Tag: fuchsia

A GREAT DAY FOR THE LILIES – Marilyn Armstrong

FOTD – July 6 – Daylily

Today was as close to a perfect summer day as you could hope for. It was warm, dry, breezy, and sunny. Not terribly hot and not at all humid. Owen decided to put up the shed that has been waiting for a dry spell and in the process, moved my swing into the middle of the backyard. It’s a big improvement.We have an Amish community down the road and they sell outdoor furniture. I bought this from them close to 20 years ago. it’s still in fine shape and where it is now, it might actually get used.

Duke likes to sniff the plants

While I was taking pictures of the shed going up, I realized we still have a lot of daylilies, so I took pictures of them too. While I was at it, I took pictures of  the rapidly growing hemp, the fuchsia (which fell from its hook and now sits on a small table) … and the Duke who just likes hanging out on the deck.

The wild daylily garden
No squirrels for the Duke

We’ve been putting black sunflower seeds down on the grass below the deck, so the squirrels are having a fine old time munching them down on the lawn instead of trying to get them out of the feeders. It’s probably a lot more comfortable for them and pouring seed over the side of the deck to the ground isn’t nearly as much work as filling feeders. But pictures are hard to take when the squirrels are down there and the Duke doesn’t get to sniff all around the deck in the hope that there will be a live one.

The fuchsia has survived a lot of damage this year, but still blooming!

There will never be a live one waiting for the Duke. They just hop on a branch and depart, leaving a sad dog who had hoped for a big squirrel day.

FUCHSIA STILL GROWING – Marilyn Armstrong

FOTD – June 20 – FUCHSIA

Three squirrels were inspecting my deck today. I got the feeling they have NOT forgotten. They are just waiting for me to put the feeders up. I didn’t know that had such good memories.

Meanwhile, the fuchsia are growing and are not being crushed by squirrels and birds.

I have a feeling that none of the critters will forget. We’ll put the feeders up and it will be full throttle ATTACK MODE!

I’m considering filling the 10 pound feeder twice a week and in between, they will have to find other food to eat. They seem to be doing fine. When winter comes, I’ll up the anti, but while food is everywhere, they can forage.

IT WOULD NOT BE SUMMER WITHOUT FUCHSIA

FOTD – June 25 – Fuchsia

I took pictures of a lot of flowers yesterday. Not just the daylilies, but also the Fuchsia. And a few other things. But let’s do this one flower group at a time.

Fuchsia on the square

I honestly don’t think it would feel like summer without Fuchsia growing on the deck. They make me happy and these days, not so many things make me happy. It has been a grim three and a half years.The bank will not give us a loan, even though we have a flawless 8-year payment record. Because, 60% of our income goes out to pay bills.

“Oh,” said the woman who runs the oil company. “You mean, like everyone else?” So they set us up for a loan that most people — especially now — can’t get.This is how they set up these rules:

  1. Figure out what it actually cost for a retired couple to survive and have a home.
  2. Give them about 60% of that amount and charge them more than $3500/year for each of them to get “free” Medicare.
  3. Raise the costs of Medicare a little bit each year while reducing the benefits,
  4. Don’t give them raises. This is so that each year a retired couple’s fixed income buys less. A lot less in a really bad year.
  5. This is a very bad year.

It has been suggested that we set up a “FundMe” campaign, but I don’t want to. We had to do it once before when the well went dry and I swore I’d never do it again. So we will work with the mortgage bank.

Maybe we caught a break because of the disaster of COVID-19. If they tried to evict every person who has a house and doesn’t have a job or money, there would be millions of unoccupied houses they could not sell

They will have to do things differently.

Pity that hasn’t dribbled down to the computers that gauge whether or not you can afford a relatively small loan, even though you’ve paid every bill you’ve ever been sent for as long as they have been keeping records.

Does it make sense? Not to me. Not, in fact, even to the bankers who were embarrassed to refuse me. They said I had an impeccable record, but the computer said no.

The computer said no. Somehow, I knew it would come to this, that one day, my future would be decided by software. I probably deserve it. I spent years building software and now, it’s running my life.

Go figure, right?

FUCHSIA IN THE MORNING – Marilyn Armstrong

FOTD – June 11 – Fuchsia in the morning

I still haven’t put the feeder back up. I have to admit, I’m enjoying a couple of weeks without the mess on the deck. And I’ve been busy.

Summer is a busy time in New England.  It’s not really about vacations, though many of us used to try to fit a couple of weeks in somewhere during the warm months. It’s more about getting stuff done. Fixing the doors, getting rid of rotting wood and big black ants. Trimming the trees. All things that need fixing need to be done before the snow flies.

