Holiday Table - 2. My Pictures of the Day

Red, green and gold were the colors of my previous Holiday Table . White, blue and silver are the colors for the New Year. For this setting, I used only what I could find in the house. Nothing was bought additionally. The biggest part of the crystal and silver came from my treasure hunts: reasonable and affordable. The framed art on the walls are replicas of famous Russian painters' works. The small blue figurine on the table is Grandfather Frost (Russian Santa). Without going into historical and cultural explanations, let me  just say that this figure belongs not to the Christmas celebration, but to the New Year celebration in Russia. A metal lizard, holding salt- and pepper shakers symbolizes the incoming year of a Dragon. All in all, this room happens to have some international  flavor.

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Wishing you all only the best in 2012, most of all - peace, happiness and good health!
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food art

***Copyright 2011 TatyanaS

Holiday Paperwhites

***Copyright 2011 TatyanaS

Christmas Is Almost Here. My Son's August Picture

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My 13-year old son took this picture, edited it and installed it on his computer as a screensaver back in August...

Merry Christmas everyone and Happy Year!

Copyright 2011 TatyanaS

My Holiday Table. Wordless Wednesday



M e r r y    C h r i s t m a s!

I join Wordless Wednesday.
***Copyright 2011 TatyanaS

Late Season Garden Pictures (Zone 7b)

This season is mild here in the Pacific Northwest. Surprisingly, we don't have a lot of rain. Temperatures are above freezing, and there is no sign of snow. A couple of light frosts is all that we've had thus far. So, my garden still looks green with splashes of brown and yellow here and there.

This is what I see from my back windows. Clematis montana leaves are changing color. There will soon be the time when it gets bare.

The water in the birdbath got a thin layer of ice recently.

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Escalonia, privet and boxwood will stay green all year around.

Our new Japanese maple finally got its leaves off. I am eager to see its color in spring. This is the type of maple that has pink leaves in spring and fall. We bought it in May. During the summer, the pink turned to green as it was supposed to be. But, in fall the leaves stayed greenish-yellow instead of pink. I read that it can happen when the soil is too rich. The nursery employees did put very good soil in the planting hole to give the tree a good start in its new place. I hope with time that the soil gets normal, and we will see the leaves change from green to pink.

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In the picture below, the blooms of fuchsia Double Otto can be seen. It is such a wonderful hardy plant. It blooms until the hard frost. Further in the garden, tall brown stalks of Joe Pye weed still stand high. Together with monarda, it attracts birds and gives them some seeds to munch on.



Do you see a bird in the next picture?

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 After the garden stops blooming and loses its fresh neat look, there is always a choice between esthetics and birds. I am so glad I didn't cut down these perennials!

This red Monarda was a magnet for hummingbirds in summer  (Hummingbird Has Brown Eyes ).

Red berries decorate Burning bush (Winged Euonymus):

Finally, this is my last autumn bouquet picture taken on the 30th of November:

Some plants that blooming in December are: campanula, fuchsia, primula, brunnera. Also, there are buds on the rose bushes, but I doubt if they will open.

***Copyright 2011 TatyanaS