Showing posts with label Conservatory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conservatory. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Conservatory, Pandemic, Gardening: How Do You Want to Live?

"I understand that to move close to God is to move close to everything that human beings have ever experienced.  And that, of course, includes a lot of suffering, as well as a lot of joy."  Parker Palmer
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"But from time to time, back in the woods that primitive wildness was there, and if that's all God is, I'll settle for it....easily and thankfully."  Parker Palmer.
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"And so I now see the soul as that wild creature way back there in the woods that knows how to survive in very hard places, knows how to survive in places the intellect doesn't, where the feelings don't, and where the will cannot."  Parker Palmer
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Emma Courtney: Patios & Gardens
Conservatory built for Penny McHenry Hydrangea festival, above, by Tara Dillard & Susanne Hudson, Better Homes & Gardens magazine shoot.
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Too long without a garden, 5 years since moving rural, my body/brain/spirit has shot up from the ocean with 2 thoughts, evergreen hedges and a conservatory.
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"The point of being an artist is that you may live....you won't arrive.  It is an endless search."  Sherwood Anderson.
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Susanne Hudson's Conservatory, above, from Country Living magazine.
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"Vocation is a gift not a goal."  Parker Palmer
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Old Quaker adage, "Let your life speak."
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How did I get 5 years, without starting my garden?
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A life wants to live in me.  My garden let it grow.  As my garden spoke, it taught my soul to speak. 
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Then I moved away from my 30 year garden.
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greenhouse by Whoopi
Susanne Hudson's Conservatory, above,.
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Gardening is walking the talk of thinking.
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TARA DILLARD: Conservatory in the Gloaming
Conservatory, above, my previous garden.
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This she shed is the perfect spot to relax between planting different seeds in your garden.
Susanne Hudson's Conservatory, above.
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What should your garden aspire to?  The best in you.  Do you have that clarity?
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Take from the Greats....they will never leave you once you've taken them.  TAKE.
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Garden of Susanne Hudson garden room/green house made from old windows
Susanne Hudson's Conservatory, above.
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The irony of my gardening is how much non-ironic work my garden does  on me.
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Moving from my 30 year garden, I miss most, my Conservatory.  It had only been there my last 3 years.  Go figure.
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Garden Room by Tara Dillard and Susanne Hudson
Conservatory, above, built by Tara Dillard & Susanne Hudson.
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"Design at its core, thrives when a human being cares enough to do work that touches another --- it doesn't thrive when it gets more efficient."  Seth Godin
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Yes, I do believe my garden is me touching another.
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TARA DILLARD: Details of a Garden Room
Conservatory, above, built by Tara Dillard & Susanne Hudson.
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With, 'conviction, commitment and conscience', plan your garden.  Each will return greater in forms you've never known, but always knew.
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Plantings and flowerings in feed/water containers (butler).  Green house gazebo...
Conservatory, above, built by Tara Dillard & Susanne Hudson.
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"(Iris) Murdoch begins by reflecting on the fundamental difference between the function of philosophy and that of art --- one being to clarify and concretize, the other to mystify and expand." Maria Popova
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Friday, June 5, 2009  GROW A ROOM   Why build an arbor room in the garden when all it takes is 8 trees? I would choose more comfortable furniture.   .  Easy to do this with 6' trees. Perhaps fruit trees, or redbuds, from Wal-Mart when they go on sale? Sooooooo much cheaper than building a wooden structure, which will never bloom. Flagstone terrace, comfy furniture and DONE.  .
Conservatory, above, built by Tara Dillard & Susanne Hudson.
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Beloved renovated a small historic shed on our property and moved it exactly where I indicated.  Smart man, things go south, my fault.  How did I know where to place it?  The GREATS.  Moved shed to a new garden room, and pulled strings from the main house, making sure the shed/Conservatory 100% parallel to main house. 
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One side of the shed will become my new Conservatory.  The open shed roof, and back wall are dimensions for the new Conservatory.  Drew a picture, with measurements, texted pic to Susanne Hudson, "Do you have any windows for me to buy for my new  Conservatory?"
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My previous Conservatory was over a decade of dumpster diving old windows and doors, literally.  This Conservatory has no luxury of time.  Instead, fitting what Susanne has, to my dimensions.
