Sunday, October 18, 2009

The Frosting On Top

Morning light revealed a world encrusted in a lumpy layer of ice and snow and sleet. The monsoon had been frozen in the darkness. Though cold and crusty, this was only a thin and tattered blanket, not enough to deter expected travelers.



And the Faire Frances did arrive. We bundled up and headed straight outside for a stroll through an ice and snow covered world.



A little blogging experiment will be tried. Two people taking pictures of the same scenes on purpose. How different or similar will our cameras and eyes see the same thing?

A red leaf in the litter.



And the second one,

The path to mystery through the forest.



A mystery lies beneath the hearth of stories told and stories that have yet to be heard.



Frances signs in to "Nice Hearth, Nobody Home". This is one of many Geocaches hidden along the scenic byway. If you scroll down the page on the link you can read the notes people have posted to the log on this particular geocache.

Some people garden and some people hunt for things with GPS devices.



A blueberry fall with a dusting of white.



Who knew that garden blogging in a virtual world could lead to so many connections and friendships in the real world. That certainly never entered my mind when I started this blogging thing on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.



In the garden blogging world, meeting so many interesting and wonderful people in person is the frosting on top.

15 comments:

Siria said...

Great story ~ great times ~ great friends ~ great memories! And great pictures too! Now I will have to go and check out Faire Garden to see how she views the scene through the lense.

Lola said...

Glad it didn't deter the traveler. I will have to check to see how Faire Garden's look through the lens faired.

Noelle Johnson said...

Thank you for sharing your frost encrusted world and showing how beautiful it can be.

chuck b. said...

So beautiful with all the shiny ice. It's a jewel box garden.

Les said...

I love the old hearth. Is it on your property, or just nearby?

Lisa at Greenbow said...

What a fun post Christopher. I will pop over to Frances's post to compare the photos.

Anonymous said...

It was a wonderful and happy day, I thank you for your hospitality. My red leaf shot is not such a close up, I got mixed up on the assignment! HA

Here is the post I was telling you about on Steve Snedeker's blog. It, all all his stories need a wider audience, IMHO, so I am leaving the link here if you don't mind. :-)

http://www.stevesnedeker.com/2273/landscaping-stories-with-horror-featured.html

Frances

Anonymous said...

Hmm, why doesn't that link work. And forget the second all. HA

Stump Story

Be sure and read the whole thing, not just the first half as he suggests.

F

Rose said...

Snow or snain, Christopher, you live in such a beautiful place, and your photographs are gorgeous. We visited the Smoky Mountains for a wedding last weekend which was held in a large cabin high above a hill. I kept thinking how wonderful it would be to look out on such a vista every morning. So glad you and Frances had such a good visit and enjoyed seeing photos from the two different perspectives...at least, I think that is Frances under that big parka:)

Happy that Spot has returned home, none the worse for her adventure!

Gail said...

Christopher, I loved this post and Frances'...Blogging surely has given us more then just an outlet to talk about gardening! Are you in zone 6a or 5b? gail gail

sweetbay said...

I discovered your blog through Frances. It's beautiful. I will definitely be back! :)

"Daffodil Planter" Charlotte Germane said...

Delightful to have another installment of Christopher and Frances! Hooray for garden blogs! A Brevard friend told me about early snow and I hopped over to see your take on it.

Annie in Austin said...

It's so cool to know you and Frances had a chance to enjoy the fall colors together, Christopher - and glad someone got to witness all the progress on the cozy cabin. I'll pop over to Faire Garden and see what photos she took.

Sure hope there is plenty of color and some warmth left when your next guests come - especially since you made them delay their visit!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Christopher C. NC said...

Siria and Lola I think Frances has a better camera than me or I should just go on auto.

Azplantlady I do look for the beauty in the cold and snow. It isn't too hard to find it which is good because there is a minimum of four months of it up here.

Chuck it is so much more doable when the wind isn't howling.

Les the old hearth is on our land in the sunny utility meadow right next to the road. A very attractive nuisance of sorts to have folks stopping and tresspassing on a regular basis. I don't have the heart to wreck the geocacher's fun though.

Lisa it was a fun afternoon with Frances and a nice diversion from the routine.

Frances I could have sworn I saw you take a picture of that leaf from an inch away. I'll go read that post of Steve's.

Yep Rose that is Frances under there. I was just happy she didn't let the snain deter her from coming.

Gail blogging has opened all kinds of new doors one would never imagine. I am a zone 5b to be on the safe side.

Hi Sweet Bay. Please visit anytime.

Wow Daffodil Planter, from California to Brevard. Brevard is on the other side of Mt. Pisgah from me.

Annie, my next guest, my sister has been waffling about this trip for a couple months now. The family joke on fall color is "You should've been here last week..next week.. You just mised the peak."

Dee/reddirtramblings said...

That geocaching is very popular in Oklahoma. I don't get it, but like you wrote, "some people garden." ;-) I'm glad to read of your adventure with Frances. It was lovely to finally meet you in Chicago.~~Dee