A Walk Through My Woods and Gardens

Won't you join me for a walk through my woods and garden today.  There was break in the rain in the beginning, but soon a soft rain accompanied me on my walk. . .  

The Enchanted Woods beckons us to enter...

Maryland House & Garden Pilgrimage - Baltimore County

When a garden tour includes a house tour it makes for a much more interesting time.  When you get to meet the owner it is even more interesting!  Last weekend we went on such a tour in the Worthington Valley area of Baltimore County.  The day was overcast with misting rain but after the first house I was able to put my umbrella away.  I've included the write-up from the Tour pamphlet:

Secret Gardens

Welcome to my garden!  Please enter through the garden gate and find solace for your soul......

Time to Head Home

Wednesday, May 16:  Our last morning in the Lake District.  We will catch the 11:45 bus to Windermere for the train back to Manchester.  Tomorrow we fly home.  The air this morning in Grasmere is cool and damp.  I hear birds cooing and calling and an occasional 'baaa'. . . .

Grasmere - Dove Cottage

In April 1885 nineteen-year-old Beatrix returned to the Lake District with her family for a short stay in Ambleside with a Mrs. Clark at Laurel Villa, now Lakes Lodge.  She mentions in her journal that she drove up Langdale Valley and "Saw also the attempted revival of linen hand-weaving at St. Martin's College, Elterwater, under the superintendence of old Ruskin...."  I mention this to show the contemporary connections of the people whose homes we visited while in the Lake District.  She goes on to write...

"The mother of Mrs. Clark, of this lodging, had the farm at Rydal, and was very familiar with the Wordsworths, particularly the old lady [Wordsworth's sister].  Wordsworth is always referred to as the poet in these parts, and local tradition says Dorothy Wordsworth was the greater poet of the two.  For some years before her death she was subject to fits of madness, which her brother could generally control.  During these, though a pious and sensible lady, she used to swear like a dragoon.  She had a craze for putting her clothes on the fire, and they at least got a fender up to the ceiling.  She left a great many of Wordsworth's furniture and odds and ends, such as a large clothes horse, to Mrs. Clark's mother." 

Besides being mentioned in Beatrix's journal, her connection to William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was through both their desire to preserve the Lake District.  Wordsworth was instrumental in helping to stop the railroad from going any further than Windermere and Beatrix would later work to stop an aeroplane factory from being built at Bowness-on-Windermere where the plan was to use the lake to test hydroplanes.  Grasmere, where Wordsworth would live the last 51 years of his life, would be our base for the next two nights from which to explore the landscape that Wordsworth wrote about. 

Even with that to look forward to I awoke Monday morning at 5:30 with mixed feelings about moving on.  I spent the early hours of last morning in Near Sawery basking in what I saw out my window. . . .

Coniston Water and John Ruskin

Sunday, May 13 - 6:50 a.m. I woke up on Mother's Day to the sound of birds and sheep out my window at the Tower Bank Arms. . . .
                       

Beyond the Garden Gates 2017

I've chosen a few of the scenes that captured my imagination this year on the Beyond the Garden Gates garden tour held yearly in Frederick, Maryland.  Click the lower-right corner to enlarge the slideshow to full screen and enjoy Secret Garden's "Sleep Song" as you come with me beyond the garden gate to get a peek at several gardens. . . . .

                  


❤️Take Joy❤️

Beyond the Garden Gates - 2016

This year, because of the 🎶rain🎶, we split the Frederick Beyond the Garden Gates tour into two days hoping the second day we wouldn't get drenched.  But that was not to be.  It did make for some great photographs, though.  Gardens always look better in the rain.  Plus, it wasn't a thunderstorm so it all worked out.  Saturday we toured the houses that required driving between houses beginning with this one.  I'm including the tour booklet's write-up for each house we toured.

Out and About - May 2015

♫New Day♫

Our son, who had been in the hospital for two weeks, was released on the first day of May and is doing very well.  I have an abundance of Olivia June pictures since besides babysitting every week this month, we saw her on Mothers Day.  Here she is playing with Gabriel's treat ball, then offering it to him. . . .

