The Seventh Decorative Touch of Christmas

             Candlelight & roses grace our dining room table for the Holiday.

Wildlife Visitor

Along with Santa Claus, we had another visitor to the estate from the Northlands. This is a red-shouldered hawk, which we'd never seen before but evidently winters here sometimes. Or perhaps he is just passing through. They breed in Canada and New England. I am sorry he is not more fierce-looking, but he was probably pretty wet and tired at this point. We actually thought at first he was a baby owl who hadn't grown any ears yet!

The Sixth Wreath of Christmas

                   I like this one since it incorporates many different textures as well as tints of the colors red & green which translate into rosy pink & lime green ~~ a more comtemporary approach to the color palate but certainly within the realm of traditional red & green.
       

The Fifth "Wreath" of Christmas

 Well, really the Fifth Decorative Touch of Christmas. Above, a quilled snowflake made by the Flower Lady, hanging in the window. The Flower Lady just recently taught a successful class at Longwood on how to make quilled snowflakes. How successful? I'd say wildly successful: I made the snowflake below, from the instructions in her handout, all by myself!

The Fourth Wreath of Christmas

The Flower Lady's Fourth Wreath of Christmas. The Flower Lady comments: Yes, there are green ornaments & accents on this wreath but receded in this shot as the reds & golds jumped forward. A good lesson for me to learn when designing for photo shoots or distance viewing.

Boxing Day Special

And what did you get for Christmas?

The Third Wreath of Christmas

The Third Wreath of Christmas was stolen by this other blog! But I stole it back. The Third Wreath of Christmas is the Second Wreath of Christmas, lit.

The Second Wreath of Christmas

 

A tabletop wreath made by the Flower Lady with fresh greens.

The Twelve Wreaths of Christmas

The First Wreath of Christmas 2012

          This wreath was hand-made by the Flower Lady using fresh greens and berries purchased at a local orchard. After the holiday, the wreath will be repurposed as a wildlife feeder and placed on the deck in the backyard to help feed our feathered & furry friends during the depth of winter.

One Week 'til Christmas!

One week till Christmas and there's nothing Christmassy at the top of the blog! Well, how's this? I decorated a little. Actually, this is Pierre Dupont's Music Room. Nice and cozy. The Flower Lady snapped the picture on our annual holiday outing to Longwood Gardens. And I couldn't resist a picture of this little guy. Cute enough for ya'?

Sandy

We were, as the Flower Lady said, "spared." There are now a couple of tons of sopping wet leaves marring the greenswards of the estate, but I'm not complaining. I know this was a hybrid storm, but I'd put it at 80% nor'easter and 20% hurricane. Does this look like a tropical system to you? My brother-in-law sends it from the western provinces.



These guys flew in just before the storm, and we were able to keep the feeder out all during it. First I've seen of the snowbirds this season.


I have the day off. I usually use snow days to do taxes, but of course it's too early for that. Too bad, ha, ha. I am blogging while the FL slaves away in her underground studio, working in silks and dried materials. This is what she came up with. I said it looked like an extraterrestial life form; she said it just "evolved."

 

This just in: The Flower Lady reports that the life form has evolved even further! She felt the orb stuck out "like a sore thumb." Her creation now looks like this:

Well, what do you think?

Not Sure What's Going on Here...

Are they painting the house to match the truck? But it's the painter guy's vehicle.  Does he specialize? "We'll paint your house any color you want, so long as it is green." Maybe they just had a lot of green sitting around?

Nice old Ford, though.

More Postcards, from Another Summer Gone By

Well, some bloggers are putting up photos like this, but things are still pretty green around here. Here's a sure sign of things to come, though.  I usually chop up some of our fallen leaves and dump them here to use as compost during the growing season, and, as you can see, we're due for a  refill! Won't be long! But at this interim time, late in summer before the leaves come down in earnest,  the FLH's outdoor duties begin to slacken, while the Flower Lady gets busier than ever. She is out today bringing Floral Knowledge to the masses, so I thought I would show you some photos from our summer. I can't give you the FL's expert commentary, but let's see what catches the eye.

