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Tuesday 9 December 2014

The last of the pretty leaves and flowers

Frost has come and turned the nasturtiums to mush, although a few hardy annuals are still clinging on - there are odd blobs of orange and yellow here and there from calendulas and a few tough perennials still with flowers. Overall though the garden knows winter is almost here - although I wish the weeds were less hardy as I don't have the energy to do any tidying up right now. You should see the state of my veg patch (no, I'm not going to show you)! Darn chickweed everywhere. If there was some way to herd the hens in there I would, but when I let them out of the run they are off in the other direction as they like scratching around in the wild woodland areas, and under the conifer trees in amongst the fallen needles. 

Most of the pretty leaves have gone now but I got out with my camera a few times in the last week or so to get these pics before the frost. I've even found a few more insects which I'll save for my next post along with some fungi.

One of my variegated Dogwoods, name forgotten offhand.
I feel I have a great excuse not to bother looking up plant names right now
as my brain has turned to mush. ;-)

Although there are no beech trees growing naturally in my local area, I do have this little stand of about half a dozen near the pond which have been growing slowly over the years - I imagine they came from some bird pooing out the seeds. Some are now about 6 foot tall and they grow in the shade of taller hazels and other trees. I really need to thin them out, but they look so lovely at this time as beech does have pretty leaf colour, and the leaves stay put for a long time. I just don't really know what to do with these trees as there's nowhere to transplant one to allow it to grow to a majestic tree (in about 100+ years' time) without taking out some other trees.... yet another thing I'll worry about some other day or year. ;-)

Little beech trees.

With the pond in the background.

At least I'm assuming they are beech.....!

Back to the Liquidambar, sorry to bore you but it cries out to have its photo taken! :-)

I just couldn't stop taking photos of it. It's been an absolute joy and still has a few leaves left.

Here you may have a glimpse into the veg patch of dewy dill
impersonating a Xmas tree, with purple curly kale and PSB
in the background making good bokeh.

Now for a few flowers - the top is an Abelia which has pretty variegated leaves
but tiny flowers, and bottom are roses growing up against the house walls.

One of the Calendulas, also known as Pot Marigolds.

Corn Marigold peeking through the veg patch fence. Mush now!

Believe it or not the self seeded flat leaf parsley is still flowering!

Nasturtiums at the top, bottom left is Feverfew which is just about clinging on
after the frost, and bottom right I've forgotten again, but it's still fine after the frost!

A close up of inside a Nasturtium, showing those seeds forming which will self seed again next year.

These next two photos are for Ian - they are a couple of my experiments with ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) of my silver birch tree. This was the first time I tried with a zoom lens on so I had a lot of fun(!!) trying to shoot whilst turning the zoom, rather than moving the camera to get the impressionist type of effect. I'm sure I did both as I found it very similar to rubbing my tummy whilst patting my head.... I liked both effects so here they are.



My friend who taught me about ICM (yes, you, Marianne!) does some great effects with Christmas lights, and I've found a house in my village which is all lit up like something out of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (it's actually the house of a retired electrician and it used to be his shop). So one evening I'm going to stop by there to have a bash at photographing it. There are two more houses up a country lane which are lit up American style too - I still find it very amusing to see as this was not a trend when I lived in England (although I understand it's far more popular these days), especially when the houses are in the middle of absolutely nowhere, but some French people seem to enjoy decorating the outside of their houses and as my hospital appointments seem to be early evening these days it gives us something to look at on the tedious journey, as it's dark early now. And on that subject, only 10 more sessions of radiotherapy to go. :-)

29 comments:

  1. Thoroughly wonderful, as always, Mandy! Loved your Dogwood and Beech. And your ICMs are looking darned good! You've been practicing, haven't you :-) Looking forward to your holiday lights. They're more of a challenge because they're so bright. Shooting from a distance with a zoom lens seems to work best for me. Have fun!

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    1. Thanks so much Marianne! I have practiced ICMs a lot - thank goodness for digital cameras! Still get about 80% rubbish but it doesn't matter, does it? :-) Yup was planning to take my DSLR and regular 28-80mm zoom lens for the Xmas lights - sometimes the macro lens has to come off! Might even take the tripod and try for a proper piccy as well, something new to try..... :-)

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  2. Fantastic close ups. I love the dill impersonating a Christmas tree and the beautiful deep pink of the Dogwood. The ICM effects are brilliant. :-)

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    1. Thanks very much Deb! That dogwood still looks good and I've even remembered the name of the yellow flowers now (Gaillardia, a perennial plant) - why do I never remember when I'm writing the blog posts? ;-)

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  3. Great blur shots there Mandy, they have worked really well :-) Your Autumn colour shots have brightened my day as am missing France, spent the day dipping into Google France street view as they have added and updated areas, I saw the car go past last August and wondered when they would go live.

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    1. Glad you liked them, Ian. :-) You must have had some lovely colour around where you live though too. I shall have to look and see if Google street view has updated around where I live at all - they certainly haven't changed the satellite view for many a year. Interestingly there's an inbuilt map thing on my Mac which has a more recent satellite view than Google, but I've no idea where that comes from. When are you next over to Brittany?

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    2. Hi Mandy, next in Brittany early March, and then family fly out for Easter. Last Sep I got some new ground prepared and covered over with black plastic, so I will be the car with parcel shelf crammed with Broad bean plants! I know what you mean about google satellite view, my area is awful quality, I use http://geobretagne.fr/sviewer/dual.html I think the maps were updated recently and quality is much better than google, and you can compare with 1950.

