A Quick Portrait.

Took a quick portrait this evening, setting up lights, shooting and packing back down all done in about 20 minutes!

Nikon D90, Manual Mode, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 90mm with VR on, hand held, f/11, 1/200s, ISO200, two Nikon sb's bounced into two bounce umbrellas, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

End Of Month View ~ October 2012

A repeat of last October's weather was sadly not on the cards but on the whole the month passed with less rainfall than we have had for several months. In fact we even managed the odd consecutive couple of days without any of the wet stuff! It would be premature to celebrate as with winter not far away the garden and allotment are both absolutely sodden.

Starting with the allotment the good news is that I think that my plot passed muster when it was reviewed - I say think because you do not actually get formal notification to inform you. Anyway no more letters have come my way so I am highly relieved. Hopefully the elements will be kinder to us in the next growing year. I've tidied up bar from removing the debris of the courgettes and sweet corn, which will soon be assigned to the compost heap. I have garlic ready to plant which I'm hoping to get in this weekend. I also plan to sow some broad beans in pots and overwinter them at home before taking them up to plant at the allotment come spring. The two strawberry beds which we cleared are already sprouting forth fresh couch grass growth, so will need to be watched over with an eagle eye. We have decided that two strawberry beds is one too many so will be downsizing. I've been pouring over the catalogues and books making notes of varieties that I would like to grow. I am now at the stage of shortlisting the candidates.

The main jobs to do on the to do list overwinter is to clean and tidy the shed as well as to do more laying down of membrane and wood bark as the original stuff we put down has worn thin. We also plan to some more rabbit proofing - one of the local factories fills skips with surplus plywood boards which are kindly left for the public to help themselves to free of charge. Just right for what we want to do. 

Back to the garden where I'm still debating which trees to plant in the newly created gabion garden area. No orders have been placed yet though so I will need to move sharply to get them planted this autumn. I also need to plant the bulbs which have been arriving in the post as well as occasionally coming home with me. I am determined to get them all in by the end of November. On day last last week I went through all the pots in the cold frames and inspected everything which will overwinter there. I am so glad that I did as in doing so I discovered a myriad not only of slugs but also their beady glistening eggs, which would have morphed into trouble in the spring. Now the plan is to move round the corner and tackle the greenhouse which is a job that I would prefer to do on a dry day. 

If I stand at the back of the greenhouse in one direction I look out at the ash tree, which you can see part of in the above photo. We inherited it when we moved here and reckon that it is probably at least 60 years old and and at least a good 60 feet tall. As well as providing shelter for birds and other wildlife it provides us with a good degree of privacy from the neighbours behind and above us. Both Veg Plotting and Wellywoman have recently written excellent posts about the ash tree fungus disease, which already present in Europe, has now been identified affecting ash trees in East Anglia and which could potentially threaten up to eighty million ash trees in the U.K. I am sure that there will be many people keeping a close vigil over their ash trees in the coming months. I will report back here on the state of our tree.

On a happier note I am sure that there is much good news to share, plans in the making and great new plantings in over at other 'End Of The Month Views', kindly hosted each month by Helen over at ''The Patient Gardener's Weblog'.

Old Brass Bell shot with a Nikkor 40mm AF-S DX Micro f/2.8G

Nikon D90, AF-S DX Micro Nikkor 40mm f/2.8G, Aperture Priority mode, ISO200, 1/80s, f9.0, two off-camera Speedlights into bounce umbrellas fired via Nikon's fantastic CLS system.

All Booked Up

'Fashionable gardens bore me', Henry says patiently, 'with their stranglehold on growth and natural beauty. Fashionable gardens are everything about order and symmetry and nothing about plants. They are hard, measured battlegrounds against nature, as though it was the enemy. Sometimes it is even enough for whole areas to be eradicated of foliage and filled with coloured sand or gravel, and triumphal gaudy flags, and emblems set about the site, as markers of the inexorable march of civilization eating up the wilderness.' - Jane Borodale.

