Flowers

 I had two hibiscus plants on the deck all summer. It is one of the flower plants I usually have very good luck growing. This summer, for the first time, both hibiscus plants had a bug infestation. I bought spray that worked on one of the plants, but the other was too infected. I cut it back to about six inches and watched it grow all summer. No flowers, but also no more bugs. 

Finally, now that it is near the end of the season for flowering plants, it is blooming! In fact, it has several buds! I'm not sure they will open before the plant gets tossed. The forecast is rain for the next 5 days, but no freezing nighttime temperatures.

It did suffer from the low temps last week.

This is the other hibiscus that had two different colored flowers in the same planter.

I have learned the trick to growing Hibiscus: water from the roots. Mine rest in a pail of water.

I wasn't going to buy a mum this fall because they do not look very good after a week or two. I bought this one the first weekend in October. The photo was taken on Halloween. This year, it is also resting in a pot of water. I guess mums like to be watered from the bottom up. 

I find it very hard to throw out the flowers when they are still blooming. I will just wait for the first hard frost and let Mother Nature make the decision for me.

Catching Up on McBe's Accomplishments

 Since the last post in May, McBe has had a couple of personal accomplishments worthy of noting.

At the 8th Grade Awards Ceremony at Edison Middle School, he received the Presidential Award for Educational Excellence.

one of 45 on his 8th grade team

the end of 8th grade

In early June he tested and passed the (first) Black Belt level 

in Tae Kwan Do

the Awards Ceremony

Since then, he has tested and passed to the next Black Belt level. We attended the testing, but he was on a marching band trip when the ceremony was scheduled. So, no solid Black Belt photo.

McBe joined the Lincoln Marching Band. His summer was weekly drum lessons, marching band practice, and a 3-week marching band camp, 8 to 5, Monday through Friday.

262 Lincoln High School students

first performance for the parents before school started

yard sign

McBe is a percussionist and part of the Marching Band Ensemble group. This is the number of percussion instruments used by the Ensemble group for each performance. (The red shirts are the parent volunteers who help the band set up for each performance, including the out-of-town weekend contests. There were four contests this season.)

playing the gong

wearing their show uniforms

I counted 7 percussion instruments that he played during their show performance. There may have been one or two that I missed. He and the guy on the left were responsible for those instruments on their end of the Ensemble line.

A whole new experience for us grandparents and for the parents. Word is McBe enjoyed the experience and plans to continue in Lincoln High School Marching Band. The season is officially over for now.

Making, Baking, Tasting Scones Class

 I take classes through OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute). The classes are offered during the spring and fall semesters through the University of South Dakota. Classes are offered in Vermillion, Brookings, and Sioux Falls on the eastern side of the state. This is the fifth year I have enrolled in the program. Classes range from field trips to college professor speakers to travel adventures by OLLI members, to music, crafts, book discussions, and almost anything in between.

Earlier this month I drove to Brookings to take a class on Making, Baking, Tasting Scones presented by a trained pastry chef. I have made scones from scratch a couple of times, peach to be exact, but I thought there must be some tricks to making the task less messy. 

her display of ingredients

the history of scones

There were 16 of us in the class. We were given the choice of Pumpkin Ginger, Cranberry Orange or Apple Cheddar for our scone lesson. She provided recipes, step-by-step instructions and guidance, all the ingredients and tools necessary.

I chose Apple Cheddar

L-R: flour, milk, apples. eggs, butter, and white cheddar cheese

My creation coated in egg wash prior to baking.

My hands were too busy and doughy to take photos of Steps 1-4.

My two table mates made Pumpkin Ginger Scones

I think they used more flour in the shaping step than I used.

We tasted Cranberry Orange Scones with different butters and 

marmalade options while waiting for our scones to bake.

Only five of the scones made it back to Sioux Falls.

I ate one on the way home because they smelled so good.

And it was!

LHS Chorus Fall Concert

 Yes, it has been a while, but as October is drawing to a close, it feels like the right time to get back to blogging.

Monday evening was the Fall Chorus Concert of Lincoln High School. Both grandkids participated. Miss W as a Junior and McBe as a Freshman. Here are some photos from the evening of music.

The Lincoln High School Chorus Fall Concert includes 8th graders from the Sioux Falls Middle Schools who will be attending LHS in 2027. The 8th graders performed two numbers with the LHS chorus members.

This is the Cadet group. They performed three songs (plus the two with the whole group).

The Cadet Choir group consists of freshman boys, sophomore boys and girls, and Junior/Senior boys and girls who did not make Concert Choir.

McBe

The Concert Choir comprised of Juniors and Seniors who auditioned for the group.

Miss W

There is also a women's chorus (freshman and sophomore girls).

They are to the right in the large group photo.

Miss W was a member of that chorus group for two years.

Somebody has grown over the summer!

So proud of these two and their talent

Bass on the left, Soprano on the right

The Perennial Flower Bed Awakens

It seems like the temperatures this spring have been more erratic than usual. We have had a couple of days of near 90º followed by days in the 40ºs. Most days are somewhere between those two numbers, closer to the 50ºs and 60º. There was very little snow this winter, and very little moisture in our area this spring. 

The first grouping of photos from my perennial flower bed were taken on April 22nd.

The pasque flowers (2 of the 4) I planted last spring survived the winter. My big, older pasque did not survive the summer/winter. 

When I looked at the flower bed the week before, I did not see any peony shoots and was thinking that gifted plant did not survive the lack of snow/moisture this winter. But 3-inch shoots were appearing on April 22nd. The Columbines were making an appearance, also.

I went back to check the progress on May 2nd.

one of the Columbines

the peony shoots have doubled in height

the pasque keeps blooming

This is why I was concerned about my peony plant! These are a neighbor's peony bushes. Her bushes have been growing for at least six years longer than mine.

I don't have any tulips as the rabbits get them before I get out to spray. Because of my broken elbow and 'useless' left hand, I have not weeded or transplanted or planted anything new this spring. It is early as most of the flowers arrived in the greenhouses late last week. As I write this, we had frost/freeze warning two nights last week.

I took a picture of the hyacinth blooming at City Hall earlier in April. A colorful reminder that spring is coming!