My Photo Journal: Bird Watching over Late Summer in Durham Region, Ontario

As the sunlit verdancy of summer artfully transforms into the gilded shades of autumn, a gentle symphony seems to envelop the natural world. A brief pause for a quiet listen to the air reveals that between the beautiful changes, the rustling leaves, and crawling breezes, small yet profoundly stirring moments are gracefully sprinkled everywhere.
― Marie Helen Abramyan

End of Summer
We've been tramping around
long enough
now the sun
falls in a faint
it's done in

The trees quit
the wave stops rolling
how ordinary things have become
how ordinary

I placed my bet
on this summer lasting
― Elisabeth Borchers, Fish Magic: Selected Poems

Gleaming rays gently shine upon nature. Summer has passed the seasonal baton onto Autumn’s cooling hands. But swirling lightly, between the changing leaves, hints of warm summer breezes softly linger in the air. Tender whispers of days under the blazing sunlight, when bees and butterflies danced for the sweet scent of ripened berries, and verdant leaves flourished on the Mulberry.
― Marie Helen Abramyan

Here are the three Ontario parks I visited to take the above photos:
(1) Pair of lovelorn swans were photographed at Kiwanis Heydenshore Park in Whitby, Ontario.
(2) Lone seagull who posed quite charmingly for me at Lakeview Park in Oshawa,Ontario.
(3) Solitary Canada goose paddling calmly was photographed through the foliage at Lynde Shores Conservation Area in Whitby, Ontario.
We are truly blessed with an overabundance of beautiful beaches, parks, trails and wildlife here in Durham Region!

Bird photography © 2026 FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Printable Vintage Art: Landscape Study from Barbizon by Carl Larsson

Landscape Study from Barbizon, 1878
by Carl Larsson (1853–1919)

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes.
Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality.
Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
― Lao Tzu

I wouldn't need to be so very different for sun to seem to be about sun,
for green to be about green,
for joy and boredom and anguish and terror and death to all be themselves,
beyond the need for any killing clarity,
and then this--this, the growing rings of light and water and stone--
would take up all of me, and be all the words I need.
― Richard Powers, The Overstory

You can download a digitally enhanced version of the vintage painting (as seen above) as a high-res 11” x 9” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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When there is no peace in your soul there is no peace in your heart,
when there is no peace in your heart there is no peace in your mind,
when there is no peace in your mind there is no peace in your life,
and when there is no peace in your life there is no peace in your world.
― Matshona Dhliwayo

Photo of Guildwood © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Printable Vintage Art: New England Road by Childe Hassam

New England Road, c1902
by Childe Hassam (1859–1935)

❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅❅

No man is brave that has never walked a hundred miles. If you want to know the truth of who you are, walk until not a person knows your name. Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass. A long stretch of road will teach you more about yourself than a hundred years of quiet introspection.
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear

Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love - that makes life and nature harmonise. The birds are consulting about their migrations, the trees are putting on the hectic or the pallid hues of decay, and begin to strew the ground, that one's very footsteps may not disturb the repose of earth and air, while they give us a scent that is a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit. Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.
― George Eliot, George Eliot’s Life, as Related in her Letters and Journals

You can download a digitally enhanced version of the vintage painting (as seen above) as a high-res 10” x 10” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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That old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air ... Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year's mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.
― Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose

Photo of autmn woods by the pond © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Vintage Illustrated Nature Poem: Roses by Edgar Fawcett + Printable Vintage Art: Roses (Flowers with a Beetle) by Marija Auersperg Attems

ROSES
by EDGAR FAWCETT

Oh, the queen of all the roses, it can never be denied,
Is the heavy crimson rose of velvet leaf!
There is such a gracious royalty about her vivid bloom,
That among all charming kindred she is chief!

Then the fainter-shaded roses, in their balmy damask pride,
Group like satellites about one's central star,―
Royal princesses, of whom we can discover at a glance
What aristocrats the dainty creatures are!