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No text in reply, instead, a PHONE CALL.  "How would you like 2 pairs of French Doors at the front of your new Conservatory?"  Best phone call of 2020 so far.
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"Bad writing is almost always full of the fumes of personality."  Iris Murdoch.
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Bad gardening is almost always full of the fumes of personality.  Tara Dillard
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Taking from the Greats, has its purposes.  Fumes of personality?  I adore gardens, photographed, hinting nothing toward what continent or era of the garden. 
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"The epic side of truth, Wisdom, is dying out."  Walter Benjamin
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"Wisdom in the age of information."  Maria Popova
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TARA DILLARD: Garden Room: 101, designed this conservatory with ...
My Conservatory, above, previous garden.   
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Building my new Conservatory is a freedom, of knowing what I want, knowing how to get it, knowing what it will give me.  Back to the Greats. 
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TARA DILLARD: Conservatory in the Gloaming
My Conservatory, above, previous garden.
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At the front end of building Gardens, and Conservatories, I thought it was all architecture, engineering and labor. 
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It's still all those things, yet they're layered by greater gifts.  More important.
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"Knowledge hinges on an act of correlation and interpretation.  At the top is wisdom, which has a moral component, it is the application of information worth remembering and knowledge that matters to understanding not only how the world works, but also how it should work and that requires a moral framework of what should and shouldn't matter, as well as an ideal of the world at its highest potentiality."  Maria Popova
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TARA DILLARD: Conservatory in the Gloaming
My Conservatory, above, previous garden.
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TARA DILLARD: Conservatory in the Gloaming
My Conservatory, above, previous garden.
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The Complete Guide to Growing French Hydrangeas | SouthernLiving.com
Client Conservatory, above, I put into a Garden Design.  They hired me to brighten up a 'Dark Corner'.  Muse reigns.
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TARA DILLARD: Conservatory Dreamtime
Conservatory, above, my previous garden.
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TARA DILLARD: Conservatory
Susanne Hudson Conservatory, above.
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Your Home and Garden must have a name, a color trinity, and garden rooms, each with a name.
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TARA DILLARD: Decorating Your Conservatory
Susanne Hudson Conservatory, above.
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Sending pic of measurements for my new Conservatory, quickly named it, East Conservatory.  Easiest garden name ever.  Sometimes naming can take over a year. 
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TARA DILLARD: Decorating Your Conservatory
Susanne Hudson Conservatory, above.
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The shed has 2 nice sides, both with metal roofs Beloved built.  First moment the shed was moved to its new location, I knew, there will be 2 Conservatories.  Cannot wait for the West Conservatory.  It faces mostly wooded shade, acres of view, including a pond and fading lake.  East Conservatory faces a hedged garden I'm planting now.  Lots of good sun, some shade, a bit 'formal' easy to maintain.
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Hiding a fence in a dark corner with a new Conservatory !  Gravel, color, furniture.
Client's Conservatory, everything you see, above, is rescued.  My Garden design put the shape of the conservatory into the plan, we had a great conversation, poof.  This is 'their' detailed design, not mine.  Fabulous.
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"Information is increasingly cheap and wisdom increasingly expensive...."  Maria Popova.
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Gardening, Pandemics, Conservatories, we're each seeking the same gifts, of those gifts with no price tag.  Grace, transcendence, beauty, a knowing of who we are, what we stand for, how to live in that grace everyday.  No matter what each day brings.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T
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Asked Beloved yesterday if I could borrow his old work truck for a few days, to pick up Conservatory parts with Susanne.  LIFE entered this story.  Alas.
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A much loved gardening friend, we've roomed several times across Europe and USA Eastern Seaboard studying historic gardens, and miscellaneous symposiums attended, flower shows, etc.  She's 77.  Had a chunk of breast cancer removed, feels great, gardening, busy.  She made the choice for no chemo/radiation. 
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Oh the things of life we've already shared.  More than that, blessedly, laughter always far greater than tears.
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Susanne knows her well, we 3 beautifully scarred, dusty, matriarchal elephants, each with our own continent, are slowly converging.  Soon, we'll all be in the far off garden of our friend.  Road trip.... 
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"I understand that to move close to God is to move close to everything that human beings have ever experienced.  And that, of course, includes a lot of suffering, as well as a lot of joy."  Parker Palmer

