The Mystery continues... WW

 Happy Wednesday everyone!


Since I had no correct guesses last week, I thought I would extend this perennial bush and add more clues! It must of been a rather puzzling one (unless you are my BFF who knew immediately, but lucky for for my readers she hasn't figured out how to post here yet... (hugs, Terry))!


So lets show you the mystery plant now that it has grown bigger....

(Hint, you should be able to click on any photo to view a larger image, if you would like to copy please ask, and I use Creative Commons, as share with kind)

Here a different view... I have heard that this plant does not like to be moved, and this one has told us this fact after hubby decided to transplant it to it's current location over 10 years ago. It still only has a trio of stems.

Believe it or not, this almost dead looking clump of sticks will soon explode with color... this is the tree version of this mysterious perennial.

here is a close up of the first sign of life...

Look at the tender leaves starting to emerge...

 Just three warm weeks after the first peek of spring,
 it has set flower buds!

The main reason I am extending this baffling beauty is by next week it may just be blooming! 
Here is the biggest clue (I hope), a flower bud showing a glimpse of the color to be...
it does come in a few lovely colors, the most common is pink.

Did these clues help get your brains working??? 
   Then don't forget to leave me your guess!


I had to include a fond farewell to the forsythia I shared last week, theses were a few of the last shining stars, you can see the leaves filling out, that will soon be all that is left for the summer. 

I have 3 forsythia in this retaining wall bed. They grow with gusto and need a big pruning, especially the one closet to the house. They do add some cool shade for a few of the flowers in this bed, but most have had no trouble with the full sun and heat that can bake them in summer weather. If they were right behind the house, I would let them grow as tall and thick as they want, for then the shade would be desirable and growth would not be a problem. We have not had any troubles with transplanting or propagating these prolific spring stars. Hubby has transplanted them twice, with the last time mercilessly cutting one into two! We also had success with sticking a newly cut stem directly into dirt along with a few friends and it growing into a nice shrub. Just another frugal easy to share plant.


Mr. Linky is below for readers that are participating. You can also find more WW fun at MomDot, SevenClownCircus and the WW home page. I would very much appreciate a comment if you are linking up, you can do that directly below. I will return to visit all participants who leave me comments. Even if you are not playing I want to hear your guesses and any handy tips you would like to share, or questions I "may" be able to answer.


Thanks so much for stopping by and also for playing along in guessing the mystery plant!
  with dirty hands I bid you a farewell, until I tap again ....

Faythe

 

Brew Crew dunks Pirates!

The Milwaukee Brewers had a historic day after dousing the Pittsburgh Pirates 20 - 0 this afternoon!





The bats were cracking hot as the Brew Crew matched a franchise record for margin of victory and set another record for its biggest shutout win. Of course the Pirates were not to happy to be part of this kind of history. It set a record for the Pirates as well... this teams loss was the worst in 124 years as a franchise and was MLB most lop-sided 3 game sweep in 17 years.


 According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this was only the fifth-most lopsided shutout in MLB since 1900! This list is topped by a pair of 22-0 games, ironically including a Pirates win over the Chicago Cubs in 1975. 

Ryan Braun, Jim Edmonds and Prince Fielder were just a few of the Crew to start the drenching party today with their home runs. Braun went 3 for 4 with a homer, a double, 3 runs scored, 5 RBIs, a walk and a double. Edmonds had 4 hits, 3 RBIs, doubled twice and singled. Fielder had his first homer of the season. Prince Fielder had gone 14 games and 53 at bats to give the ball a good cracking.


It looked like every player wanted in on the fun, even the pitchers! Randy Wolf had 2 hits and scored twice, and reliever Manny Parra finished off with the Brewers 25th hit of the ballgame with a ninth inning RBI single!

Another interesting history fact of the game was that Edmonds and catcher George Kottaras hit their first Milwaukee Brewers home runs.

Left fielder, Ryan Braun called it 
         "fun and special".


Jim Edmonds,
    center and right fielder called it "crazy".

 

  While Prince Fielder, first base,
     said it was "Awesome"!!



Prince Fielder, who finally broke his batting drought with his HR was reminded of one of his own personal stats, being that he matched his own longest season opener with out a home run in his career since 2008. That is when he smiled and said "Awesome, That should be as far as I go (without a homer)." Prince was the latest player to point to Saturdays loss 8 - 0 against the Washington Nationals as a turning point for many of the players to loosen up and just have some fun. That game left the Brewers with a 4 - 7 record.  Fielder is quoted as saying "We didn't have any of our personality at all. It was a little too serious ... For awhile, even when we win, it wasn't us. Now, win or lose we are going to have fun".