You never know when the snow will fly. It could be as early as November, or not at all. These days, the weather is strange and unpredictable. From having endless rain earlier in the spring, suddenly, we have only had one serious rain this month. But I think that’s about to change. Or not. The weather these days is the best guess by the best meteorologist, but the winds have changed. The ocean has changed.

Everything has changed but the fuchsias are doing well.

FUCHSIA BLOOMING – MARILYN ARMSTRONG

FOTD – June 7 – FUCHSIA ON THE DECK

Just as well I took pictures yesterday when it was sunny because today we had pretty much every kind of weather minus tornados and a blizzard.

Close up — Looking better without the Doves nesting in them

I woke up to a dark, humid world. The sky was that greenish-gray color that sometimes means tornadoes, but around here usually means very heavy rain. A little sun came out, followed by rain so heavy you could not see out the window. That was followed immediately by some serious hail. Which was followed by winds and more rain until the sun came out.

Poor Owen discovered his driver’s side window wouldn’t work, so he came home covered in ice from the hail, soaking wet, and he had to seal up his window with plastic bags. What a fun day!

But all the plants got watered. We had a waterfall in the front yard which isn’t even hilly.

I took the pictures yesterday and they are perfect for today, wind, rain, hail, humidity and all.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR FUCHSIA – Marilyn Armstrong

FOTD – May 30 – A Good Day for Fuchsia

The squirrels have gotten rather possessive of the feeders and the birds have had to go elsewhere for food. I’m not worried. There’s plenty for them to eat and if the squirrels don’t give up their siege, I’ll have to take down the feeders.

Meanwhile, it is a good day for fuchsia. Not this year’s fuchsia because the birds and squirrels trashed them. I should have known better. Maybe they will revive, but I’m not optimistic.

So we’ll go back to the fuchsias of days gone by and dream of a fuchsia future.

RED BELLIED WOODPECKER AND A FUCHSIA – Marilyn Armstrong

AS THE END OF MAY APPROACHES … 

I got some nice pictures of our favorite woodpecker enjoying dinner at the feeder. The birds seem to like being near the big plant. I think it makes them feel safe. It is much harder to shoot with the big plant in the way, so I’m going to have some practicing to do to get quality photographs.

Yesterday was the first time I shot using my iPhone. The pictures are admirably sharp and clear and it’s a definitely “better than nothing” camera that doesn’t require hauling a heavy camera and lenses.

For me, it isn’t a camera. It’s had to focus, it only shoots at 72 ppi and it’s really hard to keep your fingers out of the photo. Probably great for snapshooters, but the process of having to mail the shots to my PC then transferring them is a serious pain in the butt.

It’s good to have it and it has many other uses, but it isn’t going to be my favorite photographic device!

DARK VIOLET AND WHITE – Marilyn Armstrong

FUCHSIA, DARK VIOLET WITH WHITE

The new fuchsia! The shaded elegant flower.

I am very glad to have another after all these years, without any. Without even a place to buy one. I thought they’d stopped growing them. They only had two, both purple and white. This one looked younger and healthier with more buds.

With all the sadness, flower and birds and flying squirrels … and Duke sniffing for squirrels he knows are there, but hasn’t managed to find yet. One day, maybe they will meet. Then again, those squirrels are very fast.

Macro fuchsia – Dark violet and white

FUCHSIA FROM THE OLD DAYS – Marilyn Armstrong

FOTD – January 28, 2019 – FUCHSIA

I don’t have any flowers blooming right now, but I miss flowers and decided to go back into my archives and remember how very much I loved my fuchsia.

I’ve been reprocessing them since I now have a lot more filters than I had when I first got these pictures. As a bonus, there were pictures in there I’d never really looked at before. Actually, there are a lot of pictures in these folders I’ve never used at all.

So – today, fuchsia!

Buds before the blooming
More fuchsia and a little green bug!

FUCHSIA – PERFECTLY PINK – Marilyn Armstrong

FUCHSIA – PERFECTLY PINK – Marilyn Armstrong

And from now to the end of the month, it will be fuchsia. I have a lot in different colors, at different stages of development … and I love them.

Fuchsia
More pink and purple and white – Fuchsia

FUCHSIA – DARK VIOLET WITH WHITE – Marilyn Armstrong

FUCHSIA – DARK VIOLET WITH WHITE

And from now to the end of the month, it will be fuchsia. I have a lot in different colors, at different stages of development … and I love them.

Macro fuchsia – Dark violet and white

FUCHSIA – DAY FOUR- Marilyn Armstrong

fuchsia – dAY Four

It is Primary Election Day here in Massachusetts. If you happen to live here, please vote. It couldn’t be more important than it is today. Right now.

More flowers today. Fuschia, from when they were still selling fuchsia. I have so many flowers in pink! It’s probably my favorite flower color so you will have to forgive me my pink floral passion.