I'm like you, Jack, love to see them up close,  especially.  Just the fact that they are "wild" and willing to share space with us is special to me.  I didn't see many growing up, back then they really were hunted for their meat!  I do know they have to be controlled or not enough food for all but anything that comes begging I manage to pull up something to feed.  While ago as I got out of the car one of those "fan tail" type blackbirds stood right by the car & talked to me, wings hanging down & beak open to pant.  I unlocked the car again & got out one of those little packages of crackers you get from the kiosk in Sam's.... and crumbled for him.  Another showed up & helped pick up the pieces & I went on into the store.  Okay, just a crazy little old lady.    

I think I have that photo of the group, such a great shot with all their bodies in different positions.  Right angle for a landscape painting, too, you'd want to hang the painting eye level since that's how they are..  Love it.  Do you have your photos organized that you can pull up the original without "search & seach" like I do?   Mine are in no order by date, location or subject, a nightmare trying to find a particular one (like I searched for yesterday & day before).  

Shirley somehow I managed to open folders on IE  and have my photos by location, family etc.  Do not like trying to find a photo by date, since even the date may change if I work on a photo.

Heavy thunder storm this afternoon but cleared in time for our walk.  Took another photo of the Mushroom lights, and one of some of the flowers.

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Jack my Dad has a placed on Possum Kingdom lake for years and moved up there after his retirement for some years, but he loved the deer, no hunting allowed with guns, bow and arrow only.  But the population got so big that during a drought there just wasn't enough food for them and they started starving to death, it was pitiful seeing them, I saw a doe with a little fawn going through a garbage dump and they were nothing but skin and bones.

Dad used to keep a salt block out for them, they loved it.

My uncle had a ranch near Hamilton Texas and they were really eating up his vegetable garden, he went to the local barber shop and got hair clippings and tied them all around the fence and said it worked really good, smell of human hair kept them away.  Another friend of mine had a running war with neighbors who fed deer and he was forever fighting them to stop them from eating his shrubs in his yard.

Jack wv...
...at first glance those mushrooms spoil the scenery but, I sure would like to see them come to life at night when all light up...not something to see anywhere here in UK, well if so, I have never come across any yet...
How lovely to dog walk and still see so many flowers along your walk...so colourful and uplifting...

Oh, I see, those mushrooms only come alive for the night time entertainment arena..

Hal, had to look up Possum Kingdom.  New to me and am impressed.   In our neighborhood we have the same issue with the deer.  Some like to see them and others get irritated when they are fed.  I have not fed them but like to see them.  Mimi will run to our fence and bark and they ignore her.

Jackie I might get a photo of the mushrooms lit, but usually leave at dusk.  They really fit in well and as you noted they are lit for evening music to help people on the steps.

Lovely photo of flowers, Jack.  I like the mushroom lights.  They blend in well with the surrounding area.

Jack, what a beautiful array of flowers.  You are so lucky to have such a  beautiful park, near by.

I also like to look at the deer, but here they are walking alive with ticks.  We have 400 cases just out here on eastern Long Island  of the star  tick disease  .  that is a new tick this year.  has the shape of star on its back

Jack, those are much sturdier mushrooms than we had, which were wrought iron frames with fiberglass "shades".... too showy for personal property, we thought.  The couple we bought from had no kids & partied a lot, all catered & summer parties were around the pool, don't think for swimming but the indoor-outdoor entertaining.  The mushroom lights were for atmosphere.  They were across the front & up to the front door from driveway... owners had more money than Midas (helps to own the bank/savings & loan & homes all over the US), but this house was perfect for the furniture we had & our offer of cash got us a good deal (we thought).  So happened the market was down when we bought & we were looking for an "investment".  We were never afraid of doing what was needed to make a place our home. So I have the river in my back yard and you have Oglebay.  Those flowers are gorgeous!  This was not a good year for flowers at my house, the weeds have won. I get my fix for flowers from you photos.

Shirley one last photo of the mushrooms, taken tonight.  They are concrete and sturdy.  I have sat on them and children stand on them for photos.   Adding a photo of the prettiest flower of them all, taken tonight.

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Jack, I think you are right that Mimi is the prettiest mushroom of all!

Sue

Now I see the underlights...
...Jack, are you aware they named a beautiful flower after your Mimi... ..." cluster-roses “Mimi-Eden”


https://www.cittadeifiori.com/en/product/bouquet-with-cluster-roses-mimi-eden/

Beautiful shot of Mimi, Jack..... I'm so sorry I didn't get any photos of all the lights around this house before they were taken out.  I think it would have been nice to have kept a few of them but with all the underground wiring, an impossible task.  No such thing as the solar powered lights we have today.  I think by the time "me 'n the cats" are ready for a dog, it will be a Golden~  they don't seem to have an aggressive bone in their body & yours have had such different personalities, I could be happy with any type.

