Everything is coming up roses!

There has been great weather here lately, it's a marvel that I get anything done indoors. I finished the Oakleaves drawing and pinned it to the wall. I think some minor changes are needed.

The wonderful weather has encouraged me to bike ride through the La Crosse River Marsh several mornings for exercise and to take photographs.

I am not the only photographer out there! Among the joggers, dog walkers and bicyclists are men walking around with enormous telephoto lenses and tripods to get shots of the birds (great blue herons, white egrets, Canada geese, mallards, etc.). Here are my humble efforts taken with my Kodak Easy Share Z712 IS with its 12x optical zoom. The pictures have been cropped for better composition.

The backyard is coming along nicely. We have moved the tropical waterplants from the basement to the watergarden, brought out the garden statuary and set up the pipes for the box water features. Don still has to get the big pump set up with its large in-ground filter and attach it to other water features. Maybe this weekend. The pink, white and red rugosa roses are blooming, with the yellow ones just budding. Many other flowers, irises, dianthus, and chives are blooming. The peppermint is trying to take over the bed it shares with other plants so I have been thinning it out and making peppermint iced tea.

Last week we noticed a new visitor. A hummingbird moth! We didn't recognized it as a moth at first, it was so strange.