Spring Lilies and an Old Coal Bucket

Usually the only time I see these in my yard, it is in the early

spring. Last week I went out in the heat

of August and here they are.

We call them Naked Ladies....

I rescued this old coal bucket from the yard at

Mom's farm house...it is in sorry shape.

I have been watering it and the Hens and

Chicks are looking better than they did in this

picture I took a couple weeks ago.

I am having a bear of a time getting the

darn fescue grass pulled out.  I know it

is not much to look at but I want

to get it looking better....because

Mom painted it and planted it.

Now, that she is past 90 and not

able to do more than help look after

herself on good days....the things

she created mean a lot to me.



I usually do not see these dried leaves

all over the place until after the first

hard frosts of fall, but we have had such

a drought of a summer the leaves are

just falling off all over the place.



Radio Flyer Wagon, White Milk Can and Porcelain!! WOW

My white milk can now has company.  An old friend 's girlfriend gave me the little

red wagon after seeing how I messed around a little in my yard. Bless her, I

hardly know her.  Then the friend gave me the old chamber pot on the right when

cleaning in his storage unit.  I saw it needed rose moss planted in it right away.

Then while down at my Mom's farm house, I noticed her old porcelain pot with

the red handles and saw the moss was croaking since she is not living there.

I thought I better bring it home so I could water the moss and had a vision of it in this

little wagon with the other porcelain pot. Yep, they fit. 

I also saw that little black tub sitting neglected and needing flowers in it so

home with me it came and it fit in the milk can.  I have never grown Petunias, 

that's one of Mom's favorites. I just don't like the smell of them.

Well, I thought since I took the little tub from her place I would put some

Petunias in it....so far it's working for me, they are thriving in this 100 degree heat.

While thinking about one of my favorite fabric and quilt shops going out of

 business it came to me I had seen one of the white and red pans in her shop

and wondered if she was selling it.  So on my next trip up there it came home

with me for a good price.

I didn't have any dirt from the farm around so I went to Wal Mart and bought 

cactus soil.   I have never used that before and  am not sure how it is going to 

work  for my hens and chicks but they are still alive in it. Hope they thrive

in this heat.  

I really like my little arrangement if I may say so. Just wish it

were not so very hot outside so I could sit and enjoy it more!! 

It would all probably look better with some white landscaping rock under

it....give me time and some $$$$'s and maybe it will happen.

Antique Milk Cans

I love having my old milk cans around my house.

Last fall I bought this white one for $15!!

Hadn't bought one in years.

I love how it is different than the others

I have sitting around.

See how it says Kansas City at the bottom?

Well the dandelions are gone and I planted

a Hosta by it so I hope it grows and

they look good together. I have never

grown a Hosta plant before.

This oldy has been many colors.

I plan on having it painted bright red

some day. Hopefully I can do it

myself. It sits on our little back porch.

The blue one below is probably the first one I owned and have had around 38 years. It sat on the front porch of the first house I lived in when I left home and married when I was way too young. It was brown back then. Got this oldy when a neighbor moved and just left it behind. I love how you can still read the number on it. My dad and oldest brother drove a milk truck when I was little..under school age. I do remember riding with my brother on his milk route. Mom was with us and he let me eat his cookies out of his lunch box. I put a Boston Fern in it yesterday, so I hope the frost is gone for this spring. I wonder just how many gallons of milk this carried for the farmer who owned it and how many different places it went. Have had this oldy a lot of years too....can't remember for sure where it came from now. How I wish I had kept better track of where and when I got these cans. Like I said before when your young you think you will remember it all.... I try to keep these hens and chicks going in the lid. It doesn't do the best ...but they survive. We had cows and milked till I was around 6. I remember when we started buying milk to drink from town and I thought it was just awful tasting. I remember Mom putting cream in a peanut butter jar and having me roll it all around on the hard wood floor to make butter. I don't really think she was needing that butter that bad.....but it was a good way to keep me busy and out of her way for a while!!

Midwest Blizzard of 2011

Yep, that's what they're calling it.....there is even

a page set up on Facebook called that.The snow blew all the way up under the patio

roof and got on the wood.

For my CFS readers.....that is my bike.

My kids gave it to me for my 50th birthday.

Before CFS I really liked to ride a bike...

It doesn't see much action from me but

it is there if I feel I can make it around the

block or up the street.

The front porch got covered good.....didn't see

a mailman near it for 3 days!

By that time Joe had dug a path.

Gladys was glad Joe dug us a path for her

to use...she was not happy

with this mess. Still isn't...temps have been below

0 at night. She has a good little house and

warm bedding on the back patio. Here is the mum barrel!

The other barrel out by the edge of the drive

In a little over three months I will be

putting my Zinnia seeds in here for my

summer flowers.

I think the official count was 20 inches for

our town here in SW Missouri.

The drifts were higher than that by far. I have not seen weather like this since I was

a kids growing up in the county south of us.

This is the most snow my grown sons have ever

seen around here.

I believe they are calling for more

early next week.

Mixed Mums In An Old Rusty Barrel

We planted these mums in August of 2006 after I learned my

cousin had lost her battle with breast cancer.

I could not just sit and cry after I got the call from

my son that day....so my husband took me to

get mums and we spent the evening planting.

I am glad we did.

I I'm so happy they are surviving and blooming each year.

They remind me of her.....miss you my dear cousin, Debbie. She loved working out in her yard and before she became ill she had a wonderful little rock and fountain gold fish pond. I wish I had drove to her home and spent more time sitting in the swing by the pond visiting......but I thought we would have years to grow old together and talk about our grand kids. Her first one is a girl and will be here in Feb. 2011.

Mums and Milk Can

The yellow mums are my favorite!

A Barrel Full of Blooms

We didn't have a clue what color these mums were when we bought them.We know now and and I think these orange colored mums look just right in the barrel. Rusty old barrel and rusty orange mums!!!

Heavenly Blue Morning Glory

That is the name on the seed package and that they are!!

I have these planted along a short stretch of chain link fence out

the back door. This year the blue ones are huge.

They will be gone before long.

If I remember I can collect seeds off of these to plant

next year.

Apples and Squirrels

Did you know that squirrels like to eat apples, too? If not take a look!!!

This was taken about three years ago out in the front yard. We had

a lot of squirrels that year....got the cats that fall and

that may be why we don't have as many squirrels

as we used to. They are fun to watch but can be

irritating when it comes to your bird feeders.

Fall is Here

It is the first Saturday of October and these

are my first mums to bloom. The yellow ones are my favorite, but I like

them all.

Joe likes fall too (football)but he

really hates the big piles of leaves

we get from the Sycamore trees.

Mum

I heard the rain really coming down in the wee hours of the morning and I know my mum garden will benefit from it. In the fall of 2006 I started getting mums and planting them in an area in front of the house. This mum we planted two weeks ago will stay in the barrel and when the frost starts really flying, before the ground freezes, Joe will plant it in the mum garden. Last I counted we have around 25 that have survived the winters and I look for most of them to bloom here in a few weeks or so. I love the colors of fall and hope the dry spell we went through will not effect the the leaves turning. I have always heard if the leaves did not turn the colors of fall it was because the weather had been to dry and the leaves just dry and fall off.

Cactus Plants

Hens and Chicks Cactus are so easy to grow. This picture was taken of my 2009 batch growing on the south side of our house. Also seen is my husband's Chiefs birdhouse given to him by one of his brothers.....Go Chiefs!!!