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Garden Design: No Flowers

Designing a garden, now, with horrid views thru a pair of formal dining room windows.  Horrid.
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Pool pumps, rickety/collapsing/rotted potting table, spent/broken pots, stacked plastic bags potting soil, you have the vision.
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Luckily pool pumps are backed by another wall of the home, clad in lapboard.  Easy fix.  Carpenter will fence pool pumps, to proper height, in matching lapboard, each section removable for maintenance.  Have ridden this bull at rodeo before.
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Remaining disasters easy fix too.  The pair of windows are several feet apart on the same wall.  Carpenter will make custom potting table running full length of window-wall-window.  At each window, clustered, a collection of topiaries in her well chosen lead color pots.
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A flock of topiaries, plenty to swap inside her dining room, yet have rich amount for outside views too, on that new potting table.  This is Vanishing Threshold.  Notice, Garden Design goes inside.  More than the topiary arena, but that's beyond the scope of this missive.

463 Likes, 13 Comments - White Flower Farmhouse (@whiteflowerfarmhouse) on Instagram: “Topiaries in the shop #northfork #nofo #farmhousestyle #topiary #whiteflowerfarmhouse…”
Pic, above, here.

Garden Design begins inside your home, below.  Views to the garden, everything.

 7. Мой дом
Pic, above, here.
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Just wow, below.  Curtains take on a new meaning in this home.  Candle & vase of foliage pure homage to the work of Providence.

 The Autumn Window = happinessPic, above, here.
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How could I let my client look at pool pumps and a broken potting table?  Not in my realm.
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Gorgeous 30 Modern Dining Room Decoration Ideas https://bellezaroom.com/2017/09/03/30-modern-dining-room-decoration-ideas/
Pic, above, here.
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Another new layer for her Garden Design.  Replacing a wall of windows with this door, above.
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 Susanne Hudson's conservatory, with hydrangeas.  via Tara Dillard.
Shot pic, above, in Susanne Hudson's garden.
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She's also getting her Conservatory this layer.
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 Red Door Home: October RDH Blog of the Month – Belgian Pearls
Pic, above, here.
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Muse surprised me, above.  Client is also getting the open portion of this structure; client's scaled a bit longer.  It's on axis with the opposite end of her garden. 

This is phase 2, with my client.  Mentioned new clients to her, and their husband's mostly worried about the 'Garden Designer' spending money on flowers.  Her best laugh of the appointment.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T

Friday, September 9, 2016

Conservatory & Coop House

Working as a professional propagator for 2.5 years, moons ago, left its mark, deep & rich.  More than knowing how to propagate, I miss the work.  Literally, the physical work of propagation, and its 'time', its progression thru the seasons, from seed/cutting/plug, to plant for sale.  Early mornings, first arriving to the myriad greenhouses, end of the day, closing the myriad greenhouses for the nite.  Thru all weathers, the daily life of it.  Fragrance of the various soils, each green house with its unique smells thru the year, differing temperatures catering to myriad greenhouse crops.  And, of course, Kelvin, who taught me all he knew, by doing.  Working with him, side-by-side.  Hands/bodies laboring, conversation & laughter flowing.  He remains one of those friends never seen for years, then spying each other at a garden event, the big run to hug, and I feel tears of pure happiness, merely seeing Kelvin again.  
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Seeing this pic, below, recently, and realizing how badly I miss seeing our poinsettia crops growing from plugs to maturity.  Didn't know I missed that specific life experience until seeing the pic.  There must be a word for this, probably in French or Italian, American too paltry for such a word.
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Instantly this bit of color thru the Conservatory, below, got put onto my list.  Fourteen months in our ca. 1900 American farmhouse, we're getting a lot done on the 'list', but we're not to my Conservatory or Chicken Coop yet.  And, what a fabulous blessing.  Their architecture improves by the month, free of charge.  Smartly, I'm staying quiet about this private architectural joy with Beloved.  If he knew, he would have already built my Coop & Conservatory, square, historic, plain, good, done.  Poor thing, he said to me, not too long ago, "You get your mind set on something and nothing stops you."  It was in the tone of exasperation, my reply was quick and happy, "It's my best trait.  Your next point?"  Nope, he doesn't need to know about the architectural renderings, yet, for the Coop & Conservatory.

