Swimming I did go, this morning; although, I only swam about 2/3 of the time normally devoted to the activity. No sense overdoing it since I had not swum since 4/13/2012.
Pulling the weeds that got a head start on me will take some catching-up time. I picked one pint of strawberries night-before-last and another last night; so, Hunky Husband would be feasting - if he would remember that they are in the refrigerator, on his tray. He's pretty tired, so I shan't give him grief over his forgetting them.
The irises have bloomed bountifully. I took a couple of stems into the client shelter and a bouquet into the office. Everyone seemed to enjoy them.
I'll shut up now and post photos of our yard. Most of the photos are of irises - and they speak for themselves.
The irises (above photo) are in our yard, but they crept over from the neighbor's yard. The window to the right in the photo is the neighbor's basement window. One of these days, I'll probably replace the concrete blocks with blocks that are better looking. No sense using good blocks until I'm sure that they are where I want them. (After five or ten years, they are probably well placed.)
These two irises (above photo) came from WalMart. The sage was dug up, last fall, from the large bunch of sage that is beside our back steps (photo below). This is the sage clump that Bogie was kind enough to identify for me. I had thought/misremembered that it was basil of some sort!
Ooooh! I nearly forgot a couple of photos that show evidence of good things to come. The photo on the left (below) shows bountiful blooms on our two dwarf pyracantha while the photo on the right shows fruit to come on our Northstar cherry tree. With any luck, the berries on our pyracantha will, this year, rival those of Bogie's pyracantha last year (see Firethorn).
If you care to know what Hunky Husband and I have been up to since 4/13/2012, I've posted on Volunteer Endeavors.
I love irises, as did my mother. But she had only purple ones, as did virtually everyone else in our neighborhood who had them. She would revel in the many colors available now.
Such a wealth of flowers you have in your yard!!
Posted by: M.E. | April 26, 2012 at 09:43 PM
I love your irises. It's a little early for them in Seattle, where we are now.
Posted by: Hattie | April 27, 2012 at 01:00 AM
ME--For most of my life, if it couldn't be eaten, I didn't try to grow it. I wasn't that much of a flower person. Then, when my mother died, I had to become my mother - it's in the DNA, don't you know? - and I planted roses which Mom always loved and grew and which is a favorite flower of Hunky Husband's. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mom had brought starts of irises and magic lilies. Descendents of those flowers eventually made their way to this, our current, home.
Although Mom had, over the years, given me irises of various hues, the plain purple and plain yellow irises were the only ones that propogated over the years. I've bought at least four or five different varieties of irises from Walmart. Plus, the neighbor's lack of attention to his own yard has resulted, over the past 13 summers, in his irises migrating to the better-cared-for environs of our yard. ; )
Hattie--I don't recall seeing irises in Seattle back in the 1960s (we lived in Belleview Oct 1965 through Feb 1967) or 1980s (I worked there in Spring 1984, Aug 1985, and Aug 1998); but, perhaps I wasn't paying attention. I do recall the lovely Rhododendrons and primroses.
Posted by: Cop Car | April 27, 2012 at 07:21 AM
By the way, Bogie, that clump of green at the corner of the driveway in the "Mixed Irises" photo is one clump of your creeping phlox, thank you. (Nearer to the camera, and to the left of the phlox, are some clumps of yarrow - which idea, I believe, came from you.)
Posted by: Cop Car | April 27, 2012 at 07:24 AM
Oh those irises....so darn gorgeous. ~Joy
Posted by: Joy | April 27, 2012 at 01:45 PM
The iris are always so nice to look at, and you do a great job of capturing their color and simple elegance!
Our spring phlox blooms may have been saved by the rain we got this week - will have to wait and see what happens.
Posted by: bogie | April 28, 2012 at 04:24 AM
Joy--Glad to see that you haven't completely disappeared and hope that you are enjoying your hiatus.
Bogie--Awwww...you are sweet! Keeping my fingers crossed that you get rain in just the right amounts.
Posted by: Cop Car | April 28, 2012 at 09:16 AM