Bay View

On this day we stayed put and again enjoyed the Bay View location. Truly, for a fan of English style gardens and pretty architecture this was awfully darn close to a perfect location.

 A purple cottage with a foreground of flowers? Just sigh and say lovely.

 A sea of blooms before a lake of blue.

 An idyllic final resting spot.

 It may be just a summer cottage but the gardeners go full on. And those porches... board games at two, tea at four, cocktails at five, stargazing at ten... the list goes on.

 Eschewing the more frequent pastel scheme this owner used a deep red to great effect.

 You just cannot go wrong with the white hydrangea here - they are a perfect match for the climate and the cottage style.

 Now here's a chance for a more bold owner to make a statement.

 Even the plant pots are carefully co-ordinated.

 The highlight of my summer - this, I am sad to say, was my first sighting of a monarch butterfly this year. Clearly it enjoyed hte stopover on the phlox.

 Lilies and phlox - such a pretty foreground to the lake backdrop.

 Someone with an eye for choosing a few exclamation points throughout the garden had success here.

 Crabgrabbers crown! Or how I amused myself with 15 minutes to spare.

Ah summer, sit a while and recharge the batteries. Just what the doctor ordered.