We went to my favorite lunchtime getaway today to take some pictures for my book. The Catbird Seat is a nursery that is only a few miles away from my work. I have a whole bunch of pictures to post for Green Thumb Sunday tomorrow but today I thought I'd focus on this. My grandpa loved owls and collected anything that he could find with an owl on it. He was also an avid gardener though he was mostly into vegetables. When I saw this owl statue I had to have it to put out in my garden so that I could think of him when I saw it.We also had a little drama this morning because the battery in the car died and we had to get it jumped. The people in the nursery were extremely nice and backed their 1-Ton landscaping truck up to jump it for us. In the meantime the lady gave Quickbeam a decorative gourd to keep her busy while the grownups worked. Thank goodness she's at the age where she can still be distracted by things like that. ;)
So here's the latest picture of my pond...just kidding folks! Today Quickbeam and I made it over to one of my favorite places on Earth, Across the Pond. Since one of my favorite things to do when I travel is visit gardening centers, I'm going to share some of my local favorites. Across the Pond is a gardening center where you can buy pond things of course, and they have demonstration ponds. The Victoria water lily above is a new addition. I briefly considered trying to grow it once in my previous pond, but after seeing this one I realize that I totally underestimated their size. 
They also have stone that you can buy in bulk, as well as some pond liners, water plants and fish. The goldfish that I have in my pond came from there. They sell fish from truly immense koi that cost as much as one of my house payments to small goldfish. Here are a few of their larger specimens.
They also sell pots of all sizes and garden statuary. I am truly in love with some of their garden statues and NEED this one in particular since it goes along with my blog name. Unfortunately it's going to have to wait until my bank account rebounds from our move.
I also like their sense of humor. :)