Lunch, Tea and a Good Book

We all need to take time away from the busy day for lunch, tea and a good book.

I love to read and the tea shop mysteries by Laura Childs are one of my favourites.  By reading the series you get acquainted with the main characters and the lovely tea shop they run.  There is always a mystery to solve and in between there is talk of wonderful teas, delicious lunches and decadent desserts  Each book usually includes some recipes as well.I enjoyed the last couple of chapters with a cup of green tea in one of my favourite teacups along with a tuna and lettuce sandwich and some fresh picked cherry tomatoes from my pot garden.

This is a delicate cup with a lovely arrangement of flowers on the saucer and inside the cup.   The outside of the cup is white with a simple gold line close to the middle and around the outer edge and bottom edge.   It is marked Collingwoods Est 1796, Bone China, England on the bottom.

It's time for tea at Teatime Tuesday, Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday, Tuesday Tea for Two, and Tea Cup Tuesday

Do you have a favourite book to read with a cup of tea?
Take time to enjoy tea in the garden today.
PS - this is my first post from my new iMac computer using Pixelmater to edit and add text to my photos.

Let's Streak Hosta

The Let's Streak Hosta is a rare hosta that is not registered right now.  This is the third year I have had this plant in my garden and I'm thrilled with the progress it is making.

There are six flower stalks on it this year, each with numerous little mauve flowers.

This is the plant label that came with the first plant I acquired.  I might try and save some of the seeds this year and see if I can grow some more plants for next year.

 Here is a close up of the leaves and you can see the streaking on them too.

I've been taking photos over several days so I can track the progress.  I think the photo with the raindrops is one of my favourites.

Just look at the beautiful blooms and colour formation with white streaks on mauve.

I'm sharing my photos with Mosaic Monday.

Take time to enjoy the garden today.

Still Waters

The water was extremely still on one of our walks along the Riverfront trail.

I took this photo for the wonderful reflections of the trees in the water.

But when I looked closer I realized there was an osprey nest nearby and I had captured the reflection of it in the water perfectly.

Here is a closer photo of the actual nest with one osprey in it.

And here is a close up of the osprey after it left the nest and settled into one of the trees along side of the river.  No doubt it was looking for some tasty fish. To see more photos of osprey I have taken in the past couple of years, click osprey in the labels section at the end of this post.

I'm sharing my photos with Weekend Reflections , Shadow Shot Sunday and Camera Critters.

Remember - the more you look the more you see.
Enjoy the last weekend in August.

Colours and Patterns

Coleous is an annual plant that I have to have in my shade garden every year.  The colourful leaves always fascinate me with their wonderful patterns.
The varying shades of greens, reds, purples, creams, and beiges always put on a pleasing show for the eyes.

They thrive in large clay pots  in the north facing shade garden at the front of the house ... as do my boot planters

Here is my shady pot garden with coleous and white impatience.

It's that time of the week for Cottage Floral Thursday  and Fertilizer Friday.

Take time to enjoy the garden today.

Watery Wednesday Scenes

We recently discovered the Lions Park off of Station Street in town and it has become a favourite spot to stop by and check to see what birds are there.  We've seen the heron, osprey, Canada Geese, gulls and ducks so far.Here are a few of the water scenes that I've captured along the riverfront trail.
The Moira River is quite low right now and many of the rock formations on the bed of the river are visible creating lovely little waterfalls.

You can see the walking trail in the above photo.  You can follow this trail right down the river and along the bay.

I'm sharing these with Watery Wednesday

Craf-tea in the Garden

What do you do with all those old teapots, kettles and teacups?  If you are like me you get very craf-tea and you change them into planters and interesting items to display in the garden.

A few years ago an old wooden step ladder was converted to a display area.  This year I have it set up with all my old tea things for tea time in the garden.
There is the lovely old sunflower kettle that was given to my by a friend.  I have a trailing sedum in it.

Another black kettle from the same friend has another type of sedum in it.

An old purple cup and saucer is now home to some hens and chicks.

The only birds attracted to the teacup feeders are the cute little clip on ones I purchased at the dollar store.

So I changed up the teacup feeders this year and made them teacup planters.  At first I just planted right into the cup, but with the abundance of rain we had this spring the poor little plants were saturated.  So I found some small pots, potted them up and sat them inside the teacup.  Now when it rains, I can easily empty all the water from the teacup and the plants are flourishing.

And then there are those old teapots that crack, or leak or are just too small.  I glued them together and make my teapot totem.

For those of you that are visiting from Tea Time Tuesdays at Rose Chintz Cottage, Tuesday Tea for Two, and Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday I've changed it up a bit this week.  It isn't the usual cup of tea, it has a little twist to it today. I hope you enjoy it.

Do you re-use old tea things?

Take time to enjoy the garden today.

Slices and Sandwiches

The fresh, field tomatoes are abundant at the market and road side stands now.   So-o-o-o delicious.  It makes my mouth water just posting this photo.

Just slice, add to buttered bread, add a sprinkle of salt and you have created a delicious sandwich.
I'll be buying a big basket full soon and freezing this freshness to use in soups and stews in the winter months.
Enjoy the fresh fruit and veggies from the market and road side stands today.

