Although it is spitting a bit of rain here and there today and the temperatures are only in the high fifties, the temperatures over the past few weeks have been sweltering and we have had very little rain. 

No amount of watering has seemed to quench my garden’s thirst.

Not even the very recent cooler temperatures are helping because it has been windy.

That seems to dry everything even more than the lack of rain. 

  My flowers are still trying very hard to look lovely,

 and succeeding, mostly. 

 I try to look past the dried out dirt between them and only see their colors and beauty. 

Ahhh to be blinded by love.

“The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, and here and there a yellow leaf
shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many.”
-   Oliver Wendell Holmes

  

  

 

 

 

 What I realized doing this post is that all my stained glass pieces except one, has flowers on it. Go figure… me,… flowers.  This first one hangs in my kitchen.  I love it’s simplicity and it’s colors.  The light that streams through in the morning is cheerful even on gloomy days. 

I bought this arts and crafts styled one on ebay and unfortunately it cracked in one of the panes during shipping.  Oh well ….it adds character! 

 This green one was given to me by my neighbor.  It was in her garage covered in paint. Someone had actually painted the entire back side.  It was in sad shape.  I gladly took it off her hands though.   I am so glad I took the time to restore. it. 

 These next ones  are my short lived interest in making stained glass.

  Although I love the finished products, that art is rather tough on the fingers. 

I think I cut them more than the glass. 

~Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul.  ~The Koran

 The temperatures have been cooler and it was beginning to feel fall like way toooooo soon for me. 

It has finally stopped and they are predicting sunshine and warm weather for the next 6 days or so. 

 Whew.  I thought maybe summer had ended. 

Luckily between the raindrops,

 I was able to shoot a few pics of my flowers,

wet as they were.

They are  pretty in a different way than usual. 

Dreary weather and rain change the perspective a bit,

but there is no denying their beauty,

in any light.

 ~I am sure it is a great mistake always to know enough to go in when it rains.  One may keep snug and dry by such knowledge, but one misses a world of loveliness.  ~Adeline Knapp

Visit MsGreen”thumb”Jean for Bloomin Tuesday Visit Macro Monday at Lisa’s Chaos   

~”Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn’t know it so it goes on flying anyway.”~ Mary Kay Ash

 We had a wonderful soaking rain last weekend.

It really helped perk things up around here. 

I have cleared out some of the spent plants and flowers so it seems a bit sparse in some areas,

 but in others there is plenty of fullness. 

 I have seen monarchs drifting by now and then which always makes me happy. 

In fact, just being out there seeing and smelling the garden is a treat,

maybe more so since I know it won’t last too much longer.

But in the style of Scarlet Ohara, 

I won’t think about that now,

I’ll think about that tomorrow.

Go on over to Tootsie Time and see what everyone has blooming this week!

He very slowly dawdled between flowers in my garden while I snapped his picture many many times. I swear he was posing for me. I suppose if I possessed that kind of beauty, I would like people admiring me too.

I felt like he was  a rare flower with wings that I had to take in quickly for fear he would fly away and I’d miss all that beauty.

The truth is, he gave me enough time to admire him, quickly run into the house for my camera, change lenses and then photograph him as he fluttered flower to flower.   

After he graciously allowed me all of this time, he happily fluttered off across the street into the park and out of my life as if he had an appointment with somebody else. 

 Maybe the warm breezes of Mexico were calling. 

~”You can chase a butterfly all over the field and never catch it. But if you sit quietly in the grass it will come and sit on your shoulder.”
Author Unknown

Can you say ORANGE ?

~”There is no blue without yellow and without orange.”
Vincent Van Gogh

Visit TNchick for Photohunter

where the subject this week is ORANGE.

  Walking through my garden today,

there were plenty of smiling faces wanting their photo taken. 

 I was happy to oblige. 

 I hope your flowers are grinning at you today too.

~ “Then followed that beautiful season… Summer….
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.”
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Visit Tootsie Time for Fertilizer Friday.  see what’s blooming in other’s gardens.And… visit My romantic home for show and tell friday

   ]]> http://blog.gardenshoesonline.com/index.php/happiness-in-the-garden/feed/ 17 http://blog.gardenshoesonline.com/index.php/picnic-baskets-are-not-just-for-the-average-bear/ http://blog.gardenshoesonline.com/index.php/picnic-baskets-are-not-just-for-the-average-bear/#comments Thu, 05 Aug 2010 01:18:52 +0000 Teresa http://blog.gardenshoesonline.com/?p=6566   

Because my last post on containers caused  some interest in my  picnic baskets,  I thought I would show them for VTT, because they are not only fun and inexpensive they are also vintage. 

Unfortunately they don’t last more than a season or two if you leave them out where they are in the sun and rain. Under a covered porch they fare a little better. 

I don’t think I paid more than 8 dollars for any of them and that was with a tray inside and all the dishes and silverware. 

 I also use them for pointsettas at Christmas time because they look so nice much more finished than the foil wraps around the pot. 

  It is often hard to part with a perfectly good basket to leave outside but I just love the look so I sacrifice a couple of them every summer.  Now, on to next week’s project…..

We hit the jackpot.  I will keep you posted on these curb finds soon.

“Hello pic-i-nic basket.”    ~yogi bear

Visit Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingie Thursday

but I was able to get out there and snap a few shots of my flowers before it started.

 I love seeing them so close up. 

 The intricate patterns are amazing. 

 Mother Nature is quite an artist.

~”Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.”~Albert Einstein

 Visit Lisa’s chaos for Macro Monday.