At about that point Braun came over and helped Fielder finish his thought by saying "We have our swagger back!" 
"Exactly," Prince said "We're not (like) certain teams. We are finally being ourselves".


If this is being "themselves" it looks like an exciting and fun season of Brewers Baseball.

                                         Keith Srakocic_AP_photo credit

 The Brew Crew leaving Pittsburgh with a 3 - 0 game series win, they out scored the Pirates 36 - 1 in hits. 
  And leaving the Pirates dunked in the waters for Earth day.

This is one sudsy Brew Crew fan 
that is hoping for a  
   World Series season !



So who is your favorite baseball team?

  The American past time. MLB, minors, college or high school...

help with facts from JSonline Milwaukee and MLB websites.

Mellow Yellow - Wordful Wednesday

Greetings and welcome back to readers that have been here before.


Spring weather has been the normal back and forth cold to warm to windy to wet to chilly and back to sunny and warm again... yup, it is spring in Wisconsin alright!
The tree pollens have been very busy the last few weeks, and some days it just seems a haze of yellow... and it makes me a mellow addled, sleepy and crabby gal!


So is anyone interested in our mystery plant from last week?
Here is a couple of peeks with a hint of what it looks like in winter, it adds a lot of visual interest when not completely covered in snow.

And this is this spring just awakening with one of last falls dried flower heads laying next to it.

It is Autumn Joy Sedum! It is pretty hardy fellow, I have found it very easy to grown in sun and shade, and easy to divide into more plants when division is needed or wanted (frugal that way) as mentioned in last weeks oops!
Here are some mature photos in its growing stages.

                           


green and setting flowers and mid-summer 
flowers in colors...
 and in fall flowers ready for rest and winters slumber...   

More news on the mystery plant guessing game... 
  I had my first correct hypothesizer !!! 
A hearty congrats to Henrietta from "A Hens Nest blog" !

Go ahead and click on her name (it is a click-able link) to go to Hen's blog and check out the fun on her blog!
We did have a second runner up of sorts... Susan at GrandParents.about  she guessed   'a type of succulent', and some do classify it in the succulent class for its thick pear-shaped leaves and mellifluous growing nature. You can check Susan's blog out too. They both usually play along in WW too!

Now it is time to show some golden glory that is almost all past in my yard.
  Forsythia first started showing its daring yellow hue on the morning of a cold and rainy day. I was not about to let a bit a water stop me from snapping it up!
Well I did wait for it to slow down... a lot!
                                   



                                     

 






As soon as the sun came out that day forsythia really radiated in sunshine color!

The sky was so blue it really brought out
the bronzed bell shaped petals.

This one is just 2 days later and all that golden attitude seemed as if an effigy to spring itself!
If you look closely at the bottom flower a little bug is hiding itself near the center, maybe had just finished a meal of nectar...
As long as he stayed away and not wanting to taste me, I was willing to share with him.





Now the leaves are pushing off the yellow coat and leaving amber colored snowflakes all over the flower bed as the greenery of summer fills in, making it a more mellow fellow.


I have ambled on again, 
I hope I did not bore your brain and your eyes had a treat of sorts today. 
But before I leave I have to put up the next mystery plant, 
   so put on your thinking caps....

Nope not an Hickory tree... somebody lost their nuts again!


Here it is again just 13 days later.... with nuts removed...

and to just add a bit of interest, this is of the same species but in tree form and sprouting from its base ... 
  I wonder if it will be the same color??

 If you are playing along with WW please link up below and be sure to leave your comments and theories of the riddle of the week below! 
You can also check out more WW on MomDot,  SevenClownCircus and the WW head-quarters.


    departing with dirty hands .....

                              Faythe

Freebies and Goodies to share

Here are some last minute Free Samples and goodies from my e-mail box to share with you today! 

         Hurry while they last!