Beyond the Garden Gates - 2015

♫Bird Song♫

It's that time of year again....The Frederick Garden Tour. . . .

To enlarge photos, click on them

Out and About - September

 ♫Here, There and Everywhere♫

September brought just as much Out as About.  We babysat Olivia every other Monday.  She has two teeth!  Reaches for everything.  Squeals in delight.  Can sit up with only a little support.  Move backwards in the walker.  And what I love most of all smiles with delight when she sees me ☺. . . .

Gabriel's Garden Tour

♫A New Day♫

Hello!  I'm over here on the front stoop!  My name is Gabriel.  Fiona Goosefeathers over at Hopalong Hollow Gazette gave a tour of her Mistress's garden.  Mom thought that was a great idea so she decided since she's been so busy getting ready for her Tasha Tudor Tea she'd ask me to take you on a tour of our garden for her. . . .

Annapolis Secret Gardens - 2014

♫Forgotten Places♫

The weekend of June 7th & 8th the Hammond-Harwood House sponsored their 15th Secret Garden Tour of Annapolis, Maryland town homes.  Here is a selection of photos of our pleasant afternoon walking tour through the quaint neighborhoods of old Annapolis. . . .

132 Charles Street. . . .

Out and About - June

  ♫Here, There, and Everywhere♫         

June has just whizzed by for me.  It began with sleeping bunnies in the garden....

Beyond the Garden Gates - 2014

♫Bird Songs♫

Last month we once again attended the annual garden tour in downtown Frederick, Maryland.  This year I thought I'd include information directly from the brochure for each house so that you can get a better feel for each garden.  I like touring private gardens to collect ideas for my own.  Won't you join me for some inspiration.....

Out and About - May

♫Here, There, and Everywhere♫

As I gathered my photos earlier this week in preparation for this post I discovered they were mostly about birds and babies.  Little did I realize I could add a third "b" before the end of the month....but I will tell you about that when I get there.  Meanwhile, I have to share this photo of a peacock on my drawing pad!  If you notice, hanging in the window is a stained-glass picture of a peacock.  It was as though it had jumped out of the frame onto the paper as the morning sun gave life to it....

I think my drawing pad is crying out to me that it needs to be fulfilled....

Surreybrooke

♫The Secret Garden♫

My most favorite garden center is just 3 miles from my house.  It's more than just a plant nursery, it's a nursery of wonderful ideas for your garden.  Nancy Walz's Surreybrooke is located in Middletown, Maryland and has been a place I go to purchase some of my most unique flowers each year.  I made my first visit of the season last week and wanted to share the photos I took.  Nancy's Surreybrooke is a place you can wander to see the plants in their natural setting.  I just need to tell her where I saw the plant in her garden and she'll show me where to find it in one of her greenhouses.  Throughout the grounds you will find historic log cabins moved to her farm and reconstructed.....

Waiting for Color

Spring is getting here, slowly but surely.  I looked up that idiom.  It means "slow but unstoppable." I sure hope so!  When I use it I mean, "Surely, Spring will come, won't it?!"  Except for a few daffodils and other Spring bulbs things still look pretty brown around here.

In the meantime, I thought I'd play around with my photo program and see if I could make a slide show of flowers over the years from my garden.  Turn up the volume and make it full screen to get the full effect....

                
I hope this helps tide you over until Spring comes to your part of the country.

Emily Dickinson's Garden

Emily Dickinson was born in 1830 in this house, called the Homestead.  It was built by her grandfather in 1813, and except for a 15-year absence when the house passed out of the family, she lived there until her death in 1886....

ca. 1870

Her grandfather lost it in 1840 due to bankruptcy, but in 1855 Emily's father was able to buy it back.  Emily wrote about the move back, "I supposed we were going to make a 'transit,' as heavenly bodies did - but we came budget by budget, as our fellows do, till we fulfilled the pantomime contained in the word 'moved.'"

Beyond the Garden Gates - 2013

♫Bird Song♫

Every Spring Frederick, Maryland has a weekend-long tour of several private gardens in the downtown area.  This year's tour opened the garden gates to historic townhouses as well as individual homes.  It was a lovely day to be outside despite the overcast skies as we walked through these 11 gardens....