Invitation Bow

 

It is now just two weeks away to our son’s wedding.   Lots of decisions and frayed nerves as finalization of details need to be made.  The photo this morning is showing the little fabric flower in the middle of the bow on the invitation.   The bride to be has chosen all the autumnal colours for the wedding.    They are my favourite colours.   

I am joining Laura at Blogging From Bolivia for Macro Friday.   Hope you have a wonderful weekend.   We need to get the pop up trailer back into the garage for the winter and clean up the backyard.   I have bulbs to plant before the cold weather gets here. At the moment it is a beautiful sunny morning.    Valerie

Geraniums

I am enjoying the last of the annuals in the garden.  They are getting a bit tired looking now but they have been a constant source of colour through out the summer even despite the periods of intense heat and humidity.  I will endeavor  to bring some of them in for the winter for next years cuttings.  For Kim Klassen’s challenge this week we were to think LOVE.   I used two layers of Kim’s texture called love.   I used a brush preset I got from French Kiss Textures.  I used it subtly. so that it just stayed in the background.

I will be joining Kim Klassen Café Texture Tuesday and the Creative Exchange with Lisa Gordon.   Valerie

Rainy Day in Creemore

 

Last Friday friends, Jennifer, Judith Marilyn and myself decided to take a little visit to a lovely little village about an hour away called Creemore.  It is a touristy type of town with lots of galleries, quaint shops and lovely places to eat.   Unfortunately, the day was calling for a good downpour.   We got to visit a few of the stores and oogle and google over things.   We were told by a shopkeeper that a good place for lunch was the Affairs Bakery.  I was hooked when I saw that they had butter tarts on the menu.   Lunch was lovely.   I had a delicious stew and nice warming green tea.   Desert was a pumpkin butter tart and I enjoyed every bite.   After lunch Judith and Marilyn headed home but Jennifer and I wanted to take some pictures in the park.  Just as we hauled the cameras out of the bags down came the rain in buckets.   Note the wavery pic on the top right.   I managed between rain bursts to take a couple of the flowers in the park.   On the way back home Jen and I passed a country store in the middle of nowhere.   I made a quick stop and backed up to the front door.   It was full of all kinds of jewelry and scarfs and crafts.  The owner was quite bubbly and friendly.   In the back room we spotted these delicious confections of hats.  We tried them all on.  Well this one on the old girl just took my fancy and I took it home.  Jennifer bought one also in a pale pink.  Maybe she will share it on her blog A Garden of Threads.

Join us for Mosaic Monday at Mary’s.   Have a great last week of September.   Valerie

A Solitary Leaf

 

I spied a single leaf on the deck the other day and ran to grab the camera before it blew away. Some of the trees are beginning to turn colour here.   For Kim Klassen’s Texture Tuesday challenge I added two layers of Autumn burst and then one layer of Scripted autumn to add some texture.  I am also joining The Creative Exchange over at Lisa Gordon Photography.    Valerie

Fall Colchicum

 

 

In the spring of the year the leaves of the colchicum come up out of the ground and then disappear for the summer. In September you will spot the flowers and no leaves.  It seems they appear like magic.  One day there is nothing there and the next the showy blooms are saying “Hi here we are”.   The bulbs are offered for sale in the fall of the year to plant for next year’s bloom.  They are hardy depending on the variety from zones 4-8.  

Join us for Mosaic Monday at Dear Little Red House with host Mary.   Enjoy the last week of summer as Friday is the first day of Autumn and the Autumnal Equinox.    Valerie

A Luminous Morning Glory

 

One morning as I was walking around the garden with my camera I spotted this morning glory that seemed to be lit from within.   I framed it with one of Isabel LaFrance’s frames.   

