Oliver Files: After the Storm

Oliver and his ball.  We experienced a large amount of hail today, golf ball sized hail and discovered Oliver is scared of hail!

Excuse the mess this is the "nest" he made today between the dining and family rooms, he's a very busy dog that loves to build nests and each nest requires shredded paper.  Yes he has a crate and a blanket for his crate but nothing rocks his world more than a fresh nest!

The hail was about the size of grapes when it first started falling.

First Snow ~ Fall 2013

Firebush is stunning against it's white backdrop.

Oliver is hilarious, this is his first snow that we know of and he keeps trying to eat the snow.  Angel was really excited, it's looking like this is going to be a fun winter.

Fall Colors

The neighbors crab apple tree is stunning this year!

The last of the hosta's.

Striped lily of the valley leaves.

Garden Path

Is in need of cleaning, etc., but I do love my native plants, and the pollinators that they attract.  This afternoon the thistles were visited by green hummingbirds, this morning goldfinches.

Thistles and Bees

Thistles and Bees are just a few of my favorite things!

Empty Nest

Empty Robins Nest.

Hackberry tree seeds now inhabit the nest.

Snow!!!

Woke up to some snow this morning.

Well at least the raised vegetable beds are getting some much needed moisture.

My more tender herbs are covered by plastic buckets.

Traffic is moving slow enough that I was able to get a clear shot of the intersection during rush hour.

Raised Beds Under Stress

This one just flat out collapsed and has taken on the appearance of a bathtub.

The bed to the far right is starting to lean.  The one in the middle has been over engineered so should stand up to the snow with no issues.

Snow!

Tomatoes anyone???

Neighbors crab apple isn't doing so hot this morning.

That's a five foot tall burning bush under that snow, or it was anyway.

My beloved red oak, the branches are nearly touching the ground when they should be up another ten or so feet in the air.  It's this tree that I'm the most worried about at the moment, hopefully the wind doesn't bring it down!!!

Reindeer

Reindeer display at Scandinavian Days in Story City, Iowa.

Bleeding Hearts

This years Bleeding Hearts are beautiful, the plants filled out nicely and with plenty of blossoms for the pollinators.

Column Update 091611

Getting closer to completion with the columns, the cold weather has slowed us down and big time.  John has this coming week off from work so we're hoping to finish the entire soffit and also finish painting the west side of the house.  Looks like winter is coming early this year.

One more color, the sorjourner blue, needs to be applied and then second coats, touch ups, and we're done.

Everyone keeps asking me if we're going to paint the trims at the bottoms of the columns. Of course, the color patterning will be the inverse of the top, with everything sitting atop a ruby red base.

April Showers

We are currently experiencing rain, much needed rain, yeah I know this is quite the turn around from last year but then who knew we'd have three flood years in a row!  Well it's been dry here of late, lots of grass fires, etc. so when the rain started flying... yes I was excited.  Pictures to be forth coming.

Zumwalt Station Farm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dFVkkN0_lM

Rhutabega and Kohlrabi

A four gallon bucket full of Rhutabega's and Kohlrabi.  Will prep them and cook them for dinner tomorrow night.

Rhutabega

It was about the size of a large grapefruit.

Fall in Iowa

The clouds were really wild looking when I took this photo, the wind turbines were a nice contrast to the soy beans.