06 June 2011

The Creative Exchange: Garden Sentinels

One-eyed frog watching over the front garden
I'm trying to get back to a regular blogging routine, a task made easier and much more pleasant by collectives such as The Creative Exchange. Getting in this year's veggie garden interrupted my routine, and photography of flowers and leaves and my usual close-up subjects has been out of the question lately because of the winds, incessant and harassing, which should be long gone by now. Then I remembered that I do have some fixed objects out there: my garden ornaments! It's a rag-tag collection of things I've picked up or been given over the years, some of which, like the frog above, have seen some wear and tear over the years. (I just found a blue glass marble that will fit that empty eye socket perfectly, so he'll soon be two-eyed again.) Every so often I see lizards or other creatures inspecting the ornaments, or perhaps just posing as one of them so the cats and puppy will leave them alone. This lizard has found a comfortable home in an old stump that anchors the "Mothers Day Garden," a perennial garden I planted for my mom last year and is maturing nicely into a haven for birds, insects, and, yes, lizards.

Lizard on a stump, May 2011, Magdalena, NM

Copper mantis from Mom's garden
  
Terracotta mouse cachepot given to Mom in 1983 or so

My collection also now includes some treasures I brought home from Mom's Philadelphia garden after she passed away last summer. Even after Dad decided not to sell their house (my brother and his wife live there with a friend now, and Dad lives out here with me and the kids), I just had to take a few of her pretties home with me. They look much different in my casual Southwestern gardens than in Mom's formal, lush, cool townhouse garden, but they still fit, and they remind me of Mom's endless creative energy and great aesthetic talents.

4 comments:

Lisa Gordon said...

You know, I'm not sure what it is this year with the wind, but it's been that way here also. Unless I am out at about 6 am, there is no way I am going to get good shots of what I want to photograph.

I absolutely LOVE this collection! Each is so unique, and you have photographed them so beautifully.

Thank you so much for sharing these today at The Creative Exchange.

have a wonderful day!

lisa.

genie said...

I love your garden ornaments. I have some of my own, and now I think they need to be photographed and shared. That lizard reminds me of my years growing up in south Florida. He is quite the big boy. I never did warm up to them or the roaches, or the mosquitoes, or the scorpions. You were brave to get up close for these shots. All your pictures are fine captures, and I really did enjoy reading your commentary. Hope you have a nice week. Genie

Nancy said...

I love the fact you have saved some of your mother's ornaments and put them in your garden. The old patina can't be beat.

Whimsical series of photos. Well done. :)

Pat said...

I love the one-eyed frog! How wonderful to incorporate ornaments from your mother's garden into your own!