You know how I often make a post out of all the random recent photos on my iPhone? Well, that's what we're doing today, except that some of these are also camera shots. It's miscellaneous photo day.
First, an intriguing piece of street art I found a few weeks ago on Finchley Road.
Olga has taken to lying beneath the garden bench while I sit on it and read. I guess it's cool under there.
This was the featured cocktail in my most recent craft gin club box. It was something involving cherry juice, lime, a special syrup and gin from Singapore. It was good, but once again, I found myself simply wanting a plain ol' gin & tonic. I'm a creature of habit. (As you can see, when I took this I was still in the middle of reading "Smoky the Cowhorse.")
On the nearby housing estate, someone has grown some exuberant gladioli. I don't often see gladioli in gardens. These seem to be doing just fine in pots.
Also on the estate, someone has turned this planter into a pretty impressive little garden. Those lilies are particularly nice. I think I've photographed them in previous years.
An anti-Covid message in Golders Green. I don't agree with most of what this organization touts, which includes some hoaxy, conspiracy-laden thinking. But I do agree, as I've already said, that we have to find a way to live our lives with this bug.
The morning light looked nice in our entrance hall.
And finally, this is a hoverfly hovering. It's pretty hard to focus on these guys in mid-air, but fortunately they DO hover so if you're fast, there's enough time to snap a picture while it's still in one place!
Where to begin... The hoverfly photo is amazing! Entrance hall is so inviting. Perfect light. Like a Restoration Hardware catalog photo. Gardens are charming. And I can’t believe how well that apple tree is doing. Maybe it’s a ceramic pot made to look like a bag. Nice that the bag is holding up in this instance. A comment of biodegradability.
ReplyDeleteIt's a heavy plastic bag used for transporting building materials. I think it's pretty much indestructible.
DeleteAmazing picture of the hover fly!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I actually wasn't all that happy with it because it's a tiny bit blurry, but I guess it's a better view than what we usually see -- a nondescript fly hovering in the air.
DeleteApplause for the image of the hoverfly. Simply - Wow!
ReplyDeleteAs for Smoky - was he really a crossbreed? I guess his mum was called Buttercup the Friesian and his dad was perhaps Champion the Wonderhorse. It must have been love.
Love can accomplish incredible things!
DeleteThe yellow chair photo
ReplyDeleteLove it
I actually FOUND that yellow chair on the street!
DeleteOh my! All these pictures are wonderful! I love the artwork. I'm always thrilled when 'profound' pops up unexpectedly.
ReplyDeleteI liked it too. It does make you think.
DeleteLike you, I am not very adventurous with new drinks. Whenever I've tried a new one, ho hum.
ReplyDeleteWe often buy cut gladdies and lilies and it is nice to seem them growing well in soil. The apple tree is amazing but won't last forever in a sack.
Australia is failing with its zero COVID cases as it leaks in from overseas. 80%? 90% vaccinated and we will have to live with it.
The hover fly photo is great.
That tree has been in that sack for a couple of years now. I'm amazed it's done so well.
DeleteGrand photos--especially the light in the hall and the hover fly in motion.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked them! :)
DeleteThe hoverfly photo is terrific, but they all are.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I like the fly's red eyes.
DeleteAh, Steve. What a good eye you have! And a trusty trigger finger! That hoverfly! Just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThat fly is the same one that's perched on the crocosmia in this photo:
Deletehttps://shadowsteve.blogspot.com/2021/07/jackhammer-summer.html
Great collection of photos, Steve. Love that hoverfly. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteGlad you like them!
Deletethat hover fly is an excellent capture! and I do remember the apple tree in a bag. glad to see it is doing well enough to make fruit but what happens when the bag eventually decomposes as it will.
ReplyDeleteI dunno about that bag -- it's a heavy duty woven plastic meant to transport building materials like sand. I think it will last a thousand years!
DeleteThat tree in a bag is amazing. I never knew that could be done.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the photo of the entry hall. That's the kind of photo I would frame and hang.
I don't know what the long-term prospects of the tree are, but at least for a couple of years that bag has been its happy home.
DeleteThat last photo is amazing. The flowers are lovely too. I especially love that window on the floor in your entrance hall.
ReplyDeleteI got several of those windows from a house that was being remodeled. They were throwing them away!
Deletehttps://shadowsteve.blogspot.com/2019/03/leaded-glass-and-lost-frog.html
I shall not repeat what everyone else has already said about all of the photos! They are amazing ... and that hoverfly! OMG
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked them!
DeleteThe hoverfly definitely wins, but I also LOVE the counsel estate flower box - gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteSomeone's put a lot of work into that!
DeleteSpectacular collections of photos! I honestly can't tell which were taken by the phone. About the only time I pull out my Canon is for completed jigsaw puzzles. My latest collection of iPhone photos is totally pear related. We had a banner crop this year. I'll admit I'm surprised by that apple tree in the bag.
ReplyDeleteThe hoverfly, the entrance hall and the stickers were camera shots -- the rest were phone shots. The hoverfly in particular I could never have shot with my phone. (Well, I probably could, but it would have been a speck!)
DeleteOh my, the hoverfly! I can't imagine how you got that perfect picture! Look at those wings! Really terrific!
ReplyDeleteI also love your front hall with the sweet window and the bright yellow chair. Nice set up!
You sure are talented - no matter which camera you are using!
Well, thanks! I actually wish I'd shot the hoverfly with a slightly faster shutter speed, but it basically works.
Deleteholy Iphone!! These photos are astonishing, i especially love Olga in jail and the entryway of Swedish sensibilities. Of course the hover fly blows my mind more than a little bit. Growing a tree in a bag, so this is what it has come to?
ReplyDeleteThere are so many folks afraid to live and afraid to die. Ironically they are mostly Christians.
Fear of death is definitely a great motivator when it comes to religion! Our entry way DOES look a bit Swedish, doesn't it?!
DeleteGladioli in pots...mmm,they do tend to catch the wind..
ReplyDeleteI like the tree in a bag....I could do that....
That sunlight in your hall...how to inspire a day!!
I think the pots must be pretty heavy, because yeah, that seems like it might be a bit hazardous.
DeleteThe lilies and glads are beautiful. Hoping for no strong winds!
ReplyDeleteThe lilies are in a pretty sheltered location -- the glads seem like they might be more vulnerable but so far, so good!
DeleteSmokey , the cow horse. Yes that's the book the teacher read to us. As a little farm boy I loved he story. I will read it again to have a look at it through adult eyes.
ReplyDeleteYou might like it more than I did, even now. As I said, for me, it got much better after the first 100 pages, which seemed incredibly slow.
DeleteI love that yellow chair. And the shot of the hoverfly is amazing!
ReplyDeleteI picked up that chair on the street! One of my favorite finds, though we never sit in it. It's not that sturdy.
DeleteI never saw a tree grow in a bag. Awesome! You have a super day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDelete