Currant bushes

Back in Nickerson, Kansas, we had Currant bushes.  They grew along the fence between our chicken pen and the neighbors pig pen.  Every spring that whole fence would be lined with the light green bushes with tiny yellow flowers.  Ever eat a Currant?  If you pick them to green they will pucker your mouth  and that is not good.  If you wait long enough they will turn a dark, dark purple and then they are ready. Not much better as I recall, but at least you could eat them.  They are about the size of a pea.  I think now I can go to the health food store and buy them dried and snack on them or make some sort of healthy bread.
The neighbors have a stand over there and I see one has come up in my back yard along with the wild garlic.  I like to keep the area directly west of the house as a wild area.  I also have a Choke Cherry bush which has spread to cover a good area.  In the late Summer I gather enough Choke Cherries to make a batch of jelly and then let the birds have the rest.

Now, what do Currants and Choke Cherries have in common with a Gooseberry?   Gooseberry is the all around winner as "things no human should ever eat!"  My mother-in-law had a Gooseberry patch in her back yard and it was a rule that we must all pick a bucket of Gooseberries and make a pie once a year.  I took Bret and Shelly over to pick and explained to them that if the Gooseberry had a bit of dark color that would be best.  First obstacle is that Gooseberry bushes have very long sharp thorns.  I figured they would be bloody messes, but they were very careful.  Their hands were small so they could pick a berry without being stabbed.  Then to my horror I looked over and they were picking them and EATING them!  My, God!  I figured they would be in bed with a bellyache the rest of the Summer.
And then the occasional wild Lilac bush has popped in also.  This one is beside a wild Red bud tree.   I have 10 Lilacs around my house.

And the New Mexico Sunflowers are about to take the place.  Can not lay my hands on that photo, but if I ever turn up missing look for me under them.  SoI am now off to do whatever it is I do all day.  

You'all have a good one!

And the Apricot out back is in full bloom.

Well, yesterday I bit the bullet and cleaned the goose house.  I am sure the little feathered friends apprectiate my efforts if no one else does.  That is one very dirty job.  It took 5 wheel barrow loads in the garden and one up front on the herb garden.  Today I am going to start the sprinlers.  I am sure that will entail a trip to the local hardware to replace one or two of them.  I just love Spring.  With a little luck I will remember to get gas and such so I can rototill tomorrow or Saturday.  And during a stroll through my kingdom, I happened to see that the Apricot out back is in full bloom.  I did not take a picture of it because I take one every year and it looks the same, so here is a picture of it.

The strange part of this whole thing is that the tree in the back is in full bloom and the one in front is not.  Now I bet you are thinking that the front is further North, but it is not.  It is actually East.  I know what it is though.  This one is West of the house and the sun reflect on the stucco and warms it up more.  For many years I maintained Rose Gardens in the back, front , far front and side yards.  The kids always gave me roses for Mother's Day and at one time I had 64 and they were absolutely beautiful.  I love roses!  I used to have a favorite, but then I broke it into categories.  Favorite red, was Chrysler Imperial because it smelled best.  Favorite multi-color was Double Delight because it smelled best.  Favorite orange was Tropicana.  I could point at each one and tell you what it was, but then I got a little lax on the pruning and the feeding and the roses got a little scraggly and then real scraggly and then one by one they went to the big rose garden in the sky.  I still have a few, but those are on their way out.
This year I am going to work on turning my back yards into natural habitats for the little furry creatures and I do not mean the foxes, but I am sure they will drink from the pond if the dogs let them.  Oh, yeah and then there is that skunk thing.  Maybe I will try to just attract birds.  That would be best, I think.  I will keep the grass in the front and on the North side because I just love to mow that stuff!  That and the dogs and I like to set out front in the evening and early morning and survey our kingdom.  I have tried to get the geese to join us but I can not get them to leave the back.  Scary world out there!
So, just wanted to pop in here and let you know that Spring is here at my house.  This is not to say that we will not get a foot of snow next week.  It is just to say that it is looking good here yesterday and today and I am going to take full advantage of this little spurt of good weather!

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This is my first sight when I set down to the computer in the morning.  Icarus has slept with me all night, but she knows it is morning and  the routine is same-o, same-o.  See that little picture just to the right of the cd's?  That is my momma and daddy when they were young.  That was a long time ago, but she likes to keep an eye on me even today.  So I behave.  Doesn't Icarus look crazy?  She is!

After I have been up a while the sun thinks it should come up also.  These two shots are looking Northwest out my office window.  Course I know the sun comes up in the East, but I like this view of the sun just painting the clouds a beautiful pink.  The tree on the left is a Cherry tree.  It will be covered with blossoms probably in the next week or so.  I planted this when we first moved in here in 1982.  It has never had a Cherry.  The neighbors in front have a Cherry tree and it is prolific, so I know it gets pollinated.  I think it hates me!

This is looking North out the living room window.  Contrary to popular beliefs those white squares are not flying saucers, but reflections of light fixtures in the dining room.  Feel better?

                                    

Now I ask you, with a view like this who would not want to jump out of bed and see it?  Colorado does have pretty clouds.  I just love clouds and these pink ones are especially nice.

OK, so here is the real crux of the matter.  I spend 50% of my time taking pictures and 50% looking for them on this goofy computer.  I try putting them in albums, but then I have the original picture, plus the album.  So then I think I will put them in folders.  I then have the original, the album and now the folder.  Oh, plus every thing I do is backed up in Document, HP, Picassa, Snapfish and no doubt the camera is storing them also even though I use a card and delete it after each use.  Now I heard that if I actually delete pictures then they will disappear from where I have sent them, ie; blog, eBay, etc.

So here is my solution, I am going to jerk out my hard drive and take it to the geek guy over on the highway and have a little talk with the boy.  He has got to be way smarter than I am.  Hell, if he can eat without running the fork in his eye he has me beat!

Ok, Icarus is down, sun is up, fowl are out of the pen, clock is announcing nine o'clock and here I set in my jammies.  Better at least act like I am alive.  I think the wiccan is coming to help me do something downstairs.  Right now I am starving!  You have a very good day and I will surely check in again. 

Today at my house with the Choke Cherries and Llama's!

Here you see my lovely Choke Cherry Bush! I am afraid the Choke Cherry is about to take my back yard.  It is hard to believe that this started out as one little twig about the size of a healthy piece of bindweed.  On the right you can see my house and look right in my bedroom window.  Don't strain your eyes, cause I am not in there sleeping in the middle of the day!  It does give you some idea of how high the Choke Cherry has grown!

And here are the Llama's trying to carry on a conversation with me.  The Choke Cherry bush is on my right as I talk to the kids here.  Actually they just finished eating 2 carrots and are waiting to see if I will run back in the house and get any more.  Alas, they will be disappointed.  No more carrots.

If you could see the ground at the bottom of this fence you would see where Asparagus should be growing for me to pick.  If you look closely at these innocent looking creatures you may see Asparagus on their teeth!

I ask you, though, who can stay mad at a Llama? They have the biggest, brownest eyes, and the prettiest eyelashes.  They have not spit on me yet.  I expect if they do that I may be a little angry.

So this is my tale for today. Choke Cherry bushes are loaded with blooms, but I will not get a berry off the bush because the birds are way to fast for me. The only way we get Choke Cherry Jelly around here is to go to the Farmers Market and buy the cherries.  Asparagus plants that flourish and I can not get a piece for my table, because I am not as fast as a Llama. Got lots of bindweed coming and I am sure I will get to take care of that!  The Bindweed and the stickers are all mine.  The ducks and geese will not touch the stickers, I don't care what you have heard!