry tree with some of the blooms still there.  It was really pretty white a few days ago and I didn't get the picture then.  Hope it has lots of cherries this year.

This is our Honey Crisp Apple tree in bloom.  If we get one apple for each two blooms it will be a good crop.

Pat and I went for a boat ride today.  She didn't want her picture taken, but I prevailed.  Looking good in my estimation.

After the boat ride today we sat on the deck for some libations.  This shows what the temperature was at the time.

Even though it wasn't real sunny, it was bright enough to make me squint.  Maybe I needed another libation. Pat took the picture and did a fine job.  Just had a poor subject to work with.

Patrick

Flowers for 2020

This past Monday we got the flowers for in front of the house and yesterday we got the hanging basket flowers for the back side of the house.  Hope they do as good this year as in the past.  They are all set up with the drip watering system and just needing sunshine now.  Below are the pictures.


These are the type I get each year and re-pot them in this stand that was made for us by a very good friend.  Thanks again Chuck.

This is the pot that sits on the ground in front of the house where the Hostas are located.  You can see one starting to come up in the background.

One of the hanging baskets in the back.  That twig was left there by a Tree Swallow that perches on the Shepard's hook quite often.

Another hanging basket.  We always have one yellow one each year.

Another hanging basket.

And last but not least, another hanging basket in purple.

Patrick

HAWK

We had a visitor that sat on the deck railing for quite some time yesterday evening.  Not sure what kind of Hawk he/she is, looks like it is probably a younger one.  Had a big impact on the other birds.  They all disappeared, even the ones on the feeders on the other side of the house.  They have a good system of noting danger in the area.  Here are a couple of pictures of the "visitor".


Straight on view.

A little bit of a side shot.   Notice the talons on his/her foot.

Patrick

SNOW AGAIN

It looks like winter won't give up.  We are getting a snow storm again this morning.  Probably won't be a lot, but already enough to get the ground white again.  Sure would be nice to get some spring weather.

Back yard with snow coming down.

I don't think the birds like it either

Front yard.  Sidewalk white already.  I am not going to shovel.  The sun will take care of it.

Patrick

NEW GRILL

The last time I grilled and the only time since we have been home, it was very apparent that the old grill had seen better days and either needed several new parts or we needed a new grill.  After pricing the new parts needed, it was apparent that a new grill was the better way to go.  So, after a little on-line shopping I picked one out and ordered it.  It arrived yesterday and the assembly began.  The assembly went smoothly and took a total of about 2 hours over a period of yesterday and today.  It is all finished now and ready for grilling if the weather ever cooperates again.  The pictures show the unpacking and assembly process for my new RED grill.

 This is the top section with all the stuff unpacked from it.  It was full of parts and pieces.

Here are some of the many pieces.

The red pieces are the from doors covered by the grills

These are some of the panels for the bottom section and the instruction book.

This is the bottom section partially put together.

Bottom section all done.

Top section all done, but the insides weren't installed yet.

The finished product all set to go.

Inside look at the top section.

My favorite helper modeling the new grill.

Patrick

Snow April 9, 2020

The first snow storm of April and it wasn't even predicted.  All that you will see in the pictures below happened in about 35 minutes.  Started around 7:00 a.m.  It ended around 7:35 a.m.  At least we won't have to shovel any.  Isn't spring great.

Back deck.  The new grill isn't ready yet.

Bird City.  I think that is a rabbit down at the bottom center.  They are here about every day.

Shot of the back yard.

Another shot of the back yard and the river.

Patrick

HOME

We made it home yesterday around noon after driving 1930 miles in 3 1/2  days.  It was an interesting trip with all that is going on with the virus.  We did all of our "dining" at the fast food places.  It was KFC the first night, a small Pizza place the second and Mac Donald's the third night.  The gas stations were all open and we were able to get sandwiches for our lunches.  We had plenty of snacks with us, so there wasn't any starving.  Gas was highest priced in Lake Havasu ($2.49) and second highest in Winslow, AZ.  After we got out of AZ, the price was under $2.00 everywhere we stopped.  The cheapest gas we got was to fill up the tank today at Sam's Club in St. Cloud.  It was $1.659.  Most of the places were in the $1.70 to $ 1.80 range.  There were lots of Snow Birds on the road with us.  Majority were Canadians, with the rest mostly folks going to Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakota's.   The weather was real good the first two days and real rainy, foggy and snowy the third day.  The last day, from Ankeny Iowa to home, started out foggy, but we got sunshine about the time we got to Minnesota. It was a long tiring trip, but a safe one and we made it.  We got out grocery shopping done today, so we are good to stay in and hibernate for awhile.  Sorry, no pictures this time.  May get some during the next few days of hibernation.  Everyone take care.

Patrick and Pat