Papa's Yard

It will be fun seeing everyone

We are looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend. The weather is great today and I hope it stays that way for the weekend. Here are some pics of the first flowers of spring!

Roses in The Garden

I hope everyone had a nice July 4th, even those of us who are abroad. I went to have hot dogs and hamburgers at a friend's house and then to see the fireworks.

Here are some pictures that I took last week at The Public Garden. I thought the gardeners among us might enjoy them. Don't forget that you can click on the photos to get a nice large image.

New Apartment

Hello everyone. I moved into my new apartment last week. The stuff I shipped has not arrived yet, so as you can see it's a little empty. More pictures will follow once my things arrive.

As you can see, the rooms are a good size. I was worried they would be narrower but they are all a good size and shape. There are also 4 closets; I am very excited about this.

Mom bought me some flowers for outside my kitchen and bedroom windows. I am trying very hard not to kill them.

Dear All,

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, although we will be providing some soon. Sandra and I just moved into the attic room. It's quite nice and the stairs don't seem as steep with the carpet and the two handrails. Luckily it's been quite cool at night and we've yet to use our fancy (and expensive!) air-conditioner.

Of course the big thing for us is the impending month in the Rome. As always happens, the weather is beautiful and the garden is blooming and we can't think why we take this trip. But, I assume, once we get there it will seem that no other place else will quite do.

Both John and Katherine are wrapping up their baseball seasons. It's John's first year in the "majors" and there are some adjustments required, but there's always next year. Katherine says she dislikes baseball intensely but there sure was a smile crossing her face when bat finally hit ball and the swift-footed Katherine made it safely to first. She was called out on third base eventually but I think that was just becaue the umpire wanted the game to end.

Jim

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Papa's birds of paradise

Garden Success

Hi from Austin,

I took a couple of photos as we now have eggplants and bell peppers ripening on the vine. I now feel if the economy gets worse I will be able to provide for my family. That is if they can live off one pepper and an eggplant for the year. Here is a picture of 3 of 4 of the eggplants. We actually named them and Herman didn't make the photo. This has been an interesting project from planter design, to building to planting. We will have to research fall planting for when the weather drops below 90.

Victory Garden

The Austin Keatings have built an herb garden by their pool. Laura designed it on her computer. Then John and Laura built it. And Bridget and Kellie did the planting. It's built out of Cedar boards and lined with plastic sheeting. We planted banana peppers, chile peppers, bell peppers, serrano peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, cilantro, dill, parsley, basil, sage, lavender, mint, oregano, and thyme.

It has been a challenge keeping them watered in the Texas heat, however, we have lots of peppers and tomatoes blossoming. We hope to see some eggplants; the plants have many flowers on them. We also had a caterpillar infestation on the dill, but have moved the caterpillars into a jar to watch them develop. Aunt Sandra tells us they are going to become Black Swallowtail Butterflies. I will write more about them in the future.