Views from Two Windows

  • Post published:08/26/2015
  • Post comments:7 Comments

View from the Bedroom Window in HeathThe views from two windows show what we are leaving and where we are going. Over the past couple of years I have been documenting the view from our bedroom in Heath, marking the changes in the seasons. These photos of the  foreground view of the lawn gardens, the mid-ground view of the fields and the background view of the hills are what we have enjoyed living with, admiring and working with…

First Dandelion – First Signs of Spring

  • Post published:05/06/2015
  • Post comments:0 Comments

The first dandelion seems  early this year, an indication that spring has arrived almost all in an instant after our very long and very frigid winter. The grass is suddenly green and the green veil across the trees at the edges of our field is becoming more opaque. The lilac leaf buds seem to double in size every day. Violets are blooming in the hots spots along the house foundation, too thick with weeds to make a good…

Thomas Affleck – A Mighty Rose

  • Post published:04/15/2015
  • Post comments:3 Comments

Thomas Affleck is not blooming yet, but I did clean out the Herb Bed where this rose is the western anchor. It looks like it came through our horrendous winter well. All that deep snow was a blessing for many plants. Chives and parsley and marjoram are showing new growth, but I am going to have to wait a while more the roses to bloom. Thomas Affleck came from the Antique Rose Emporium where many of my most…

View from the Bedroom Window – March 2015

  • Post published:04/01/2015
  • Post comments:1 Comment

February ended cold, and March began cold. 10 degrees at 7 am on March 2. The fountain juniper is almost completely covered. More snow yesterday, but warmer temperatures - over freezing. Temperatures are staying at freezing or below - but the fountain juniper  begins to reveal itself.  The only place to find color is at the Smith College Spring Bulb show. More sun, but still freezing temperatures. And yet melting - or subliming - continues.  "Sublime  verb -…

Rachel’s Rose for Wordless Wednesday

  • Post published:03/18/2015
  • Post comments:2 Comments

The day has been warmer, briefly, but windy and with an icy shower. I refused to think about it. I am thinking about Roses. I am thinking about Rachel's Rose which I wrote about here.  Rachel's Rose is an old trouble-free  farmhouse rose, name forever lost, but there are now new trouble-free roses available with a long season of bloom Peter Kukielski, former curator of the NYBG Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden,  is the man to tell you about…

Shades of White for Winter, Spring and Summer

  • Post published:03/04/2015
  • Post comments:2 Comments

There are many shades of white in this world. Snow white is what I have been looking at for three frigid months now, but I dream of shades of white for spring and summer. First come the snowdrops - as white as snow. A very welcome white. Rhododendrons bloom towards the end of May, but 'Boule de Neige'  (Snowball) has a memory of the white winter. Somehow this pristine white seems prettier than the snow. High summer and…

Bright and White and BarelyFreezing

  • Post published:02/11/2015
  • Post comments:4 Comments

It is bright and white and barely freezing. The snow has stopped. The plow arrived. One car got  out. The snow has fallen and drifted into the Sunken Garden, half burying the Sargent Crabtree. The western wall is over six feet high - also buried. If you look closely you'll see a tiny branch at the right of this photo, hinting of the three hydrangeas now buried - and probably damaged. Sigh. We are really really happy that…

Snowflakes and Photographer

  • Post published:01/14/2015
  • Post comments:2 Comments

Snowflakes on the car window early this frigid morning.  And the photographer's hands. Snowflake Bentley will tell you more about snowflakes and photographing snowflakes. Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin tells the wonderful story about a Vermont boy born in 1865 who loved snowflakes and learned how to photograph them. For more Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.

All Kinds of Books for the Reading Season on Wordless Wednesday

  • Post published:01/06/2015
  • Post comments:5 Comments

Where do you keep your books for the reading season that follows the delightful chaos of the holidays? I will show you my bookshelves - or at least portions of the ranks of bookshelves in my house. There are about 44 feet of bookshelves in the Great Room. This section includes nature refernce books, mysteries, essays and cookbooks and books on cooking. This array of cookbooks is next to the dining table that also serves as a worktable.…