Frolicking Through the Garden..........

...........Amid the extreme heat, summer rain and lazy days, there is still quite a bit of garden frolicking going on.  Not much of it done by me except when I am chasing after something with camera in hand.  Today I will show a few of my favorites and throw in a few plant pictures too...... 

 

I caught this couple in the very back corner being spotlighted by the sun.  They don't cover much territory but continuously remain absorbed in their own little world.

 

 

 

I see these Gulf Fritillary butterflies come through but, seldom catch them still enough to get their picture. Here you see the underside of one wing and the topside of the other.

 

 

 

This one went from flower to flower but paused just long enough to get a few fair pictures.

 

 

It starts feeling like fall here, even in the heat, when the beauty berries start turning this beautiful color.

 

 

Another frolicker paused for me to get many good pictures, the White Peacock.

 

 

This is a skipper butterfly and most of the skippers seem laid back and relaxed.

 

 

 

 

Some of the swallowtails are near impossible to capture.  They almost never stop moving.

 

 

And then there are these residents! They mosey through a few times a day and you would think they owned the whole sub-division. You can't call what they do frolicking by any stretch of the imagination!

 

 

I seldom look out or go out that I don't see at least one dragonfly.  I think this is the first time, however, that I caught one on rosemary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With all the frolicking that goes on in the summer garden, there comes the time for sweet repose and reflection. It's a good life!

~~~~~~~~~

 

Fresh Cuts - Outside.........

..........I know those who have been following for a long time remember my "fresh cuts" posts. But, it has been a long time since the last one and I thought you might like to see another..........

 

 

I love the colors of this one and it represents several of my current plants. I gathered these this morning and brought them in, put them in a very old blue jar and began to take pictures.......

 

 

 

I had them on my little kitchen island but, they were dropping petals and drooping so much that I thought the hanging light over the island might be too hot. Decided to take them outside and chose the large old camphor tree stump to nestle the arrangement in. 

 

 

I am so glad that I did and think the setting makes them more interesting. As the petals were still drooping and dropping, I snapped very quickly. Not some of my best photography but I got two or three that I love.......

 

 

This particular selection has some deep down richness of color. They make me think of fall, especially the coleus. You might see more of it as Autumn draws nearer.

 

 

A tumble of textures and colors!

 

 

There was one small pinecone already in place and I added two more in the crevasse of the old stump. The jar is complete with a glass lid. I have had it so long I no longer remember where it came from.

 

 

 

It doesn't take much natural beauty to elevate the "everyday".  I don't think ahead or plan for these fresh cuts - just start gathering and quickly put it together and start snapping pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nature adds so much pleasure to ordinary days and presents many opportunities for joy.

 

 

This is one of my favorites. Love the simplicity.

~~~~~

 

Maybe we can consider this post  a "warm-up" for fall. After all, Autumn is not far off.

~~~~~~~

 

The Old White Chair.....

I promised on the last post to show something a little different this time.  Do you remember the old white chair? I have not shown it for a long time. I use to do posts occasionally with the chair in the garden, set up with special accessories. Today might be the first of a second series of "The Old White Chair". 

 

 

 

Today we have a tea time set-up.

 

 

I placed the old white chair among some plants and next to this garden cup. And, added a very special tea spoon - my spoon from 10 Downing Street, London. Just as I got it in place I had a visitor, just above my head.

 

 

  

 I was reminded of a little writing from Emily Dickinson: The bee is not afraid of me, I know the butterfly; The pretty people in the woods, receive me cordially.  

 

 

Continuing on, I placed a large bouquet of flowers that I had just gathered from the garden.

 

 

"Flowers are nature's jewels with whose wealth she decks her summer beauty."

 

 

 

Next came a favorite tea pot and a small selection of tea.

 

 

So, The Old Chair sits here in the path of fluttering butterflies......

 

 

......who also pause to receive their own nectar......

 

 

 

 

 

......drinking from blossom cups.

 

 

 

I promise you, this is not a Twinings commercial! I chose the tea bags by the colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Nothing is more completely the child of art than a garden".

~~~~~~

 

I hope you have enjoyed this edition of "The Old Chair" and now, I need to pick up my trowel and get to work!