Sunday, June 9, 2019

Around the Neighbourhood

Our 4th day in a row of nice sunny weather, but by mid-afternoon too hot for me.  Three weeks into using my CPAP mask and I feel more energetic than ever, though there's also still a lot of neuropathic pain.  Pain in the ass if you ask me, but it's actually a pain around my chest at the level of the spinal injury.  All those poor nerves get that far and don't know what to do, so they just hurt!  (Later I remembered it's the second day after physio!)

Right on out front porch.  I dug this old copper boiler out of the dusty old hay loft of my grandparent's small barn 44 years ago.  We've never had a use for it before.

Lots of dandelion seeds ready to float away and ensure next year's flowers.

Much of the original grass on one of our neighbour's lawns was killed off by over-zealous herbicide sprayers.  She ended up with large areas of this little pink flower.  I think it's rather pretty, but I know some of our other neighbours would disagree!  I haven't identified it yet because I can't get down far enough to pick one and see the leaves.

I never noticed this nice White birch in a private yard down the street until this week.

This shows you clearly how far the White Ash lag behind the other trees in leafing out.  Behind our house we have some Sugar Maples for comparison, but our immediate neighbours have only ash trees.

Amazingly, we still have Tulips out in full bloom!  Spring is very late this year.

Finally, one of my spectacular bird photos!  I listened to this Song Sparrow's melodious call for quite a whilte before spotting it up this Scots Pine.

14 comments:

  1. The tulips are a delight. Some of them remain in place here, quite late in the season.

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  2. Beautiful colour on the copper, and the flowers, could they be Cosmos? Tulips, I am waiting for the ones here to show through the ground.

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  3. Our tulips and lilacs are very late this year. I have an old galvanized wash tub with a cherry tomato plant growing in it this year. Other years it has had flowers. Two galvanized buckets hold my lemon trees. I grab them whenever I see one.

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  4. I love the copper boiler used as a planter. The photo of the white birch looks almost like a painting at first glance.

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  5. Great use for the boiler. Along with special memories it brings back for you.

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  6. Pretty flowers! Sorry to hear you are suffering that neuropathic pain.

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  7. I love the way you've used the copper boiler! i used my Plant app on your picture but not sure if it is right either. They call it an herb - Filaree or a common storks bill. It is pretty.

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  8. Nice use for the old boiler; don't get me started on dandelions...mind you, you can make a kind of coffee-type drink from their roots. But don't mention the War.

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  9. I am hoping that your pain will diminish as time goes by, but it seems hard to figure out how to deal with such neuropathic pains, FG. Your eye for beauty still functions perfectly, though. :-)

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  10. Like your copper planter. Unfortunately, when the emerald ash borer arrives in your neighborhood the ash trees will be permanently leafless. Maybe you're far enough north that the cold will kill the borer, but you probably aren't. Throughout northcentral Pennsylvania 99% of the ash trees are dead, only the very small ones are still alive.

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    1. Yes, that will make a very big difference to the old fencerow here.

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  11. Love the old boiler planter. I have a shelf of old "treasures" we've found in the bush at old logging sites and cabins. Two of my favourite pieces are a Copenhagen tall tin and a can from Huberds shoe grease. They both tell a lot about early life in the woods. - Margy

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  12. Two hot for me too so that makes two of us. That old copper kettle tugged at a few cobwebs in my early childhood memories. As much as I like dandelions I do have some bad memories of dandelion wine many years ago. Keep up those good photos of yours.

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  13. Our catalpa is the last to blossom! It was an easy, slow spring. I rather enjoyed it. Except for the bugs!

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