Caught in the Act

Remember how I told you that the squirrels were taking over my backyard? Well, the saga continues. I spotted this little guy helping himself to our jack o' lantern. It was a moldy, leftover jack o' lantern, but he still has some nerve.

I took these photos from inside looking out the window, hence the graininess, but you can still clearly see his arrogance. He is rather proud of himself in this second photo don't you think? He's acting like he craved the pumpkin instead of being the one that took bites out of it. I hope he has a stomachache.

Sun Dappled Pink

It has been so windy and hot here the past few days. Some of the flowers have suffered, but these roses seem pretty to me even when they are a bit blown open. I love the singed look of the petal edges. But then again, when are roses anything but beautiful?

For a complete list of other pink delights please pop over to the blog of our wonderful hostess Beverly. Hope your day is filled with beauty.

Backyard Beauty

Spring is in full bloom in my neck of the woods.

The fragrance of roses fills the air

The pear tree is showing promise

The pecan trees are hinting at a bumper crop.

And best of all, the apricots survived more than one fluke snow flurry. Looks like there just might be another Jam Session ahead.

Woohoo!

Zinnias for Remembrance

Every year around this time my neighbor's beautiful zinnias are in bloom. I have always loved these flowers, but I have never planted any of my own. I always think of it too late.

Seeing these flowers does however remind me of a handout I colored in the second grade that featured these same blooms. That was circa 1977 when Crayola had just started making florescent colored crayons. I think there were only four or five magic colors in a small box, but they were perfect.
The crayons could be applied heavily to recreate the more vibrant tones,
or a lighter hand could lead to more subtle shades. They were the ideal colors for my ideal flowers. Ahhh zinnias....Ahhh second grade.

Paradise Lost

When we purchased our home one of the main features that attracted us to it was the mature landscaping. Our front yard contains several shady pecan trees and a couple of bearing plum trees. The back yard has pine, almond, apricot, and pear trees as well as a beautiful grape arbor. With all of this abundance you might think we could set up shop at the local farmer's market, but not so. We have The Interlopers to thank for that.
Allow me to introduce Exhibit A... aka the ravenous squirrel. I think he's eating one of the pecans left over from fall, but only because he has the deemed that the grapes in the first photo are not ready yet. Last year so many grapes went missing that I was sure these fellows had started their own winery.
The fruit trees and grape vines aren't the only all you can eat venues on the property. It seems as though pine cones from the Ponderosa pines are a delicacy too. It's odd though, apparently it's okay to eat these when they are still green. I think things would be alright if we just had two squirrels to contend with, but these guys are only a fraction of the day shift. The rest of the crew partied too much last night drinking wine, so they were all a little late getting on site today.
You would think that having a dog would deter some of this pilfering. Not the case here. We think the squirrel syndicate is pushing a few extra pecans Maggie's way so that she will turn a blind eye to their larceny. Nice try girl, but we're on to you.

That's what we get for having a literal chow hound on sentry duty.

Pillow Talk

Hello dear friends, hope you all have had a wonderful week. I am in the process of sprucing up my patio. The weather has been over 100 degrees everyday this week, so I have been waiting until the evening to do my decorating. These pillows are my find of the week! They were on sale at Hobby Lobby for half price, and I was able to get all three for what you might pay for just one teeny tiny decorative pillow.

This is a close up of the embellishment in the center of each pillow. I think they have a very Double D Ranchwear feel to them. No comparison in price though! The long rectangular one was only $7!!! That's right folks, you read that correctly.

This is one of the swings on the porch. I have four all together, so I am thinking about doing each one differently but having them complement each other. I just have this black and white toile wrapped around the cushion while I am experimenting. I like to change the fabric up every other year. Heaven forbid that things should get boring! I have never used these colors outdoors, but I'm liking it. A little punch of pink here and there, or even orange when autumn rolls around might be fun too.

Now don't think I'm going to leave these lovely pillows out day and night. If I did that the squirrels that use my backyard like a frat house would have a heyday! Ooh, I just checked the thermometer and it's currently a balmy 95 degrees in the shade. I better get out there and start froufing. Happy decorating to you my dears!

Apricot Anticipation

The apricot tree in my backyard actually has fruit on it this year. Whether or not it will varies from year to year. We always seem to have an early heat wave in Spring causing the trees to bloom out beautifully, only to be followed by a fluke snowstorm that wreaks havoc on the would be fruit. That was the drill this year, but for some odd reason the blooms survived and there is a good crop of apricots ripening nicely on the branches.

I'm keeping my eye on their progress because I plan to make a batch of apricot jam in the next few days. Gee, doesn't that sound domestic? If you saw the inordinate amount of take out containers in my trash, any question about my homemaking abilities would be immediately cleared up. I can make jam though. And since those apricots only come around every other year or so, that gives me just about the right recovery time between batches.
Hope your day is fruitful!

Sunday In The Garden

Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Curtain Going Up

I love Spring flowers. These were planted several years back, and they never cease to make me happy when they make their grand entrance each Spring. I am amazed that so much beauty packs itself up into such a strange thing as a blub and waits so patiently for the sunshine to call its name. Each October on Columbus Day I try to incorporate more Spring bulbs into my garden. This time more tulips were added. These graceful girls will whirl around the coy daffodils while heady hyacinth will stand on point in the front.

Within a few weeks all these playful lasses will be bending and bowing on stage together making the most of their sunshine days until they are tucked back in for their long beauty giving sleep.