 :
Pic, above, here.

We have a similar bank of windows, above, brought home from a house we renovated for a client recently.  Here's the odd fact, I like being near my chickens, hearing/seeing them, aside from calming I think they are hilarious, they make me laugh.  My chicken coop must have a bit of 'Conservatory/Shed' for me.  A place to be in all weathers/seasons, to read, have lunch with a friend, a glass of wine late on a Saturday afternoon with a new book that just arrived on the doorstep, happy rich solitude.

 Garden shed.:
Pic, above, here.

From the house I want to see my chickens in their coop during winter, this wall of windows, below, perfect.

 love the windows in this garden cottage studio "The Conservatory" Includes 6…:
Pic, above, here.
Great garden potting shed:
Pic, above, here.

Nice roof, above, for my personal section of the Coop, especially in winter, all other roofing will be metal.

 Feeding the Chickens, Antonina Dolinina. Russian, born in 1925:
Pic, above, here.

More than the roosting rack, above, and stone steps, below, I get it about these painters.  Aside from major talent, they love chickens too.  Caring for my chickens is not work or a chore, instead, a delightful part of my days.

 Hubert Shuptrine (1936-2006) WATERCOLOR:
Pic, above, here.

She, below, is one of us, a Chicken Whisperer.  Have no clue why Providence put chickens into my life past age 50, but I'll take it, say thank you, and keep chickening on.

Never get between a girl and her chicken.:
Pic, above, here.

Patina Farm new chicken coop:
Pic, above, here.

Best chicken run, above, ever.  Instantaneously with seeing it, onto the list it went.
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My Conservatory shed, with large lean-to metal roof at front, and at back, is already built and awaiting Beloved's barn to be built, his stuff is in my Conservatory shed.  Not far away is the temporary Chicken coop/run Beloved built in the shade of 2 century old pecan trees, it's chain link with a flat metal roof.  For months I've been having breakfast or lunch under the back lean-to roof at my shed, overlooking the coop, lake, woodland, meadow.  Poor Beloved, all that scope-for-the-imagination of Anne of Green Gables in action.  I hear Marilla Cuthbert, "Finest property on the north shore."
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Have no interest creating the finest Conservatory or Coop, only the finest Conservatory and a Coop, for me.  Now, this phase, vision questing, quite fine in its own merit.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T

Friday, September 2, 2016

Detail & Restraint

Vanishing threshold, below.  Amazing detail and restraint.
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Detail and restraint, something to ponder.  More, once achieved, it must clearly be who you are.

love this, perfect for an herb garden or growing tomatoes wothout all the pests…:
Pic, above, here.
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Home, above, is in Carmel by the Sea, complete house tour, here.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T

Friday, August 5, 2016

Building a Conservatory

I am without a Conservatory for a year, after 'the move'.  Built not long before the move, how could I possible have known how deeply woven into my life, and DNA, it had become?
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Missed as a friend, beacon, nurturer, metaphor.
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Not a woman of means, my conservatory was made from old windows, parts, & furnishings, I had been hunting/gathering for a decade, and storing in the garage.  Finally, enough parts rescued, and money saved for labor & materials to build it.  Just because I was without great means did not include doing without a fireplace, chandelier, lamps, electricity and sockets everywhere.  Poverty of spirit has never been an issue, a real woman has priorities with scarce funds.  Talking a good game is lame, living it is life.
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A shed at our farm has already been moved and renovated.  Alas, it is storing tools, and my boxed up library, until the barn is built.  Two roofs, front & back, were built onto the shed, the old Kubota tractor, and golf cart, sometimes Tess, my beloved little ugly van, are parked under the shade of the shed roofs, and a, now, motley collection of chairs from my previous 30 year garden.  Those chairs, in the shade, and overlooking woodland, chicken coop, pasture, lake, meadow, are my only spot in the garden to 'be', simply be.  Scope for the imagination, as Anne would say.
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Creating my new Conservatory, from a shed, has more constraints at our ca. 1900 farmhouse.  It must be of its era.  Constraints for design, I adore, they push creativity.
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It's interesting looking at Conservatory pics, again, but for a different type of Conservatory.  Pulling new elements forward, dropping others entirely.  Life is rich, a 2nd Conservatory to create.

