Sketching in the Garden

Seeing Where You Are

If you are in the garden you not only have things to see, but things to hear.

Mr. Jackson Pollock, my amazing Ocicat, and I were outside.

  This was his time to wander and mine to sketch.  I kept hearing small popping noises, like a twig breaking.  Each time my attention would turn to the area where the noise was generated, but nothing was there.  If you follow my Facebook page you know we have had bears here this summer, so I kept expecting to see some wild creature stepping carefully through the plants.   

Second Year Bears playing on my lawn earlier in the summer

Eventually I realized the noise was coming from the wild peas rather than a wild animal.  The peas have not only gone to seed but have dried and are beginning to drop their seeds.  Ah....it is fall time, isn't it. 

Wild Pea Blossoms


The plant grows wild in my yard, almost taking over some areas of the garden.  Bright pink blossoms bloom on slender stalks.

Withering Blossoms


The flower withers, drops and a long green pod grows in it's place.

Green Pea Pods

Dried Pea Pods

As the summer progresses the seeds develop inside the pod and the pod begins to dry.

Open, Twisted Pea Pods

In the fall the pod twists open in a violent jerk, releasing the seeds.  The sound this makes is similar to a twig breaking.  So ok, I have a great imagination to think it might have been a bear, but they have been here several times.   It made for interrupted sketching until I realized the cause, and it also made me realize we are definitely into Fall.


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