I thought I had missed something when I read in one of the posts that its nice to be posting our pictures elsewhere. So glad I came across this post. :o)

Angie, the boys are just so cute! I think coloring the easter eggs is so much fun ... looks like your boys thought so too.

Shirley,
Your blueberry frost tulip is to die for! I love the 'fringe' tulips. When I first saw the picture I was sure it was 'Cummins', but you tricked me. LOL

And now you got me all excited over 'Boo' iris. I received some from Cindy also. It is growing very well and I would be very surprised if it didn't bloom for me too. :o)

I have several things blooming in the garden, will have to find time to take some pics. Just the regular spring stuff though.

Cindy, nice snow picture ... I hope your next picture will be of blooms. :o)

sharon

I found this at one of the local nurseries today and HAD to have it!! Thought you hosta lovers would like to see it - it's a 3 yr old TC 'El Nino' sport :

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~Click on photo to view larger version~

Of course i will share it next year! ~marea

Shirley, this picture thread was a wonderful idea. Thank you!

Here are the latest pics from our house building....

Here is a shot of the front....You can see that almost all of the roof framing is complete. Rafters & trusses are up. Still have some bracing to do, along with the two front porch roofs and overhangs before starting the shingles....

Next we have a pic of the dining room, looking out to the front. I was playing with my Paint program this morning and drew in the two 1/4 circle windows that will be going in.

Here is a picture of the back of the house. On either side of the middle (bump out) will be porches. The one on the right will have a built in outdoor fireplace. At least that's our plan. : ) The other side will kind of be our private, master bedroom porch.

And here is looking out the back from the living room area.

One more...this is the side where all my storage is, lol. The set of steps I drew in will actually go over top of the underground "tunnel" that connects the house with the detached garage. That window up in my kitchen is way bigger than I envisioned, but I think it will be nice to have a clear view as to what is going on down in the driveway. That window is where our "breakfast nook" is going to be in the kitchen.

Okay, that's all for now. I just got a phone call from DH and he is taking our crew over there to work right now. Must have been some sort of glitch out on the jobsite, so that is wonderful, unexpected news. I'm so glad when he gets help. It will definately speed our roof progress along.

HUGS,
~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Forgot to say...

Marea, i'm drooling!!! What a lucky duck you are. That Hosta is gorgeous. Maybe we can trade next year....I have 'White Feather', if you like those "ghostly" looking Hosta. It just started poking out of the ground....was planted late last Summer. I can't wait to see how it does.
HUGS,
~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Sharon- I looked up Tulip Cummins and it looks just like mine...Hummmm I bought those at Lowes and the name was Blueberry Frosting. I don't know about Lowes but I sure do love that tulip. I thought I had lost my daylily seedlings but they are doing great...Are they ever hardy...All that cold weather but it didn't hurt them.

Marea-Love your hosta El Nino...Put my name on the list for one.

Dawn-Love your house pictures, it is all coming together now. A new baby and a new house it doesn't get much better than that. I'm mailing you a package today LMK when you get it.

Shirley

Shirley - either name that tulip is awesome!

Marea- OOOHHHH....drrrroooollll........oh you are a lucky girl.

Dawn - Loved to see the progress. your house is stunning and oh lala the views. Glad to hear you and Talon are doing well. :):):)

Does anyone know what kind of bird this is? loves my new thistle feeder, never saw around before. now he/she and mate are constants here
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Cindy

Cindy, that looks like a tufted titmouse.

LOL! Dawn, I thought you were drawing your cobwebs. Man, that house is going to be awesome! I'm greener than a 'pile of frogs' :). I can not believe it is time for Talon! I am going to be pacing the floors when it is time. I have presents, just need to get it all together.

Canna

Happy Monday!

I'm jealous of that utterly magnificent house, too! But if anybody deserves such a lovely home it IS our Dawn!

I heard ya, Cindy, Dawn & Shirley, about first trading rights on my beautiful Hosta sport. The nursery owner was rather sad selling it to me but said he didn't have the time to deal with it & made me promise to send him photos next year if it continues to stay a sport - he told me to sell it on eBay and make a fortune. LOL! Now I have "sport fishing" fever. There are two eyes on the plant right now with that incredible 4 color pinto stuff going on - here's hoping it continues..

