Another Portrait

Nikon F801s, Nikon 50mm F1.8D, Ilford XP2 Super 400 C41 process B&W film. Scanned on a CanoScan 5600F. Edited with the GIMP.

Benji

Nikon f65 with kit 28-80 f3.3-5.6 zoom on cheap Fuji Superia 200ISO film. Edited with the GIMP.

Off to South Carolina

We're off for the weekend but I had to show a few pictures of my hydrangeas.  They are loving the all the rain we keep having (every day). Most of these have grown from cuttings that I started in order to move my garden from our old home.  This alone makes me really proud.  We live on a city lot so I've tried to pack in beauty in every corner.

This is one of my favorites - Pretty Maiden

If you're interested in seeing more mopheads, peegees and lacecaps, hop on over to visit Elizabeth and Gene's website hydrangea.com.  They own the most beautiful garden center, Wilkerson Mill Gardens, and it's located near my house.  If you live in the Atlanta area and you love gardens or gardening, it's worth a visit. 

Have a wonderful weekend.

Fireflies

I saw them last night for the first time this year - the fireflies.  Since I was young I've been fascinated by these tiny sparkling lights that magically appeared in the summer.   I grew up in what some people refer to as south Georgia (meaning anything south of Atlanta) but actually my hometown is located in middle Georgia and sadly we never had fireflies.   Each summer our family would rent a cabin for two weeks in a small community outside of Asheville, NC and it was there I discovered the fireflies.

Our cabin was a small stone structure with a front porch, an apple tree in the front yard and a gladiola field behind it.  Can you imagine waking up and seeing a field of gladiolas framed by mountains all around?  It was an idyllic setting.  We normally stayed during the first two weeks of July so the gladiolas were just beginning to open and the apples had formed on the tree.  Unfortunately the apples were a bit to sour to eat raw, but were perfect when baked with sugar and cinnamon so we had them for breakfast every day.

The cabin had no tv so we did lots of hiking, playing in streams and exploring in the area.  On our hikes it was so beautiful seeing the mountain laurel in bloom.  I can still remember the woodsy smells of nature.  

We also enjoyed a big trip into Asheville to enjoy the Craft Fair at the civic center.  It was always the highlight of the trip to watch furniture makers, blacksmiths, fiddle players, quilters, potters, etc., showcase their wares and put on demonstrations. 

Then at night we would sit outside and listen to nature's summer symphony and watch the light show as the fireflies circled around us.  It was perfect.

Life is a bit more stressful now and two week vacations don't come often, but I delight in being able to spend the evening on my front porch, watching the fireflies.

I hope that wherever you live, you have fireflies too.

P.S.  Just noticed that someone from Wewahitcka was visiting my blog page.  My mom's from Port St. Joe!  I love blogging!  It's like going places without ever leaving your chair!!!

The obstacle is the path…….

~Zen proverb...

above images: Sunset magazine

above images: Garden Porn

Beautiful obstacles

indeed.

Friends

Nikon F801s, Nikon 50mm F1.8D, Ilford XP2 Super 400 C41 process B&W film. Scanned on a CanoScan 5600F. Edited with the GIMP.

Garden Bloggers' Muse Day - June 2010

T IS FOR?



'TIMELESS'

'There is no clock in the forest
but a dandelion to blow,
an owl that hunts when the light is gone.
a mouse that sleeps
till night has come,
lost in the moss below.

There is no clock in the forest,
only the cuckoo's song
and the thin white of the early dawn,
the pale damp - bright,
of a waking June,
the bluebell light
of a day half born
when the stars have gone.

There is no clock in the forest.'

~ 'Timeless' - Judith Nicholls

This week it's two for the price of one ~ enjoy June musing over at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago and take a trip to ABC Wednesday for more on the letter T.