The Reason I've Been Blogging Less

Is that there is a puppy in the house! The garden aspect of owning this little guy is that he is trampling my flower bed, and my husband lets him go to the bathroom in there...war is not declared as of yet, mainly because I have already cut down a lot of the yellowed dying stems and leaves. "Ollie" also nearly completely dug up one of the paving stones on the terrace...a chance to fill in with dirt and plant in the crevice, is how I'm looking at it! The leaves aren't quite done turning in Brooklyn, but on rainy days, the cement sidewalks do sport leaf prints from the leaves that are down. Fall's great in the city. Now I'll get to enjoy it with a new pal...Ollie! 

Gorgeous Decay

Now the defining element in the side yard is in trouble...
This limb is covered in lichen, moss, scaly things, mushrooms, and is captivatingly beautiful. It also fell off my old, huge, silver maple during a rain/wind storm. Quite unexpectedly. Is this tree also coming to the end of its life? I've just lost a tall, very integral tree in the front yard. I can't lose this too! I've got a call in to my trusty arborist, and I'm on pins and needles. Meantime, should I make a lamp base out of this limb? It's so beautiful, even though it's spelling "doom" for the tree.

Riddle Me These!

Since there's a garden riddle over on "I Brake for Delphiniums," I thought I'd post a couple of garden riddles here. The one on the left is a prize possession, gotten at a farmer's yard sale, homemade wooden frame. Gorgeously beat up, too.