It's Cooler in the Shade

Early in the morning the sun shines into the screen gazebo.  And that makes it a hot place to sit in the morning.  Look at the lovely shadows the sun makes.

I found some old sheer net curtains that used to be in the living room, trimmed them, shortened them, and added velcro loops to the top.  I recently purchased a new sewing machine and they made up really quickly.

And now I have a nice shady spot to sit, read and enjoy a refreshing drink like a peach smoothie. You can still see the shadows cast by the sun, but the comfy chairs are basked in shade.  In the late afternoon the sun goes to the other side of the screen gazebo and it is easy to move the curtain from one side to the other.

Fresh Ontario peaches are available now.  So I love to make peach smoothies and sit in the gazebo and relax.  You need 1 or 2 peaches, 1 banana, half cup of vanilla yogurt and half cup of milk.  Mix it all together in the blender for several seconds and enjoy.

Join in with Shadow Shot and check out lots of other shadows Take time to enjoy the garden today ... either in the sun or in the shade.

The Skies this Week

The sky has been very changeable over the past several days.

The moon was full (even though a little blurry)

The mornings were misty and foggy.

Storm clouds rapidly moved in one evening.
And left a deluge of rain.

And then there were the days like yesterday that were as clear blue as can be.

 And here is the moon in the sky this morning. Always keep your

and if you can't check Sky Watch  for skies from all over the planet.

Canna Attract Hummers

I love canna in the garden.  For the past couple of years I have grown them in pots as it is so much easier to get the root out for storage over the winter.  These 3 pots started out on the lowest level of my pot garden.

The foilage and blooms didn't disappoint me this year.  I now have the pots positioned near the hummingbird and oriole feeders now they are blooming..  One of the good things about growing plants in pots is that you can move them around whenever you feel like it.

And now the blooms are attracting the hummingbirds many times a day.  They particularly like watering time and enjoy the mist of the hose.

Here you can see the female ruby throated hummingbird checking out the flowers.

I'm sharing my photos with Cottage Floral Thursday and Fertilizer Friday and Camera Critters.

Take time to enjoy the garden today.

A Beach Daycation

There is nothing so relaxing as a walk along the beach and boardwalk - especially a quiet beach.
Last Friday we went for a drive down to the Wellington beach.  Wellington is a small town in Prince Edward County, known to the locals as The County. People flock from all over the province and other places to enjoy the wonderful beaches at Sandbanks Provincial Park, The Outlet, and North Beach Provincial Park. However the Wellington beach is a public beach and there weren't flocks of people there and the best part is that is less than a 30 minute drive from our house.

There were a couple of flocks of gulls enjoying the pickings on the beach.

We enjoyed walking the almost deserted beach and boardwalk and trail out to the lighthouse. How lovely to enjoy the splashing of the water on the rocks and the squawking of the gulls.

Of the 10 or so people that were there about 3 of them were brave enough to take a quick, very quick dip into the water. I braved the cold water to take a paddle and let the waves splash over my feet.. There were lots of rocks on the beach and I found a few good ones that I can paint into little cottages and add to Rockville.
I'm joining with Watery Wednesday.
I hope you are able to take some relaxing time away from your busy everyday life.

Along the Riverfront Trail

I have driven by this place numerous times and never stopped to enjoy the beauty there till my husband came home one day and said he had seen a heron along there while driving past. So of course I had to go for a little excursion and see for myself

And there along this busy street almost by downtown I came across this lovely garden sponsored and maintained by the Lions Club. There were two gorgeous, semi circle pergolas facing each other with wonderful gardens and benches tucked away to sit and enjoy the surroundings. I will certainly be going back here again.

And yes, I did see the heron. Looks like he/she has been doing some preening.

It's time for Mosaic Monday

Take time to discover and explore a cozy nook tucked away on a busy street today.

Rockville

There must of been some building permits issued as the Rockin' Village of Rockville  has more residents. For a few years now I've been painting little house on rocks.  I was inspired by Lin Wellford and her books.  Once you see the little houses she created you will look at rocks in a whole new light.

Here are a couple of rock houses that have been on the work table for awhile and I decided I needed to finish them off.

There were four to finish and it didn't take me that long as the preliminary work had already been done. You do need some patience in completing the houses as each layer has to be dry before you can move onto the next one. I use acrylic paint, brushes of various sizes, and a sealer once they are finished.

Here is Rockville in my garden.  And guess what? While we were on a beach daycation a couple of days ago I found some lovely rocks to bring home so that I can paint some more over the winter.

Do you have anything whimsical in your garden?

Purple Coneflowers

The purple coneflower or echinacea have been blooming for quite awhile in the garden.  They are a sun loving plant that will grow in just about any soil condition and they don't require a lot of water.  I love them in the garden as they require very little care. I came across this lovely display of coneflowers while walking on the Riverfront trail one day.  This clump had probably self seeded itself and was growing among the large rocks.  Who can resist taking more and more photos, especially macro ones.  It's time for Cottage Floral Thursday and Fertilizer Friday.I'm also joining  Macro Friday with the last photo.  Take time to enjoy the garden today, you won't be disappointed.