What's outside of your picture window today?

@loribmt Oh Lori! Beautiful purple Siberian irises! Your yard looks awesome with the gorgeous groundcover surrounding the irises and beyond, and the very lovely wooded area in back. So inviting! I'll be right over, to sit with you, sip on a glass of lemonade (or wine?), and steep in the glory of your own little slice of nature and all it's bounty.
I hope that most recent wind storm didn't cause any loss or damage to trees on your property. (?) Hugs, Laurie

@johnbishop Hey John, I'm just curious.. I would assume your "best buddy" is that beautiful feline no doubt licking his/her chops as he/she surveys the choices for Dish of the Day - squirrel or bird. (I'm a cat lover from 'way back! Lol). X0 Laur

@artist01 - I inherited Fluffy who I renamed BK for Bitty Kitty from my neighbor. She and her duplicate sister were outdoors kittens and an owl got one of them earlier and BK used to visit my computer room window and I would feed her. The neighbor had to give her up as her son was allergic to cats so she gave her to me.

She leaves the birdies alone but loves to chase the squirrels...never caught one though 🙂

@artist01 @sueinmn Thank you Laurie and Sue, I was thrilled to see these irises yesterday in all their glory! Like you, Sue, we’ve had the super heat but we’ve been getting a good share of rain an I think that’s helped these plants along this year. The soil is very sandy so it drains quickly. Not sure that’s good for these irises.
Laurie, we’re surrounded on 3 sides by forest. We’ve lost trees before, it’s just part of living in the north woods. But the storm this past week knocked out some favorite 150 year old white pines. Our neighbors lost one 3 years ago and we counted all the rings just to see. Our lost trees are the same size. It was a shocker driving in yesterday and seeing the devastation. My husband’s been here all week working on clearing the yard. The section with the irises remained untouched! Crazy…

Posting a photo of my husband out working this morning. This is the top section of the one of the pines he’s clearing. When it fell, it took out several birches and other trees. 😢

@johnbishop Hi John. Good to know BK is not inclined to devour your locals! I'm afraid most of my cats were successful once or twice, to my dismay. Once when I left my canary and poodle in the capable hands of a friend while I was out of town for a weekend, the heretofore gentle dog greeted my friend at the front door upon her return from work, with my dear little canary (expired) in his mouth. So sad.

So difficult to lose out tree friends. People don't always understand how important they are to managing temperature and CO2. 5 degree temperature difference between the side of the patio shaded by trees and the side with umbrellas.
I was sad to hear your surrounding forest is vulnerable to logging, the clear cutting is so distressing.
Sue

@loribmt Gosh, Lori, such sad devastation. I'm so sorry you and your (hard-working!) husband have suffered such a loss. Wind storms can be fearsome. So much hard labour afterward to clear things up again. I certainly understand what you are going through. Where I live, we have had doozers too, that tore off roofs, felled huge trees, landed large boats on highways or in yards by the ocean, crowded the shoreline with logs that had blown ashore from far-off areas. You have experienced much of that too. Mother Nature in all her fury.
Again, Lori, I'm so sorry. Take care. Hugs, Laurie

gorgeous!

Love these irises, Lori. They'll lovely, great color. Will they spread out, multiply on their own or do you need to dig up bulbs to replant in another area? I had a lot of daylilies that I dug up and the new plants didn't do well. May need more time. I also love my African Iris that multiply like crazy, take over any area they can get to, but it's lovely and great filler for some places. I've thinned them out and given some to friends.

Also have walking iris, mine are little white with purple, gold and brown centers. They're lovely and I love the way they walk and spread. Also make a fun basket. Have trouble keeping the landscapers away from them....they are not weeds, darn it! Stop spraying them....but, I pull babies and replant where they can grow and flourish. Just stick my finger in to make a hole and plant the roots in and cover them well. They grow fine with a bit of water and love. My favorite place currently is under a live oak in front of my condo. They seem to like the filtered light, get water from my lawn sprinklers, and make me happy watching them walk and bloom. Pretty blooms.

My patio and feeders are suffering since I've been under the weather. I had planned to spend time today cleaning up all the dirt that's floated to the center of the patio and is now growing seedlings from the feeders' mess. Getting more seed that's cleaner, so not so much to clean up. I'm about ready to get my little gun out after the squirrels! What a nuisance. I love their personalities, interest in life and the way they figure out how to get to the seeds, but they've too persistent and make a huge mess, drive me crazy. Fun, how they know me and see me coming and run.....makes me feel so powerful and mighty!

Woodpeckers, cardinals, chicadees, house finch, wax-winged ???, still coming around, but not having as much fun. They like it clean and neat. If asthma and UTI let me, I'll be out there tomorrow to clean and reestablish the bird bath, clean up and refill feeders, move more to get away from squirrels....just do my thing. Love it and hope to have fun tomorrow.

Btw: son is better today. It's not a good thing for him to miss any doses of his meds, so I set it up for pharmacy to text me when something is filled. YEAH! Big progress, such a tiny thing.

Blessings to all. Have 't gotten the pictures working yet. Calling Samsung for help. Pray for me, please! Want to share the orchids and others. eliabeth

@artist01 @ess77 @jakedduck1 Good golly, there’s no shortage of entertainment in the woods! This is what was outside my window today…actually in front of the game cam in the driveway! Looks like a young female. We saw her from a distance the other day but this proves she was pretty up-close and personal! 😉