. Saturday, November 3, 2018 .
Parked int he driveway and sat int he car for a minute to enjoy the flowers that are still blooming.



This just seems so crazy.  It is the first of November!

Still Have Some Bloomers

. Thursday, October 18, 2018 .
We worked in the yard!  From sun up to sun down.  We knocked out almost two years of weeds!  It is amazing the difference.  We worked in the cold.  And worked until we were dead dog WI tired.


this man is wicked with a weedeater!  You have to watch him out of the corner of your eye to make sure he doesn't take the good stuff out.

Hosta, black-eyed Susan's, coneflowers, and Naked Ladies ...GONE!

A wild hair...mulch!  We haven't mulched for years.  And we got the muscle out to help.

The Memory Garden all weeded and ready or mulch that we weren't going to put down.


Mark picked up the mums at COSTCO a few weeks ago.  Then we went to the Milford Farmer's MArket and got the kale, gords, and pumpkin.


The Big Bed lives again.

There was a trumpet tree that I have been trimming to make it look like a tree.  Well, Edward Scissor Hands got ahold of it and now it looks like a Q-tip.  Not to worry says Mark, it will grow back just like hair.

You can actually see the Mail Pouch sign now.



We call this The City Park.  You can't see anything in there now.


 AMAZING!!



Should be called this the weed, morning glory, and thistle garden.

Oh, I found a little friend.  Not moving too fast because it was so cold outside.

I would love to know what kind of snake this is.

I just need to cover the beds with straw for the winter.  That's a job for this weekend.

Finally, the goats eating poison ivy!




What Did You Do For Your Fall Break?

. Sunday, October 14, 2018 .
We have been trying our best to get the yard winter ready.  We have neglected it for so long because life just got in the way and there were more pressing issues to deal with.  But I am happy to say on this Fall Break we are working from sunup to sundown...a few days in between and in the raindrops.  It feels so good to be outside messing in the weeds and dirt.  I don't even care how dirty I get or how tired I am.  Well, maybe the pain of not using some of those muscles is a little tough.   And the charlie horses....oh please don't get me started.  Anyway, here are some flowers that I have found.

I didn't even plant this little thing.  It just volunteered.

I know that I should be harvesting seeds but jsut have too much other more pressing things to get accomplished.

One very small ray of sunshine.  This bloom was about as big as a quarter.

I am amazed that we still have forsythia.

Look What I Found While Cleaning Up

. Tuesday, September 18, 2018 .


They Came Out Of Nowhere

. Friday, September 7, 2018 .
I know that I threw some morning glory seeds under the bottle tree but I have no idea where the little red flowers came from.  I don't even know what they are.  Anyone know?

At the Top

. Friday, August 3, 2018 .
I have a question...


Should I get rid of them or not worry about the chickens eating them?

Good or Bad

. Monday, July 30, 2018 .
I started day two on Mr. Bill's side of the house.  I decided to leave the hosta for a bit longer.  They didn't look too bad and besides, that side would look so naked.  Side note, we are still catching Japanese beetles and flies in the catchers by the back fence.

I told Mark that the Burning Bush didn't need it's usual high and tight this year.   Look at all those beautiful Naked ladies! My dad started me out with a few bulbs from his yard a few years ago.  And now thanks to the squirrels and chipmunks, we have them blooming everywhere!

We share this little piece of flower bed with the Amicon's.  This year it just got away from me but today I am going to tackle it.  I think there are more weeds growing than there are flowers.


And after a few hours, it looks like this.  Let's just hope we all don't come up with poison ivy!  And yes that yard ornament is one of Mr. John's bowling balls.

Now the front yard actually looks like there are people living in the house.  And it looks like they care how the landscaping looks.

Tomorrow morning I'm hoping the rain holds off and I can get out int he morning before it gets ugly and work in the backyard.  That is going to take a few months to get it looking like we know what we are doing.  I am going to let the boys out and see if I can get them to help me with the weeding.  I know of at least one chicken that will be right beside me jsut pecking away!

Back At It Again Today

. Sunday, July 29, 2018 .
I love this big cluster.  Top view.

Bottom view.

More Naked Ladies

. .
Actually, I did a little hosta cut back yesterday on the front of the house.  But today I decided to stand on the hot blacktop and clean out the Memorial Garden.  The pink and white flowers and the Invincible Spirit hydrangea is in memory of Sarah Beth.  There is also a beautiful pink 
Sarah Napier peony. The Marshall stone reminds me of my mom and dad.  There is a Casa Blanca peony in memory of Mark's mom.  And the driveway is named The Keith B Ellis Memorial Drive.

I am gathering black-eyed Susan seeds for Ms Connie and my sister.  We are going to mix them with our parent's ashes and scatter them is some special places.  I already have a bag of daisies.


We make a pretty good team.  I and the weeder.  Michael takes everything to the compost bin.  Mark blows and then I water.  And after all of that, we sit back and look at our work and decided what is next.

Mondays plan...flower bed between the driveways
Tuesdays plan Mr Bill's side of the house.
Wednesday finally the front bed and the front yard will be finished for now anyway.

Let The Fall Clean-Up Begin

. Saturday, July 28, 2018 .
We haven't been in the yard much in the last month.  We have been keeping the road hot.  But I was outside for just a bit and ran into these beauties.  Maybe tomorrow I will take a slow walk around and get more shots to share.

We have Naked Ladies coming up all over the place.  Even on places that I would have never planted them  And I love it.  I even saw on Facebook that my dad's backdoor neighbor had some volunteering to come up in her front yard.  Then I saw a pic posted of my dad's flower bed in his front yard and they are blooming there too.  We all have him to thank for these lovely ladies. 

Some blackeyed Susan's...one of my favorites.

How many types of flowers can you see in this pic?  I see three.

My bottle tree might topple over with all the Morning Glory vines that are climbing up.

Only two blooms on the butterfly bush that I can see so far.

A Quick Trip Outside