An Artist's Garden
07/11/2007 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaThis serpent sometimes wonders if it is better to go to different places every year for holidays and get a little snippet of something new each time or to go to the same one and get to explore and know all the nooks and crannies
Location is a big thing when making such decisions. When the Izzie lurked in D'land, the temptation was always to go to different places for each holiday. But then there were special places - sacred sites actually - such as Lubeck that kept the Izzie coming back again and again
Down here in dull Dursleyville, things are a bit more complicated. Being in one of the most isolated cities on the planet, there just simply are not too many options. Other than by train - the Izzie simply hates traveling.
Many moons ago did get adventurous and went on a very grand adventure to Kalgoorlie, Esperance and Albany. Albany is an 8 hour bus trip from dear old Durlseyville and Izzie hates the idea of 8 precious daylight hours on the road. So the question was where to stop. Had a bunch of tourist brochures but no first hand information to make a decision. The two most likely half way points were Bridgetown and Manjimup. Eenie meenie minie Manjimup it was. Stayed in the local hotel full of horrid loggers. Funny - both the Izzie and our travelling companion are greenie tree huggers and proud of it. You didn't need to be a new age Sybil Trelawneyish sort to sense a certain sort of aura - best described as The Badlands.
So - got in the coach around 12ish or so the next day and within 30 mins was passing through a hilly little town. The first thing we seen was a place called Riverwood House with a large black teapot hanging outside. This was soon followed by Scroungers - a quaint old antique shop with a very large cauldron as a calling card. Then there were lots of wooden little shops on the main street followed by a park with a big boat in the middle. We both thought - oh bugger. This is the place we should have visited. The Izzie swore that she would be back but did not make it until 3 years later in 1999. And not surprising - it was love at first sight. Sacred Site status up there with Lubeck and Meiringen.
And that was before discovering the garden of earthly delights that is Ford House bed and breakfast. The place is so amazing that the Iz has been going there every spring time since 2001. Cheated and went in May last year due to other plans for October ;)
Being such an adorably gorgeous place and only 4 hours or so by train and bus from the Lair - unless this serpent wins the lotto - there's just no reason to go anywhere else for our annual Big Week Out.
So - every year there are different gardens open in the Festival of Country Gardens and every year there are a couple of changes in the composition of the main street. Cafes and shops come and go. There's one shop called Oooh La La Lollipop that sells nothing but sweets and choccies - they're still there after 3 years as is most surprisingly the ubergorgeous Christmas Shop. The scrapbooking store and the Christian bookstore did not do so well
But the newest kid on the block right opposite the gorgeous pink and fluffy cherry trees is an artist supply shop full of paints, brushes, canvasses and all sorts of stationery and stuff. Oh the temptation. But managed to resist. They did have emerald calligraphy ink but at 12 silver sickles a bottle - not tempted - especially since the serpent still has her supplies snatched in a cute little store just around the corner from Hundertwasserhaus in Vienna.
Well, after snooping in this store and slowly slinking down the street, the Iz visited the first of several gardens on our 'must see' list. This one was around the corner from Ford House on a bit of a hill. It had gorgeous views to the valley and was full of ferns and Japanese maples
On entering, the owner brought us through the house to the balcony at the back. There she had an easel with a work in progress. Izzie recognized the style from seeing similar paintings gracing the walls of the 1898 cafe.
This lady has been living in the house for 9 years and the front garden was bare when she bought it. She had planted lemons, maples, silver birches, bamboo and all sorts of interesting things.
She said that she was torn between staying and selling up and going to Melbourne where the grandchildren are living. She mentioned in passing that she is 70 something. Iz was amazed - she looks no more than 55. The old alarm bells are going off in this serpent's skull. The spirit of Barbara Sher is speaking. It's not too late if you start now.
And then there was all the quilts. Turned out that one of the makers was sitting right next to Izzie at breakfast time on Sunday morning. She was pleased that Izzie noticed that there was one crossed shaped pattern which formed every second square and the others were two alternating diamonds with two different sets of colours. Izzie said that we were fascinated how so many seemingly complicated quilts were based on reasonably simple structures. She said that it is easier than it looks in that each square is not individually made but begins life as a set of so many strips sewn together and then cut into smaller sections and assembled. She said that it is time consuming but not quite as complicated as it looks.
And then there's Jenny who is one half of the couple who runs the place. She used to be a photographer before she met her hubbie and they started doing the whole bed and breakfast thing. She said that her first creative project was her 4 children which she started at 19 followed by photography and the bed and breakfast. She has now just opened a shop there with the most beautiful crafty kind of things. She has also made several of the gorgeous quilts adorning various beds in the place. But she said something which had the Izzie all ears. She said that she has to have some sort of creative outlet or else she gets all cranky.
Oh dear. Certain Izzie suspicions have been confirmed beyond all reasonable doubt. Had begun to suspect the same for this serpent but then she confirmed it and the very same day the Izzie is reading "The Artist's Way" where the author says the very same thing. The Izzie's neglect of the inner serpent also seems suspiciously correllated to recent increases in neurotic crankiness. The sleeping serpent is awakening again and demanding to be indulged or else and has been tossing hints to the Izzie's more rational and mundane muggle brain at an increasingly rapid rate. The last straw was the movie playing on the bus on the way back to Bunbury but more of that later.