The to be read pile runneth away from me at the moment, not only a veritable toppling mountain of magazines but several books too. Somehow or other, it seems that the majority of novels that I reserved via the local library have conspired to be ready for collection at the same time. There is a but a three week window to read most of these, as other library users are in the queue, so it's going to be a case of some serious concentration plus a touch of speed reading. The onset of colder days and longer nights will no doubt help. As a consequence though gardening related reading material, has for the time being drifted towards the bottom of the pile but there are goodies lying in store, once I have cleared the library books. Earlier this year I wrote "I am going to resist buying any more books until I have read those already in my possession. The bookshelves are groaning and are in need of a good prune". Well I have risen well on the whole to this challenge but I must confess that temptation reared its ugly head. Himself spoilt me with some Amazon gift vouchers last Christmas so during the course of the year I have treated myself to the odd booky treat including a recent purchase of ~

Jane Borodale's recent historical novel 'The Knot',which is currently most favourably priced at £6.00 for a hardback edition through Amazon. The book's central character is the botanist Henry Lyte, of Lytes Carey Manor in Somerset. The year is 1565 and Henry is occupied with not only translating a Dutch herbal, but also in planning and planting an intricate herb garden, which will feature a knot at its heart. It is against this background that "old family troubles start to worm their way up towards the light, potentially threatening everything that Henry holds dear.

Of course I've had to have a quick peek. At some four hundred or so pages long my initial flicking through impressions are most positive so I can't wait to make inroads into this book. 'The Knot' is also available in paperback, surprisingly at a higher price as well as in Kindle format - again at a slightly higher price than the current price for the hardback. I will try to return with my thoughts on the book once I have read it but it may not be for a while. I have already made a note to purchase this as a seasonal gift for at least one friend who like me is interested in both plants and history. What are you reading at the moment or plan to read to read over the coming months? All suggestions gardening related or otherwise are welcome.

Passion versus Perfection

As I’ve gotten older I’ve decided that being a passionate person is far better than being a perfectionist.  

 Once you accept the fact that you're not perfect, then you develop some confidence.  ~Rosalynn Carter

In my working environment perfection matters…and in the industry I work in it is a given that there are no margin for errors.  My job on the other hand is an unusual job within the industry and in the line of work that I do passion matters.   Recently I’ve been confronted with a couple of situations where a work product may have been perfect and the outcome was good, but if the task had been completed with passion the outcome would have been stupendous.  

Thank you U.S. Wildflower.com for this beautiful photo of the passion flower - my favorite!

A few years back someone in observing me and my hobbies commented that I was a bit obsessive.  I confess that since my forties, I haven’t just gardened, I started a garden club.  I didn’t just take a ballet class, I took ballet 3 days a week, helped with a pre-school ballet class and performed in 2 recitals (odd for a woman in her 40s I know but it was fun)!  Oh there are lots more examples of my passions but In 2003 I was very lucky when our managing partner asked me to take a role with our firm leading volunteerism. Volunteering is something that I’ve always been passionate about and I’m often one of those people that just can’t watch the news and hear of catastrophic disasters without organizing a drive or an effort to support those affected.   In raising my family I made sure each of my children served as a volunteer in some way.  I’m recalling the time my daughter was excited to help with a Habitat build until she got there and realized that we were on the insulation team and it was 96 degrees that day.   All I can say is that my passion for helping others and really making a difference in my community, locally and beyond must have been obvious in the workplace as I was singled out to take on an incredible role which has changed my life in so many ways. 

As the person who organizes volunteer efforts I can tell you that passion makes a difference.  Recently we had one person passionately wanting to assist victims of human trafficking and I was able to connect him with several very meaningful opportunities. Over the course of a year he represented several clients who’d been through some horrific experiences.  This person assisted each client with an intense passion and through these experiences has since moved into an international position because of his passion for assisting victims of sexual exploitation and human trafficking. 

