Ligularia's, Filipendula, Gallardia, and more

How's that title for a mouthful!
But as I said yesterday, this is a flower picture post. So here goes......

A double daylily...

Filipendula rubra(Queen of the Prairie). Looks like pink clouds floating above the foliage
White Liatris
Ligularia(The Rocket)
Blackberry lily
Gallardia

Stargazer Lily with White Shasta Daisy, and a two toned pink Daylily.

A very special Daylily. I just love the color!

I have no idea on this one, but they get about 5 ft tall, and I have white and a purple.

Another Ligularia(Gregynog Gold)

And that's my latest selection. Hoped you liked it. And can you believe I've posted 4 days in a row? Well, that's because the yard is in maintenance mode, so I have a little more time available. But my next post won't be till Friday, I have a very busy Wed. and Thur.

So now I'm off to work!

Creamy Potato Salad

As promised, and by request, Craig's delicious, creamy, Potato Salad recipe!
First off, there are lot's of different types of Potato Salads, and I like most all of them,(heck, I like most foods period!) But this is my favorite! It's easy and tasty!
.
2lbs cooked potatoes with skin on. (Craig prefers red potatoes, but you can use any kind)
1 cup chopped Onion
3 stalks chopped Celery
5 hard cooked eggs diced(with the yolks separated and put aside)
1 1/2 cups Miracle Whip, Fat Free
1 Tbs white vinegar
2 packets of equal(or any artificial sweetener)
mustard to taste(Craig uses about 2 Tbs)
1/8 tsp pepper
.
Put the first 4 items in a large bowl.
Mix the rest of the items in a second bowl and add the mashed yolks and stir.
Add the creamed mixture to the large bowl and stir.
Chill, and Enjoy!
.
You'd think Craig could at least smile for the camera!(he doesn't like his pic taken)

Oh, and here's a picture of his PT Cruiser all cleaned and waxed. Ain't it pretty!

And tomorrow.........more flower pics!(bet you can't wait, huh.)

Hydrangea macrophylla normalis

First off, did anyone know what this post was about from the title? hehe
This is a picture of my Lacecap Hydrangea. I used my flash because it wasn't quite daylight out yet.
Now there's a couple of odd things here, do any of my readers know them?
Okay, I'll tell you.
First, Lacecaps aren't hardy this far north. They are for zones 6-9, and I'm barely a zone 5. But I got this as a present, and decided to put it in the yard, figuring if it dies, I would have thrown it out anyway.
Second, as with most Hydrangeas they bloom on 'old' wood, which means, last years growth. This is blooming on new wood.
And finally, as with most Hydrangeas, the color of the flower is either blue or pink, not both, which is determined by the acidity of the soil. And I got both on the same flower!
So, I feel blessed with this rare little treat!

Also, I did get the PT Cruiser washed, waxed, and detailed. And burned up a pile of branches from June's storms. And tomorrow...........Craig's delicious low fat Creamy Potato Salad recipe!

Oriental Lilies

Good morning readers!

Finished another busy week at the Salon. And another business is moving out of the mall. But at least they're not closing, they are moving to a larger space in another strip mall down the street. But that will leave our mall with 10 businesses out of 21 store fronts. The worst since we moved in 11 1/2 years ago! It's starting to look lonely here! Glad I'm not the owner of the mall, because their income is sure dropping!
In other news, it looks to be a nice weekend weather wise, so hope to get a lot done outside.
And here's my favorite lily, Oriental Lilies! I think they are just the most beautiful of all the lily varieties. and fortunately, they are up near the house, so the deer missed them.
Enjoy!



More to come later!

funny friday

It's another busy week at work. Also the candy store next to us(Fabiano's Candy) closed. They were here when we opened 11 years ago. They used to have 4 locations around greater Lansing, and now are down to the original in downtown Lansing. They have real good chocolates, but they are very expensive. Our mall is getting a bit lonely. We now have 9 empty store fronts. 5 in the wing we're in. But on the upside, more available parking for our customers! At least our business seems a little more immune from economic instability. I mean, people still need their hair cut!
And now....on with our ff.......