Then those tender gauzy roses, clustered closely on their vines,
They are gentle maids of honor, I am told;
But the pompous yellow roses, these are sneered at, it is said,
For so showing off the color of their gold!

And the roses that are powerless to boast of any time,
Unsullied as the snow itself in hue,
These are pious nuns, I fancy, who perhaps may murmur prayers
Very softly upon rosaries of dew!

But the delicate pink roses that one meets in quiet lanes,
Gleaming pale upon a background of clear green,
Why, these are only peasant girls, who never go to court,
But are loyal little subjects of their queen!

Late 19th century (Victorian) children's poem of roses by Edgar Fawcett. You can find a printable copy of the poem as a high-res 6” x 5” @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here. Vintage painting by Marija Auersperg Attems (1816–1880) is called “Roses (Flowers with a Beetle)” and can be downloaded as a 12” x 15” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Poem is from my personal collection of ephemera. These images are to be incorporated into your creative works. Not for resale “as-is.” Credit to FieldandGarden.com appreciated but not required. Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

It is the time you have wasted for your rose
that makes your rose so important.
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

My Photo Journal: A Joyful Walk Through Wild Bergamot Paths

I believe that joy is at the core of my being.
I know the joy I seek is already within me.
I commit to it with a lightness and ease that evaporates all barriers.
I will create joyful moments with every heartbeat.
― Adrienne Enns, Intentional Days: Creating Your Life on Purpose

Isn’t it amazing?
We journey through our lives, make mistakes,
say the wrong things, and many times live with regret.
We’re human we’re going to make mistakes,
but the blessings God sends our way, most of them never asked for,
they just intervene, giving us the joyful light we need.
― Ron Baratono

This beautiful life we're living is the destination,
and the richness of the trip we take is up to us.
― Sagel Urlacher, Yin Yoga & Meditation

When you do things from your soul,
you feel a river moving in you, a joy.
― Rumi

Photos of wild bergamot growing in great masses under tree canopy were taken whilst on a walk at Farewell Park in Oshawa, Ontario.

Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Printable Vintage Art: Shelling Peas by Myles Birket Foster

Shelling Peas, 19th century
by Myles Birket Foster (1825–1899)

I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June.
― L. M. Montgomery, Anne of the Island

In life you have to learn to count the good days.
You have to tuck them in your pocket and carry them around with you.
So I’m putting today in my pocket and I’m off to bed.
― Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club

If you like, you can download my digitally enhanced version of the painting above as a high-res, printable 12” x 8” @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.

When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate.
And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow.
― Shauna Niequist, Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way

Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: Pansies and Primroses by Alfred-Arthur Brunel de Neuville

Pansies and Primroses, 19th century
by Alfred-Arthur Brunel de Neuville (1852–1941)

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Knock, and He'll open the door
Vanish, and He'll make you shine like the sun
Fall, and He'll raise you to the heavens
Become nothing, and He'll turn you into everything.
― Rumi

❁❁❁❁❁❁❁

Why I Wake Early
by Mary Oliver

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety –

best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light –
good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.

You can download a digitally enhanced version of the vintage artwork (seen above) as an 11” x 9” @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Below is a close-up photo I took of a bicolourt tulip called “Flamingo Prince” drenched in morning dew. A lot of my first-year tulips were beheaded by “wascally wabbits” before they had a chance to bloom but I am hoping they will prove to be less tasty next year!

