Floral

I liked the contrast of the white Cosmos against the green leaf - which is one of those tall decorative lily-type things, I can't think of the name. The ones in the Botanic Gardens were all orange, the ones we've seen in France tend to be a deep crimson.

(testing a new gadget on the blog)

Floral Utility

A couple of weeks back I walked home through the park to take a couple of photos for a Flat Stanley project for someone. By the time I got to the park gates (well past the point of no return in terms of getting the bus), it started to rain. So I stopped for a few minutes to shelter till the worst of the shower was over. This utility box is just between the courthouse and the park gates. There were several more showers, but luckily not when I got to the point where I had planned to take photos.

I got my Tyvek out again and made this - I have another piece painted and sitting on the desk waiting to heat and then see what it will become. 

More autumn colour

A quick look at the forecast and Saturday promised to be a lovely sunny morning - at least as far as current weather conditions go. So we set an alarm, got up in good time and took a visit to the Botanic Gardens.  Disappointed in the sculptures compared to previous years, but that wasn't why we had gone - we certainly enjoyed the rich colours and the warm sunshine. Today, in stark contrast, has been grey and drizzle or downright rain all day. We're glad of our dose of sunshine yesterday.

The bracket fungus looks like the porch for a little fairy house, I thought. And C thought the colchicums were so pristine that they were one of the sculptures.

Autumn Colour

We've had a prolific "crop" of Chinese Lanterns this year. I've started picking them and bringing them in.  It was hard to find anywhere to put the vase to take a photo - it's actually in the window, but that made them backlit. C was trimming back some of the hedges today, so I stuck in a couple of branches of hawthorn berries too.

August Favourites

Quite a lot of my favourite cards for August are Christmas cards, as I focussed on getting back on target with my monthly quota, which had lapsed ever since I had the flu back in the early Spring.
Since we're into autumn - noticeably chillier mornings and longer evenings here, I'm going to include a couple of them in my picks for the month...
Now I just have to find that mislaid "Silent Night" stamp!

This month's header photo was taken in the Botanic Gardens last September - so I had plenty of choice.