Shop domino for the top brands in home decor and be inspired by celebrity homes and famous interior designers. domino is your guide to living with style.:

Pic, above, here.

Clusters of cloches & terra cotta pots, above, are awaiting their farm debut.  At present they are under the house stored on shelves.

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Pic, above, here.

A black iron table base similar to, above, is stored in our materials yard.  Saw this and knew immediately, paint it white, put a small round top on it.  Chandeliers are stored under the house, awaiting.

 Tool store at Parham House, West Sussex.:

Pic, above, here.

Tools, I have tools, and baskets.  Only the very best old tools/baskets will go into my new Conservatory.  Not for show, to use.  Literally.  Beloved has his own tools, somehow my tools are taken/used/not put back.  Harry Potter must have a horrid incantation against the not-put-back.

 The winter garden/enclos*ure: conservatory of James Parmelee house, N.W. Washington, D.C., 1919, by Frances Benjamin Johnston, via Library of Congress:

Pic, above, here.

What is a Conservatory without a drop leaf table?  Drop leaf table from my previous Conservatory is in my office now.  Enjoying the anticipation, Which drop leaf table will be chosen for this new Conservatory?

.a shed with a porch....love:

Pic, above, here.

Have adored Belgian Pearls, above, Conservatory, small, functional, aesthetic.  Harvest table I've bought, hasn't been delivered yet, will be tucked under the shed roof, just like, above.  Sensing the problem?  I will need another harvest table to put under the great open sky.  Stars are too amazing, living rural.  

 TARA DILLARD: Conservatory in the Gloaming:

Pic, above, mine, conservatory at my 30 year garden.

Lamp in my previous Conservatory, above, is now in the front parlor on an antique chest.  Cannot wait for the Lamp Layer to arrive, furnishing my new Conservatory.

TARA DILLARD: Conservatory in the Gloaming:

Pic, above, mine, conservatory in my 30 year garden.

Pair of blue chairs, above, are flanking the door to my new Conservatory.  Now green.

The Complete Guide to Growing French Hydrangeas | SouthernLiving.com:

Pic, above, here.

A client's Conservatory, above.  A conservatory must be minimum 12' x 18', and have doors on 2 walls.  They did well, yes?  More, their conservatory made it to the cover of This Old House magazine.  Posted somewhere on my blog.

 TARA DILLARD: Lamps in the Garden:

Pic, above, I shot in Susanne Hudson's garden.
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Once the old Kubota tractor & golf cart, now at the shed, leave for their new home, a long desk with lamps, above, is their replacement.  For expedience Beloved used large gravel at the shed during renovation, it will have to be scraped away, used elsewhere, and replaced with #89 granite gravel.

TARA DILLARD: Conservatory:

Pic, above, I shot in my 30 year garden.

Lamps, and the chandelier on a dimmer, were left on, 24/7 in my previous Conservatory, above.  Oddly, it's one of the things I miss most, now, living without a Conservatory.  



Pic, above, here.

There is great metaphor in my Conservatory lit at nite, all nite, every nite.  Hope you've watched, Oscar & Lucinda, above.  Jenny, my mother-in-law introduced me to bleak chic, and Oscar/Lucinda delivers.  Not a movie for a soft soul.

 TARA DILLARD: CLIENT LANDSCAPE, view into the conservatory:

Pic, above, I shot in a client's garden.
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My client, above, moved away from his Conservatory also.  And is slowly building a new one too.

TARA DILLARD: Garden Room: 101, design this conservatory with Susanne Hudson for the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival.:

Pic, above, I shot of my conservatory with Susanne Hudson for the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival.

