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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Monday, October 17, 2016

In A Vase On Monday: The Calm Before the Storm

Thursday of last week brought wind and rain which lasted through Saturday.  Just before winds from the big storm predicted for Saturday blew in, there was a bit of calm and even a few glimpses of blue sky between the clouds. Since the rain had let up I decided to walk over to the park.  How was I to know that there would be so many treasures to fill my pockets and arms?   I decided to use my newfound treasures for today's vase.

Chestnut husks and oak leaves in the kitchen.
Acorns, horse chestnuts, and magnolia cones fill the ceramic ginkgo leaf containers that usually sit on the counter to be filled with whatever comes home in my pockets. The nest and skeleton were already there.

Also found in the park was a piece of a fallen branch of something with gorgeous blue-green lichen. The glass jewels came from the stained glass room in the basement. 




A cedar shake was used as the base for this last collection of found objects. 

 Many thanks to the host of In A Vase on Monday, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, for her years of posting and hosting!

19 comments:

  1. A beautiful arrangement of found treasures, Peter! Nature shares her beauty with us in glorious color and texture. I'm esp. fond of the lichen. :)

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  2. I always like your arrangements but this one is particularly noteworthy. What wonderful finds. I've never found a branch with the chestnut husks on it like that. And those Oak leaves are beautiful. Much more attractive than the ones on my Bur Oak.

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    1. Truth be told, the chestnut husks were found lying on the ground separately. Through the magic of some wooden skewers and a hot glue gun, they grew stems.

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  3. Peter, this is delightful, and these are jsut the sort of things I would be picking up and putting in my own pockets although I am not sure I have ever seen a magnolia 'cone' and your acorns are not what you would get from ye olde English oak! Your take on things is also so refreshingly different so thanks as always for sharing

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  4. The only park near me is a dog walking park. I don't want to think about what I'd find looking around on the ground there. These arrangements of found objects are so cool!

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    1. So you're saying that you don't want to make an arrangement of what you'd find?

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  5. I am so jealous of your treasures! I've been haunting our park, hoping to get a few chestnuts but the folks who actually eat them are much more determined than I and seem to get every single one that falls to the ground.

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    1. Come on over to my neighborhood. The one in the park is pretty picked over but there's a magnificent and very old chestnut about two blocks from here that is so prolific that the ground around it looks like a textured green shag carpet this time of year and there are always chestnuts to be had there. Horse chestnuts make nice glossy brown decorations and are maybe easier to come by.

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  6. Magnificent collection of natural treasures and I love that lichened branch. I should examine a near by park in West Seattle to see if I can find such treasures, despite the fact the predicted storm was mostly a "no show".

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  7. I love your arrangements of found objects, Peter.
    As soon as the rain lets up again, I'm need to head out into the garden to see what i can find to fill a couple of vases.

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    1. I always think of your Tom gathering cones and acorns when I start picking things up.

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  8. What great finds! I love the chestnut husks.

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  9. And pretty much everything you found is edible! (I think)

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  10. Now that's creative! And as Alan says, it's mostly edible. All very inspiring, too!

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  11. Great founds, Peter! I love those chestnuts. Happy week!

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  12. Love those textures and colours, and the iconic skeleton.

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  13. A gathering of many of the things I like best about FLL.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.