Friday Fences & Lilacs

Lilacs make even the plainest picket fences special when they first bloom in the spring.

For more Friday Fences check out Janis' site at Life According to Jan and Jer .

(Readers-noticed this morning that there's Blogger trouble with commenting here. If you had problems getting a comment to go through, sorry--will try to fix. Regardless, thanks for the visit!)

A Question

Ms. Robin asks: "does this camera angle make my butt look big?"

Quotography/Friendship

"Friendship is certainly the finest balm."
Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Actually young Catherine Moreland says "friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love" when she fails to see her Mr. Tilney at the Pump Room in Bath. Instead, she meets a new friend who promises to be very amusing and will help take her mind off Mr. Tilney. In the modern age where words are often taken out of context --often with disastrous results--Jane's words are true in both quotes. My good friend and excellent needlewoman Sally embroidered this sampler for me because I'm such a fan of Jane Austen.

For more Monday quotography be sure to check out Kelly at Living Life in PA .

Friday Fences - the Lookout

Earlier this week we had two days when temps hovered in the mid-80s. That's hot for the middle of March in Kentucky. Still, who wants the air conditioner on that early? So, here you have the second best plan. Pop up the portable screen in the front door, install the baby gate and move the Senior Citizen's ortho bed to the lookout position. Now, he's ready to give the mail carrier a fright when he comes up on the stoop. Also, he can watch out for that dang grey cat Whenever it stalks across the yard. But mostly, when your 15 + years it just feels nice to nap in the breeze. (Did you noticed that this lucky dog gets bedside meal service?)

What about you? How are you coping with an early hot spring?

For more fences from all over go to Life According to Jan and Jer for a list of players.

Colors of Spring

Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night. ~Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke

In anticipation of the first day of spring I've been on the lookout for the color wheel of the season. Here are my favorite photos that just shout spring--like the masses of pansies above:

Yellow - forsythia
Green - the soft green of the weeping willow

Pink - saucer magnolias that so often bloom too early and then get nipped by frost or freeze

White - bradford pear blooms, like a spring snow storm


Purple and orange - someone described this sunrise as a psychedelic slurpee!



Purple - crocus


Red - Kentucky cardinal, our state bird and the perfect harbinger of spring around hereWhat says spring in your parts?

Friday Fences - or Irish Garden Walls

Earlier this week I took you on a tour of Bantry Bay in County Cork Ireland for Watery Wednesday to visit the fabulous gardens of Ilnacullin on Garinish Island. Also promised more photos of the gardens for Friday Fences. Sl`ainte!

There are all kinds of fences, walls, and gates in Ireland--dry stone walls separating fields, simple stone walls or picket fences around brightly painted thatched cottages, or thrifty wattle(woven sticks) fences around the family vegetable garden. And then there are ornate ironwork fences or stone walls around some of Ireland's most well-known estates, gardens,and castles. At Ilnacullen we saw this impressive stone wall with its massive pediment gate which was designed by landscape architect Harold Peto in the early 1900s:

Once you walked through the garden gate, this is the stunning view, consisting of twin mixed shrub and perennial borders. The garden walls protect these sometimes fragile plants from the rough weather off Bantry Bay:
And here's a closeup of the most beautiful shade of pink hydrangea, one of the many flowering treasures in this border:

For more fences from all over go to Life According to Jan and Jer for a list of players.

Watery Wednesday - Across Bantry Bay to Ilnacullin

Still in Ireland for Watery Wednesdays in March--photos from a gardening tour. This week it's County Cork and scenes of Bantry Bay which we crossed by ferry to see Ilnacullin, a famous garden and historic site on Garinish Island. This is the first view of Bantry Bay coming off the Ring of Kerry:
At the holiday town of Glengarriff we boarded a ferry in the harbor for a short trip across the bay:
A bonus for the trip--a seal colony on one of the small islands in Bantry Bay. Did you know that seals actually bark?

Another view of Garinish Island:
This is the Italianate garden at Ilnacullin with its graceful reflecting pool:
Come back on Friday and I'll show you some fabulous flower-covered fences/walls in gardens at Ilnacullin.

Want to see some more "watery" photography? Click here for the players.