Cicada in my Backyard

This green bug just climbed out of his pupa shell. He's been in it for 13-17 years! I think the shells look like prehistoric monsters.
I'm told cicada's are eaten some places. They will not be served at my table.
You can get a pretty good idea of the size since he's sitting on a cinder block.
I'm glad they don't sting or bite and find their noise/song soothing.

Snow on pine boughs

I think there is something really pretty about snow on pine boughs. All it needs are some birght red birds sitting on it.
New neighbors are rebuilding on the corner where the fire was. Yeah!

Yellow Sky

One day it had gotten very dark and cloudy and then the sky turned YELLOW! I'd never seen that before. The locals told me not to worry about yellow. Green sky I should worry but not yellow. This picture was taken with no filter. The sky had been much yellower before I shot this.

WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS

I had been used to "rain" being more on the misty side. Here it's a bit more, and louder than than other places I've lived. You might notice the camera jump when the thunder rolls. Made me laugh.

And here's the night-time version.

The Swing

My sister and her hubby visited and painted and hung the swing! Okay it was a while ago. Here is a shot of them putting it up and now when it's up. I'll have to put another picture of it up in the spring with flowers all around.

I'm Back

For some reason it was pretty complicated to log back in but I persisted! More posts shortly.

Trees trimmed!

From lack of care over the years, trees in the yard had gotten a little dangerous and I had a tree service come in. They took down two and trimmed up another 4 that had dead limbs and ones that were a danger to the house and garage. The yard is really opened up and I feel a lot better knowing they are taken care of. I still have lots of shade and plan on planting one or two but in better locations.
And I have a bunch more firewood for next year.

Daffodils

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My neighbor mentioned her daffodils were coming up and I realized mine were buried under fall leaves I'd piled up. I raked the leaves off and found the group that had been completely covered were much taller than the ones that hadn't been buried. They had more blooms as well.
I'm definitely burying them again next year! They are beautiful

Ice storm

Our "winter" was mild and no snow but we did get a couple days of an ice storm. This is a picture of my Magnolia coated with ice. It's a hardy type and wasn't hurt by it. Looked kind of pretty, odd but pretty.

Community Christmas Tree

We had a first annual Christmas tree in our community. After we decorated, we had Christmas carols and when it was dark enough we lit 'er up.
Next year we know to attach the decorations a little bit better since we had heavy winds the next day and some were blown off. Many survived though which was a nice surprise. We're planning to raise money to plant a permanent tree since that was so much fun.

Star Gazing

A recent conjunction of two planets and the crescent moon at twilight from my porch.

Neighbor's fire

My neighbors were about to move back to their house when a fire broke out. Since they weren't in it no one was hurt but the house was destroyed.

The volunteer fire department support set up in my yard. Since it was cold I made coffee and ran out power to them. The Red Cross set up at my place as well. I got to see the forms we learned about in the last class get filled out.

I was looking forward to having more neighbors. Hopefully they'll rebuild and be out here soon.

New Finish

What a difference a little finish makes! The old wood floor was looking a bit sad but still way better than the old orange and gold carpet. Trick was finding something that would work with the old finish. I'm happy.

New door

The siding is all up. Here it is with new door on.

Out building

This little building I'm just using for storage now but could be another guest room if I need it. It will need a "little" work inside before being habitable.

The siding was very weathered and had curled so much of it had to be ripped off and replaced before the new siding went on. I put a new window in the back and cleaned up the one in the front. I also replaced the door and added a storm door.

It had been used as a bedroom by the previous owner. I threw out the carpeting that was in it and the wooden floor is solid and will do for now.

Garage doors

The old garage doors had been driven in to by the previous owner and were pretty bad shape. Remodeling had to happen as the opening needed another foot or two in height so the new doors could roll up and in. It might have been okay for a car but wouldn't work for the pickup.

Still not sure what color I'm going to paint the house and so went pretty neutral on the doors. After going up I realized I'd gotten almost the same color as the old ones. This was before the new siding went on.

Siding

Correction: The siding is 8" not 12" and it looks great on the house. Now it needs to be put on the garage and out-building. That had to wait till more got done in the house.

HardiPlank Siding

They started the siding. After a number of ideas of what to use it ended up a 12" horizontal rough cedar look.
First the 1"x4" trim went up and then the siding, starting slowly 'cause the first course is important to get right.
I haven't decided what color to paint it. When I was going to use wood I was just going to stain it. Actually the primer color looks pretty. Maybe I'll go with a light grey. Of course I hear the mud daubers avoid light blue so that might be a plan. I'll have to investigate whether that's just a tale.
What they've done sure looks good so far.

Mowing the lawn

I mowed the lawn for the first time. Amazing what a difference a trim can make. It wasn't that long really but it sure looks nicer now.

Central Air

The house had a large broken window air unit in the front room and a small one in the kitchen window when I got it. Aside from being ugly, they also blocked a lot of light from the room. I had central air installed. Another "2 days" estimate. It only took 4 so it wasn't too bad and these guys cleaned up after themselves.
They also offered to come back after their next j0b, already lined up, was done and if the job left unfinished by someone else (some sheetrocking) hadn't been completed they said they could and would do it. Isn't that nice! Well, whoever does it I plan to watch and learn. Maybe I'll just do the rest of the rooms myself...