Damsel basking…

Ring Full of Midges

The midge, buzzer, gnat, chironomid fly pattern represents the seemingly ever present small insect that hatches in all manner of waters almost year ’round. Larva, pupa or adult patterns are tiny morsels that trout find available when almost nothing else is ‘coming off’ (emerging/hatching) the waters in the Winter and part of the mix the rest of the year. Like popcorn in the food chain of life.

Fly Tying Classes: Christmas gift?

This is my yearly suggestion to give the man or woman, young and old, in your life, a series of beginner’s fly tying classes during the Winter/Spring. Most fly tying shops, community colleges, or private instructors offer classes geared toward those fumbling fingers. Once the basics are learned, on line tutoring is abundant and/or additional intermediate/advanced classes maybe available.

The essential, bare canvas of fly tying

Fly tying will totally enhance their fly fishing experience. Catching fish on their own creations takes the pursuit to a whole new level. Their understanding of their surroundings and the fish’s environment will necessarily expand as they study habitat, entomology (bugs) and what fish consume. The artistic, creative side is ever present as they tie basic, traditional patterns but think of new directions in size, colors, design. Patterns range from the simple (the ones I have displayed here) to the more complex and more artistic.

It is a great gift idea. Check with your local shop, if you have one, re if they offer classes or who might teach classes in the area. Last resort: gift certificate for vise and fly tying tools with a few starter materials and the more cumbersome on line tutorials are a way to go too.

Last Caress…..

“There is a time sometime, and a place where in the perfect stillness of the evening within the sunset serenity we unite in the glow… Blissful paradise divinity, brilliancy glassy deepness, shallowness slow and smooth… We forever are eternal wholeness only intimacy between us…”

Oksana Rus

The Indian Summer (I am not using it in the total correct sense of its origin) has extended out the last bursts of beauty in our garden. Only a very few rose buds remain. Below are the last blooms I expect to see this month. Another front is approaching in off the Pacific and I think it will be strong enough to bow the heads of any more such beautiful blooms. It was a glorious Summer of flowers, especially the roses. I will put them to bed with pleasant thoughts of next Spring. I have enjoyed their beauty as I have also enjoyed the beautiful flowers shared by so many of you.

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Can you see……..

the changes, especially in the morning, as the sun comes up? The angle is different. The sun seems to be rising slightly more to the southeast now. The penetrating light throws new shadows now and bathes a different part of the rose garden at first light. The geese were busy early this morning, honking and fly toward a nearby wetland. I can hear and see the elder gardeners tending to their watering and deadheading now before the heat of the day pushes them indoors. It is a very pleasant morning.

The elegant progression of the rose never fails to please me. Like people, more often than not, there is something uniquely beautiful with each rose. Such a beautiful cycle of life gardening is. Not just in roses, of course, but in all the tending to the soil, the nutrients, the plantings, the nurturing and then, usually, the bounty of flowers or vegetables or trees pours forth through one’s efforts. Good health, physically and emotionally, to all of you. I do hope you enjoy the weekend and life’s burdens ease a bit for you.

Seeking Light….

“When one thinks about it, the journey is the destination and they just keep coming. The joy is that we never ever really arrive.”  Brian Jett

Red Velvet

Cosmos

One of my very favorite garden plantings are Cosmos. They, for me, give the carefree look of an informal garden.

“One may understand the cosmos, but never the ego. The self is more distant than any star.” G.K. Chesterton

Bursting with Passion…………

“Everyday I discover more and more beautiful things. It’s enough to drive one mad.
I have such a desire to do everything, my head is bursting with it.” ~Claude Monet

Dawn’s Delight

“We went down into the silent garden. Dawn is the time when nothing breathes, the hour of silence. Everything is transfixed, only the light moves.” Leonora Carrington