A few salvaged Conservatory parts, above/below.  Great example of how little can you have, and still have great decadence.  Susanne Hudson & I built this conservatory.  Thought you would like to see a comparison of styling.  Our styling, above, with my photography.  Better Homes & Gardens magazine styling & photography, below, of the same conservatory.

Awesome! $400 Garden Retreat made mostly from repurposed materials download plans at bhg.com/gardenhut:

Pic, above, same conservatory as 2nd pic, above, shot by & in Better Homes & Gardens magazine, here.
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Sink & water trough, above, are under my house, awaiting their new debut.
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Noticed how loosely I use the word Conservatory !

Garden & Be Well,   XO T
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No, you're not seeing the mostly renovated shed.  I don't like doing before without after.  I have shots of the shed in its original location before renovation, moving it, acting as a work shed now, awaiting that last layer !  Life is good.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Planning a New Garden

Learned decades ago I cannot design a garden without seeing interiors.  Moving into a new home?  Difficulties designing the garden?  Of course.
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Grieving leaving my garden, but oh my, the excitements of anticipating the new garden.  I'm in a new relationship.  House, garden, me, well trod territory, and favorite.  Slow down, did you notice the trinity?  Is this trinity, house-garden-you, yours?
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Ignore this trinity at your peril.  It is not in the least selfish, instead the opposite, giving.
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Counterintuitive.
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It's the airplane cliche, put the air mask on yourself before helping others.
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Once house & garden are leveraged fully, they are your ally in times of need, a spiritual base and retreat.  Beauty, ease, activity.  Another cliche, the more you go inward the more you outwardly connect.
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This isn't where I'm going with you, another day.
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Not in my new house/garden yet, I cannot design the garden.  How could I?  Don't know how I will live inside the house.
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I do know I'm designing for my 80 year old self, deer, drought, unskilled labor, and my own needs for beauty, simplicity, grace,   The property has no barn, garage, conservatory, chicken coop.  They are for me to choose, not a bad bargain.
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Built 1900, 4.5 acres, wooded/open, pond, American farmhouse architecture, 1 story, deep front porch across entire front, and a dogtrot 9' wide x 50 feet long.  A dairy farm next door, with beautiful views of meadow, lake, rolling hills, Piedmont forest, and cows.  Thorns in the roses, but those are another day too.
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Exterior colors?  White on white is the classic for 1900, below.  Along with basic gray porch flooring and blue beadboard ceilings.



Pic from here.
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Close to the street, I immediately thought of low fencing, friendly, with 'X' pattern, below.  Alas, my 2 chimneys, after inspectors report, had to be removed.  Repairing/replacing them not an option at this layer.  Asked the current owner if I could have the bricks, realtor texted after chimneys were down, the bricks are stacked and waiting for me.

 paint colors for 1900 farmhouse - Google Search

Pic via here.

30 years in my home/garden, a garden cat always in attendance.  Will take this, below, and style for my own architecture.

  

Pic via here.

For my dogtrot, below.  Door, table, door, the perfect enfilade.

 New southern Greek Revival residence with gas lanterns in GA - Historical Concepts

Pic via here.

 farmhouse porch | Farmhouse-porch-view

Exterior lights, above, are long gone, replacements chosen without regard to the home's age/architecture.  Finally, will get to purchase lighting from the man I refer to all my clients.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Sotheby's. A game room in Bunny Mellon's Oak Spring Farm Estate

Pic via here.
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There is no library, above, in my new home, this cannot be.  Great joy in anticipating where it will be built.

 Rachel "Bunny" Mellon with a gathering of her topiaries, photographed at a window of her Virginia home (Vogue, 1965). Photo: Horst P. Horst/Condé Nast Archive. AD Remembers Design Icon Bunny Mellon

Pic via here.
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Terra cotta, above, and galvanized metal will predominate with my pots at the new house.

 The antique lantern and the brass stool in the master bedroom are Lebanese. The ebonized slipper chairs are Italian, and the club chair, by O. Henry House, is clad in a Robert Kime ticking stripe; the bedside tables are from John Rosselli Antique

Pic via here.
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Ceilings are 11' tall, above, and I've spent too much time researching how high to put curtain rods.

