The Zenith

We have reached the pinnacle and glory of the reason people have rhododendrons in their yard. For the next 2 weeks, the flowers are in their showy best. Much of the year the rhododendron is kind of non-descript blaisé shrub. They have their function for being in the background but now they grab our attention and demand that we notice them for awhile. Last year a pilot stopped by the house because he saw the flowers as he was flying over our house. He came for a better look.
Tomorrow I'll post some video.

Day 9 and 10 Slowing down the blooming train

Day 10 Day 9

The blooming train has slowed down a bit with the cool, rainy weather. It's difficult to decipher the difference between day 9 and day 10. Fortunately, the blooms are not in their full bloom glory because rain can ruin a good display. The weight of the water on the petals makes the petals fall apart. Rain would be devastating next week, especially the amount that we had overnight. There were some loud thunderclaps yesterday.
I am most amazed at how late the Rhodys are this year. Some years they are past their prime on Mother's Day. We have a week to go before they are fully on display.

Rhody Day 9 It's almost there

What a difference a couple of nice days make. The bee's are buzzing now. We weeded under all the Rhodys to get out of the way of the bees. This is almost my favorite time to see the Rhodys because of the anticipation of what they will look like. I am glad I got my camera back from the Black Tie event ( see blog two days ago.)

Rhody Day 8 Now I know why I have a new camera

Since I haven't retrieved my camera yet, I had to take a picture with our old digital camera that has 2 pixels. If digital cameras had rods and cones I'd say that the rods and cones are shot. I now know why we purchased a new camera. This picture doesn't show the fact that I mowed the lawn.
What an awful time to be cameraless!!! With the gorgeous day yesterday and the way the day is starting today, the Rhody is making great strides in the blooming process. Does anyone have a name for my Rhody? Is anyone even reading this?

Rhody Day 7

Oh no. I left my camera at the event I presented a program. I was able to entertain at a fundraiser for our local hospital foundation, Monroe Valley Hospital Foundation. Enough money was raised to complete an emergency call system in patient emergency rooms. It was a very nice black tie event.




My audience has never looked so good!
With this being said, my Rhody picture for day 7 is on the camera. I'll post the picture tomorrow.

Day 6 Blooming on the way

It's a sunny day. There will be a lot of progress today. The bees are starting to check out the blossoms but don't spend much time yet. The blossoms are now beginning to shed their "husk," similar to a caterpillar's cocoon. There are quite a few "husks" on the ground. Again, I have to go play my harp (work). I really enjoy playing the harp. It's the carrying of it and all the other paraphernalia that is a drag for me. I am often asked masked as a funny line, "have you ever thought of playing the flute?" I think I am going to show up with a flute sometime to see how they like it.

Rhody Day 6 (be sure to double click on the picture)

Day 5 Progress

Progress is being made. Remarkably so for the cold day. I take the Rhody picture everyday at 7:30 in the morning. I adjusted my camera this time for better exposure. I think it looks better now. Believe it or not, I had to work today so that is why my posting is later than normal. What do you think I have to do all day.....watch the Rhododendrons bloom?

Day 4 Slow Blooming

It's Day 4. I'm waiting for some of the promised global warming. It snowed yesterday only 1000 feet above my head! By the time the moisture hit it was a cold rain. Not conducive for blooming Rhodies. The good news is that I can enjoy the plants longer while they are blooming. I like Rhodies a lot but there's not a lot to them when they aren't blooming. They just kind of "sit there" (that is what I have in common with them). It is supposed to rain this afternoon and overnight but the weekend should be nice. I predict that the Rhodies will be a blazing, brilliant pink by Sunday.

(be sure to double click the picture to make it larger)

Rhody Day 3

The pink just keeps coming. Even though it was cool yesterday and overnight, the pink becomes more and more present.

Rhody Day 2

Not much changed, but there probably won't be a lot of change day by day unless we get a warm day. It's cool and drizzly today.

Day 2

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I have had the privilege to have been raised by a wonderful mother. And now I have the privilege to be married to a wonderful mother of our sons. I wish you happy Mother's Day to all the mothers that are reading this.




We have awesome Rhododendron's in our yard. I can brag about them because the spectacular blooms that the bushes produce are not a result of me. They just occur on their own without water or fertilizer. God does it all. To brag about the Rhodies is to brag upon God's handiwork. I am privileged to have them blooming in my yard.We have 14 bushes of the same variety in our gardens. When they are in full bloom the yard is brilliant.



The backyard










The front yard





Mother's Day is when they are in their zenith. But this year they are behind because of the cool weather we have had. My idea is to post a picture each day until they reach their climax. I am going to take a picture of the same Rhodie each day. It will be a sort of time lapse photography session of our Rhodies.



DAY 1
Check back daily to see this Rhody become more and more brilliant

To have the opportunity to present concerts, promo material is always being requested. In the "old days" jobs were obtained by who you knew. Now, jobs are obtained by how good your DVD is! We are already having to send in promo material to concerts associations for our 2010-2011 season. It's only 2009! Talk about making time rush by. I am living in 2011 when I haven't had half of 2009 yet.
We had a great producer of our video and crew headed by Ryan, who is seated at the harp.

Though the end result is a great recording only 19 minutes in length, there is a great amount of prep work. For 19 minutes, it took 8 hours to record.

Progress in the yard

We are often asked what it is that we do when we are not doing music. We find enjoyment spending time in the yard and the garden. It inspires us to dig in the dirt.

The season has been cool here in the Northwest. We have a view across the valley. New snow fell on the top of the mountain while spring blooms were emerging on the flowering plums that line the driveway. The winter and spring season were in a battle.

My chopping of the wood has almost been completed, the woodshed is almost full.