At another nursery I got to see my first mature Brugmansias: a whole forest of 15 FOOT TALL variegated Snowbanks covered with 10 inch flowers!! I just stood there gaping with my mouth open and feeling sorry for the poor little sticks I'm trying to raise...

I got my first Iris on Earth Day, dwarf 'Bloodstone':

{{gwi:1263962}}

Marea

Canna, lololol! I thought they looked like cobwebs too! I'm sure they will be covered in them in no time. : ) Who's gonna' have time to clean?? Baby & I will be in the garden!!!!
I can't believe it's time for Talon either. This has been the fastest 9 mos. of my life.

And Marea, what a lovely thing to say. No need for anyone to be "green" though. We are just a bunch of simple folk trying to accomplish a dream with limited resources and plenty of blood, sweat, & tears.
Thank you all for supporting us with your kind and encouraging words. It really helps on those days when we start to wonder...."are we nuts???".

Cindy, love the pic of the Tufted Titmouse. They spend alot of time at my backyard feeders. Hope we have as many over at the new house. They are such sweeties.

I have yet to get the Baby Shower pics from my sister's camera, but have these couple that were taken with mine.

First is me, my Mom, & niece Brooklyn...

Here I am with my precious sister's....Amanda (middle child) is on your left and "auntiebirrd" Jenna (youngest) is holding Brooklyn.....

This next pic is me bawling and holding up the gorgeous Christening Gown made by our dear Dianne. I think it's a bit blurry, so i'll be sure to take & post another pic of the gown w/ the hat...

I have some updated house pictures from the weekend to post as soon as I get them loaded in. It was a very momentous day for us yesterday. DH completed the center part of the roof which was very steep and very difficult and was able to get the tar paper on it and get the drip edge all nailed in only moments before the rain started. Someone was watching out for us. : )

HUGS,
~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Me again. More house pics. If you are sick of seeing them, please say so.

It was nice to be able to spend some time over there this weekend. Now that we've made it to 37 weeks, I don't feel the need to stay chained to my bed. I'm still taking it easy though. It's pretty painful to walk, so I don't do much of that. Basically still following the bedrest rules, just doing so in a different location, lol. The sunshine felt so good. And so did the shade, lol. It was over 80 degrees on Saturday. Spring? What Spring? Fortunately it has cooled back down to normal temps. and I think we are finally going to get our real Spring.

DH worked harder than any man should this past week. Do you know he went down a whole pants size in just one week!! He's eating, but just working too hard and burning everything off. Up on that steep roof in the hot sun was just so exhausting. I felt so sad when he had to get up and go to his real job today.

Well, like I said, we beat the rain and that was the goal. DH worked all weekend w/ one of our employees, then had 3 other crew members there yesterday. Here is a front view of the house w/ completed porch roofs, overhangs, etc.....

Here is a view of some of the tar papered part from the back yard....

We finally took the tarp off the top of the chimney. We drew up several designs for the chimney, but ended up going with the simplest. I liked it best and didn't want anything too fancy. I'm really happy with the brick we picked. I love them and think they will give the house the rustic feel i'm hoping for.....

And here he is...my skinny little sweetheart...

DH is supposed to come home after work today and REST. Yay! They are calling for several inches of rain for the rest of the week so he may not get back to work over there until the weekend. That's fine by me. I need some time to get him fattened back up, lol.

HUGS,
~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Here are the iris I have blooming. It's been raining for 2 days so they are a little worse for the wear. Cindy, I hope you enjoy!

Sorry I just got one in the last post. I'll try again.

More? only one that doesn't look too good. ;-) If ya'll know what any of these are I'd appreciate the names. They're all NOIDS to me.

Nancy - could that white Iris be 'Hi Low Silver'?? Mine is blooming now & looks just like it - it is called dwarf but this year is blooming on a 14" scape ('Bloodstone' is what i think of as REALLY a dwarf - only 6 inches tall). I have to find the box with my battery charger before I can show you mine for comparison.. That pink & lavender confection in the 2nd from the last in your second post is SO pretty - I'm sure it is 'Color Tart'. No clue on the others but beautiful collection even w/o id's!!

