Before the Rain

This afternoon I cut the drying Hydrangea macrophylla flower heads.
This is the perfect time to cut them as they begin to dry on the bush but before the go brown. Cut off the leaves or you will have a lot of clean up.
Some of mine had begun to go brown but I love them anyway.
 These dried flowers last years.
With all the early rain this summer the flower heads are huge,
 rush out & cut yours, so much better than 'silk' or plastic imitations. 

The tide clock frame was made by my father, 91 this month
He lives in Dorset England & is now nearly blind & very hard of hearing
But when he retired he took up wood turning, this is one of his projects

My husband made this pegged picture frame (no fastenings except wooden pegs)
for the Ivey Hayes print. He cut the wood and stripped it to make the frame at our last garden.

The print in the photo is an Ivey Hayes picture of an old barn
He was an African American painter of Rocky Point NC (1948-2012)
When I lived in the area these paintings spoke to me
I can feel the heat from that sandy road in July & August