One of our volunteers loves children, even going so far as to go back to school to get a degree in early childhood education.  She serves in a number of volunteer roles working with children and last summer ultimately performed one of the most selfless acts I’ve heard of in years by actually crossing the U.S. Mexico border in an area known for conflict in an effort to help some children in distress. She ultimately won a national award for her extraordinary efforts.

As a passionate person, I’m inspired by other passionate people.

Here’s what I’ve learned.  It isn’t that perfectionist aren’t passionate people but I’ve observed that when a person pursues an issue with a passion, perfection will follow.  Passion brings with it energy, creativity, problem-tunities and often some amazing results.

As I age I’m prepared to begin to sag, droop, and potentially lose things but the one thing that I hope I can hold on to is my passion.

The story of a CHEAPO re-do…

Enter Kid #4’s room

and a funky gold loveseat that opens up to a twin bed. 60’s no doubt.

Sorry for not giving you a better picture…but you are not missing much!

Didn’t want to reupholster or use so much fabric to slipcover

Sooo

What to do?….Paint!

Yep…kidlet even did it. And we just used exterior paint
 

cause we had it. And added some fabric medium...
 

One coat later. Scary.

::BOO::

We did spray the fabric down with water…and use some fine sandpaper between dry coats
 

Three coats later…decided to make the pillow seat out of some cotton duck that I had laying around  This is it waiting for the pillow cover…
 

 

Ta da….Cost: Nutin.
 

Had the paint…had the fabric
 

It is not crunchy….feels more like a heavy canvas.

Perfectly do-able.

if you don’t want to pay a penny.

 

Mr. Stag is ok with it.

And THAT is all that matters in this casa.

well, and kid # 4

Happy Howloween weekend…

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                  source

Swedish Country Scene - Alnarp

Nikon D90, Aperture Priority Mode, Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX, CPL filter, handheld, f/8, 1/40s, ISO 200  edited in Lightroom 4.

Alnarps Slott på Hösten. (Fyra)

Closer up to the ivy covered walls of Alnarps Castle as the leaves display their gorgeous autumn colours. It is almost as if this is their final swan song before the drab colourless enduring morbidity of winter settles in. There is beauty in everything if you look at it right!

When taking photos of foliage a polarizing filter is absolutely essential to remove any unwanted reflected glare from the great light source in the sky (Sun). Without a CPL filter this shot would have looked quite awful,  drab and generally blah. ("Blah" is a highly technical art term) Please CLICK HERE for more info on what a polarising filter actually does.

Nikon D90, Aperture Priority Mode, Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX, CPL filter, tripod, f/10, 1/13s, ISO200, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

Wordless Wednesday ~ 24th October 2012

Caramel apples…

Remember these?

• 16 wooden sticks
• 16 small apples, chilled $ Click to see savings
  
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light-colored corn syrup
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. 1. Push wooden sticks into the top of chilled apples. Return apples to the refrigerator until caramel is ready for dipping.
2. 2. Place sugar, corn syrup, and water in a large saucepan; boil, stirring until dissolved. Boil, without stirring, 9 minutes or until light golden.
3. 3. Combine half-and-half, vanilla, and salt; slowly stir into pan. Boil until candy thermometer reaches 235° (45 minutes), stirring frequently.
4. 4. Pour caramel into a bowl sitting in a hot water bath. Swirl apples in caramel, and place on baking sheet lined with wax paper.

Nostalgia.

recipe from cooking light magazine

Alnarps Slott på Hösten. (Tre)

The other side!

Nikon D90, Aperture Priority Mode, Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX, CPL filter, tripod, f/8, 1/80s, ISO200, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

Dawn…

Each moment of the year has its own beauty,
a picture which was never before and shall never be seen again.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

'The Magic Apple Tree'

"I love the wild days of autumn, the west winds that rock the apple tree and bring down the leaves and fruit and nuts in showers ............. Soon perhaps over one wild night, the last of the leaves on the magic apple tree will be sent swirling away, and on the bare branches will hang here and there the last few, shrivelling fruits. and finally those, too, will thud to the ground and burst open and rot gradually into the soil, or else be taken by the birds, getting hungrier, now that the cold has come, and on that morning whenever it comes, the autumn will be over" ~ Susan Hill.

