Birdbath Traffic

A first winter White Crowned Sparrow was eating the seeds from the Big Blue Stem,

 a Male White Throated Sparrow was singing on the ground 10 feet away,

and the birdbath was busy with some first winter White Crowned Sparrows.

Everyone was busy taking care of their own business,

 but someone always has to jump in and distrub the quite...

This White Throated Sparrow had been busy singing away in the garden, but decided that

the birdbath was now his terrority and every one was forced out.

But you know how the saying goes, 'what goes around comes around'.

Well this Warbler decided that it wanted a bath too and to bad for the White Throated Sparrow,

neither one was leaving. So they bathed together while keeping an eye on each other. And me, I was taking their picture the whole time.

The backyard has been very busy with migrant birds travelling through and the winter birds arriving. The Juncoes have arrived and were checking out the area to see what had changed since spring.

I am joining Watery Wednesday today.

Thank you for the visit and have a wonderful day.

Mosaic Monday - Fair Time

The apples are ripe and the leaves are turning a lovely golden color. It is time to celebrate the harvest with a fall fair.  Every time hubby and I attend one of these fairs, we must head over to view the old tractors, trucks and steam engines.  It is not my favorite part of the fair, I would rather look at all the quilts, baked goods or flower arrangements.  But this year I decided to see what I could capture through the lens of my camera.

Here in Southern Ontario you can attend a fair every weekend,

 with the grand finale in November with the Royal Winter Fair.

I am joining Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

Please stop by to view the lovely mosaics.

Thank you for visiting and have a wonderful week.

Pink Saturday

    

          I have one lone African Violet who sits among the orchids in the dining rooms' bay window.
                                     It has lovely pink coloured flowers and varigated leaves.

                                        

Even the varigated leaves have a blush of pink.

Just perfect for Pink Saturday.

Please join our lovely host, Beverly at How Sweet the Sound
 to view what others have posted.

I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Embrace Change

Today marks the first day of my favorite season Autumn. I know many people do not like this season because of what follows...winter. But, we all need to embrace change.

"You don't have to fear change. What you need to fear, a friend once told me,

is things remaining the same. When that happens, life has stopped.

Life is an evolution. Your life is constantly, quietly evolving each moment into something

new, something different, something that adds gracefully, beautifully and perfectly

to what was.  You can trust that process with all its insights, clarity, confusion and

emotions.  You can trust that process with its peace, joy, laughter and its side trips.

Learn to honor and love the process of continual evolution and transformation.

It's how things grow. It's how you grow. It's how life is.

Learn to embrace change"

~ Melody Beattie~

Journey to the Heart

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

Mosaic Monday - Fall Decor

Well fall has arrived at my house. The pumpkins, gourds, nuts and quilts have been unpacked.

I am joining Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

Please stop by to see some fantastic mosiacs.

Play safe and have a wonderful week!



Pink Saturday

 I have been putting away the summer decor and adding fall. This table topper titled "Popping Up Spring" has lovely pink roses, apples, peonies and small sheets of music on the background fabric.

Before putting it away I took closeup pictures of  the fabric, I was going to use them as textures.

I used a string of pearls to frame the vignette on the fabric for this picture. But I decided it would make a better background instead of a texture. So, I added a pink rose picture and a geranium picture, then used a texture over the whole arrangement.

I am joining the lovely Beverly at How Sweet the Sound

for Pink Saturday. I hope you join the party.

Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!

Friday's Favorite - Finding Beauty in Garden Art

Last night our Master Gardener group had their meeting at a wonderful nursery, Pathway to Perennials. We were given a small tour of the gardens and a quick talk on some of their favorite plants. But I have been drawn to garden art this year instead of plants, pretty nervy of me. But I thought you still might be interested in seeing what attracted my attention here. It was getting dark, so the pictures are not great, had all the settings high trying to let in more light and I forgot my tripod, a no no with night photography.

You know how much I like the birds and this one was so cute.

Just look at it sitting of a nest, what a whimsical an addition to any garden.

For those who like a fountain in the garden, the selection is hugh, but I liked the simple pineapple shape surrounded by boxwood. The symbol of the pineapple represents welcome, perfect for the garden.

The garden benches came in many different shapes, styles and materials. 

I just adored this bench with the flowered back. The price was a bit high for my pocket book,

 so I will have to enjoy just looking at this picture.

I am joining Claudia at Dipity Road for Finding Fridays Beauty,

so stop by to see where others are finding beauty.

Have a safe and enjoyable weekend!

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day

Wow, it is hard to believe a month has passed and it is again time for Blogger's Bloom Day.  I thought we would start with pictures of my 'naked ladies' (Colchicum autumnale).  A new name I found for them in the gardening magazine, Garden Making. The name fits them perfectly as they bloom without leaves, the leaves come up in the spring. They like well drained soil and dry summers, perfect as I garden on sand. They are sometimes confused with autumn crocuses, one difference being crocuses have three stamens while colchicums have six.

Since they flower without leaves, they just appear without warning.

This is a picture of one taken early in the morning, before it fully opens.

The colchiums are growing very close to one of my many lavender plants. After the lavender finishes blooming I cut them back, but this plant has decided to give flowering one more try.