Impressionist Tuulip, 2026 © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.
Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

My Photo Journal: Fluid Reality (1)

If nothing lasted and the world did not exist,
all that meant was that reality was not fixed.
The illusion she lived in was fluid and mutable,
and could be easily altered by someone willing to rewrite the script of reality.
― R.F. Kuang, The Dragon Republic

I've been making a list of the things they don't teach you at school.
They don't teach you how to love somebody.
They don't teach you how to be famous.
They don't teach you how to be rich or how to be poor.
They don't teach you how to walk away from someone you don't love any longer.
They don't teach you how to know what's going on in someone else's mind.
They don't teach you what to say to someone who's dying.
They don't teach you anything worth knowing.
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones

Stormy clouds gathering above red roof tiles.
Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Printable Vintage Art: Portrait of a Young Woman Sitting Outdoors by Julie Volpelière

Portrait of a young woman sitting outdoors, holding a bouquet of flowers, 1822
by Julie Volpelière (1780–1842)

She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me. I ought never to have run away from her... I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little stratagems. Flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young to know how to love her...
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Some women feel the need to act like they're never scared, needy or hurt; like they're as hardened as a man. I think that's dishonest. It's ok to feel delicate sometimes. Real beauty is in the fragility of your petals. A rose that never wilts isn't a rose at all.
― Crystal Woods, Write Like No One is Reading

If you like, you can download my digitally enhanced version of the painting above as a high-res, printable 4” x 5” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.

Spring drew on...and a greenness grew over those brown beds, which, freshening daily, suggested the thought that Hope traversed them at night, and left each morning brighter traces of her steps.
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: Maria Luisa of Parma by Anton Raphael Mengs

A portrait painting of Maria Luisa of Parma in a garden setting, holding a pair of dahlia-like flowers. Her magnificent court gown is richly adorned with decorative plants and flowers. This fine artwork was executed by Anton Raphael Mengs (1728–1779) around 1765. Maria Luisa of Parma (Luisa Maria Teresa Anna; 9 December 1751 – 2 January 1819) was, by marriage to King Charles IV of Spain, Queen of Spain from 1788 to 1808 leading up to the Peninsular War. Maria Luisa was interested in music and art, and known as a protector of artists, most notably Francisco Goya. [Source: Wikipedia]

If you like, you can download my digitally enhanced version of the painting (seen above) as a high-res, printable 8” x 11” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.

Here is a photo of Dahlia ‘Zorro’ growing in my garden from the 2025 season. While I planted nine varieties of these powerhouse tubers today for the 2026 season, none of them included Zorro, unfortunately. I decided I wanted to try ball/pom-pom dahlias this season and due to budget and lack of space, I had to sacrifice getting Zorro. If the pom-pom dahlias end up being underwhelming, I will go back to my razzle-dazzle dinner-plate dahlias next year!
Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: Tulips by Charles Sheeler

A flower painting of tulips by Charles Sheeler (1883-1965), done c1925-26. An essay from the famed auction house Christie's describes the artwork as follows:

Tulips is part of a small group of graceful still lifes from the 1920s in which Charles Sheeler focuses on the contrast of natural and geometric forms, a theme he explored throughout his career in various mediums and subject matter.

The genre of still life was particularly appealing to Sheeler as he could leave the elements--which were often chosen from his collection of American decorative arts--set up for long periods of time and maintain a consistent light source through the use of photographic flood lights. Carol Troyen and Erica E. Hirshler write of this body of work, "The remarkable series of still lifes Sheeler produced in the mid-1920s were constructed from deceptively simple means. He generally used a traditional formula: fruits or flowers arranged on a tabletop, supplemented by simple articles of furniture, glassware and pottery. He painted the same forms repeatedly...The objects Sheeler painted again and again in the 1920s were consistently plain--the flowers were never exotic species, the glassware and furnishings were distinguished by their proportions rather than by the surface embellishments--and he rendered them in an understated, self-effacing way. (Charles Sheeler: Paintings and Drawings, Boston, Massachusetts, 1987, p. 106)