So now the Izzie has no excuse for any more procrastination.
Location is a big thing when making such decisions. When the Izzie lurked in D'land, the temptation was always to go to different places for each holiday. But then there were special places - sacred sites actually - such as Lubeck that kept the Izzie coming back again and again
Down here in dull Dursleyville, things are a bit more complicated. Being in one of the most isolated cities on the planet, there just simply are not too many options. Other than by train - the Izzie simply hates traveling.
Many moons ago did get adventurous and went on a very grand adventure to Kalgoorlie, Esperance and Albany. Albany is an 8 hour bus trip from dear old Durlseyville and Izzie hates the idea of 8 precious daylight hours on the road. So the question was where to stop. Had a bunch of tourist brochures but no first hand information to make a decision. The two most likely half way points were Bridgetown and Manjimup. Eenie meenie minie Manjimup it was. Stayed in the local hotel full of horrid loggers. Funny - both the Izzie and our travelling companion are greenie tree huggers and proud of it. You didn't need to be a new age Sybil Trelawneyish sort to sense a certain sort of aura - best described as The Badlands.
So - got in the coach around 12ish or so the next day and within 30 mins was passing through a hilly little town. The first thing we seen was a place called Riverwood House with a large black teapot hanging outside. This was soon followed by Scroungers - a quaint old antique shop with a very large cauldron as a calling card. Then there were lots of wooden little shops on the main street followed by a park with a big boat in the middle. We both thought - oh bugger. This is the place we should have visited. The Izzie swore that she would be back but did not make it until 3 years later in 1999. And not surprising - it was love at first sight. Sacred Site status up there with Lubeck and Meiringen.
And that was before discovering the garden of earthly delights that is Ford House bed and breakfast. The place is so amazing that the Iz has been going there every spring time since 2001. Cheated and went in May last year due to other plans for October ;)
Being such an adorably gorgeous place and only 4 hours or so by train and bus from the Lair - unless this serpent wins the lotto - there's just no reason to go anywhere else for our annual Big Week Out.
So - every year there are different gardens open in the Festival of Country Gardens and every year there are a couple of changes in the composition of the main street. Cafes and shops come and go. There's one shop called Oooh La La Lollipop that sells nothing but sweets and choccies - they're still there after 3 years as is most surprisingly the ubergorgeous Christmas Shop. The scrapbooking store and the Christian bookstore did not do so well
But the newest kid on the block right opposite the gorgeous pink and fluffy cherry trees is an artist supply shop full of paints, brushes, canvasses and all sorts of stationery and stuff. Oh the temptation. But managed to resist. They did have emerald calligraphy ink but at 12 silver sickles a bottle - not tempted - especially since the serpent still has her supplies snatched in a cute little store just around the corner from Hundertwasserhaus in Vienna.
Well, after snooping in this store and slowly slinking down the street, the Iz visited the first of several gardens on our 'must see' list. This one was around the corner from Ford House on a bit of a hill. It had gorgeous views to the valley and was full of ferns and Japanese maples
On entering, the owner brought us through the house to the balcony at the back. There she had an easel with a work in progress. Izzie recognized the style from seeing similar paintings gracing the walls of the 1898 cafe.
This lady has been living in the house for 9 years and the front garden was bare when she bought it. She had planted lemons, maples, silver birches, bamboo and all sorts of interesting things.
She said that she was torn between staying and selling up and going to Melbourne where the grandchildren are living. She mentioned in passing that she is 70 something. Iz was amazed - she looks no more than 55. The old alarm bells are going off in this serpent's skull. The spirit of Barbara Sher is speaking. It's not too late if you start now.
And then there was all the quilts. Turned out that one of the makers was sitting right next to Izzie at breakfast time on Sunday morning. She was pleased that Izzie noticed that there was one crossed shaped pattern which formed every second square and the others were two alternating diamonds with two different sets of colours. Izzie said that we were fascinated how so many seemingly complicated quilts were based on reasonably simple structures. She said that it is easier than it looks in that each square is not individually made but begins life as a set of so many strips sewn together and then cut into smaller sections and assembled. She said that it is time consuming but not quite as complicated as it looks.
And then there's Jenny who is one half of the couple who runs the place. She used to be a photographer before she met her hubbie and they started doing the whole bed and breakfast thing. She said that her first creative project was her 4 children which she started at 19 followed by photography and the bed and breakfast. She has now just opened a shop there with the most beautiful crafty kind of things. She has also made several of the gorgeous quilts adorning various beds in the place. But she said something which had the Izzie all ears. She said that she has to have some sort of creative outlet or else she gets all cranky.
Oh dear. Certain Izzie suspicions have been confirmed beyond all reasonable doubt. Had begun to suspect the same for this serpent but then she confirmed it and the very same day the Izzie is reading "The Artist's Way" where the author says the very same thing. The Izzie's neglect of the inner serpent also seems suspiciously correllated to recent increases in neurotic crankiness. The sleeping serpent is awakening again and demanding to be indulged or else and has been tossing hints to the Izzie's more rational and mundane muggle brain at an increasingly rapid rate. The last straw was the movie playing on the bus on the way back to Bunbury but more of that later.
So now the Izzie has no excuse for any more procrastination.