Today as many of you know is Apple Day. This event which is celebrated mainly in the UK was the idea of the organisation Common Ground. The first Apple Day was celebrated in 1990 in Covent Garden, London but since then has spread so that events celebrating the apple are held across the country. The day not only celebrates the wonderful variety of apples that grow in this country - over 2,000 varieties but also the richness of locality and regional identity.

Here the day has dawned with some appropriate misty murkiness lurking in the air, which promises to give rise to autumnal sunshine later. We will be celebrating Apple Day with an apple dish of some description tonight, using up a kind gift of a bag of apples from our neighbours. I'm slightly under the weather at the moment with the dreaded lurgy, so do not think that we will be attending any events. Instead I think that I will curl up later and revisit one of my favourite books 'The Magic Apple Tree - A Country Year' by Susan Hill. From her home Moon Cottage she sets out to record "the sights and smells, the people, gardens, animals, births, festivals and deaths that the changing seasons in the small Oxfordshire community". The book follows the seasons, describing not only the yearly journey of the gnarled old apple tree that grows in the garden but also observations and musings on what is happening elsewhere in the garden and the village beyond. There are several seasonal recipes, including one for a delicious sounding walnut and apple tea- bread - maybe that is one that I should try out later if I have all the ingredients to hand.

Throughout the book there are exquisite black and white engravings by John Lawrence.

The book was published by Penguin Books in 1982. Sadly as far as I can gather is no longer in print but it is possible to pick up second hand copies - well worth tracking one down if you do not already have this in your bookshelves.

The illustration from the cover of the book is Samuel Palmer's  work entitled 'The Magic Apple Tree'.

Dreams and a WD Media Player

It's our dreams, doctor, that carry us on. They separate us from the beasts. I wouldn't want to go on living if I thought it was all just eating, and sleeping, and taking my clothes off, I mean putting them on.                                                                                 - Veta Louise Simmons, Harvey (1950)

 

Isn’t that a great quote from Harvey?   I love movies and by saying this I don’t mean I enjoy movies, I mean I really love them.  I keep movie passes on hand all the time so that I’ve got tickets when I need them.   We subscribe to Netflix though the selection of films to stream could be better in my opinion.  BUT I have something that I think is amazing and I’ve really been wanting to tell you about it for a while.  Well, let me tell you a story.

Over the years I started buying DVDs – all my favorites Avanti, Valley of the Dolls, Wife vs. Secretary, Random Harvest, While You Were Sleeping, That Girl, Little Women (the one with Liz Taylor and June Allison) and the list goes and as the collection grew I catalogued the films in alpha order (of course a former librarian would catalogue a library, right?).  But the dvd collection took up a lot of space. 

 Over the years when I would volunteer with the ASO Decorator Show House there would always be a media center with an amazing online media library but I’d seen the price tag on those systems which were well beyond my reach.  One day last spring I mentioned to my son that I dreamed of owning one of these systems and guess what he surprised me with for Mother’s Day?  A digital media center!   He found one by Western Digital (which was not too expensive), bought it and has since spent a lot of time converting and loading the dvds onto my media center.  It is amazing!   I now have all of my favorite movies loaded in alpha order online and the system is connected to my tv!!!  With the click of a remote control I can enjoy all of my favorite films.

 The best thing about this product is that it was not expensive.  My son would tell you that the biggest challenge is the time it takes to get everything loaded on the player but it has made me one happy movie viewer. 

I thought Veta’s quote was perfect, a dream.  My dream and my sweet son, brought me a media center and I’m one happy movie watcher.

Alnarps Slott på Hösten. (Två)

Another angle. :^)