Sunday, May 18, 2008

MORE FROM MAY



MORE FROM MAY

First, let me start with trying to get another picture of the “arm in the tree!”
I took my trusty little Nikon outside to get the picture while the sun was right and looked around to see what else was in bloom so I could get a few more flower shots. As I was focusing on an iris out front, there was a sound I have learned only too well living on this street – metal on blacktop. My road is a narrow, bumpy turtle back road. People drive by here much too fast, many of them hauling boats. If you are a regular on this blog, you have seen pictures of boats that have come loose and jumped the drainage ditch, slid up the bank, and have landed up in my yard. I am trying to understand why people forget to put the pins in or fasten the chains or in some way secure their boats – but it seems many of them do not. Anyway, I heard the metal on road sound and looked up in time to see a boat dragging on the road, the truck stopping, and the boat run into the truck. Smack! If you look closely, you can see the tree with the “arm” right behind the boat. After they got the truck and boat out of there and on its way, I ventured out in the road to get a closer pic of the “arm.” Good thing as it is now covered with leaves and tiny white flowers.
Meanwhile, in the rest of the yard, the plants are struggling to recover from a heavy rain and lots of wind. The iris took a beating, but a couple of new ones have managed to come out and are upright. The Siberian iris is amazing this year. This all started with just one plant. They are tiny but ever so sweet.
I am watching the mountain laurel slowly open. I think I enjoy the buds as much as the blooms!
Two years ago my underground oil tank started to take in water. We put in an above ground system, hating the appearance of this huge tank sitting out back, and it cost a fortune to fill it the first time. Little did I know what a fortune it would take to keep it full! Then, some of the residents on this fine shore got the idea of going around to people’s homes and liberating their fuel oil. Locks on the tanks mean nothing if you have the strength to wield a pipe wrench. So, a few members of the community went to Wal-Mart where you can buy big 10 gallon plastic tanks with long siphon hoses on them, and at $4 a gallon, discovered a new business venture. So, for the cost of a full tank of oil, many people are building sheds to cover their oil tanks. Hopefully mine will be finished this week. Out of sight, out of mind. At least that is the plan.
You all have a good week! Take time to tell your flowers you love them! And maybe a person or two...............

5 comments:

Tossing Pebbles in the Stream said...

Wow, you can still afford fuel oil! I am impressed. My oil furnance sits idle as I now burn wood.

Around here the fuel is stolen out of logging equipment in the bush. The profit margin in logging is so small for equipmwnt operators that this vandalism can put one under.

david santos said...

Excellent, possum!
Very nice colors!
Have a nice day

Ralph said...

Thanks for the pictures of the arm of the tree. That is pretty amazing well. . . at least it is if you are a forester. I do appreciate you taking more pictures of the tree.
People have started siphoning gas out of car fuel tans around here.
Ralph

poopie said...

Thanks for the visit and kind words possum...Love your iris pictures. They're one of my favorite flowers!

ancient one said...

As far as I know, no one has stolen from us yet. My husband works on lawnmowers in the back and he has gas stored in cans for his work. Today, gas in our little town was $3.95 and one store in town was $3.99.

We heat with LP Gas. We let him fill the tank last month. Don't know what the next tank will cost, but it can only go higher.

So we can enjoy our own back yards this year. I love your Iris and all the other flowers you show us.

You should keep count of all the boats that come skidding down your road. Are you close to a lake, river, or ocean?

We passed by Jordan Lake on the way to the wedding last weekend. Not many boats out and the ones that we saw were all hugging the shore.