Been busy putting summer away and heading into late fall. Closed the Bocce Court today and will be busy closing the pond and sprinkling system tomorrow. Started this fall drawing of leaves and will keep posting the progress for anyone who may be following by blog.

You never know what you will get in the UP! beauty for sure.

Fall Color Tour 2018

Upper Peninsula Michigan

October brings the fall colors so vivid and and exciting. However, traveling to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the best color tour you can experience.

These were some hounds we met. They were on their way to Gwinn with five others to do a little bear hunting with their master. You can see the color behind them. Friendliest group of hound dogs we have ever met. They were at our first rest stop on Highway US 2 and the temperature was in the high 60"s.

View from Brockway Mountain drive south entrance. We climbed the distance up in sunshine surrounded by glittering golden trees.

 The oaks were just begining to take on the tarnished gold color they would have by the time we headed home from the H58 pictured rocks drive. The weather here was starting to change as the temperature was dropping nut still in the upper 50's.

The pines with their church like spires seem to enhance the colors of the turning leaves.

Now as we looked out over Copper Harbor and the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula you can see the snow coming in. The temperature had dropped to 38 F degrees. We had donned our gloves and hats to be outside: still it was beautiful.

This panorama view of Copper Harbor shows the passing snow storm. We would encounter this storm off and on for the remainder of trip down the Keweenaw. Seeing the snow accumulate on the ground and trees by the time we got to Calumet it was clinging to the vehicles.

Muskegon Harbor Channel

We like to walk the two mile stretch of the Muskegon Harbor Channel on a regular basis and are always impressed by the ever changing character of this beautiful location.  Here are a few phots we snapped on September 21 and 22 of this year

Looking out toward Lake Michigan on September 21, 2018 a very windy and cloudy evening.

A view of the channel entrance from the Muskegon Lake side.

Waves crashing over the outer break wall.

.Waves and wind were very forceful out at the end of the south channel wall

Waves crashing on the outer break wall September 21, 2018

Another Day and Another View for the Channel 

This is the same channel on September 23, 2018 but as calm as can be. The reflections on the sailing vessel and the Aqua star as they leave the channel and Muskegon Harbor to venture out on Lake Michigan.

Living in a rain forest

We have received over 12" of rain in the last week and everything is lush and green. The amount of fungi that are blooming is unbelievable. To top it off the temperature has been consistently warm to very warm. I have green bell pepper plants that are three feet high.
        We returned last week, from our trip to england's lake district, Scotland's highlands and Berlin's busy streets, to a house and garden areas that were perfectly cared for by our daughters and their families. Of course they had enjoyed the pleasures of the woods, beach and lake.
 It was grest to return home

     A storm over the highlands as we trekked the Tomintoul trail. What a fantastic place. the weather was delightful. The rains were light and refreshing followed always but sunshine and warmth.

Our return to Tomintoul. This village is a delightful little place with wonderful people and lots of things to do. The local history museum is a fascinating place. The restaurants and shops are surprising for such a small village.

A visit to the THE Glenlivet Distillery is a must. The tour is fantastic as well as informative and the restaurant is superb. I now have a greater appreciation of the spirit!

After a while I'm back to blogging

Sorry for the delay but I have finally returned to blogging and will begin doing so in the next few days. Let me know if you missed my blog.

Still waiting for those full warm sunny days that will make all the spring flowers pop. In the meantime these little girls and fellows have opened themselves up for viewing and letting us know that there is still more time to wait before the full show begins. They are the selected short subjects in this new spring extravaganza. Keep those eyes open before you know the show will begin.

Family:	Liliaceae (lil-ee-AY-see-ee) (Info)
Genus:	Tulipa (TOO-li-pa) (Info)
Species:	greigii (GREEG-ee-eye) (Info)
Cultivar:	Toronto

Family:

Liliaceae (lil-ee-AY-see-ee) (Info)

Genus:

Tulipa (TOO-li-pa) (Info)

Species:

greigii (GREEG-ee-eye) (Info)

Cultivar:

Toronto

Commonly known as hellebores /ˈhɛlᵻbɔərz/, the Eurasian genus Helleborus comprises approximately 20 species of herbaceous or evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, within which it gave its name to the tribe of Helleboreae. 

Scientific name: Helleborus

Higher classification: Ranunculaceae

Rank: Genus

 

These Hellebores or lenten roses opened much earlier than this week. they were open on Easter even through all the snow and cold. They feel like paper and make excellent flowers to dry with silica sand and add wire stems, Here are both a purple and white variety purchased from a Meijer Garden perennial sale.

These are the first tulips to really open. They close when it's cold or cloudy so during a semi cool partly cloudy day one can actually watch them change.

S. siberica is cultivated for its bluebell starlike flowers. It naturalizes rapidly from seed. At 15 cm (5.9 in), it is suitable for planting in grass, and will spread by seed to form large colonies that go dormant by the time grass needs to be mowed. In the Midwestern United States it is becoming invasive in some situations. This little guy grows profusely. Planted  30 bulbs quite a few years back and they have spread quite nicely. They pop up through the grass but by the time i really need to mow the areas they grow in they have faded.

Muscari is a genus of urn-shaped flowers resembling bunches of grapes in the spring.Again this lovely lady started as a small planting of about 15 in each of six places in the gardens. They are now everywhere and like the siberian squill do nicely in the lawn. I just leave them there to do their thing and then mow them later.

Primula vulgaris (primrose syn. P. acaulis (L.) Hill) is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to western and southern Europe (from the Faroe Islands and Norway south to Portugal, and east to Germany, Ukraine, the Crimea, and the Balkans), northwest Africa (Algeria), and southwest Asia (Turkey east to Iran). The common name is primrose, or occasionally common primrose or English primrose to distinguish it from other Primula species also called primroses. I refer to these as my fairy hats. they are early color inthe garden

The Dutch, or common hyacinth of house and garden culture (H. orientalis, native to southwest Asia) was so popular in the 18th century that over 2,000 cultivars were grown in the Netherlands its chief commercial producer. This hyacinth has a single dense spike of fragrant flowersin shades of red, blue, white, orange, pink, violet or yellow. A form of the common hyacinth is the less hardy and smaller blue- or white-petalled Roman hyacinth of florists. These flowers need indirect sunlight and should be watered moderately. Hyacinth bulbs are poisonous; they contain oxalic acid. Handling hyacinth bulbs can cause mild skin irritation. Protective gloves are recommended

 Another variety of greigii called "pinocchio" They remind me of the old lucky strike packaging for cigarettes. Never smoked those but every used car salesman I ever new add a pack of Luckys or Camels to offer the prospective customer.

Spring 2016

Well Spring 2016 may finally be here. Saw these little guys just hanging around,