The present work is considered to be among Sheeler's most successful compositions within his series of still life paintings. Troyen and Hirshler comment, "Red[sic] Tulips is one of Sheeler's most elegant still lifes, with pleasing contrasts between crisp, sensuous outlines and softly painted, opalescent passages. Thinly brushed in delicate color...and with a slightly dry surface, the painting reveals both Sheeler's sensuality and his restraint. But in contrast to the satisfying elegance of Sheeler's technique, his simple arrangement of flowers on a table is vaguely disquieting. Although blossoms are arrayed in harmonious symmetry across the picture's surface, they nonetheless wind and sway on their elongated stems, bobbing out toward the viewer and twisting back into the shallow space in a kind of contrapuntal rhythm. The apparently perfect, restful compositional balance Sheeler achieved between the vase, the tabletop, and the goblet is undermined by the fact that the tabletop is pushed noticeably off-center and is tilted up, pressing the glassware forward." (Charles Sheeler: Paintings and Drawings, p. 106)
Tulips manifests Sheeler's interest in the challenge of creating compelling works with everyday objects. The result is an innovative and modern rendition of a traditional genre, and a tour-de-force within Sheeler's body of still life paintings.

If you like, you can download my digitally enhanced version (seen above) as a high-res, printable 4” x 6” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.

First tulips of the 2026 season in my zone 6b garden. This clump happens to be a first-year, mail-order tulip bulb mix from a Prince Edward Island grower called Veseys that included single, double and fringed varieties. A few of the initial blooms have unfortunately been eaten by bunnies! We will see how the rest of the patch fares in the coming days.
Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

My Photo Journal: Summer Throwback Walk at Lynde Shores Conservation Area in Whitby, Ontario

Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty.
Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.
― Franz Kafka

The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.
― W.B. Yeats

Look at everything always as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time:
Thus is your time on earth filled with glory.
― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Picture above shows a fallen tree in the woods while we were out walking one summer day in Lynde Shores Conservation Area many years ago. Doesn't it almost look like it could be a tropical rainforest with the foliage being so lush?

We first started going to Lynde Shores in Whitby, Ontario when our daughter was around 2 years old (she is turning 18 this year) and it was once our favourite go-to destination for at least a decade because she was (still is, actually) absolutely fascinated by the abundance of wildlife that would waddle, scamper or crawl around with no fear of the humans traipsing through their habitat. We go less frequently now as it has gotten much busier since the COVID-19 lockdown but it is still worth visiting especially if you have young children who love getting up close and personal with Nature!

© FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Printable Vintage Art: A Thistle by John Crome

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan “Press On!” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
― Calvin Coolidge

A botanical painting by John Crome (1768–1821). This one is simply titled “A Thistle” and was painted circa 1812. Oiginally found on Wikimedia here. You can download my digitally enhanced version here.

Did you know that there are more than 60 native and introduced species of thistles in Canada alone? While many of these varieties are considered noxious weeds due to their persistent and invasive properties, they are a fantastic source of food for pollinators. In my garden, I have a modestly-sized, but controlled, clump of Echinops (globe thistle) that I grow as companion plants to my Echinacea (coneflowers). Both have the same watering requirements, being very drought tolerant, and both attract pollinators by the hundreds, if not thousands, every season! The spent flowers also attract plenty of birds, particularly finches, to devour the seedheads that develop, which adds to the lively atmosphere in the back yard. Keep these spiky plants at the back of the border but within easy reach so you can dig out a handful or two should they become too unruly.

Globe thistles emerging in late spring to provide sculptural contrast in the garden
Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

My Photo Journal: January Cold (1)

“January”

The days are short, / The sun a spark
Hung thin between / The dark and dark.

Fat snowy footsteps / Track the floor,
And parkas pile up / Near the door.

The river is / A frozen place
Held still beneath / The trees' black lace.

