Water Colours

I picked these up when I was out on my walk this morning. I pretty much walk the same route around town all year round which gives me the opportunity to notice how things in the same gardens change as the seasons come and go.

Today I noticed that the Hydrangea's are 'autumn-ing' if there is such a word. But I love how they look - like a water-colour painting. So soft and fading and less intense - a bit whimsical. I guess it reflects the mood of us leaving the summer behind and embracing the cooler days of autumn, knowing that the cold days of winter are coming soon. The Hydrangeas are going to seed. "All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today".

I just LOVE Hydrangeas - always have - I like the way they are ever changing and a bit unpredictable. You can get a huge range of gorgeous pinks and blues all within one bush, depending on the aluminum content in the soil. Then the colours change all over again as they go into autumn. Despite my love of these flowers, until recently I thought we didn't have any in our garden. I was eying up our neighbors Hydrangeas, just over our fence when my Darling Man informed me that he had actually planted them years ago as cuttings and that it was part of our section! If only I'd known!!! Oh the beautiful deeds that are done during the busy, child-rearing years that go un-noticed - I thought to myself! So in earlier more summery days, I promptly cut some fresh and shoved them in a vase to enjoy in the house!

And now we have a rustic style of thing going on which gives us a whole new range of colours to appreciate. These flowers dry out quite happily in a vase - the later in the season the better the result and the longer the vase life.

I think this hat from an Art Deco store in Napier looks Hydrangea-ish... at least Hydrangea-inspired! The store is called 'Decorum' - it's on the corner of Tennyson & Herschell Sts. They have a huge range of Deco costume for hire, vintage clothing & jewelery for sale, millinery made to order and antique china and furniture. The place is absolutely packed... I really enjoyed a snoop but there was so much stuff even I, who loves old things got browsers fatigue before I had seen everything! Now that's saying something....