December Sights

It's bitter cold here in Robin's Nest, as is much of the rest of the country. Nothing much is happening out in the garden right now, trust me. But I did capture a few of the last fall highlights out there. These same sights are almost a month gone now.

But that doesn't mean December is drab and boring. Instead of garden flowers, we have holiday decorations to enjoy. I don't actually decorate the outdoors for Christmas especially. Instead I put up winter decorations that will stay up till spring. It's nothing elaborate, just some winter greens in the planters.

Nothing fancy is also the theme for my indoors decorations. Normally we aren't even home for Christmas, so we keep it light and easy. Sometimes we don't even put up a tree, but this year we added a small, real tree.

To fulfill my desire for fancy decorations, I go to public spaces to see them. I let them do all the work, and I do all the enjoying. I checked out a shopping center...

the Franklin Park Conservatory...

and even my church!

Who needs fancy decorations at home when you can just enjoy them elsewhere? Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season, whether home or away!

Sweet Summertime

To me, summertime is always something to be savored. I just can't get enough of the outdoors when the weather is fine, and often spend many hours outside just taking it all in. I love the little haven that I have created for nature's creatures. As long as I have my camera by my side, I'm happy. I especially adore the butterflies that show up here. I seem to have an eye tuned right to their fluttering wings. Even when I'm inside the kitchen, my peripheral vision will notice them outside. At the end of my photos below, I've included a non butterfly visitor who fascinated me, called a Golden Tortoise beetle.

Of course I do enjoy my bird friends also. I'm not a really serious bird feeder though, I only give nyjer seeds to the finches and nectar for hummingbirds. Still, I've provided enough other necessities to keep them close at hand, with a birdbath, birdhouse, edible plantings, and cover. I especially enjoy the hummingbird that shows up in the evenings. We've affectionately named him Petey, year after year, it's always Petey.

The flowers that surround me make me happy even when there are no visitors about. They just make me smile.

I especially enjoy filling colorful containers around my patio. One day I looked down at the patio from the door, and realized that I had about every bright color represented. Perfect!

We've had pretty even weather this summer, not too hot, not too dry. We usually go through spells of very dry weather in the summer, but we've had some good rains lately. As a gardener, rainy days always make me happy. Maybe it makes me happy because it keeps me from having to do the dreaded garden hose rodeo. But it definitely makes my plants and lawn happy.

Not all of the garden sweet spots come from nature. I do have bits of garden art that also contribute to my smiles. The bottle tree is new. I had blue wine bottles on rebar stakes stuck into the ground, but I decided I wanted the real thing.

So pardon me while I savor a bit more of summer. Yesterday was so perfect that I quite literally spent the entire afternoon under the patio umbrella with a good book. Oh I occasionally picked up my camera, of course. But mostly I was just enjoying sweet summertime. You should too.