from the yard

I mowed the yard today...well, I got most of it mowed before Roger realized I was mowing.  He insisted on mowing the rest....so I cut out some dead vine from my wisteria.  By the time I was done and had cleaned up my mess, he was done and we sat outside a few minutes.

It was 55ºF here today and cold breeze blowing....not quite off an iceberg but in that neighborhood.  After he cooled off, he got so cold we went in...but I had had my phone right inside, so had grabbed it and took a few pics from the yard before we headed inside.  I cannot tell how many irises I have of the above color.  They all came from one single bulb I bought at a yard sale.  I bought blind...she did not have their colors labeled.

It is a pretty iris but given a choice I would probably have picked another color.  But as many pretty flowers as I get I am not complaining.

Then we have this clematis...

It has  not grew up the trellis as much as usual...it only has two or three blooms up where they are easy to photograph.

The rest are hugging the ground, like the ones above.  I guess I normally train it up the trellis, but did not get it done this year.

And here we have the wisteria.  The wisteria my mom had had flower pods that were longer and looser?  I don't know how else to describe them.  I don't know if  these are so short and plump cause they are bred for a colder growing zone of what.

Either way, I think they are beautiful.

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Tomorrow I go to the dermatologist.  Say a prayer that she can take care of everything.  And that none will be skin cancer.  I know most people don't think much about basal cell cancer, but if you had seen what my father-in-law went through with just plain old basal cell you would take it more serious.  I am not consumed with fear as I was the first time or two I went. 

If you are out in the sun a lot, wear sunscreen!    No one in my family had had skin cancer, so I never worried about it.  I just didn't take time to wear sunscreen, and working at the orchard, I was out in the sun almost every single day.  And even back in childhood, we were always outside playing, or doing something as we grew up.

Now I get up and before I head out the door, I put on my warpaint....most people consider make-up their warpaint, but I consider my sunscreen my warpaint. 

How I wish I had taken time to wear sunscreen.  I might have saved myself a lot of time and dread.