Flower show fun: a wicker peacock with delphiniums for tail feathers
Not a title I was expecting to write, but I had to share this snippet from one of the nurseries taking part in the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show. This peacock was (metaphorically) strutting its stuff as part of the silver-gilt winning display of elatum delphiniums by Home Farm Plants of Covington. Continue reading
A pink and turquoise kraken seizes a sailing boat
Kraken are giant, predatory sea creatures from the North, something like an octopus or squid. This one has, not unusually for its sort, seized hold of a passing sail boat and now has the terrified mariners at its mercy (unless, as we cannot see any onboard, they were all partying onshore when the kraken sneaked into the harbour). It’s a detail from a painting on a hotel car park wall we stopped to admire.
Strictly speaking, the second is fence art. It’s a detail too, of a large design featuring birds, animals and vegetation that runs around the back patio of a restaurant in Key West. It’s worth reading this one upwards, so you get used to each level of the story before taking the next leap.
Pink flamingos painted on a fence
First, leafy foliage with two pink flamingos. So far so good. They wear a decorative form of eye makeup. One is wearing a coronation crown that Queen Elizabeth II would not be ashamed of (it looks lighter than her own). The artist has added a scroll and swirl design to add movement and break up the background. A space craft is leaving the scene to fly off into a universe of stars. Continue reading
Free Weeds – Pick Your Own – Poison Ivy, Dandelions, Nutsedge, Crabgrass
– Antique Rose Emporium Sign, Independence, Texas
RV and Semi Parking Lot
– The Shed Barbecue and Blues Joint, Ocean Springs, Mississippi
I’ve long been treasuring a snap of a box of sugar with the handwritten message ‘Be careful, spills easily’ on it, which somehow piques my sense of humour, but sadly, it isn’t on this computer.
So how about this picture of an impractical deckchair? It does have several different warnings: the colour scheme for one. Then there’s the liberal application of the do-not-cross tape, the red cushion emblazoned with ‘Danger Do Not Sit’, and the graphic that seems to be warning of a lightening bolt.
Getting your fingers trapped is the main potential issue if my experience is anything to go by, but is that mentioned? No. Continue reading
This characterful door hasn’t experienced much traffic lately, as the untrampled wildflowers bear witness. It is part of the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture (Southpop) complex on South Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas – or just around the corner from it.
I found this picture particularly tricky to write alt text for. How do you describe it in just a few words to a person who can’t see it? Continue reading
Some years ago, I was waiting outside a historical building for my sweetheart to finish a landscaping consultation when a gentleman approached. He urged us to take a look at his woodland garden, just a few streets away, even if we only had a few minutes. Continue reading
This week’s photo challenge is Repurpose. It’s difficult to know where to start with that one. My sweetheart has trashed out his house and garden – I could say ‘enhanced’, if wearing my marketing hat – in countless ways, egged on by architect friend Rick Griffin and Jim Kapernick. Jim is proprietor of Old House Depot, a 20,000 sq ft cornucopia of architectural salvage in Jackson, MS.
Together, they are the most purposeful repurposers you could imagine.
Broken concrete? That would be perfect for a path. Old wood? Old wood has more uses than I care to list. Tyres? My sweetheart’s garden boasts colourful tyre planters, tyre chairs, and even some tyre-planter-spare-bits arranged to form wall decor and a small tree. Well, you have to do something with the spare bits. Continue reading
An old song drifted into my mind when I saw this week’s photo challenge prompt:
As I sit and bathe
In a wave of nostalgia
For an age yet to come.Pete Shelley
That thought is perhaps best left dangling like a participle, though there is an oblique connection (trust me, there always is) to these oversized branding signs. They’re part of a past that I’ll never fully understand. I don’t know what DX stands for (I cropped the D out). I can’t even date them.
I used to see adverts and film segments on British TV showing American trucks pulling into American petrol stations, or teenagers hanging out in cars, getting soda from a drive-through that looked like a petrol station. In my naivety, I used to think this was nostalgia – that these scenes were retro-styled, hankering back to a loved, lost past. I didn’t realise it’s like that now. In places.
The present looks different, depending on where you are. American trucks really are L-shaped, with bonnets (hoods) like oversized cars. Sonics exist. No need for nostalgia – if a soda float floats your boat, it’s right here, right now.
But back to the signs and their context. Their bold colours and logos were once deployed to promote things, but today they’ve retired to the country. Together with a lot of old, corrugated tin and reclaimed wood, they now reside at one of the world’s most characterful B&Bs. Continue reading
This week’s Discover Challenge: Identity reminded me of this life sized carnival cutout from Afflecks in Manchester. We put out face in the hole and become someone else for a few seconds while our picture is taken. Continue reading
Whether you’ll love or hate this daffodil depends on your perspective. It’s another curiosity I spotted growing in the Bridgemere Nursery display gardens (like this black primula for those who missed it). Continue reading
For this week’s photo challenge, Ben Huberman asks us to go a little deeper, to share a picture that reveals a particularly strong connection. I set off all metaphysical, thinking about empty seats: how our state of mind might alter how we interpret the scene.
Well, that’s as may be, but how often do we look at something and not see the blindingly obvious? If my fondness for this picture – not exactly one of my best – means anything at all, it’s that with me, it just don’t get no deeper than I likes me some pie. Continue reading
The runner up post from my recent poll fits in nicely with this week’s photo challenge: on the way. I’d never been to Austin, Texas before and found our brief trip a bit of a tease. Try to imagine my increasing awe and fascination at the extent and variety of street art we came across, while conscious of our shared desire to arrive promptly for a timed slot later that day.
I love street art, but this seemed to be sent today as a gift. I’ve been travelling, irking my companions, no doubt (though they were too polite to say) as I was looking for an unusual subject to illustrate ‘afloat’ for this week’s photo challenge.
I had turned down several opportunities that had helpfully been pointed out – to float a leaf or a flower in a birdbath; to capture wisteria in full bloom, kind of floating over an arbour; and had just turned my nose up at a decidedly grounded, rustic boat: I wanted something different.
So I could hardly believe my eyes when we turned the corner and I realised what I was standing before. Is it just me, or do most of these characters seem to be floating on thin air? Continue reading
