Weeding

My friend Jean told me that she had some flowers for my garden. Jean and I work together decorating our church. She was thinning out her perennials and wanted to give some to me. She came over at about 11:30 am on Saturday and we talked about where to put the flowers. We started weeding my flowerbed. She stayed all day! Weeding!
We shared a pizza and she told me stories about her childhood. Most of her stories were about the flowers that her father grew. I added a couple stories of my own. As a child I lived in Brooklyn, NY and there weren't that many flowers around. We did have snowball bushes in the back yard. Jean left at 6:30 and we had weeded most of the garden. I bought a couple of plants today to add to my newly rejunivated garden. I'm looking forward to sitting out on my deck and having a glass of iced tea and I'll definitely invite Jean to visit with me. Thanks, Jean!





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Watering Can Study

I did a quick study for my next painting. I used a multicolor "confetti" pencil.

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Fountains

One of the assignments for my garden class was to paint a water feature. I went back to Shakespeare's Garden to take some pictures. There was this big, kind of industrial looking fountain right next to the door to the shop. Even though there were many beautiful, ornate fountains, this one captured my attention. It is big and plain, with a beautiful patina. I chose to paint it for my class. I've also decided to get a fountain for my Zen garden and maybe to do some planting. I am definitely looking forward to the summer.




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The Garden Room

My book by Timothy Mawson came today.  It transported me to another place - back in time. There's pictures of his bookstore in it and it is so familiar to me. I remember talking to him about his books. They were mostly old English gardening books. His shop was also filled with beautiful garden ornaments and paintings. The window boxes were overflowing with petunias and lavender. The rushing water of the river in back of the shop was cool and calming in the heat of the summer. In his book, he talks about Sissinghurst, a poem written by Vita Sackville West that was published by the Hogarth Press. This takes me back to the era of the Bloomsbury Group. For me, it is all connected, there is a thread. The book is also filled with little watercolor illustrations. I've decided that I need a garden room. My family room is the perfect place. It has a sliding door to the back yard and has windows all around. It is the gathering space, the heart of my home. I am inspired by the memory of Timothy Mawson and all this has happened because of the window box assignment for my watercolor class! Isn't life grand?

The Pansy

Here is my first painting for Laure's Garden Class. I bought the flower to paint and I'm happy with the result. I went back to Shakespeare's Garden today and took more photos. The next assignment is to paint a window box. I have pictures of window boxes from Saratoga, but the thing that is in my mind is a memory of a beautiful bookshop in New Preston, Ct. It was owned by a man named Timothy Mawson and it had the most beautiful window boxes. In my minds eye I can still see  the garden books and art that he had in his shop.  He died years ago and the memory of his store is, for me, another loss. He wrote a book called "The Garden Room" and this week I ordered it from Alibris. I also have a watercolor painting of his shop and it is very special to me.

Craving Beauty

I went to visit a beautiful garden today. It's a nursery called "Shakespeare's Garden" that's tucked away on a winding road in my town. The property has always been a nursery and was owned by the same family for many years. They sold it a couple of years ago, and I remember feeling a loss. (I have been feeling that way a lot lately). As much as I liked the original, nothing could have prepared me for Shakespeare's Garden. It is absolutely, unbelievably awesome! For the past couple of weeks I've been living in a state of hyperdrive. I took on so many projects, all of them important in their own way. I piled them on feeling that "I can do it all". I am happy to say that I did finish them all, but now I've crashed! I really don't want to do anything. I am taking a new class with Laure - a Trip to the Garden and I am behind 2 assignments and there will be a new one tomorrow. Yikes! So today, after work, for about 20 minutes I went around S.G. and took pictures. I was the only one there. It's hard to describe the energy that I felt, the renewal. I bought 2 plants to use for my class. They also had a rack of handmade paper and I bought a sheet. On the drive home I noticed so many things around me: the old fence lined with daffodils, the buds on the trees, the grass that is so lush, etc. It was just what I needed to get centered again. I'm still tired but I am ready to start painting. I might go back on Friday. I know that finding beauty is, for me, a necessity, like breathing!

Charm Bracelets

I think it all started when my sister-in-law Vicki received a Pandora bracelet for her birthday. It was very pretty - with the donut shaped "charms". It took me back to (for me) the real charm bracelets. The souvenir kind of bracelet. The one in the picture is mine. It's not really mine though, because I bought it at a tag sale. I've adopted it, refined it to make it my own. The little cake charm was actually given to me by my father. It opens up to reveal a candle. So that charm is officially mine! I can take you through the bracelet and tell you the story of my life. It's all there. At one time I had 3 or 4 different bracelets. I took the charms that I wanted and then gave the bracelets  away. Now I've decided that I really need an astronaut charm because I love, love, love anything about outer space and aliens. Maybe  I'll find an alien too. Isn't it fun to have a charm bracelet?