Tuesday, January 16, 2007

The LAST DAY OF SUMMER IN JANUARY

The Last Day of Summer in January

Today the windows are closed; the peepers are silent. The only sound is the wind and a flock of snow geese flying over. Well, they say winter is about to arrive. They say this after weeks of way above normal temps, and several days of temps in the 70s! Mosquitoes were beginning to swarm. There were clusters of bugs buzzing around and around in circles no doubt confused with the world being a bit out of sync. The roses and daisies are putting out new growth about 3 months ahead of their time.

Weeds are starting to flower that we usually don’t get to see until April or May.

The grass is green. And I was glad to see that I am not the only idiot to have my mower out in the middle of winter. I heard then saw my neighbor’s mower while walking around taking pictures of things blooming a month or 2 ahead of schedule.

The white camellias have started to bloom

As have some of the later red camellias. See the white pattern on the petals?

The pussy willows are putting out their soft little catkins.

Is this a flower bed or the cats’ bed? This is where they take their naps in the summer... but it is January! See the daffodils coming up behind Spook?

The pansy garden is getting prettier and prettier, just in time for another blast of cold air.

Punkin is really enjoying the warm sunshine.

It was 62 degrees when I got up this morning and looked out at the camellias next to the carport. Two hours later, it was 52 degrees and windy. By dinner time, it was 20 degrees colder than the day before. Tomorrow morning, they say, it will be in the 20s!

It was tough getting a picture of Aunt Alice as the wind was moving the bush too much to get a clear shot. I took 4 or 5; this is the only one that was sharp. I picked the prettiest ones to have on the dinner table. I picked pieces to try to root even though I have never been successful. Maybe this time!

I have enjoyed having fresh flowers on the table everyday. Soon they will be bruised from the wind and cold. That will be sad. But it would be fun to have a bit, just a bit of snow.

4 comments:

Rhodent said...

Your pictures are wonderful!!! Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Janice said...

Your flowers and kitties are beautiful! :o) What a heat wave you've been having...it seems so strange for this time of year! Our daffodil spears are way up, which is normal, but pussywillows usually open out sometime in February. Thanks for the glimpses of your summer in January!

hiphoppe said...

Your camellias are beautiful. I just love them and Spook and Punkin look soooo contented and happy.

Rachel said...

Oh the poor flowers! This winter has been weird. We have daffodils blooming and I saw a magnolia tree all bloomed in white yesterday!