 I was very surprised to see a few flower stems.

This is the flower of Sedum 'Matrona', they are usually a brighter shade of pink.

But this plant always flowers this soft pink color.

One lone flower on the Campanula persicifolia (Bellflower).

This is a volunteer from the many sunflower seeds the chipmunks collect from under the

birdfeeds and plant around the garden.

Visit our lovely host May Dreams Gardens to see

 what other garden bloggers have blooming in their garden.

Thanks for stopping by and happy gardening!

Mosaic Monday - A Summer Goal

At the beginning of every summer I have a list of goals I hope to accomplish that season. This year I did not give myself many goals, as the list keeps growing longer from year to year with unfinished goals from the previous year. As you can see I get very lazy when the temperature raises. But, I had one goal that I did work on, to get some pictures of the hummingbird in the garden. Here are some of those pictures.

Today will mark the second weekend in September and I am surprised they are still in the garden. Every day they travel around checking the nectar in the struggling annuals left on the decks and fighting over who has the right to use the feeders. I hope they leave soon as the longer they wait the harder it will be to find a prime location to spend the winter.

See what others have posted for Mosaic Monday

 by joining Mary at the Little Red House.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you have a wonderful week.

Friday's Find Beauty

A wonderful photography blog to visit is Georgianna Lane, I visit almost daily to see what beautiful pictures she has posted. Since I am only an amateur photographer I read many books on photography and visit many photography blogs. Georgianna's blog contains stunning pictures of the flowers in her garden. She has an Etsy shop where you can purchase some of these creations. So in August I purchased two of her pictures. They arrived two weeks ago and were beyond my expectations. After shopping around for different frames and not being happy with any, I had custom mats made and framed the prints with simple black frames.

This picture is titled 'Lady in Lavender', when I saw this picture in her shop it spoke to me.

A picture of one of my favorite things in the garden, a butterfly.

This is 'Purity', I love the composition of white magnolia flowers against the blue sky.

Here they are together on the wall beside my computer. They will be wonderful

to look at when the snow is two feet deep in the middle of winter.

A reminder of what awaits in spring.

The prints were carefully wrapped and mailed to me with a thank you note.

I thought the thank you just as beautiful and had it framed as well.

It sits on a table in the family room.

I am joining Claudia at Dipity Road for Finding Beauty. 

Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!

Native Plant Profile

Today I am introducing you to Solidago flexicaulis (Zig Zag Goldenrod) my favorite solidago for the garden. I garden in mostly dry shady conditions and this is a workhorse for the fall garden. A garden saver in dry shade. It gets its' name from the zig zag, angled stem, which is an interesting feature.  The flowers are a wonderful yellow color in the late summer woodland. 

Zig Zag goldenrod is not particularly needy with regard to nutrients and organic matter which is unusual for a woodland plant. It does not need mulching as it is very adaptable to dry conditions and will outcompete most weeds. It grows 1 to 3 feet tall in full shade to filtered light on average to dry soil conditions.

The leaves are 6 inches long, oval and toothed with flower heads blooming in loose clusters at the joints of crooked stems from late summer to fall. It is hardy from Zones 4 to 9. Zig Zag Goldenrods natural habitat is dry woods, thickets and clearnings from Ontario to Nova Scotia, south to Florida,

 west to Texas and Oklahoma and north to Wisconsin.

A must for fall color in a dry shady spot.

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful day!

Lovely Lady for Pink Saturday

It is Pink Saturday time and this week I would like to show you a gift I received on my 21st birthday. Just a few years ago. LOL

I always wanted a Royal Doultan figurine, but my parents thought they were to expensive and not wanting to disappoint me, my Mom asked one of her friends to make me one in her ceramic class.

  I walked around the house trying to find the perfect place to take her picture.

I placed her on a silver tray and was amazed at the reflection.

Two pink roses just finished the vignette.

Their reflections in the silver tray make a wonderful soft picture

 with no playing around in photoshop.

Each  week Beverly asks us to feature another blog and I would like to mention

 A Scrapebook of Inspiration. Every time I visit I am awed by the creations

Karen makes with vintage finds and everyday scenes. Stop by for a visit.

I would like to thank our host Beverly for hosting Pink Saturday.

Have a wonderful day!.

Friday's Flowers

It has been very hot and humid here for the first week of September. I do hope we receive the rain that is forecast for this weekend. The garden would love the rain and I would love cooler temperature. The fall bloomers are just starting to put on their show. The ornamental grasses are starting to look wonderful.

Imperata cylindrica 'Red Baron' - Japanese Blood Grass is turning a lovely shade of red.

Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Hameln' - Fountain grass is flowering.

  They look like hairy caterpillars to me.

The Rudbeckia are still going strong.

The Goldfinches have been devouring the seedheads of the older blooms.

Ligularia dentata 'Othello' is visited everyday by the hummingbirds.

Hemerocallis 'Happy Returns' just keeps flowering.

I have it growing in both sun and part shade. It flowers equally well in both locations.

Please visit Tootsie Time to see what is blooming in blogland.

I would like to thank everyone for their support and comments concerning my lost picture. I see it has happened to many of you and your suggestions have been a great help. Thank you.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.