July 7th, 2019 |
A picture is worth a thousand words, or so the old saying goes. But sometimes a word says all that needs to be said. Or perhaps, more than a thousand pictures can convey. Words label each section of Timelines, the 2.9 km trail that we are opening to the public for the first time on July 20, as a fund-raiser for the Massawippi Foundation. (You can buy your tickets by clicking here.) Words begin the journey at In Transit/En Route, where signs ask questions [caption id="attachment_7711" align="alignleft" width="5184"] I deliberately
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Posted in Art, Glen Villa | 8 Comments »
July 3rd, 2019 |
For many years a pine tree towered over an old house where a tenant farmer once lived. [caption id="attachment_6230" align="alignleft" width="4000"] You can see the tall pine tree behind the house in this photo from 2009.[/caption] In search of the sun, it gradually leaned farther and farther away from the house. Until one day, it fell. [caption id="attachment_6221" align="alignleft" width="4316"] The screened porch on the farmhouse is the perfect place to sit on a summer's evening.[/caption] When the branches were removed, my son-in-law noticed that the
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Posted in Glen Villa, Miscellaneous | 6 Comments »
June 27th, 2019 |
Sometimes, pictures of pretty flowers are enough. I took these photos in a garden in Knowlton, Quebec that I visited last week. It was a grey, rainy day but the gardens were glorious! The flowers in one garden were the stars of the day. [caption id="attachment_7653" align="alignleft" width="5184"] Raindrops on roses are nice. Raindrops on peonies are even better. I'm not sure how to rank whiskers on kittens.[/caption] Bright copper kettles are no competition for the WOW! of this poppy. Talk about gorgeous! [caption id="attachment_7652" align="alignleft" width="3765"] The
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Posted in Plants, Travel | 6 Comments »
June 23rd, 2019 |
Canada geese are gorgeous birds to look at. But why, oh why, do I have to see them here at Glen Villa? Towards the end of May I saw two adults swimming with their little ones. How many babies were there? [caption id="attachment_7636" align="alignleft" width="1790"] Talk about getting all your ducks in a row....or your geese in this case.[/caption] The goslings swam in and out of sight, and each time I counted I got a different number. But I could see there were a lot of them. The next
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Posted in Glen Villa, Miscellaneous | 15 Comments »
June 16th, 2019 |
In the 1600s, when Quebec was known as La Nouvelle France, land was divided into seigneuries, properties under the control of a seigneur, or lord of the manor. Fields farmed by habitants were arranged in long narrow strips fronting onto the St. Lawrence River, making it easy to transport goods by water at a time when roads were few. [caption id="attachment_7576" align="alignleft" width="500"] This drawing from Wikipedia shows the layout of a typical seigneurie. Established in 1627, the seigneurial system was officially abolished in 1854.[/caption]
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Posted in Design, Glen Villa, Plants | 12 Comments »
June 9th, 2019 |
Last week I showed a tiny speck of white at the end of the La Grande Allée. [caption id="attachment_7539" align="alignleft" width="5184"] You can see the drone camera easily in this photo. The speck of white at the end of La Grande Allée is much harder to make out.[/caption] In that post, I promised a closer view of that hint of white. And here it is. [caption id="attachment_7572" align="alignleft" width="3792"] Oh, my! Could you tell from a distance that it was a chair?[/caption] The white crabapple trees along
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Posted in Art, Design, Glen Villa, Plants | 11 Comments »
June 3rd, 2019 |
The crabapple allée is in full bloom and boy, is it gorgeous! The long line of trees are stunning whether you look from the side ... straight down the middle ... or up close. Last week my friend Tim Doherty came over with his drone camera to give a different point of view. He launched the camera from a flat piece of cardboard he put on the ground. He controlled its speed and direction from his computer, [caption id="attachment_7530" align="alignleft" width="5184"] If you look closely you can
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Posted in Design, Glen Villa, Plants | 19 Comments »
May 26th, 2019 |
Spring is here, finally, with the promise that summer is a-comin' in. Or so it feels today. And maybe it will feel the same tomorrow, but who knows? Oscar Wilde said that conversation about the weather is the last refuge of the unimaginative. Not so for gardeners in the Eastern Townships of Quebec where I garden. Weather means more for us. This year at least it means ground so soggy that farmers still can't seed their fields. It means trees still struggling to leaf out. [caption id="attachment_7506" align="alignleft" width="5184"]
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Posted in Glen Villa, Plants | 12 Comments »
May 20th, 2019 |
Saturday, July 20 is the day and you are invited! Come and explore the wonders of the garden and landscape when Glen Villa opens to the public as a fundraiser for the Massawippi Foundation and Conservation Trust. All proceeds from your admission fee go to support land conservation, community projects and a network of trails that lead through pristine woodlands, preserved in perpetuity by the Conservation Trust. Buy your tickets now for a morning or afternoon visit!
Posted in Glen Villa, Miscellaneous | No Comments »
May 9th, 2019 |
You may have received a blog post earlier today with a BUY NOW button. This post should not have gone out... there are a number of bugs in the purchase option that I haven't worked out. SO: my apologies. I hope to have the tickets sales up and running within a week.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