Getting tired of paying $8.00+ dollars for a beverage at your favorite event?
Why not bring 80oz of your favorite sipper in with you as a spare tire?
Introducing..........

That's right, a beer belly cooler that you fill with beverage and sneak into movies, concerts, sporting events, church......just kidding, and anywhere with outrageous drink prices.

Pays for itself in less than 2 uses!
Now you can take up to 80oz. of your favorite beverage wherever you go.. Even where "they" don't want you to! The Beerbelly is made up of an insulated neoprene "sling" and a polyurethane "bladder" with a tube for dispensing. The bladder is held in an insulated pouch in the sling which is worn under your clothing for concealment. When worn, it looks just like a beer belly, and stays cold for hours
And what makes this my funny Friday, is this is a real product you can order from this company! I wonder how many of these they have actually sold!
http://www.coolerfun.com/

Have a great weekend!

Trip #7

We've just returned from trip #7. The summer is going fast! Just as 2 weeks ago, we went to the Saugatuck area, and again stayed at Campit Resort. Since I had to work Saturday, it was just a short 2 nighter. But the purpose of the trip was to meet a couple of RV'ers, Mark and Craig.

And here's a picture of all of us inside their Motor Coach.

(no, that's not a real fireplace above our heads)

Mark and Craig live in Memphis, TN.

They found my blog through John and Derek's blog.

And I found John and Derek's blog the the HitchItch blog,

which I found searching RV Full timing, which we thought we might want to do someday. Anyway.......They said they were coming through Michigan, and would like to meet us in person. Well, it's been so much fun meeting new people through my blog, I said, of course!

And so far, in person,we've met Mo, who lives in Dowagiac, (his store's link, The Wren's Nest is in my sidebar)

John and Derek, (our first trip this year to St Louis, MO.)

And now Mark and Craig.(sorry, no link. They don't have a blog themselves)

And they are all, just the nicest people!

After we got set up, Mark invited us over for drinks. I was really wanting to see their Coach. It's a beautiful 2008 Monaco Dynasty!

Here's a pic from the outside. Our mo-ho is in the background,

a few sites away.(took this pic on Sunday afternoon after most of the other campers had packed and left)

Had a great weekend with them. They were a lot of fun, and took us to some very good restaurants. We talked and talked, and laughed, and actually had a lot in common. Wish the weekend could have lasted longer, but we had to come back to Lansing, and they were on their way to Ypsilanti, MI. Working their way back to Memphis. I hope our paths cross again in the future.

Okay blog readers, I know I have some Chicago area readers, and we go there 2-3 times a year, so don't be shy, you can see Craig and I don't bite, so e-mail me, and let's meet on our next trip to Chicago! We love meeting the people who read my blog!

daylillies

This is a picture post of 7 of the more that 50 Daylillies I have in the yard. Fortunately, the deer attack I had over the 4th of July weekend, didn't get all the buds on every plant. So although the flowering display will be few and short, all the more reason to enjoy what I can.

And I don't know the names of any of them, I wasn't very good early on at keeping the tags, but aren't they pretty? And if you want to see all the varieties I have, here's my webshot album

An unusual funny friday

For this edition of ff, I want to share a little story.

One of Craig's customers recently retired from the State of Michigan, Dept. of Transportation. And apparently, because of his many years of service, they wanted to formally recognize him for that. So, what they do here in Michigan, (I don't know if other states do this) they name a rest area for them. So he gets his name on the sign on the highway, and a picture and plaque in side the building. And the rest area he got was just outside of Saugatuck, where we camped over the 4th of July weekend. So, of course I had to stop and get a pic. And here it is.....



And you may wonder, what's so funny about that?

Well, first of all, they had a ceremony, at the rest area, with speakers, refreshments and such. And second, this is a building where people stop on their travels to relieve themselves! Would you call that an honor? Have a plaque with your picture in a building where people go potty? I think that's pretty funny! And while I took the picture, someone came out of the potty, and saw me doing this, and all of a sudden was interested in who the person was! Thought he was someone famous! tee hee. I think I would rather have had a gold watch!