This dining room of Bunny Williams has been one of my favorites since her book came out. I love the chinoiserie panel, she is married to John Rosselli, and the large gingham Slipcovers are fab.

Pic via here.
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Will slipcover, above, some of my furniture, some in big check, the rest plain.

nancy lancaster

Pic via here.
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The master bedroom is shaded and needs a bright Nancy Lancaster yellow, above.

Plates display and details on table

Pic via here.
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Dishes, above, will go on the walls.  Which dishes and which walls, too fun, the anticipation.

Charles Faudree. This exuberant room from one of Faudree’s own homes lit up Traditional Home's April 1991 cover.

Pic via here.
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Cloth on table, above, again, where, more than one?

 rambling path creates a sense of adventure . Bunny Williams' Litchfield Hills home

Pic via here.
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Have done variations on this garden entry, above, for decades.  The joy of knowing they will be designed, but not knowing where, for now.

 Not very comfortable looking but oh so elegant!  Furlow- Gatewood ~ from the book /OneMansFolly

Pic via here.
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My new home can lend itself formal, but I won't go there, wanting a blue striped rug, above, somewhere.

 beautiful vignette, love the demilune, the green table and chair, the botanicals and painted plank walls

Pic via here.
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Have chosen the best room, very Enchanted April, for my office, above.  A fun day when I can set the stack of 5 books I've written in their new resting place.  Better days coming soon when I start writing my new books.  3 in the pipeline.  Which to choose 1st?  Adore these  sorts of 'problems' !

 Choose an elegant lean-to | conservatory | country | Country Homes & Interiors  For sheer elegance and simplicity, the lean-to conservatory wins hands down. Its single-pitched roof is ideal for a limited space such as a terraced house or to fill the side return at the back of many Victorian houses. Find similar aluminium conservatories at Alitex  Read more at http://www.housetohome.co.uk/room-idea/picture/country-conservatories-10-of-the-best-1#KCf3cUlvtJ5SoEX7.99

Pic via here.

No conservatory, I'm considering this type, above, placed backside a small barn in the orchard.  Neither barn/orchard existing anywhere but in my head.  Already, they are on perfect axis with each other, house, and garden views.
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Amazing how little I know what to do in my new garden.  In the macro, yes.  Fine tuning exact placements, flow & scale, no.  Life is good.  My next job is to get moved in, and live.  Choose interior colors, place furniture, art, lamps, library.  And litter box.
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This ride has already begun.
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Blessedly my new home is not Victorian, it is Edwardian.  A favorite era.  A little later and it would have been Depression era Poverty Cycle.  It will be included for history, and necessity, yet the elegancies from the Edwardian will each be a joy.
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Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara
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Getting my homes ready to sell has about done-me-in.  Fourteen trips to thrift store with stuff, packing boxes, and staging, all at the same time.  Gardens included, and alas both garages.  Made the choice to use a realtor because of my day job.  30 years in my home, only 3 years with office/guest cottage.  Have written about staging a friend's hard to sell vacation cabin, 6 years on the market with 3 realtors, I sold it on Zillow for-sale-by-owner, renting it on AirBnB while for sale.
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Staging works.  Both of my homes have a signed contract, last week, with the first person who looked, then made an offer less than 24 hours later.  No, homes were not priced too cheap.  They were priced dictated by nearby comparables.  Quite a week, last week, still not believing the speed life is happening.
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Grieving leaving is intense.  The outreach I'm receiving is helping immensely.  Humbled, and giving thanks, at this unexpected chapter of grace.
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None of the above is 'afforded'.  I must write about the financial devastation of being married to an alcoholic, college sweetheart, for 3 decades, and losing every dime to my name.  Repairing the financial damage as a Garden Designer, on my own.  Alcoholic did not aim his misery at me, I was merely collateral damage.  Was a victim for 15 wasted minutes.  Was fortunate to pass thru survivor stage in fewer minutes, thankfully, to years of thriver.
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At lectures, local/national, and in my open gardens I've had many opportunities with other women, hugging them, tears down their faces, smiles too.  Why are they crying?  They had the epiphany, If she can do it, I can too.