Newest Obsession

Before my obsession with quilting, before my obsession with figs there was my obsession with iris. Last year when I first moved to my new place I planted a few iris thinned from Mom's yard. My sis also gave me some pretty iris as well. They bloomed and were beautiful, rekindling my love of them. See previous posts for pictures of last year's blooms.

Well I went a little crazy this year. I found HIPS, Historical Iris Preservation Society. I was hoping to ID some of the old iris from my grandmother's ranch. Well they had their annual iris sale last month. I didn't buy any at first but when last call came and they were only a buck, I said send me one of each variety...they did, 28 new iris added to the landscape. On their forum one of the members offered rhizomes for postage as he was thinning them out (done every 3-5 years). He sent me another 20 or so historical iris.Well this started a roll...eBay was my next stop...that was a mistake!

I like the historicals but I really love the newer hybridized iris. Some  are just stunning. Between eBay and direct ordering from the likes of the Iris Patch and Iris Farmer, another 50 named iris were aquired.

Thought I was done but no...I heard my local nursery had iris on sale...they were potted, not bare root and were only a buck each...another 20 picked up. Names are unknow but they are a 'named' iris so should be pretty...peach, purple, deep yellow, bronze...

I joined the San Diego Iris Society. They had a member's iris sale today at Balboa Park...no I didn't go! I actually skipped it. I had to start planting what I have! I did get one large box planted, maybe 40 iris but these were from Mom's yard again. I still have over 100 to plant. I need to figure out an ID system so I don't loose track of the iris names. The San Diego Iris Society has a second plant sale next Sunday...

I think I am going to plant a historical iris garden seperate from the fancy, dancy iris. The fancy ones will be in the front yard, historicals in the back. I'm thinking of planting a Dykes Metal garden too...that's the award for the top iris of the year. I have several of them.

OK, so I thought I was done but I'm not. I found the reblooming iris group on facebook. I just ordered a dozen or so of them. Then there are the Spuria I want to get...someone stop me! ;-)

...and on top of the iris there's the half-bushel of daffodil bulbs I bought that are due to arrive in October. My garden next Spring should be quite spectacular...if I can keep the rabbits, squirrels and golphers at bay.

Sue

My Owls

My nesting owls had a second clutch this summer! I didn't see how many were in the second clutch but three were in the first. Here's a pick of Daddy Owl on the box with either Momma or a baby peaking out from inside.

Photos taken in Aug, 2011

Bought me a man-tool!

Well the weeds have finally won out. I can't keep up with the ones in front much less in the back so I bought me a 'man tool', a high wheel trimmer from Craftsman. I hate motorized tools, except my drill, but I had to bite the bullet and try this monster out. After reading the directions and familiarizing myself with the many parts, I added the oil. Went to the gas station and bought some gas too. It's a 4-cycle engine so no 2-cycle oil needs to be added to the gas.

OK I chickened out and didn't put gas in the tank. Figured if I did that, I'd have no excuse but to try to start it. Then I'd actually have to USE it....ugg. Right now, it's looking new and pretty sitting on my back porch. Maybe tonight? Definitely by this weekend as I have guests coming to dinner on Saturday. First BBQ of the summer!

Baby owls take flight

I was out last evening and saw 2-3 owls fluttering around near the ground. In addition 2 larger owls were flying around them calling out. I have to assume these are baby owls that fledged from my nest box! I'm so excited. I tried to take some video of the one baby flapping it's wings probably trying to strengthen them for flight. He/she is hopping from tree to bush to ground to tree, etc. Fun to watch. the video is bad and you need to enlarge to fuill screen to see anything and it's well into dusk but you can see the owl in the lower center of the video as it flaps its wings and hops from tree to post.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=1791555192408&comments

I'll try to get a better video tonight if they are still around.

Summer Solstice

Today is the Summer Solstice, the first day of summer. One of the enlightening moments I've had living in my home was experiencing the sun as it moves across the sky during the year. I knew it did but never realized how wide an arc it made. Actually it's the Earth that's moving, I know.

Starting today I plan to take a photograph of the setting sun every day possible for the next year. At the end of a year I will combine them into a movie so anyone can watch this event. Now I just have to learn how to make a movie from photographs! I think I can do this in Flash, just need to brush up on it's software.

Baby owls have fledged!

I'm a proud momma of 3 newly fledged baby owls! Last night there was a flurry of owls swooping from tree to tree. I realized these babies learning to fly must be from my nest box! I saw the big daddy owl and momma owl swooping around them, keeping an eye on the three tree jumping babies. One would get ambitious and fly from the neighbor's Eucs to my Oak then back a few minutes later. The other two would fly to the ground then back up into the Euc. but mostly stayed in the Euc. They were so cool to watch! After an hour or so, one flew back into the nest, calling up a storm. I think it was either the Mom or Dad. Sweet!

Cliff Swallows

I'm sure you've heard of the Swallows of San Juan Capistrano returning every March 19 to the Mission. These are Cliff Swallows. They make a very pretty mud nest that are like cement when completed. How do I know...I have my own Swallows...nesting in the entry way of my front door. I didn't even notice them until a couple days ago! I get home late, usually after dark so that my explain why I didn't notice them before...now what to do about it?

Since they start laying eggs before the nest is finished I'm sure there are eggs so I can't destroy the nest at this point. From what I've read, the eggs incubate for a couple weeks then it's another 6-8 weeks before flying off. Once they migrate back to Mexico for the Winter, I'll be able to destroy the nest and hopefully get all the mud off the stucco. I'll just have to stay vigilent next year since they 'return' to the same nesting spot! Until then, they are pretty to watch as they fly around the front yard.
Here are some pics of the nest and the birdie inside...

and of course, last night's sunset...

Sue