just wow!

 

 I might have posted these earlier if it hadn't been such a busy week.

 



This crazy cloud formation on Sunday morning was a mind blower as it seemed to grow out of the horizon.  It was actually heading for the horizon, the southeast, over Forget-Me-Not cabin's roof.

 

the Hydrangea in the morning light, the lovely orange of the neighbour's maple tree beyond

 

I head for the front of the house where the ash is glowing against a dark western sky. 

 

Another maple in another neighbour's yard is spectacular against this dark sky while the chartreuse and dull burgundy of our ash take on the bright morning light.

Below, a huge pile of hedge trimmings for me to break down before it snows.

 

I slipped a garland of fake apples and cranberries into my simple wreath of artificial ivy

 to make this autumn door arrangement. 

perhaps a few more grapevines would dress it up 

the homestead in the morning shadows

 

down our quiet street 

loving the wildness our across-the-street neighbours leave

 

Sunday was a gorgeous day so we made the most of it with more fall clean-up and 3 loads of laundry on the line. I was taking the 2nd load in when it started to snow tiny pellets. But it didn't last long.

 

 

This is one of those long posts where I put up several days' pictures.

 

It was an intense start to the week as we prepared for 2 trips to Halifax in a row.  Both trips started in the dark of the morning; on the first morning I amused myself with the Venus, Mars, Jupiter conjunction in the southeastern sky and the millions of stars in the black sky.

 



On the second morning I took great pleasure in the Halifax sky from an 8th floor window,

 

moody, dramatic and ever-changing.

 

These odd curls moved in with a teasing break in the clouds beyond

 

The clouds twisted

turned some more and began to break a part

 

while the blue beckoned beyond some even higher clouds.

 

It was a cool morning though not nearly as brisk as the day before so we decided to "chill" from the busy morning by strolling the Halifax Public Gardens, a short 2 blocks away.

 

 We chose the path to the right

 

Some gigantic bulrushes

 

spectacular colour

 

tender, almost "too delicate for this world" scented roses

blooming on ridiculously tall stems

 

The bandshell vista

and that evening's sky over our back yard with a hardy half moon

 

*

 

 This morning's sky sent me running for the camera. Honestly, we get some crazy, beautiful, dramatic skies out here which must have something to do with our proximity to the ocean.

The southeastern sky over Forget-Me-Not Cabin.

Like a long draught of water, I can't seem to get enough sky.

 

Babu appreciating the morning too.

 

And finally, a drawing I started in the car on Tuesday afternoon, engrossed, when suddenly I saw Wally waving, as he drove. He said that our newly re-elected MP (Member of Parliament) as of last night, was celebrating by waving his thank you's from his car, parked on the side of the highway. Too funny.

 

Anyway, here is the drawing:

 

I call this The Faerie Queene after Edmund Spenser's epic poem of the same name.

 

In my search for a rich black, I bounced between my Derwent Colorsoft Black and Koh-I-Noor's Progresso coloured pencil in Black. The big surprise came when I scribbled over some of my drawing in the Derwent Colorsoft White.  The creamy effect indicated a brown tinge to at least one of the blacks.  I worked in my 7x10 inch, 98 pound Canson XL mixed media sketchbook.

 

Between my Derwent pencils made in England, the Koh-I-Noor made in the Czech Republic, my sketchbook made of French paper but bound in Poland, and my drawing made here in Canada, I find myself quite amazed by how these connections are made in today's world. I'm amazed even more when I consider all the human beings involved, the investments, business, advertising and travel that brought this all together. Not to mention the Internet, Google, Blogger, Telecommunications and Electricity!

 

Just Wow!

Halifax Public Gardens chapter three

And here we are with another installment, the third and final, of our trip to an old, well-established park in the middle of Halifax

It's been a long time since I've seen a public drinking fountain,

rural, and now small town girl that I am, 

 ( though always with a touch of the city, albeit a long time ago, in me.)

Here we are just out of the front entrance. Yes, we're going to take a little detour this time before I finish this post with the last of my pictures of the Halifax Public Gardens, because what we actually came to see was the summer exhibition of members of the Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council just across the street.

To my delight, a statue of a poet, of all people, and a Scottish poet at that,

considering we were in New (Nova) Scotland (Scotia)

Gude auld Robbie Burns

The show was very pleasant

It's always cool to see artisans demonstating their craft

I'm sure this delightfully out-fitted onlooker agrees.

After the show, we wandered in and out of funky little shops,

 this one a real throw back to the hippy type of shops of my youth.

The changeroom in this shop was filled with old skeleton key door lock plates

a closer look

An old sidewalk. At first I thought this was a date below the street name.

If that was so, this would be a miraculous formula for concrete.

I've since determined that it is a street number. Now that makes more sense!

Across the way, a massive building site,

 a fabulous old building on its perimeter.

And another fabulous old building on Sackville Street, across from Citadel Hill around the corner from the construction site.

As we walked back towards the park, we came upon another interesting piece of concrete, a weeping retaining wall.

a detail of the shot above

and another section of the wall

Now we've returned to the park from the back end,

 walking back towards our starting point at the opposite corner

And here is another really really big tree worth recording,

scarred with writing all around

stoically healing itself over the years

even nurturing a little plant

and now we've arrived at the back end of the pond

worthy of a romantic sepia-toned shot

There is a surprising amount of wild naturalness left

We come to a cabin with its deck overhanging the pond.

To the left you can see the fountain that was in my 1st post, the one close to the back entrance through which we originally came.

What could be more romantic than an overhanging deck

surrounded with flowers?

Below, dozens of coy 

a particularly handsome one

and all about us exotic flowers

with the most frilly petals.

Beyond, a gorgeous walk along the perimeter of the pond,

and then, the mighty tree-lined promenade, as we  leave,

finding our car in the shade where we were glad to rest, happily weary.

And so ends our day at the park and a bit of downtown Halifax,

all wrapped up in 3 chapters.

Thank you for coming along.

Sweet Summer Dreams to you.

til next time....