Dawn - I LOVED seeing those photos!!! You 3 look so much like your beautiful mother, amazing. And what a HUNK your Daddybirrd is! You are so right - that beautiful gown is so worth crying over!
Marea

Dawn, your house is going up so fast. It won't be long til you and Talon will be snuggled up in bed looking out at the birds. That christening gown is just gorgeous! I hope your DH won't be too manly to let Talon wear it but if so you can save it for your daughter or let Brooklin wear it like Diane said. Your sisters and you all look just like your mom. What a beautiful family you have.

Nancy

Nancy, awsome iris pics! thankyou so much for sharing a bit of your spring for me. :):). i love them all. im a bit encouraged here, it looks like a dwarf noid white one is going to bloom here soon....maybe ill get some iris afterall :):).

Marea, you too! what an interesting color!

Dawn, oh what fun. the gown and glowing mom to be are beatiful :).

Cindy

Marea, thank you for naming my irises but I don't think the white one is a dwarf. It's stalk is probably closer to 28-30 inches. I love them all even if they are noids. I really love my mini ones, white and purple and they bloom earlier than the tall ones.

Cindy, I'm sure you'll have some blooms. I still have a few that have scapes. *are they called that on iris?* I'll be waiting for your pics and everyone else's too.

Nancy

Boy am I envious of all your blooms. All I'm looking at here are 2 inches of hosta tips and periwinkle. And of course, a sea of daffodils, my life-savers.

Nice to see there is hope of warmth and color.

Anita, Jo, how are your gardens?

Hey Guys,
Love all your pic's:0) Hope to have some to post soon..:)Anita

Oooh, what pretty irises! I have had a few bloom here and there before and after the freeze and more on the way. My grandmother's favorite yellow iris are about to start blooming probably today or tomorrow.

Dawn, if you hadn't said that was your Mom, I would have thought she were one of your sisters! What a gorgeous family! My three sisters and I look nothing alike. Doug thinks I was adopted, LOL!

Maleah saw the pic of Jason on the roof and asked me "why is that man sliding down the house?"

Rebecca

Angie, your boys are really growing up! They are so cute and I'll bet always into something! lol The peacock is so pretty. Have you ever heard them scream? They say they sound human. The tulips are gorgeous.

Shirley, I love your tulip with the fringe on top. It's very pretty. I don't have any tulips. They usually don't rebloom here so I just don't fool with them. I just look at ya'll's. Is that how you write that? lol

Canna, your Maleah makes the cutest comments. ;-)

Nancy

http://www.emusic.com/album/11028/11028680.html?cs=1

and my daylily loves today:
Victorian Lace {{gwi:1264020}}Through The Looking Glass

Marea, have you hybridized with Victorian Lace yet? Ummmm...I highly recommend it :).

~Canna

Nancy, I'll take a stab at naming one of yours ...
could the purple/white one be Arctic Fancy?

You can see it here ... at the bottom of the page ...http://www.walking-p-bar.com/shopsite/tall-bearded-ss2.html.

Cement plop border, Only Love is near the bench that has been replaced with a black iron one as per Jo's visionary recommendation. What an improvement!
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Ooh Dianne, I LOVE your border!

Canna, I had a feeling that flower might be a good breeder! Have several Victorian Lace seedlings coming along from LA seed buys & my first 2 Lone Wolf x VL's are waving their first leaves - out to dance around the pot again ~ marea

Maria, I love your d/ls. I've got scapes too but they may all be stella. I'm not sure about one of them. My white iris is 34" from the ground to top of highest bloom, from where the scape divides it's 29". I have one blooming now that is out of this world. Thank you for naming Color Tart for me.

Sharon, I'm not sure if mine has enough white and it's a much lighter purple than Arctic Fancy too I think. Do have a pic of yours that I might compare it to? I couldn't get the link to work so I just typed it in.

Here are a couple more pics that I took today.

Does anyone know what the vine is? It looks like a Morning Glory but just came up in a pot so I'm not sure. I only had one last year and it was planted late and didn't have but a few blooms.

Hope you enjoy them.

Nancy

Marea, those are all lovely!! ooh if i was nearer id dance around those seedlings with you lol.

Dianne, love the border too. and the bench. just lovely.

