Flowers

With the arrival of full-on spring, the yard is coming awake with more flowers. It’s hard to believe that just a couple weeks ago we were dealing with frost and freeze warnings.

The daffodils and tulips have run their course for the year, but many other blooms are taking their shot at the sun. Lilacs, blue flax, bleeding hearts, and lilies of the valley are adding their colors to the place. Here are photos of a few of them.

In my last post I mentioned a few repair projects — Pam’s board buddies and a fountain. Here are a couple shots of these completed repair projects.

I have the fountain on the porch for the time being as I like listening to the tinkling sound of the water when I sit near it.

The man had one of his hat brims replaced and the lady received a new foot. Damage had been caused during our move from Colorado. The figures are placed where Pam can see them from the kitchen window.

Spring has also brought a few new birds to the area. One of them is this white breasted nuthatch:

Another bird spotted for the first time, which I have not been able to photograph yet, is the Northern Oriole. His bright colors are easily recognized. Photo below is from the internet.

A recent trip to a couple greenhouses yielded another amur maple, now planted in the east yard, and various flowers that Pam will put in pots or plant in the flower beds. More on these in my next post. I will note that the greenhouses seem to be very low on stock with many empty racks in the facilities. We don’t know if this is because it is still early in the season or if plant stock is abnormally low this year. Major chain stores seem to have their regular allotment of plants for sale.

Helping the grass and plants in their growth period was the arrival of nearly 2 inches of rain this past week. NE Iowa/SE Minnesota had been in a ‘moderate’ drought, according to local weather stations. Pam had been hand-watering plants, particularly the new ones, so the rain was welcome.

Painting of the cement siding got underway this past week. The rain didn’t help that project much, but a number of boards were painted and are being stored in the garage addition. I move the boards and Pam does the painting.

I completed another five sessions of radiation treatments. Eighteen done and four to go. On Thursday, my last treatment day, I will discuss a follow-up plan with the doctor and move into that phase of treatment. I suspect the plan will consist mostly of blood draws to monitor my PSA levels and hormone therapy injections every 3 months. More in my next post.

Photo Archive

More fall color photos. The first one includes Pam, myself, and son Toby enjoying a fall day.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

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Happy Trails.