My blog, “Thoughts”, was down due to a problem with my server.
In the mean time, I put up three images of Pennsylvania Viaducts I shot in April—wanted to get them before the trees leaf out and then later when summer is in full swing. Now that the blog is back, I’m re-posting them.
Starrucca Viaduct: built 1848
Tuckhannock Viaduct: built 1915
Martin’s Creek Viaduct: built 1915
This past March we went to VA to visit my brother Curt. I tool my painting supplies as I have not painted outside (en plein air) in a very long time and I wanted to give it a try in a controlled environment (the condo balcony). It was pretty nippy (COLD) but since I set out to do this, I did. Bundled up with my wool finger-tipless mits.
En plein air setup.
I took this image last summer in Canada. I love the way it evolved to do it’s job so well! Break apart and blow about! And it’s beautiful—form and function!
Since I couldn’t visit anyone we had planned to on our way home from PEI (due to my cold and barking like a seal—no offence seals) we decided to visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden. I’d been there once before on a trip with my garden gals but Bob hadn’t.
It’s one of my favorite gardens—a wonderful garden in the first place but designed so it can only exist in Maine. I don’t remember seeing the Fairy Village when we were there before, I don’t think we went that far on the path along the shore. It’s a place under the pine trees where people esp children but not only children have built tiny dwellings out of found forest material.
The light was bad for photographs under the trees with shafts of sunlight and I mainly had my cell phone with me but I had to take some shots.
These are only four of many, many, many little magical structures.
The first time I ever saw a fairy garden was years ago in Nova Scotia.
We didn’t have reservations and were realizing that places to stay were few. We stopped at Liscombe Lodge late in the evening and they had just had a cancellation. We were tired, grabbed a bite to eat and fell asleep. In the morning we discovered a series of Fairy Bridges over the stream we had to cross to reach our cottage.
The next fairy village was an exhibit titled, “Enchantment at the Edge of the Woods”, at Wave Hill Garden in the Bronx, NY. We went to see the wonderful work (“Charion”) on display by sculptor, Helene Brandt. Another artist had contributed a large fairy village to the exhibit.
Since then Fairy Villages seem to be popping up everywhere with every garden shop selling props made in China. BUT… the best it seems to me are the ones made on the spot using found materials and the one in Maine is wonderfully organic and magical.
After Connecticut we drove to Maine where we stayed with Margie and Joe in their wonderful home where guest rooms are private apartments, the food and conversation are wonderful and their garden is perfect for both human folk and VERY large doggie folk.
Bob visited with Joe at work and photographed along the coast while Margie and I headed north to meet Sally and Pam at the Maine Botanical Gardens for this years Garden Hoax. Words don’t do justice. It was misty (as all our garden events seem to be) giving the garden an ethereal feeling. We’ve been to lots of terrific gardens but this was different. It was a Maine Botanical garden. Where elsewhere beautiful flowers are planted to create vistas and swathes of color and texture, here the texture is of Maine. It is a garden in a forest.
Back to Margie and Joe’s for a bowl of home made chowder (what else) and the next day Bob and I headed north to Waldoboro where we stayed at the Blue Skye Inn, visited Pam and David, and ate Ginger Ice Cream in Thomaston (my mother has always raved of the Ginger Ice cream she ate in Thomaston, ME as a child in the 1920’s).
Bought alpaca from an Alpaca farm to card with some wool I have for spinning—this winter’s stress reducing project! and then home driving in one of this summer’s wild rain extravaganzas.
Short and sweet and lots of fun!
It’s been a while all right. My class ended. I didn’t get to go to the last class as Frank called a meeting that evening of all the graphic design instructors and I figured I’d better go to that. Last year I didn’t go to one because I was in Ireland and I wish I’d been able to, so. . .
The Sunday after that we left for a quick end of summer (my summer) vacation to Maine. We stopped first at my brother Senter’s in Connecticut. First thing I see is a bunch of fungi growing from a stump in his yard—I’ve been on the fungus train too long!
We had a great two days sitting on their porch over looking the pond and eating lobster at Abbott’s!