Gorgeous roses, Jackie!  I've never seen anything like them before.  Did I see or understand the price at the top?      Did I mention that my youngest son brought me a potted bougainvillea vine for Mother's Day?..... and that it is blooming like crazy for the last 2 weeks.  It is a soft lemon white color, I'll see if I can get a photo to show you, I'm afraid to move it, have it in a corner of this room where it gets both East & South sun.... but not the hot sun, filtered with the dark tinted storm windows.  I am amazed how well it does since I have trouble keeping any plants alive with these dark windows. 

Sue, thanks and Jackie I checked out the Mimi Eden, beautiful.   Shirley good luck with the indoor plants, I gave up years ago, and blame the deer for not planting any outside.

bougainvillea is very hardy and almost impossible to kill.  If you trim it from time to time the stem will become like the trunk of a tree.   They even exist as bonsais.

Thanks, Bubble, I did Google (mainly to make sure I spelled right) & don't think it is hardy enough for our winters (still not sure of our zone.    I'm glad to know about trimming to make the trunk stronger, know I will need to re-pot before long (not while blooming).  I am really thrilled to find anything that will stay alive & bloom in the house, after all these years.  I did not inherit my Mother's green thumb, or Dad's for growing veggies. 

Jack, I blame the Bermuda grass & ground ivy for not planting flowers, that stuff is impossible to pull or get out of flower beds.  But I do plant a lot of the trees that volunteer to come up in my yard.  I move them to an old flower pot until they are as tall as I am & then put them out in the yard.  Cas hated to mow around anything, that J.Deere he rode didn't swerve~~ my yard guys have not cut down any so far.     I just came in from weed whipping around the sprinkler heads, the ivy & Bermuda crawl right into them & lawn guys do not trim around them.  Couldn't find 2 on the east side this morning, grass too tall.  Hope I can find them after they mow, one is new & afraid they will clip it.  Don't know why I couldn't find it.... but can't turn the system on with them showing up any time.  I am ready for a nap, didn't get a lot of sleep last night, Tiger came in & decided to sleep by my head.  Tom & Callie were at the bedroom door about 5:00 am so a short night.  Not sure what they are watching, don't think it's a climbing critter since it doesn't come into the pool area.  Have to get out the trail cam & see if I can see.  Will have to mount it outside the pool fence & know the batteries are dead by now, been at least 6 years since used, need to use an outdoor extension cord, got one in the RV.  Back then it showed a raccoon in the tree, fox standing behind a big feral cat.... cat was eating the food.  Fox bone structure narrow enough go go between the 5" of wrought iron fence.  Huge raccoon, but it would have no trouble climbing into the pool area.  That feral cat hasn't shown up for over a year now. We will see if I can get the cam running.  It will take videos but don't think at night.  Can do still night shots.   

Finally got the photos of the Bougainvillea vine resized, can't figure how to sharpen or frame, but first is the pot with all the blooms, and next photo is a close up of one blossom.  Really is pretty. 

https://www.seniorsandfriends.org/gallery/58-250817183443.jpeg[/img]]

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That Bougainvillea is lovely, Shirley.

Today is our 61st Anniversary.  The years have gone by too quickly.

Shirley a beautiful plant.

Jean wonderful, 61 years, congratulations.

Jean, congratulations on 61 years.  That is a milestone.  I hope you have many, many more anniversaries.

Shirley, I bought a bougainvillea several years ago that was in a hanging basket.  It was a rusty rose color.  I kept it three or four years before it bit the dust.  I kept it on the deck in the summer and I'd see a hummingbird visit the blooms.

Norm and Dot had a neighbor in Florida who had a huge red bougainvillea in front of her house and it was beautiful.  She decided to revamp her yard and had the plant removed.  Both Dot and I felt bad, but there was nothing we could do about it.

I wrote the above a few minutes ago, highlighted it for color and I don't know what happened but the post disappeared and the word "smitten" appeared.  Apparently I hit that icon  and lost the rest.  I hope for better now.

Mary Ann

Congratulations, Jean.... what a darling bride you were & great looking couple! 

Thanks, Jack, Jean & Mary Ann.... this is the first bougainvillea I've ever seen, and I do love it.  I don't think it would
survive our wind, especially when blooming. 