Cindy

Diane, I love the border too and yellow beneath the bench. Is that sedum or sweet potato vine or what? Did you plop down the cement yourself? I've never thought of that. It's a good idea and looks great.

Nancy

Nancy, posting while you were yesterday. love the new pics too....esp that iris in the front. what a great creamy color! the mystery flower is beautiful too :)
Cindy

Dianne....beautiful border! Looks like a nice spot to sit and have a lemonade. I'm curious as to what the yellowish-chartreuse plant is too. Could it be creeping jenny?

Marea, i'm loving 'Gloria's Angel'. Thank you for the DL fix. : )

Nancy, lovely pics as always. Great shot of the Clematis. That mystery vine wouldn't happen to have smallish white blooms, would it?? Or haven't you seen it bloom? I think I may have an I.D.

I am so excited about the pics i'm sharing today. This first one is a shot of MaryB.'s favorite Tulips. She sent them to me in a trade last Fall and I planted them over at the new house. I remember her note had said that they may be blooming around the time Talon would be arriving....she was right! Only 15 days 'till my due date! Their name is escaping me right now. I have a tag for them but it was in a box in the garage and I forgot to check it before I left. I LOOOVVVEEE them! Aren't they pretty??!!

And this is why my new home is named "Bluebird Hill".....

What's really special about those photo's is that bluebird house was made for me by Deni's (abitodd's) father. She generously gave it to me in a trade we did last year. I had only temporarily attached the house to the tree it is currently on and planned to move it when I installed a post in a different location. Looks like i'll be leaving it there. : ) Mom & Pop Bluebird were busy all afternoon filling the house with small sticks and getting their cozy nest ready. This is my first ever Bluebird house that is actually inhabited by Bluebirds! I am so thrilled I can't even tell you.
I hope that Deni see's this pic and lets her father know how grateful I am for the house.

I took a ton of pics of Mr. Bluebird. He's a beauty.

Hugs,
~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Here's the latest Marie activities:

{{gwi:1264030}}Marie tries Daddy's boots

She'll be 2 next month.

Barb

Barb, Marie is adorable! She reminds me of Jacey at that age with that blonde hair. They grow up so quickly.

Dawn, I love your pics. The bluebird is awesome. We rarely see any brightly colored birds except Jays and Cardinals and an occasional Gold Finch. Still we have lots of birds. The hummers are my favorite and then the other day there were four deer out back and we just stood and stared at each other before they ran away.

Nancy

Thank you the the Marie update, Barb - she does make the heart glad! Especially loved that pulling the wagon shot: a girl with serious goals in mind!

Doe's anybody recognize this iris? It is tall,ruffled & streaked blueish-lavender purple.
I must have received it from one of you, but didn't write anything down about it...
The first photo shows how it towers above 'Bountiful Harvest' and 'Hi Lo Silver'

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~Click on thumbnails to see larger versions~

I'm not sure I've introduced many of you to my constant companion, Tim, who always gladdens my heart:
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Hoping for sunshine for us all ~ marea

Marea, I can't see your pics. Any time pics are posted on Photobucket and I go to a link to see them it asks me to login and when I do I go to my own page darn-it. Anyway all I get is a blue box and no picture.

Nancy

I can see them Marea.

Nancy, that is so weird. I have the same problem when someone uses a different picture hosting website. (I use Photobucket too)
Drives me crazy. Wish I knew how to fix that, or just knew why it happens.
I noticed the Deer have been perusing my new gardens over on Bluebird Hill. Lots of hoofprints, lol.
I love the Hummers too and plan to put up a feeder or two today. I was going to do it yesterday but was just too exhausted to get them out. I hung a Fuscia basket about a week ago to tide them over. ; )

~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Love the pic's all.

Marea,
I cant see them either:(
:)Anita off to plant still:(

Dawn, I meant to say that the vine does have tiny white flowers. Can you tell me what it is and if it's a good thing it's in a pot? lol

Nancy

Nancy, immediately when I saw the vine I thought it to be a wild Morning Glory. Looks like hedge bindweed (which I call wild Morning Glory), but I can't tell for sure. Some of the leaves look a little too rounded, but others have more of a pointy, "arrowhead" shape which would fit. It could also be a regular MG that reseeded, but it really looks like my bindweed. It's basically a weed that can become quite a pest. But don't go chopping it up yet until maybe you get another opinion because I could be wrong. Maybe you can post the pic on Name That Plant forum. Let me know what else you find out.

