Random tidbits from the phone

I was looking through the photos on my phone this morning and realized that I had quite a few things that were worth mentioning but didn't warrant a post by themselves. So they piled up.

Lumped all together though, there's some interesting stuff here. For instance, this photo of a small tree planting ringed by pavers at my mother's neighbor's house. Not really interesting in itself (and not very attractive in my opinion), but...

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...if you knew that earlier this year you would have seen something like this in that spot instead...

...well, now the first photo becomes interesting, albeit in a depressing way. The huge, beautiful spruce that had been growing there since I was a child had been removed! So sad. (I didn't have a photo of the exact tree, but this one just across the street was similar in size, if not color).



Moving on, this handmade thank you note in the vet's office caught my eye earlier this year (on one of several visits):

So nice! I wish I knew who "EH" was.



Did you know bamboo was so versatile?

This is pure marketing misdirection, as these things are still made of paper. They don't have "Tree Coffee Filters" printed on the packaging for the filters they've been making for decades, do they?



Back to my mom's house for a minute:

This is "the rock" -- the only rock in the entire yard -- that we'd use to help us climb into the maple when we were kids. The tree is unclimbably big now, and the 10" (25cm) of extra height that the rock provides is meaningless. I'm taking this rock home with me to live in my garden someday.



Speaking of living in my garden, these don't actually live here but do visit quite regularly:

That white and brown one is super nervous. I only got this shot through the window because it was looking the other way. If it had seen me it would have been gone in a flash!

This other guy though...

...was skittish at first but ended up being quite friendly! It's been a while since I had a cat buddy out in the garden -- I miss it!

Purple fountain grass is such a favorite of all cats it seems -- my indoor cats beg piteously to go out on the deck just so they can munch on some of the darkly delicious (I suppose) leaves.



On the subject of the deck, I was contemplating getting a shade sail for the deck this year:

I thought a cheap one like this would be a good way to see how much I liked it. Maybe next year.



A month or so ago I saw these fine-leaved ornamental sweet potato vines in planters downtown:

They looked great when planted with the normal-leaved variety:

(Unfortunately the photo I took of the planter that contained both varieties together didn't turn out so you'll have to make due with the photo from my deck)

But to me they look scraggly when they're the only thing there. I'd use them for contrast, not as a focal point.

Not bad with the darker types, but I'm still not sure that I like them. They look a bit messy, don't they?



Did you see any new (to you) birds this year? I did!

Not sure why I took the photo of the page from Sibley's but I'm glad I did -- I think I'll do that from now on whenever I see a "new" bird in the garden!



Finally, we saw this great booth at a swap meet earlier this summer:

It was just old windows for sale. Wonderful, exciting, beautiful windows!  Some contained stained glass. I restrained myself as I already have a couple of old windows and doors in the garage, not to mention several shower doors. They were a bit pricey too. Still, I love that this place exists!


That pretty much cleans out my "miscellaneous" folder for a while. I hope you saw something that you enjoyed!

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