"All gardening is landscape painting."
William Kent
thatch in progress
I have wanted to snag a picture of a local farmhouse which is being rethatched this summer. The house stands right alongside a busy road however so while we get a good look at it every time we drive by there is no good place to pull over. Problem solved when riding with my husband the other day. He even turned around so I could try again from another angle. You know, like hanging out of the vehicle. : )
So, just a little English coolness because a person doesn't see that everyday.
A pullback showing how very right on the road the house now is. And how absent the idea of "shoulder" is….
score
My guys pretty much do everything with gusto. I just sat on the ground and cracked up between shots.
webbed
Growing up the only connection I made between autumn and spiders was Halloween and that mainly due to decorations. In England, the spiders are impossible to miss come fall. While out walking at dawn the other day the dew showcased all the webs we might have missed later in the day.
Turning around you can see the little pockets of white webs laying all across the lawn. One young woman who still lives at home is sticking to the concrete til the first hard frost…
berry pickin’
"Better than an argument is to rise at dawn and pick dew-wet red berries in a cup." Wendall Berry
Yep. No words can explain the pure joy of pulling food right off the plant. No words necessary to explain their reaction….
After which the who-can-catch-a-berry-by-mouth game commenced.
May I present the winner….
almost back to school
Almost. Not yet. Not soon enough says one boy. His books have arrived and he is so ready. Three more days…
at the cabin
This has been home-away-from-home during my absence in this space lately. Mornings spent reading with steaming mugs nearby. Days spent hiking. Evenings full of exploring all the nooks and crannies of the eco-friendly farm which surrounded us.
Our host was a fascinating man with a heart for adventure. Quintessentially British, he sported a mop of curly untamed ginger hair and wore a button down shirt with rolled sleeves, glasses, and belted trousers tucked into gum boots. He welcomed our crew enthusiastically and showed the children all the possibilities waiting for them on the farm – bikes, badminton, ponds, and a real treehouse. He explained why the farm was a proper nature reserve and not just a vacay spot. He then showed us where the best hiking was and where to find the ponies I had my heart set on seeing.
Before embarking on the guest farm adventure he had spent many years in Africa as a safari guide. We swapped stories of travel and military life. He had fond memories of US Marines who shared music and cola and conversation in a far away place in the days before computers and ipods. His feet are planted on English soil again but he said Dartmoor was his wild. I get that. I need my wild too and we found it on this trip for sure, thanks to his maps and inside tips.
(just looking – we didn't eat them)
And now it's midnight and the day starts early here. I hope yours are also full of fresh air and wet boots.
plums
Into the orchard this week. It is much cooler than last year this time which makes for a far more pleasant job of picking. If it was warmer we would be fighting the wasps which devoured the fruit right on the trees last year. There are two varieties of plums in great abundance – a red and blue tree. Which of these many English varieties is anyone's guess. I am always amazed at all the things I don't know. How many fascinating things there are to know.
apples
Everything is coming in a fortnight early this year, says the farmer. Caught me a bit by surprise this year.
of knights and fair maidens
Framlingham Castle came alive with dancing and medieval combat last weekend and we were front and center for all the action. The sun even showed up which made it pretty close to perfect.
The reenactment, provided by the Plantagenet Society, was incredible. (I should probably not admit how old I was before I could pronounce that correctly. Suffice it to say it was before this weekend. But maybe not allll that much before ; )) They use authentic weapons – ie no matter how many times you rehearse, it's gonna hurt some. We were all wincing every time we heard a blow strike. We left convinced this would have not have been as romantic and sweet as it may have seemed to us before. I am pretty sure it was brutal watch it live back in the day.
I am always super happy when our kids work up enough courage to jump into the fray. I was so not that child, myself.
And a side note, if there are any Jack Black fans out there who watched his version of Gulliver I am telling you, this guy was SO the spitting image of Chris O'Dowd's villain. And if you haven't seen it? C'mon. For real??
Starry Sky Journal 