Jay Gaulard Blog

The Flowers Have Taken Over - Pink Roses

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

When we first moved here, I really didn’t give the hillside on the property too much thought. I just said to myself that I was going to plant some pine trees there. At the time, there were some “unbloomed” bushes waiting for leaves. Some of them were those ever growing pricker bushes.

When I was a kid, we had this huge pricker bush in between our property and the neighbor’s. It was large and really needed to be taken care of because it was taking up so much room. I can’t really ever remember any flowers growing on that pricker bush. Oh, how times have changed.

A few weeks ago, I took some pictures of some half bloomed flowers in the front. I really didn’t know what I was in store for and to be honest, I am quite impressed.

Here, I’ll show you what I am talking about…

This is just a random shot in one of the more clustered parts of th flowers. As you can see, there are some pink roses in there.

Here is a better picture of those pink roses.

Here are a few photos of the whole area of flowers. Pretty neat, huh?

On my way back, I decided to pick Laura a bouquet of flowers. I think this is the nicest one yet.

Tons of Roses in the Front

Friday, June 13th, 2008

You have to believe me when I tell you that I am really sorry about all the posts with photos of flowers in them. Really, it’s for the ladies. Sometimes, I feel like such a gentleman. Yesterday, when I was up front doing some trimming, I clipped a rose for Laura. Isn’t that sweet? You don’t have to tell me.

The whole hillside is almost fully in bloom. I had no idea there was such a variety of flowers. It is so exciting to watch what blooms next. Every morning, I wake up and do my thing. Then, I go outside with the camera. Today, I was just standing there on the hillside looking at everything. There was a cricket chirping and a bee going from flower to flower. It was pretty cool. Sometimes it’s nice to just watch things. There are even baby bunnies living under one of the bushes. I almost stepped on one the other day when I was trimming around the Blue Spruce that I planted. It ran and scared the heck out of me.

This is another prize winner from the same garden as my last prize winner.

This is what I am talking about. There are Roses upon Roses. They are all different colors too. There are pink, red and white so far.

Pretty neat, right?

Yard Work - Raking the Leaves is Done

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

I finally finished raking the leaves. There were a lot of them. I can’t say I liked doing this particular job for many reasons. One reason I didn’t care for this activity would be that it wasn’t much fun, with the presence of gnats coming in at a strong second. Apparently, gnats live in old leaves. When you rake them, instinct tells them to swarm around the closest face they can find. That would be mine. They flew in my eyes, in my ears and one even made it into my mouth. I hope the neighbor didn’t see me staggering across the front yard gagging while trying to force the artifact from the back of my throat. Laugh…go ahead.

This is a section of the back yard that is right up against the woods. It has a cute little area you can sit and read, “Gone With the Wind” (Joe, that’s for you).

This is just a random shot looking up the side yard. I guess I wanted to show that the grass actually is getting green. I go out and talk to it every day.

Joe, here’s that little area again. Don’t worry, I am going to put nice plants in there for you.

Now, this is a small garden area that is right next to the driveway. I am guessing it may have been a vegetable garden in the past. I decided to replant the Iris from way up on the hill in the front, split them and put them along the driveway. I think they will multiply and fill in nicely. I also am transplanting some other plants (that I can’t quite identify) as a second row. Then, I am going to get some Boxwood as a third row and make it reaaal nice.

This is looking up towards the road, from the house. Yes, I raked all that out. I plan on getting some more Rhododendrons and scattering them around in this area, to fill it in.

Yes, we have the first bloomed Iris. Isn’t she pretty? I really like Iris because they are so easy to take care of.

A quick shot of a Rhododendron in partial bloom.

Just a shot looking down at the house.

Ahh, the mailbox again. I know you can’t get enough of this. These are the plants I was talking about above. I have no idea what they are, but I took them from the hillside and placed some of them around the mailbox. If you know what they are, please let me know. Thank you.

It’s like we are having a mini “Azalea Festival.” Check this one out showing its colors. Man, I sure hope this is an Azalea.

And finally, this is the front sidewalk. I even raked out behind the bushes in the front.

I don’t think I am going to have to endure this much raking again. I plan on getting a back-pack blower to keep things in check. It should be easier next time.

I’m outty.

A Warm Spring is Here

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

I would say it’s about 75 degrees right now. It’s good if you don’t move. I haven’t sweat yet this season, but then again, I haven’t done anything.

The trees are right on the cusp of exploding. Things are starting to flower and the leaves are all just unwinding from their buds. I would say within a week we will start seeing some real action.

Down in Westchester, everything is out…flowering trees I mean. The Magnolias are out in full force. The Crabapples and the rest are filling the air with fresh pollen…mmmm, you can smell it.

Many bulbs are up and in bloom. What you are seeing here with the Daffodils are just the early risers. The Iris is coming up too, but they bloom later on. Also, just the leaves of the Tulips are showing. It’s pretty fun to watch the whole process. I actually live for it.

Hiking at the Sharon Audubon Center, CT

Sunday, September 10th, 2006

Well, browsing might be a better word for it. We couldn’t really hike because the trails up in back were very muddy from the rain the night before. It’s just as well, because we got to spend more time in front looking through the butteryfly gardens and at the animals.

What a surprise! This place was great. We have passed by a few times driving up the Connecticut border with New York, heading towards Sharon and Lakeville, but never gave it serious thought to go in. I guess we felt inspired this time. It is really kept up well because it is owned and run by the National Audubon Society. Believe it or not, we were the only ones on the entire property during this visit. Remarkable, because the weather was prefect and just about everything was in bloom. Did I mention the butterfly gardens? Here, take a look…