I had a doctor's appt. today and will update you all on the other thread as soon as I get a chance. If we don't have a baby soon, looks like he'll be here for sure next week. : )

Just wanted to stop in and share a shot of our completed roof. I know it's only a roof, but it has taken my dear DH so long to do and i'm really proud of him. He worked hard.

Notice the cloud in the sky....looks like smoke coming out of the chimney. : )

HUGS,
~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Dawn-That cloud sure does look like chimney smoke. What a beautiful home you are going to have.

Shirley

I agree, that does look like smoke. lol The roof is beautiful. I like the color of the tiles. What is the outside of the house going to be? Will it be vinyl siding, raw wood or will it be painted? I'm getting very curious now, tell your DH he has to hurry up now!

The leaves on the mystery plant are perfect heart shapes.

Nancy

Thanks Shirley & Nancy. : )

I didn't notice the "smoke cloud" until after I got home and loaded the pics into my computer.

Nancy, the entire exterior of our house will be brick, w/ possibly some stonework here and there. Not sure yet. We'll make it up as we go. But mainly brick (same as chimney). We bricked our current home back when we were remodeling it and DH did some "fancy" stuff....we've got several brick arches, quoined corners, etc. We aren't going to be doing much of that on the new house. I'm going for a simple, rustic look.
The front of the house will have a porch or deck all the way across.....it's kind of hard to explain. I think we will be using a material such as Trex to build it. We are looking for no maintenance for the entire exterior and don't want to have to paint, stain, etc. anything.

I've picked all of our colors to match very closely, but to have slight differences. Like the shingles, for example. They are overall only about 1 or 2 shades darker than the brick, but have mixed colors in them. One of the colors matches the brick perfectly.

Well, i've got to get ready to head over there....we started working on installing a gate at the end of our driveway last night which involved much more than you would think. DH is building large soil berms (planting beds!!!!) along the road to keep anyone from driving in. In the midst of all of this, he dug up a buried telephone line and tore it in half. You can only imagine how furious he is. This was never marked by the utility company when we first started our building process and it should have been. So now we are at a stand-still until someone decides to come out and look at it today. I thought it would have affected neighbors (no phone service?), but nobody called to report it yet (maybe because they don't have a working phone??? LOL). We're hoping it's an old line, or maybe an unused one.

It never ends.......

HUGS,
~Dawn (mamabirrd)

PS: No baby yet! C'mon Talon!! : ) I am soooooo sore and am barely able to waddle along.

{{gwi:1263970}}
Happy Mothers Day !!

Here is my Mother's Day present...

My very own gate!!! It's 20 feet wide and was pretty fun to install. DH was happy to be doing something other than framing or roof work. : ) We are also working on some simple landscaping right around it. We're not quite done. We need another load or two of mulch and still have some big rocks to put into place. And as you can see there are no plants yet, but you can imagine that i'll take care of that problem soon. ; )

Windows are next!!

HUGS,
~Dawn (mamabirrd)

MaryB - here is a public thank you for starting me down the road to a new love... The 2 beautiful dark purple Heucheras you sent me last year are blooming & I just had to get this one to go with them: (Click on thumbnail for larger view)

{{gwi:1263972}}
'Marmalade' Heuchera posing in front of happy daylilies sending up lots of SCAPES!! (I love this zone 8 life!!) ~m'

I got to go to Seabright Hostas this afternoon. All I can say is WOWZA!!
In the second photo I think you can clearly see my drool trail down the isle of the alphabetized sale greenhouse to where I'm standing in the "W"'s... (That's my friend on the left)
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It is so FUN to get to meet these fabulous plants in real life ~ wish you were here! ~m'

Dawn-Nice Mothers Day present.

Marea-Wow that looks like hosta heaven, sounds like you are definetely in the right place. Love your marmalade heuchera.

Shirley

Schreiner's:
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Marea...WOW... I want one of each ..heheh
Hostas and Iris..smiles

Love them both Marea! especially the Sunnyside Delight.