The morning begins

with a large, orange, ball lifting above a fog covered field

and a tiny.........but loud crow from a very small rooster..........Tex

joined by another tiny crow from ........Gus

 each ........making a morning wonderful with their ruckus 

meanwhile in the front yard tree........ the tap, tap, tap, of the small desert woodpecker can be heard

along with the chirps 

and morning songs of other wild birds who have come to eat.

 

This is the time of year that the Italian Jasmine has awoken

and is showing it's vibrant cheery flowers

The quiet country road leading to our home has the golden prairie grass swaying in the wind

it is golden and soft .........almost like angel hair......yet I can hear the rustle in it's blades

and much later...............

another large, pale yellow, ball rises

over the same field that was once covered in fog in the early morning..........

but announces the ending of the day.

And now...........

 quiet peacefulness falls upon the grounds.....

A little while back.......in July.........

I posted about this area where there is an archway.......

in a wonderful part of the grounds........

but very over grown

I spent a good part of last summer clearing the ground

and making decorative cement path stones

to create a floor for this space.  

Now the space if finished.......I also added a bench and a couple of chairs.........

great for a gathering to chat and to sip coffee. 

The floor is a mix match of cement path stones that I  decorated with rocks and pine cones gathered here on the grounds and a few decorative glass stones given to me by a friend. 

As fun as the path stones were to make.........they took a long time and a lot of work........and a lot of cement to make enough. 

I made several cement pumpkins......and used real pumpkin leaves from my patch as molds for the

large cement leaves in the photo above.

I also pressed real leaves into some of the cement stones.

I made a cement watering dish to encourage birds, lizards and any  wild creature to stop for  a drink

Since the  path stones are all different shapes.........there are gaps between them.......

which I filled with various rocks I picked up here and there on the grounds. 

It is a wonderful place with a wonderful view

and I often have company when I come to sit out in the early morning.....

where there is Sophie........there is usually always Homer. 

It is also a  wonderful place in the very late afternoon........

right before it gets dark and the moon is on the rise

Homer says it all in this photo doesn't he?  

How about you?  Do you have a special place in your garden......or porch.....

where  you like to spend the quiet of the day?

I would love to hear!

If you have been reading my blog for the past few years...........

you all pretty much know........Sophie by now.  She is my sweetest constant companion.  A little while back, Debra of Monnie Bean Folk Art blog asked me if she might copy this photo of Sophie so that she could later on paint it.  Which was fine with me.......

in the mail .........arrived this sweet little painting.........of Sophie! Didn't Debra catch her personality perfectly? Now this painting is hanging by the fireplace where we can always enjoy looking at it.

So first of all Debra, thank  you..........what a wonderful painting!

Next, I would like to tell you all .........Debra not only paints, she also makes sculptures, dolls, and wonderful folk art.  She tells me that with this painting of Sophie, she is launching a whole area to her painting..................painting portraits of people's pets!

You can visit Debra's blog at this link

Monnie Bean Folk Art

and you can view more of her work at her Etsy shop

at this link

Monnie Bean

Please stop by to tell her hello!