Japanese Maple “Garnet”

Posted on 11/10/2012 by Laurie

This Japanese Maple “Garnet” was one of the first trees (or plants of any kind) that I planted in our yard. I am very fond of it.

It was looking especially vibrant today, having just this week developed its Autumn color.

Since old man winter is predicted to make an appearance tomorrow – very low temperatures, but no snow – I thought that I would get some photos while the weather was nice.

It was very windy today, so despite the warm weather (almost 80 degrees F.) it was a challenge to get good pictures.

The one above is my favorite. I had to climb inside the tree to get it, which must have been quite a sight for my neighbors. The tree is a petite and delicate specimen and its tallest branch just brushes my ribcage.

But as they say, good things come in small packages.

It’s All in the Architectural Details

Posted on 11/04/2012 by Laurie

My favorite thing about living in an historic neighborhood is the variety of architectural details. Unlike many modern neighborhoods in which properties are expected to conform to a set of design standards, in the older neighborhoods, there were often a great variety of styles. The Morning Star is part of the Houston and Pierre Streets Historic Residential District. The houses in this district are from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s and represent Queen Anne, Italianate, Classical Revival, Tudor, and Vernacular Folk styles. Built in 1902, our house, a Queen Anne “transitional”, is one of the newer ones. This afternoon, I went for a stroll around the neighborhood and photographed some of many details one can see just walking around. The first three photos are from our house.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Geometry

Posted on 11/02/2012 by Laurie

In discussing the theme for this week’s photography challenge, a certain person – who shall remain unnamed – and I immediately got into a minor disagreement over how to represent geometry in a photo. I decided to stick to my guns and use this photo because of its emphasis on shapes, planes and angles. What do you think: Does this show geometry? Yes, that is me fishing for you to agree with me! Forgive me!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Foreign

Posted on 10/30/2012 by Laurie

Having spent quite a bit of time raking leaves over the past few days, I found myself pontificating on the subject of leaf etiquette and how to be a good neighbor. A friend interrupted me and replied, “Being a farm-girl, the concept of raking leaves is totally foreign to me.” So in all good fun, I dedicate this series of foreign-themed photos to my friend, Carolyn.…………

Alley Sunrise

Posted on 10/30/2012 by Laurie

A few quick shots before breakfast ….

… then back into the house to serve our guests!

Winding Down

Posted on 10/27/2012 by Laurie

It was with some sentimentality that I photographed the garden yesterday. I knew that a freeze was predicted for last night, a sure sign that garden will be winding down for the year. As I sit here and write before sunrise, it is 30 degrees F. outside; and though it is toasty warm in the B&B, I know that once the sun comes up and I take a look around, I’ll see that some of my flowers and herbs have been nipped by the cold. It will take cooler temperatures to make the hardy perennials and shrubs go dormant for the winter. In fact, if the day time temperatures are warm enough, the ground cover roses will keep producing blooms for up to 4 more weeks, but the other roses are almost done for the year. The chrysanthemum plants will be fine, but probably not the flowers. The asters, which put out one big flush of flowers every year in late October have had their show, though they will have color for a little longer.

Yesterday’s Garden

Aster ‘Raydon’s Favorite’

Rose ‘Memorial Day’

Chrysanthemum ‘Diana’ with Ground Cover Roses

White Rose (unknown variety)

White Mum (unknown variety)

Crape Myrtle Foliage

Postscript:

It was a beautiful sunrise. After serving breakfast, I did a brief inspection of the garden. I lost the what was left of my hibiscuses, the potted impatiens, a few hostas, all of my Autumn Joy sedums, and some of the chrysanthemums. Overall, not too bad.

Sunrise This Morning

A Beautiful Wedding

Posted on 09/30/2012 by Laurie

It was a beautiful wedding. The weather couldn’t have been nicer – sunny and in the 70’s. The bride and groom were so happy and so in love. Family and friends in attendance were delighted for the couple. The ladies in their gowns, and with their bouquets, were radiant. The men – dashing in their suits with boutonnieres. Afterward wine and hors d’oeuvres … then a horse-drawn carriage to carry people to dinner. So romantic! How lovely to have been a part of this special occasion! Thank you to Janet and Mark for letting us share in their happiness!

The garden beforehand …

Wedding flowers …

Mother, Bride, Daughter …

Just married …

The horses and carriage arrive …

Off to dinner …

… and they lived happily ever after!

Garden Update

Posted on 09/27/2012 by Laurie

For some time, I’ve been wanting to put an arbor over the bench that looks out on the garden. Since we have several garden weddings coming up at the Bed & Breakfast, I decided to go ahead and get that arbor. I don’t have time to get anything growing on it before Saturday’s wedding, so I am trying to figure out whether we need to decorate the arbor and if so … how. (The bench will be moved out of the way and we’ll have mums around the arbor’s base.)

The fountain looks great, but I worry that this might be its last season. Each year it gets more difficult to repair weather’s tolls. We really love having the fountain, though. It is beautiful and we enjoy the water sounds. So we’ll keep it running for as long as we can.

It rained on and off all day yesterday – a gentle, soaking rain of the type that is good for the garden. I managed to get some lovely photos of my roses after breakfast this morning. This is my favorite of the photos …

Have a wonderful day!

Anne’s Bicycle

Posted on 09/21/2012 by Laurie

One of my helpers showed up at work on this wonderful old bicycle today. She bought it at a garage sale a few years ago for $12. As soon as I saw it, I had to run outside, pop some flowers in the basket, and take a few photos. The sun was already brighter than ideal, but I like these pictures anyway. They capture part of the mood of the bed and breakfast. Obviously the main appeal of staying at a B & B is spending time in a lovely home and feeling pampered. But, for many people, an important part of the experience is sitting back and letting life move at a slower pace. Thanks, Anne for riding this wonderful “vintage” bike to work.

Orange on the Block

Posted on 09/18/2012 by Laurie

Looking for early signs of autumn, I decided to photograph the color orange in our neighborhood. It turns out that it was mostly in our own front yard.

Our neighbor’s crabapple tree with the tiniest fruit …