Landscape – Rippled Effects

May 3, 2024

Do Be a Bleeding Heart

Life should be so simple and everyone so compassionate that “you’re such a bleeding heart” is not an insult but instead is a compliment and an everyday occurrence in our acquaintances. But, not so much, I regret.

However —- in the garden — oh to be a bleeding heart! Determined, hardy, early to rise (in the spring), arms reaching out with beauty. Yes, these plants grow with their hearts on their sleeves. When I drive in front of our house toward my garage, I am greeted with these beauties in mid-spring and they do not disappoint.

And, because I was getting set up to photograph a rug show for my guild, I did a dump of what was on my Olympus’ memory card. Not in the current season for sure, but here’s a summer photo from First Encounter beach (I think) and Nauset Light decked out for Christmas (in 2022)

There is more from an earlier camera dump. I cannot wait to see what I find in the “blast from the past” that my camera memory card provides.

April 14, 2024

Rainbows and Raking Light

Yesterday’s early afternoon rainbow out over the Atlantic was a real treat. Rain showers had been everywhere, just not directly overhead. But the showers out over the ocean provided us with some beauty as the sun was getting ready to set.

Rainbow on Saturday April 13 , 2024 at 6:37 pm

And then Sunday morning a raking light highlighted the dining area with the new table runner (made of Nantucket Summer Moda fabrics) and the new luminara candles purchased specifically to go in this setting.

Raking light on a beautiful Sunday morning, April 14 2024 at 7:13 am

I particularly love the yellow background outside the dining area windows — yellows curtesy of the daffodils that line the bank and the forsythia that are blooming just below the edge.

Ahhhh………..spring on Cape Cod

August 28, 2015

Sunflowers in August

Hubby planted some sunflowers at the end of our veggie garden. The seeds were a Valentine’s Day Gift!! So different and thoughtful. Well the sunflowers are at full height and the blooms are opening. Only the yellow ones are open now, the red ones (shorter) are yet to open. And the photo illustrates just how tall they are. I’m looking up at them to take this photo and am zoomed in a bit on my iPhone. They are about 4 feet taller than me. But OH SO PRETTY!

August 2, 2015

Wren Parents – feeding the babies — ready to fledge?

There are lots of bird sounds coming from the West yard. In the nearly-devastated Kousa dogwood hangs the wren house. The wrens had started a second nesting when the micro-burst hit our property with 80+ MPH winds that knocked down a 50 foot maple. It hit the Kousa dogwood dead center and totally broke all the limbs. Somehow, the wren house was not knocked down and, four days after the storm, the arborists came out and removed the maple. They first pruned the Kousa with a chain saw then carefully pruned the Kousa remnants. I had the bird house in my hands for a while and hung it back up in the tree where it had been, mostly because I had no where else to put it. The next morning, the wrens were in the tree remnants singing and soon the male was bringing the female food while she sat on the eggs. I cannot believe that they did not abandon the nest. These are determined bird parents.

So, the eggs hatched and the parents have been busily feeding the babies in the nest that are becoming more and more noisy as they clamor for food. I am hoping that they are ready to fledge – in fact early tomorrow morning would be a good time. The landscape project is beginning here tomorrow — demolition of the sidewalk that runs right by their nest. I’m sure they won’t be happy with all the activity, but I’m guessing they won’t abandon the nest either.

Here are photos from my viewpoint at the table pondside.

July 31, 2015July 31, 2015

And so it begins ……. outdoor construction, Day -4

The materials for the front walk and the dumpster arrived on Thursday, July 30. Demolition of our outdoor landscape is supposed to begin on Monday, so I’m calling this Day-4 of construction. 15 yards of sand, two pallets of portland cement, 2 of concrete blocks, and 3 of granite and that’s only for the front steps, sidewalk, and front door step. Wowza!
Hubby is supervising and I’m up on the deck and in the kitchen taking photos.