Free sample of Sore No More : 
for sore muscles, aches and sprains 
sorenomore.sample



Being a Girl

Sign up now to get a free Being A Girl Sample Kit. Just fill out the quick survey to begin. Included in the kit are: 3 Tampax Pearl Tampons (1 Regular, 1 Light, 1 Compak Light), 2 Always Ultra Thin Pads (1 Regular, 1 Long/Super) & 2 Always Thin Liners.
beingAgirl.com/en_US/samples



 Stayfree sample

       stayfree.com/sample

EAS print out for free sample bottle

  EAS/pro-science/freesample  




Science Diet dog treat sample

Hills Science diet_simpleessentials_freesample  




Country Bob's Sauce  
       (available at Wal-mart and other locations)

 Country Bobs try-a-free-bottle







Free Cascade ActionPacs 

and coupons and possible sweepstakes

Cascade clean specialoffers





John Frieda shampoo & conditioner / Frizz Ease samples

   
look for both offers at link below 

   
John Frieda/news_and_offers/special_offers







Philosophy Miracle Worker  Anti-aging Moisturizer    


     via facebook page       





Origins

   via Facebook page

We’ll trade you for FREE. One day only – 4/22. 
Bring your current skincare to any Origins counter and we’ll trade it for a full-size of one of our gentle, high-performance cleansers. 
Choose either: Checks and Balances™ Frothy face wash Or a Perfect World™ Antioxidant cleanser with White Tea. Value up to $20!
  ~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~  ~~~~~~
Or via online Origins Today only 4/17 
Free full size Ginger Essence Rollerball
  with any $40 online order. 
  codeword : ROLLON



Bath and Body Works sale

Lots of other goodies online and free shipping with $60 purchase
codeword : APRILFREESHIP60  ends Sunday!



Dove For Men sample

Ensure/coupons-samples-promotions




RED GOLD TOMATOES FREE REUSABLE BAG

You can get a free reusable tote with the purchase of any Red Gold Tomatoes product  HERE . Just register for their e-newsletter

 and enter a UPC code from any product and they will send you a FREE bag.
Offer is valid only in the following states:  AL, AR, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NE, OH, OK , NC, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV, and WI 

Emergen-C:

(Choose from four options)

Emergen-C/magazine_promo/

OR here  http://elleextra.com/emergenc/

Kashi:

(Choose from three)
 Kashi Healthier_year/sample


National Parks Week Free Admittance !!

To make it easier to experience America's Great Outdoors, the National Park  Service is waiving entrance fees

so visitors can enjoy all 392 national parks for free April 17-25. In addition, many national park concessionaires are offering special promotions that are certain to add to your fun!

YMCA HEALTHY KIDS DAY  
Today! Saturday, 4/17

Visit your local Y this Saturday for YMCA Healthy Kids Day- offering families a chance to play together and learn ways to strive for healthier living. YMCA Healthy Kids Day events are free and open to all. 
Go HERE
for info and HERE to see participating locations.


If you have any trouble clicking on any of the links try
copy/cut and paste into your browser window.
Hope you find a freebie or goodie you can use, share with a friend or family member ! Have a great weekend!

                
                  Faythe

Spring is still a popping!

Spring is still growing! 

Through the wind, cold, rain and snow...

The days have been a mixture of dreary clouds and skimpy sunshine, 

but the colors continue to change rather quickly especially with the cold snaps sneaking in here and there.

Now a reminder of last weeks sprouts in question ...

click on photos to enlarge,

please ask to copy

I do have to admit this was a hard one!

No correct answers, maybe a picture will clue you in ???

hummm, a bit blurry... 

       I am still learning the tricks to my little camera.

This one is much better....

It is commonly known as spiderwort! 

The flowers will bloom later mid-summer, 

they can last a day or so for each one of the flower pods.

You can see some of the purple color showing in the stems as they sprout through the ground.

Do you remember these pretties from last couple weeks?

I was lucky to enjoy them as long as I did this year, as they are usually covered in snow when they make there performance. 

Well with the wind and very cold freezing rain they looked like this ...

click to see photos enlarged,

please ask to copy

The sneaky wind brought more leaves from last fall to try and bury them again...

This yellow guy had one bloom shriveled up and one bud valiantly hoping for one more shot at stardom. 

Now even the leaves of the crocus are hard to find. 

They are now drying up all vegetation and storing energy for next years show.

Are you ready for this weeks mystery plant???

This one should be easier, another perennial.

It is another one that will bloom later in the year, but the flower heads stay with the plant through the winter for visual interest.

click to enlarge,
please ask to copy

 As I was digging them out of the heavy matted leaves from last fall...

OOOppss!!

no worries, I found a hole left by some critter who had been digging earlier so I popped it in the hole and covered it with fresh dirt. 
Next spring it will pop and shine.

I am pretty sure it will make it just fine.              

Please leave your guesses and comments below, and if you are participating in Wordless/Wordful Wednesday {WW} also leave your link in Mr. Linky below so I, my readers and others can come see what you have to show off this week!  

   I leave you again with dirty hands!

    

        don't forget to leave me a guess!

                         
                     Faythe