Have a great weekend!

weekend wrap-up

Well, it was a productive weekend. With beautiful weather, I managed to get the front, back, and one side of the mo-ho waxed, Craig's Honda Accord detailed and waxed, cleaned up the inside of the mo-ho, and I even got a little weeding done. And I caught a Rabbit! Those little buggers are still finding their way into the yard. But I'll get them!
Craig did bookwork, laundry, mowed the yard, and made another delicious batch of Potato Salad! Don't we have an exciting life! hehe
So now it's back to work, but here's 3 Asiatic lilies and an Oriental lily for you to enjoy.

The little bastards!

This is one of my shrub roses. It is covered with small 2 inch flowers.

And this is whats happening to it! Those damn Japanese Beetles!Now they don't seem to like the flowers, just the leaves, but my Rugosa Roses, they eat the buds as fast as they form. I guess the only good thing about our cooler than normal spring, was that the beetles showed up later than usual, so I got to enjoy the roses for a little while.

And here's some more flowers they don't eat....

First up, a really cool flower, a Globe Centura, They look like little balls of sunshine!

A later blooming Pale Purple Clematis,

And a very pretty Cranesbil.

And more flowers later!

Before and after

I have a before and after picture to show you today. I posted earlier this spring about taking out a couple of flower beds. These were around a fountain, out in the middle of the yard. The flowers never seemed to do real good in the all day sun, and the beds were always very weedy, and I needed to cut down on some of the yard work now with all our summer mo-ho trips.
So here's the results.

The pics look a little different because the top pic was taken last spring, and the bottom just yesterday, later in the year. But I think you'll agree, the fountain is now more of a focal point, and the lack of flower beds there, opens up the yard and draws the eye out to the rest of the yard.

Anyway that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

funny friday with flowers

First, our ff.......
Three women die together in an accident and go to heaven.
When they get there, St. Peter says, "We only have one rule here in heaven: don't step on the ducks!"
So they enter heaven, and sure enough, there are ducks all over the place. It is almost impossible not to step on a duck, and although they try their best to avoid them, the first woman accidentally steps on one.
Along comes St. Peter with the ugliest man she ever saw.
St. Peter chains them together and says, "Your punishment for stepping on a duck is to spend eternity chained to this ugly man!"
The next day, the second woman accidentally steps on a duck and along comes St. Peter, who doesn't miss a thing. With him is another extremely ugly man. He chains them together with the same admonishment as for the first woman.
The third woman has observed all this and, not wanting to be chained for all eternity to an ugly man, is very, VERY careful where she steps.
She manages to go months without stepping on any ducks, but one day St. Peter comes up to her with the most handsome man she has ever laid eyes on .. very tall, long eyelashes, muscular, and thin.

St. Peter chains them together without saying a word.
The happy woman says, "I wonder what I did to deserve being chained to you for all of eternity?"
The guy says, "I don't know about you, but I stepped on a duck!"

It's been another busy week in the Salon. Of course it helps that we were closed 2 days last week. But this weekend is looking good weather wise, so I hope to get some yard work done, and wax one of the cars. And get the mo-ho cleaned up for another trip! 6 down and 8 more to go!
And of course a few more flower pics!

Two Astrantia's

Pink and a Pale Yellow Yarrow and a burgundy Bee Balm.

Have a great weekend!

daylillies

Spent my last day off mowing the yard and doing some yard work,(where do all the weeds come from?) while Craig did paperwork, laundry, and made a delicious Swiss Steak dinner. We also have had deer in the yard. Spotted one nibbling on some Daylillies and discovered while we were gone, they've eaten a number of things. So tried to figure out how they're getting in and put up more high fencing. We'll see if that does the trick. And here's a few Daylillies that are blooming now that the deer didn't get.





Ain't they pretty? more pics to come!