 

 

How about this? Pretty dramatic-- the Flower Lady has been working with steel grass (that's what it sounds like, I don't know if that's actually how it's spelled; I won't even try to get into the Latin stuff). And, as I said, full of technical detail.








The Flower Lady has enjoyed working in the cool of her newly refurbished basement studio:

 

Cooking up experiments like these:

 

 

 

Well, we didn't get very far into the Archives, so there's lots more to come. Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

 

We've had a lot of natural-type acitivity on the estate this summer. Here, a white heron scarfing up the trout the fishermen missed this spring. He got a real gullet full down there in the creek. And look at this: 

Looks like an escapee from the Chinese New Year's parade! Hours of assiduous research (Googled it) indicates it's a hickory horned devil! Run for your lives!! No, it's really quite harmless, although the biggest caterpillar I've ever seen, over three inches long. Evidently, he is more common in the Southland and at the northern end of his range here (barely PA), so we're quite proud to host the Big Guy. 

And these are The Flower Lady's new gardening shoes. Snazzy!! Give the Flower Lady a coupon and she really goes to town!

Summer Notes

It is so-o-o hot out there I decided to come in and blog a little. The Flower Lady has been as busy as ever. Earlier this summer she taught a class at the World's Foremost Display Gardens. She led a class in making a flower arrangement with a nautical theme, in sand. It was a grand success-- an enlightening and inspiring time was had by all!

A little inspiration.

Of course, the official blog photographer only had his cell phone camera, so the only picture we have is this of a student arrangement. But here's an early test arrangment.

The Flower Lady has ventured out onto the deck. Perhaps the weather has moderated. Perhaps there will be cocktails....

More Capitals

                                       
                                           Orange you glad it's SUMMER??!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!

The Flower Lady's Husband had a birthday  ~~ view a post of him grilling marinated butterflied leg of lamb ~~ delicious  paired with grilled potatoes,sauteed snap peas, complimented with a dessert of berries & cream ........ followed up with a day at the track for the Delaware Oaks.

Happy Fourth!

'
Here's a picture of one of our newfound friends. The fair-skinned Flower Lady is a bug magnet who atttracts all manner of hungry insects, so she is understandably skittish around various stinging and biting members of the animal kingdom. So when I found a bummblebees' nest in our garage, I was prepared to do battle. Till I read this touching plea. So I withheld fire and have a passel of new black-and-yellow friends, quite fascinating once you get to know them.

That's all! Gotta go!

Day One

Started training my bonsai forest today. Check back, oh, about 2037 or so.

Art History

Cezanne's Parking Lot Phase, I believe.

Spring Things

Now, isn't this the happiest-looking thing? It cheers you up just looking at it. The Flower Lady calls it a "spinny thing." People in China make them, then put them on a boat, and they wind up in our yard. All for a dollar! Amazing!

And I snapped this photo while the Flower Lady and I were on a short but restful vacation, in front of a B&B. Very cute, and evocative of lazy, hazy days to come.

"Get the hellebores out!"

said the Flower Lady, "and into the garden." So that's what I did. No use cussin' over it, though.

(Actually, the Flower Lady did most of the digging.)

Shed's on Fire!

THE TRAGIC SCENE! RIGHT AT COCKTAIL HOUR, TOO! THE FLOWER LADY SAVES THE NEIGHBORHOOD!
--by our correspondent in the field.

That's right. Our very own Flower Lady alertly spotted this conflagration and called it in to headquarters. She saved the neighborhood! I managed to get my work boots on and stood manfully in the general vicinity of the conflagration. They sent an SUV, a pickup/pumper, a fire truck, a hook-and-ladder, a cop car, an ambulance, and a little pickup with traffic cones. It was great!

Best part was, they drove that pumper down the neighbor's lawn.

Amaryllis

Here's the finished product! After watching it bud then grow tall and now it is flowering! Isn't she lovely!!!!!!

This just in...

Early even for witch hazel, I think.

Up-to-the-Minute Weather Report

Snow in October, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised by daffodils in January. Spotted by the Flower Lady this morning.

A New Start--Happy New Year!

Amaryllis coming on strong. May you do the same!