WINDOW FRAMED

Imagine just opening the window and picking some juicy muscadine grapes. I'll guess that when the vines are heavy with fruit, the perfume of the grapes must drift through the open window scenting the rooms within.Unfortunately, the vine is bare of fruit.

The art of training trees and vines to branch in formal patterns, usually along a wall, as here, or on a trellis, is called "espalier" and is a rewarding though labor intensive way of gardening.  As much as I appreciate the art of espalier, I am content to enjoy the efforts of others. I can barely keep up with pulling weeds from my flower beds!

A FLUFFY TUNDRA

“There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds.”   ~G. K. Chesterton

Flying home from Boston, we found ouselves above the clouds at 35,000 feet. The view from the window changed from blue skies to this arctic-looking landscape.

Reminds me of some of the glacial landscapes of Alaska.

And then ...

... the sun came streaming from behind a cloud and I swear I could hear angels sing!

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN

"There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.”   ~Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

We're back in Northwest Florida after an enjoyable, if rainy and cold, visit to Rhode Island. While the weather did not cooperate for much of our time there, we enjoyed "sunny and warm" visits with family and friends.

A morning conversation

MORNING VISITORS

 Egret Stroll

Behind Bars

Keeping watch

Ready for Breakfast

Heading for Cover

IN THE GARDEN

Sea Witch

Potted Beauty

A Rose is a Rose...

Bird Condo

Hydrangea

 

Garden's Bounty

Night Lights

HOMETOWN VISIT

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” - Tim Cahill

Tomorrow we are leaving the beautiful emerald waters of the Gulf Coast...

and returning to the rocky blue waters of Rhode Island on the Atlantic Coast for a visit with family and friends. I've packed my camera and hope I have some good pictures to share upon my return.

Till then..

VISITORS

An Indian Butterfly Legend

If anyone desires a wish to come true they must

capture a butterfly and whisper that wish to it.

Since they make no sound, they can't tell the wish

to anyone but the Great Spirit.

So by making the wish and releasing the butterfly

it will be taken to the heavens and be granted.

~Author Unknown

It was a good day for butterflies. The Monarch migration will soon begin and, while I didn't see any this time, I hope to see many in my garden before they leave for their long journey to Mexico.

This little butterfly looks a little worse for wear. He must have had a hard journey.

BLACKWATER RIVER

“Even the upper end of the river

believes in the ocean.”

~William Stafford

Still waters of the Blackwater River reflect shore and clouds.

SEPTEMBER GARDEN

"By all these lovely tokens

September days are here,

With summer’s best of weather

And autumn’s best of cheer."

- Helen Hunt Jackson, September, 1830-1885

I love the garden and yard in September. The Pampas Grass blooms, catching the breeze and adding soft sounds to the garden.

The first silvery flowers of Pampas Grass, soon...

Explode into giant feather dusters...

That feel like silk.

The roses are still budding...

With the promise of more beauty to come.

FEATHERED FRIENDS

“Even the woodpecker owes his success to the fact that he uses his head and keeps pecking away until he finishes the job he starts”  ~Coleman Cox

Not the greatest pictures, but this red-headed woodpecker is a regular visitor to our front yard. We've almost become friends, but it still flies away as soon as it spots me. Today he stuck around just long enough to take a few very quick snaps.

Must be my day for spotting birds. This brown Pelican had no problems with my approaching him. In fact he almost posed!

AFTERNOON REPAST

“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.”  ~Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

One of our favorite things to do is to make our way to the beach around 4 p.m. and go to one of the local restaurant, "Crabs--We Got Em," where we enjoy cold beer and oysters-on-the-half-shell. The restaurant is obviously famous for their crab dishes, but it's their oysters that draw us to the beach bar.

This is the large crab that greets diners at "Crabs--We've Got Em"

The new beachside "Sand Crab Bar"

Ahh...Fresh Apalachicola Oysters

The aftermath

 Relaxing and enjoying the view.