Sitting Setting Finally Finished !!

I want to add .. that no life forms as I might know of .. were harmed in the making of my "sitting setting" .. and that the real beauty is of nature .. not my bench .. as much as I love it .. right ?
wink wink ? .. great picture of this little butterfly creature admiring my work ? ;-)

Morning and afternoon pictures combined .. the lighting is a huge factor .. shade is a wonderful option too .. phew !!

OK .. I know .. will you finally STOP talking about your BENCH now !!!! wink wink : ) .. OK .. I will be laid up with one heck of an aching back now so you will all get a break from my bench .. pressing ?? hehehe

The place to sit ....

Well .. in the utter chaos of this past week .. we managed to buy and put together that garden bench I have been lusting after .. this bench is going to last !
I swear I will take good care of it this time .. and it is all metal .. not heavy cast iron and wood combo I had previously ... that was enough to send me around the bend ;-)
Even before I got the bench I knew what type of grass I wanted to flank it ... and luckily I found some at half price .. you gotta' love that right ?

Miscanthus Morning Light .. a beautiful airy, graceful tall ornamental grace .. perfect for what type of mood I wanted to create in this special spot .. I don't have a lot of room but I so wanted this setting .. and by golly I am making it !!

I have many other plants that lend a hand to the atmosphere .. but the grasses are key to that sense of enjoyment I feel when I see them .. touch them .. they are so darn beautiful !

Now I am just starting out with a few bags of pea gravel .. I want to add larger stone to give it a random feel .. but that "crunch" sound of pea gravel just does it for me some how : )

The larger rocks will make it feel a little more natural perhaps ?

I will be surrounded by lots of cone flowers and other plants as well as the grasses ....

A wonderful grass called Karley Rose (a fountain grass .. pennisetum oriental) is behind the bench within an obelisk .. I just replaced it last year when my mature one sadly died .. I missed it terribly .. you know how you can become attached to favorite plants ?

In any case .. hopefully the work will start tomorrow .. I will be grunting and groaning a lot I am sure but I know that I will love this little spot of mine so much .. I can hardly wait to see the finished oasis ! ... yes .. I am cleaning the bird bath too !

Shadow Shot Sunday

Well the time is flying by even in this ridiculous smothering heat and humidity which can be really tough on us cold climate Canucks .. I'll keep complaining until Autumn so just plug your ears or cross your eyes when possibly reading this ?

Tracy from Hey Harriet the super hero that has created this meme is actually hoping to come out from their "cold" ? temperatures and into Spring ?

Hang in there girl , we will be switching climates control soon ! wink wink

Remember to visit her link for all the other shadow shooters !

Fire in the sky ......

These pictures from this morning's sky show can never convey how absolutely overwhelming and amazing a moment in time this was for me.
Spectacular sunrises may be captured by some pictures but you can never feel the total experience you feel when you see the sky literally on fire with colour.
I've tried to par down to just a few "timed" pictures as it progresses .. I won't explain them all other than that "blank" flag pole of my neighbor's that cuts a ragged vertical line in the horizon .. I know you all know how I feel about that THING ..
For now .. on with the sky show

This is such a small expression of how gorgeous the sky was.

The time was about 6 AM and it kept changing very quickly .. there are so many small details that I saw in person, that you may not pick up on and that is too bad because it was truly profound. Even the lack of "noise" while this was happening was almost eerie .. and we all know I love eerie .. almost a Halloween sky ? ;-)

The cloud formations slowly floating by .. depth, colour, consistency .. if I could have shot it in 3D .. now that you would truly "get" : )

Red sky in morning, sailor take warning ? it is true .. the wind and rain have taken over !

Non-garden-cat-funny-post

We are having major storms passing through the Twilight Zone Ally here in Kingston

I just haven't been able to put an interesting garden post together by way of weather headaches.

So I thought this one of Emma might draw a few chuckles .. Sophie has her moments too but I just happen to catch Emma with this naughty one ? : )

Sky Lighting ?

Quips from my garden ....

Upper right hand corner with double asterisk .. I bet you aren't feeling sleepy any more ??? hehehehe

Stargazers Flashed

I haven't seen a "stop in your tracks , gorgeous sunrise" in ages .. that is the funny thing about summer months .. what ever the element missing for them may be .. it is truly MISSING !
But then you have your gardens to compensate for that absent jewel in the sky ?
I never use a flash in the garden .. I just didn't think it would work actually.
So ... the idea "flashed" in my brain as to "what the heck ? I'll try it and see?"

When I uploaded these pictures I was surprised ! .. it actually did work .. not as well presented as in natural light but there they are ..

It was early morning .. clear sky but still early enough to have low light levels so these pictures would not have turned out if I had taken them in naked natural low light ..

I would have missed this wonderful beginning to my Stargazers opening.

This morning I am looking out the deck door to a very rainy day .. but I am not complaining by any means .. it saves me once again from dragging the hose around to give my garden a well deserved DRINK ! ... phew !!