The sky is low. / The wind is gray.
The radiator / Purrs all day.
― John Updike, A Child's Calendar

It is growing cold. Winter is putting footsteps in the meadow. What whiteness boasts that sun that comes into this wood! One would say milk-colored maidens are dancing on the petals of orchids. How coldly burns our sun! One would say its rays of light are shards of snow, one imagines the sun lives upon a snow crested peak on this day. One would say she is a woman who wears a gown of winter frost that blinds the eyes. Helplessness has weakened me. Wandering has wearied my legs.
― Roman Payne

Image shows a winter-bare tree standing in a field of snow-draped goldenrod and other native vegetation, their wild beauty unbowed by harsh winds or icy cold. I took the photo on a walk around the Civic Recreation Complex in Whitby, Ontario. Are you still going out and about despite the inclement weather? Or have you decided to cocoon at home until spring returns? Leave a comment below to tell us how you're handling January.
Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Printable Vintage Art: Still Life with Flowers in a Glass by Jan Brueghel the Elder

Still Life with Flowers in a Glass, 17th century
by Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568–1625)

What we do see depends mainly on what we look for. ... In the same field the farmer will notice the crop, the geologists the fossils, botanists the flowers, artists the colouring, sportmen the cover for the game. Though we may all look at the same things, it does not all follow that we should see them.
― John Lubbock, The Beauties of Nature and the Wonders of the World We Live in

It is easier to tell a person what life is not, rather than to tell them what it is. A child understands weeds that grow from lack of attention, in a garden. However, it is hard to explain the wild flowers that one gardener calls weeds, and another considers beautiful ground cover.
― Shannon L. Alder

A somewhat dark and somber flower painting, which was par for the course in art from the 17th century (sometime between 1600 and 1625). Oiginally found on Wikimedia here. I thought this picture rather echoed my general mood when winter starts to descend in earnest. I can feel the malaise beginning to creep in around the edges and it can be helpful to stave off depression with a small posy of flowers (or at least, a picture of one if you can't get your hands on the real thing). You can download a digitally enhanced version of the vintage artwork (seen above) as a 7” x 9” @ 300 ppi JPEG here.

Three Callas, Winter Edition © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.
Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

My Photo Journal: November Sky (1)

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
― Ralph Emerson

If we never experience the chill of a dark winter,
it is very unlikely that we will ever cherish the warmth of a bright summer’s day.
Nothing stimulates our appetite for the simple joys of life
more than the starvation caused by sadness or desperation.
In order to complete our amazing life journey successfully,
it is vital that we turn each and every dark tear into a pearl of wisdom,
and find the blessing in every curse.
― Anthon St. Maarten, Divine Living: The Essential Guide To Your True Destiny

Dark clouds drifting by against a momentarily bright November sky.
Photo © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

My Photo Journal: A Thanksgiving Day Walk at Gold Point Wildlife Reserve, Oshawa, Ontario (2025)

What if it's the there
and not the here
that I long for?
The wander
and not the wait,
the magic
in the lost feet
stumbling down
the faraway street
and the way the moon
never hangs
quite the same.
― Tyler Knott Gregson, Chasers of the Light

I was the world in which I walked, and what I saw
Or heard or felt came not but from myself;
And there I found myself more truly and more strange.
― Wallace Stevens, The Collected Poems

© FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

My Photo Journal: A Walk on Michaelmas Day with Bushels of Michaelmas Daisies

The Michaelmas daisies, among dead weeds,
Bloom for St Michael's valorous deeds.

We had such a lovely walk this morning through fields bursting with Michaelmas daisies (Aster). The weather was glorious as Fall decided to cosplay Summer for Michaelmas Day. Do you think, perhaps, this is just capricious Fall's way to tease a warning about a potentially prolonged Winter ahead? In Irish folklore, clear weather on Michaelmas warns of a long winter: "Michaelmas Day be bright and clear there will be two Winters in the year." 2025's Farmer's Almanac has already predicted colder than mornal Winter temperatures for southern Ontario so I feel we are being given notice...

But who could possibly worry about Winter when golden light appears to have infused every nook and cranny of the landscape and the world seems to be caught up in a Summer fantasy?

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
― Robert Frost

Yes, the gold will doubtless fade into gray but for now, surely, surely, we can simply bask in the bold and brawny sun-soaked day?

© FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.