Sandbox Lawn The Morning After

Skunks and raccoons have found our back lawn just too irresistible of late. White grubs are the delicacy they are seeking in the middle of the night. The lawn will need a complete makeover with new soil and grass seed in the fall. In the mean time it is an eyesore. Maybe I should call that fellow I saw on the news that will paint your lawn green for you. Valerie

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Scarlet Runner Beans on Obelisk

 

On my obelisk I grew a variety of a Runner Bean called Painted Lady that I got from Renee’s (www.reneesgarden.com) seeds in California.  It says on the packet that these seeds are a rare ornamental runner that date back to the 19th century.  The vines readily climb 8 to 10 ft. on a vertical support. The flowers are  bicoloured coral and creamy pink.  I was very pleased with their  performance.

For Texture Tuesday this week I used on my photo a layer of one of Kim’s July trio called Red at 100% and another of Just Be at Multiply at 64%.  I added a gaussian blur and that is it.

Along the Tracks

 

The other evening I said to my husband did he want to keep me company while I went down the road to take a few pictures.   He said he would come along for the ride and off we went. I had noticed on my way back from having my 6 week cut and colour done that there was lots of Queen Anne”s Lace and other wild flowers growing in the ditch next to the rail track.  I thought it might make a nice mosaic for today.   I did not bring along the tripod  and there was a slight breeze so I had fun trying to get the focus correct.   I am using a template that I have used before from Isobelle LaFrance.   I like that it looks like a bunch of snap shots that you might take on vacation.

I am joining Mary for Mosaic Monday.  Stop by for a visit.   Have a great week.

 

A Dose of Yellow

 

I took three photos of flowers in the garden yesterday and decided to try stacking them in layers one on top of the other in photoshop.   Bonnie has done this and I thought I must give this a try.   It was trial and error getting the opacity the way I wanted to.  I then found a lovely texture called Solstice by RHWest that could fit into this week’s theme of light.

I am joining Photo Art Friday with Bonnie at PixelDustPhotoArt.   Have a wonderful weekend.

Rudbeckia for Texture Tuesday

 

Does the summer seem like it is going too fast.  It just seems like the flowers are in a hurry to bloom.  Will there be anything left in September?   The Rudbeckia or Black (Brown) Eyed Susans are in bloom now.  It may be a senior moment but I thought they bloomed in August.

For Texture Tuesday Kim asked us to use two of her textures for this weeks theme.   I used Reverie and Scratches and then added a little whimsy with a butterfly brush.

On a Rainy Afternoon

 

This afternoon it is raining cats and dogs in the Sandbox and I am loving it.  The Sandbox looks like a dustbowl because we have had weeks of little or no rain and parching hot weather. The air conditioner has been going non stop.  I have no lawn left.  I can’t tell if it is white grubs that got it or just the heat.  We may need to reseed in September when it cools off and we get more rain.  

In the mean time some of the flowers are doing really well and some are not.   Here are the ones that are blooming at the moment.  The echinaceas are beginning to bloom.  I have a few varieties.  The grey headed coneflower is new to the Sandbox.  I love how the petals come out from the bottom with a lovely little hat on top.  The purple coneflowers are winners every year.  I have some scarlet runner beans travelling up an obelisk and here is one of the pretty flowers.  The twelve spotted skimmer just sat there on a stem while I took his picture down by the pond.

I am using a mosaic template from the Coffeeshop blog and I used a texture from PixelDustPhotoArt called never seen before.

I am joining Mosaic Monday with our host Mary.  Have a great week everyone. 

 

Fences for Photo Art Friday

I have a thing for snake rail fences.  I don’t know why but they appeal to me.  Several years ago when my husband and I went camping on the Manitoulin Island I noticed the snake rail fence was very common there.  My husband built me a small segment of a rail fence to go in the middle of a flower bed in the garden.  I love how it has weathered to fine grey colour with bits of lichen here and there. 

I made a collage out of the pictures and then flattened it.  I went to filter-artistic and then watercolour to achieve the look here.  I then added one of Bonnie’s textures called Age It.

I am joining Bonnie for Photo Art Friday.   Have a great weekend.

Clematis Open Garden

One of the things I love about summer is the opportunity to look in gardens of inspirational growers.   I can’t say that about my garden.   I have a bad habit of buying just one of something to try it out.  I do not buy multiples like the gardening gurus tell you to do so that you have a large swath of colour.  It is a bad habit that I endeavour each year to break.


I had the pleasure of visiting a gal I have known for a while who gardens with purpose and she loves clematis.  I don’t think she has met one she did not like.   She grows many beautiful and different varieties; some from seed and some from various nurseries selling unusual specimens.   On several weekends every summer she opens her gardens for anyone to visit.   A couple of weekends ago I did that and I came away feeling somewhat dismayed at what I achieve here in the Sandbox but with a sense of wonder too at what is achievable.  


I have included just some of the delightful sights I saw that day.  Donna thank you for an inspiring visit.

 I am joining Mary for Mosaic Monday.   Have a great week.

Architecture for Photo Art Friday

 

I took this photo last weekend when I was volunteering at the Sharon Temple.  This week for Photo Art Friday Bonnie asked us to create art on architecture so I thought of this one

 

I used part of a tutorial that Bonnie gave us last week.  I took my photo into Photoshop and chose filters- artistic- find edges.   Then I added a PixelDust texture called age it. Finally I took it into Topaz Adjust 5 and chose a preset called Lomo I.   That is it.

Joining Photo Art Friday.   Have a great weekend.  

Patricia’s Pride Asiatic Lily

 

A week or so ago I shared the photos of a container that I was growing some Asiatic Lily bulbs that had been sent to me to try by McFayden Seed of Brandon Manitoba.   The Chipmunk did uproot one of the bulbs and I had to put a cage around the second to keep it from destroying that one too.   This week the Lily bloomed and I wanted to share it with you.  It is quite spectacular.  So far no lily beetles have attacked it either. 

I am sharing this colourboard with Kim Klassen Café.   Kim asked us to send our recent favourite photo and I this one qualifies. 

 

Canada Day 2012

Hi Everybody.   It has been a perfect Canada Day Long Weekend so far.   Today I volunteered with some of my fellow Horticulture Society members at the Sharon Temple, a historic site in Sharon, Ontario.  We were over by the Doane House in the herb garden answering any questions about the herbs that the early settlers here would have used in their gardens.   There were actors in costume portraying the people that would have been here in this site back in the 1800s.  There were games and puppet shows and lots of exhibits and my favourite part of the day…birthday cake.  
To all my Canadian friends Happy Canada Day and for my American friends Happy 4th of July.  
I am joining Mary for Mosaic Monday.   Have a great week.