Well, the dryer stopped so I'd better go fold or will have wrinkles. 

Happy Belated 61st Wedding Anniversary FlaJean...

Beautiful photo of the pair of you...

Congrats Flajean!

Superb plant Shirley.  I would call it an albino!  They usually are so vividly colored: dark mauve, bright peach, yellow, are the most common and some deep wine color.

Did you know that the flowers are the tiny three corollas in the middle?  The big  three veined white leaf-like around them are bracts or colored leaves.  The reproductive organs are all in the small  central flowers.

I sure did not know that, Bubble!  Been thinking about a hanging pot, it sits in the perfect corner & I would love to get it off the floor.  I really am not sure what to do with it, hate to hide it away in this back/master bedroom where nobody else can admire it.  One corner of the living room has almost the same type sliding door on the east & picture window on the south, BUT, I wonder if the plant could tell the difference.  Had not thought about the flowers being those dainty ones in the center but the leaves do remind me of white poinsettia leaves/plants. 

Mary Ann, I like the idea of the hanging basket....how did you water yours (I know you are as short as I am, "size challenged"  )

Thanks for letting me show off my bougainvillea, the best part of a nice surprise like this is the sharing. 

Jean, will Harvey, the wind & rain, cause you problems?  I'm not hearing much news about wind damage so far but can imagine how bad the flooding will be. 

Flajean, congratulations, You made a lovely couple. WE were married 62 years.  This Oct. 12th would have been 72 years.

Shirley, when I bought the bougainvillea, I hung it on a low branch on my magnolia tree which was in front of my kitchen window and I watered it every day as it was outside.  I brought it into the house in the winter and watered it usually once a week.  I also fed it at that time.  I did not feed it religiously! but more like every other week or monthly.  After the low branch was cut off, I put the plant on the deck floor.  A long branch was on the floor and that is where I saw the hummingbirds. 

Now, between being short and having arthritis, my hanging basket seldom is watered and I am going to put it on the deck where I can forget to water it too.  My present basket is impatiens. 

I would suggest with your concern about the wind that you leave the plant inside.  When I had mine inside in the winter all plants were near my north slider because no other windows were available.  Inside there was little sun, on the deck it was complete sun.  I had the plant about four years. 

Your bougainvillea is beautiful and I hope you can keep it.  You might go online to see if there are articles about the care and feeding of bougainvillea.  Good luck with it.

Mary Ann

Jean, you were a beautiful bride--and what a handsome groom you had--and still have!  Congratulations on 61 years of happiness together.  I envy your lengthy marriage.  Bob and I married in 1958.  He spent 20 years in the Navy as a P-3V pilot and then we retired to a farm in Alabama.  He died in 2002 with a recurrence of Colon Cancer. 

I stayed at our farm until 2004 when the last summer there was very rainy.  I had to mow 10 acres of grass during the summer of 2003 on the tractor almost every day.  We had 40 acres, but had kept the other 30 acres in woods.  One day a realtor came along and asked if he could buy my place and he was able to sell it in 3 days.   

I moved to Auburn, AL, which was about 50 miles north of our farm.  My middle son lives here and Bob and I had planned to move up here when we were no longer able to keep our fruit trees and one acre vegetable garden going.  We also had chickens, ducks, and pigs at one time.  I continued to teach school, but Bob became a full-time farmer although he devoted himself to the Public Library, our church, and the men's Exchange club and kept the books for those 3 things for at least 20 years.  I resigned from my teaching job in 1998 as he had already had one bought of the cancer and we wanted to travel a bit while he was feeling healthy.

Again, congratulations on your long and happy marriage.  I hope you have many more happy and healthy years!

Sue

Congratulations Jean. Beautiful Photo. Loved the dress. Do you still have it. (Does it still fit). Big thing seem to be wearing and renewing  on the 65th. You both looked so young. Still do. 

Mary Ann,  it is very easy to grow new plants from bougainvillea.  You just need to cut 2 "sticks" from a branch you are pruning, about 8 to 10" long, without the leaves, and stick them diagonally in the earth in a X formation, if available with rooting powder, and water to just keep the soil humid.  It will make roots and start to grow with no problem.

I remember my gardener doing it in Congo and creating a whole new edging around the lawn. 

I'm saving that tip, Bubble..... hopefully I can take advantage of it next year. 

Bubble, I'd try it if I had a bougainvillea.  I didn't see one when I bought the flowers this year but I had Tom with me and didn't get a chance to look around.  It's nice to know and I'll remember the tip.

Mary Ann