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    3. A long wait Ian! Sensible putting down the plastic. I won't be doing much next year in the veggie dept but my veg plot is too big to cover with plastic so I'll probably cover most of it with wildflower seeds and just let it do its thing - will give colour and bugs galore. Though I'll certainly have a couple of courgette plants as they are probably one of the easiest plants to grow - produce tons and all they need is occasional watering. I'll check out that link..... cheers for that.

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    4. Wow Ian that map is amazing!!! The modern one is miles clearer than google maps and much more up to date - I can even see my asparagus bed which I put in 3 years ago. The old one is hard to see but I think I see my house but the garden is not as it is now - I know the lake was much smaller as previous owners had it enlarged since the 70s and my back garden which is now a woodland on the satellite view was just a field back then. Thanks so much - I shall enjoy looking through this site! :-)

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  4. Agree with everyone else, great colours. We have a couple of penstemon and some roses still blooming despite frost and freezing rain. But we have no 'ornamental' trees, just fruit and walnut and with the very odd weather we have had this year the leaves didn't colour up, just fell. As you say, the weeds are green and lush! If ever the rain stops the chickens and ducks can go out there and work on them.

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    1. Thanks Debrazzaman - yes I know about your very strange weather! I guess the trees out in the countryside would colour up to some extent during a normal autumn. Why do weeds grow so well? It's not fair!! :-)

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  5. Interesting and inventive shots at the end Mandy, you've made me want to give it a go now! Gorgeous Dogwood you've got there, very pretty. Hope the last few sessions at the hosp go past swiftly for you xx

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    1. Thank you CT. I think you have a bridge camera, don't you? If you don't know about manual settings, set your camera to TV (shutter speed priority), set it on a slow speed between about 1/10 to 1/30 sec (the camera will do all the other settings on auto), do this on a cloudy or dull day or in the shade and just practice moving the camera a bit whilst taking the shot. Moving the camera up or down gives better effects I reckon than sideways. You may need to move the camera fast-ish or slow-ish but just keep practising until you get a feel for what you can achieve. It really does take a LOT of practice!! :-) And thanks (although I have radiotherapy burn now which is horrible).

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    2. Honey is the best treatment for burns. Poor you, that's miserable. Thanks for the 'how to' info on the blurry pics, I will give it a go xx

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    3. Is that Manuka honey, CT? I've heard of that and may be able to get it from a health food shop. Doing a bit of research but what what I've read, unfortunately the burns carry on for several weeks after treatment stops. I was given a cream that was worse than useless so using Savlon at the moment as my skin is raw :-( Ugh, it's horrible but if it does the trick I'll put up with it - so long as they keep giving me strong painkillers!

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    4. Any old honey will do. Folks say it has to be pure and manuka is the best (and most expensive) but we use waitrose/ sainsburies blend and always have and it works perfectly fine. A good natural alternative to savlon is beeswax and olive oil. I make a salve from these ingreds for us and usually have a few pots over- if you email me your address I'll put some in the post to you. Beeswax is a natural antiseptic and has been used for centuries. It's the only thing that stops me getting split thumbs and cold sores in the winter. xx

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    5. That's good to hear as I have Lidl's finest (cheapest!).... will sent you an email shortly. Thanks my dear. xx

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  6. Fab photos Mandy and the nasturtium one is truly amazing.
    Sorry to hear about your burns.

    Philippa xx

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    1. Thanks very much Philippa - most of the flowers gone now but I do have some primroses flowering already! There's always something in flower although you have to look hard for it. And the burns are horrible - they don't tell you about this kind of thing at the hospital although I was forwarned by reading info on the internet. I feel sorry for the elderly who don't have internet access as they must be really in the dark. French docs are not very good for giving you info or for being helpful much at all. Just like anything in this country, you have to keep fighting to get the info/appts to even see a doctor about problems I'm having etc. Not easy when you are already feeling like shit! :-(

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    2. Primroses flowering will cheer you up a bit but I'm sorry you are having these frustrations with the medics and you are feeling like shit. Virtual hug from me and Alan.

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    3. Thanks Philippa - have some cream which is giving good relief now, which is one good thing. Thanks also for the Xmas card - I'm not sending any this year - too exhausted to think about, although I ought to email a few relatives to explain why not!

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    4. I really wasn't expecting a card from you but glad ours arrived ok.
      Take care, both of you.

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  7. The experiment worked really well Mandy. (Tens across the board for artistic impression) {:))

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    1. I'm pleased you like them Roy and thank you very much! :-)

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  8. You know the irony of just how beautiful these photos are and how awful your body is treating you right now isn't lost on me Mandy. Beauty and the beast springs to mind. That fact that you can see and appreciate the beauty in this world and share it with us, should sustain you. I don't join in with all of the supportive commenting, as I don't feel I have anything valid to add. I am watching and reading it all though and hoping that, sooner rather than later, you will be back to untroubled times and the joys of this life.

    I've really enjoyed your blog since finding you and this update is no exception-all the best Mandy.

    JJ

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    1. JJ - I found your words extremely touching and hardly know what to say in response..... all I can think of is a HUGE thank you and and I too am really pleased I have got to know you and I love your blog postings too. We can learn a lot from each other and cross fingers next spring I will be feeling a lot better (even if my garden is a complete mess, there will still be plenty of bugs in it!). xx

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    2. No probs Mandy ;-) And thanks for this equally moving reply-to be frank, I didn't comment for ages just because I didn't know what to write ;-)

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    3. I have the same problem JJ - tell you what, why don't you just comment on the photos and forget the beast. I'm only adding in a para or two updating those who are interested - I never wanted that side to take over from my main reason for blogging! :-) xx

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