I am joining Macro Friday with Laura at Blogging from Bolivia.    Come over and see more fabulous macros.    Has your weather turned cooler?   Ours has.   There has been talk of frosts in places just north of us.    Time to bring the houseplants back in for the winter I guess.   Have a great weekend.    Valerie

Kettle Can Do for Texture Tuesday

 

 

The challenge for this weeks Texture Tuesday is using Kim’s newest texture “Autumn Burst” and providing a photo using the verb “do”.    My kettle is a can do appliance in the afternoon when I feel like a cup of tea or coffee.   I used two layers of Autumn Burst and one layer of Isabel LaFrance’s texture Extra Warm Sun.   Valerie

Fall Hydrangeas

 

 

Annabelle Hydrangeas are easy to grow and the blooms get to an incredible size.  They start out a beautiful creamy white and as they age they take on a green tinge and then go to brown.   They are easy to use as a dried arrangement by taking some cuttings and put them in a vase with just a teensy of water.   The water will evaporate but the flower head will stay just perfect.

This hydrangea is one I planted last fall.  It stands only about a ft tall.   It is called ‘little lime’.   At the moment the petals are turning the most gorgeous shades of creamy white, green and pink.

This hydrangea is called ‘’Pink Diamond’ and at this time of the year the blooms go a lovely pink colour.  I started another hydrangea this year called ‘Pinky Winky’ and the flowers have the same shade.   I have an ‘Incrediball’ hydrangea at the front of the house and it put on some growth this year and some lovely blooms but it has a ways to go to outdo ‘Annabelle’.   

I am joining Mary’s Mosaic Monday.   Come over an visit us there.   Valerie

Fall Chrysanthemum for Macro Friday

 

In the stores and nurseries these days are containers of beautiful chrysanthemums.  They come in so many beautiful colours and it hard to choose.   I bought a few  pots of different colours to put into a container.  This one called to me this morning with the light on the petals.   

I will be joining Laura at Blogging from Bolivia for Macro Friday.   The fall fairs and festivals have begun.   Our local  Horticultural Society is holding it’s annual fall plant and bake sale.   I have divided some plants up in my garden to donate and I am baking some cookies for the bake sale.   The monies go to programming and the various public gardens that we keep up each year.   How are you going to spend your weekend?   Hope it is a good one whatever you do.   Valerie

Pretty in Pink

Kim’s Challenge this week was to use her texture called “Cracker Jack”  I really like the plastery feel of this texture.  The gloxinia was a gift from my husband’s uncle who knows that I love a pretty flower.   It has flowered off and on in it’s pot outside on a shelf on the fence.  I will be joining Kim Klassen Café for Texture Tuesday.    Valerie

I’ve Got a Brand New Pair of Rollerskates

 

I was staying with my Dad over the last few days.  He lives alone a two hour drive from me.  At 91 he has been very healthy but recently he had a little problem with his tummy.   While I was there I decided to do a little gardening. He has a fellow that cuts his grass and keeps the property cleaned up but he does not garden.  The flowerbeds were very overgrown with weeds.   As I was looking for tools in the shed I discovered on one the shelves some toys from when my brother and I were just little.  I found my rollerskates in there too.  They are all rusty now and I could not find the key.  As a young girl I spent many hours going up and down the sidewalks on them and just as many times falling down. The scars on my knees are the remnants of those days.  The rollerblades nowadays look nothing like these.  I used to rollerskate on a shiny wooden flower at the roller rink in the mornings when the kids were at school.  I had a great time and thought I was just a hot cookie out there.   Those days are gone and so is the roller rink.  I hope you enjoy this little look back to the my past.

I will be joining Mary at DearLittleRedHouse for Mosaic Monday.  Hope you can join us or just come over to see what it is all about.   Valerie

Clematis and the Bee

I spotted this bee in the Clematis Orientalis today.  This clematis is a very vigourous grower.  It has formed a large vine on the arbour by the deck and is now just loaded with bloom.  I was just attempting to take a macro shot of the flower when along came the bee. I shot away until I got a good capture.  

I will be joining Laura at Blogging from Bolivia for Macro Friday.   This is the labor day weekend for us in Canada. The children will be going back to school on Tuesday.  Fall is fast approaching.   Enjoy the end of summer holidays. Valerie