Celebrating gardens, photography and a creative life
Broadway Tower, a faux Saxon Castle, was perfectly positioned by Capability Brown to take advantage of the outstanding hilltop view from the Cotswold Way over several English counties. One a clear day, it’s possible to see the Welsh hills from the top of this folly. Continue reading “Broadway Tower: a Folly”
I’m sharing these pictures of an unusual but treasured treat – a smooth prickly pear (opuntia cactus) hand-carved with the three faces of comedy and tragedy. The giver of this gift, the sweet-natured, wise Greg Grant, carved a rather blithe-looking face (or perhaps it’s expressing wonder?) on the middle pad that reminds me of this ancient theatre mask on Wikipedia. Continue reading “Opuntia cactus with comedy and tragedy masks”
Most visitors will thrill to the majestic setting for this stone circle. It’s on a natural plateau that overlooks a valley and is encircled by the Cumbrian hills and mountains. I was lucky to get the first shot with a blue sky: mist soon rolled in and the sky turned overcast.
A military jet zipping through the hills and valleys of this wild, out of the way place for training created interesting juxtapositions: flying vs earthed; motion and dexterity vs weight and mass; man made vs natural; contemporary vs megalithic. Strangely the jet didn’t feel out of place, just a different type of harnessed power. Continue reading “Castlerigg Stone Circle”
The Hopeful Herbalist reminded me today that tending a decent sized garden is time consuming: most large, contemporary gardens are cared for by far fewer gardeners than would have been the case in the past. That’s a real challenge, especially as gardening the right way often takes a little more time. How tempting it must be to cut corners! Continue reading “Protecting plants: careful!”
This poised, piled glass installation was part of a garden art exhibition we visited in a Cotswolds garden. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, before or since. It’s not something I’d fancy having in my own garden, for various reasons, but I’ll never forget how surprising it seemed. Continue reading “Garden Glass: Careful!”
Susan Rushton 