ta-da!

Some benches didn’t make the ‘Director’s Cut‘ so here are the ones that were short-listed. Will any of you ever walk past a bench again without thinking “Oh, look, a bench for Jude!

January: In the Garden

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RHS Wisley – under the magnolia

February: Benches processed in Black and White

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Ram in Canberra, Australia

March: Wooden Benches

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Natural wooden seats

April: Benches with a View

Keswick
Castlehead summit overlooking Derwentwater, nr Keswick, Lake District

May: At the Beach

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Couple admiring Lyme Bay, overlooking Chesil Beach, Dorset

June: Art Effects (some post-processing to any bench – use your imagination!)

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Benches in the terraces at Powis Castle, Wales

July: Unusual details

Animal arm
Original wrought-iron bench

August: Colourful Benches

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Blue benches at Manly Point with Sydney in the distance

September: Metal Benches

Gazebos
Bench in the Gazebo at Hidcote Garden, Cotswolds

October: People/things on Benches

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Looking over the Black Pool, Kiftsgate Garden, Cotswolds

November: Messages / Plaques OR  Autumn

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RHS Wisley

December: anything you like!!

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Snowy Haslemere benches, Surrey

And if you are up for another challenge then pop over to my Garden Blog where something different is happening in 2016.

Bench series #52

For the month of December you can choose any bench you like

Lounging in the Loggia at RHS Wisley

A special seat for a special place. My final penultimate bench of the year is an interesting interconnecting set of seats that lock together like a jig-saw puzzle based on a love-seat. The edges of the arms are hand-carved to commemorate the donors and their loved ones.The seats were donated by the Friends of Wisley, and have been placed in the Loggia, directly opposite the main house.

If you would like to join in with the Bench photo challenge then please take a look at my Bench Series page. No complicated rules, just a bench and a camera required 🙂

  • Create your own post and title it Bench Series: December
  • Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
  • Add the tag ‘bench series’ so everyone can find the benches easily in the WP Reader

Happy New Year! Let’s all hope it is a happier, more peaceful and more tolerant one than the one we have just had: for everyone.

My Picks of the Week:

A last look at benches from around the world: Ruth has some fab modern ones in Tasmania; Majka is in Slovakia with, well, I’ll let you decide; Pauline was wandering around a Thai Buddhist temple – in Oz; Dawn was lingering in D.C. and mixing benches with her windows, well why not?  And from New Amsterdam a fabulous snowy scene to end the year with! A few people have cobbled together the last of their benches: Kaz has some rather lovely shots, Elaine has a Christmas Edition and Traudel found some built in stone (not the most comfortable ones), but Carol (ET) excels herself by posting a bench for every month from her exciting road-trip around Australia, and the prize for the oddest bench of the week has to go to Eklastic for this extraordinary cow bench! I mean how long do your legs have to be to be able to sit on this?

This was going to be the last of the Bench Challenge, but as I still have a few lurking in the digital shoe-box there will be one more post from me. I hope you have all enjoyed it, both participants and visitors. I have certainly had huge fun seeing what benches other bloggers are drawn to since photographing benches is as much an addiction with others as it is with me! Now it is time to turn my eye in a different direction for you over on my flower blog. If you are interested then pop over and have a look. I hope many of you will join me there next year. It’s not all about flowers, I have a few ideas with which to challenge you 😉

Bench series #51

For the month of December you can choose any bench you like

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Bums on Seat – in the snow

No it hasn’t snowed here. Yet. In fact it is unseasonably warm as in most of the UK, wet and windy. This is a bench from my archives. From another unusual winter. And they say there is no climate change.

A wintry bench taken during the harsh winter of 2010 when I was snowed in even though I was living in Surrey at the time! Some wit had made their mark on this bench on the village green. 

If you would like to join in with the Bench photo challenge then please take a look at my Bench Series page. No complicated rules, just a bench and a camera required 🙂

  • Create your own post and title it Bench Series: December
  • Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
  • Add the tag ‘bench series’ so everyone can find the benches easily in the WP Reader
  • This is the final month of the challenge. So dig out those bench photos that missed out on previous months. And next year I have a different challenge for you over on my flower blog. If you are interested then pop over and have a look. I hope many of you will join me there next year.

Happy Holidays Everybody 🙂

My Picks of the Week:

Jackie finds a beauty in New Mexico, whilst Aletta has a much more delicate bench. Kaz presents a Bench Bonanza to try and use up her excess bench photos, Traudel has benches on a boat, and Cee finds us a lovely colourful bench. Elaine has a few benches from New Orleans that are worth a look at and Anabel goes all the way to Bermuda. Sherri finds benches amongst the Christmas trees and finally one of my favourite bench posts of the year from Tish who shows us exactly why a bench is important.

Bench series #50

For the month of December you can choose any bench you like

Burton Bradstock
One of my favourite Dorset views and a curvy bench

Another look at the sea with a bench that missed the ‘by the beach‘ month

If you would like to join in with the Bench photo challenge then please take a look at my Bench Series page. No complicated rules, just a bench and a camera required 🙂

  • Create your own post and title it Bench Series: December
  • Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
  • Add the tag ‘bench series’ so everyone can find the benches easily in the WP Reader
  • This is the final month of the challenge. So dig out those bench photos that missed out on previous months. And next year I have a different challenge for you over on my flower blog. If you are interested then pop over and have a look. I hope many of you will join me there next year.

My Picks of the Week:

It appears that a lot of you have a drawer full of benches to use up this month and I am happy to see them coming in from all around the world. So here are a few that caught my eye this week: From Australia we have Mick, Kaz , Ruth and Pauline; from the USA Cee; from Canada Mama Cormier and from the UK /Europe Simon, TrevorElaine, DebbieMajka, Eklastic, and Traudel. I have to say that I ❤ the red benches!

Phew! I’m sure the benches will start to run out as we head towards Christmas but if you have time then please pop over to say hi to those who have joined in.