Tag: long grass

Life in gardens: tea stop

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Tea and bicycle, ca. 1900, Univ. of Washington Libraries“Two women with bicycle,” Hoquiam, Washington, photographer unknown, via University of Washington Libraries Commons on flickr.

Modern and stylish, ca. 1900.   That’s an interesting device for keeping the kettle warm.

Young women of that time must have been pretty desperate to get out on their own — to bicycle in corsets, puffy high-necked blouses, and large hats.

Beautiful, thick vines on the porch behind them. (You can click on the photo to enlarge it.)

. . .Tell, tell your griefs ; attentive will I stay,
Tho’ time is precious, and I want some tea.

— Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, from “Thursday; the Bassette- Table“

The Sunday porch: Struan

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Struan, Arden, North Carolina, via Library of CongressGrape vines over the porch of an old outbuilding at Struan, Arden, North Carolina, 1938, by Frances Benjamin Johnston, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Struan, Arden, North Carolina, cropped, via Library of CongressDetail of the above; note the potted plants on the old ladder.

By the time Johnston photographed the old plantation of Struan for her Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South, the property had been a school for boys, Christ School, for 38 years.

The approach

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The approach, Chasley, Alabama, an infrared by C. Highsmith, 2010, Library of CongressAn old cabin on the plantation of Chasley, Monroe County, Alabama, May 2010, an infrared photo by Carol M. Highsmith, via The George F. Landegger Collection of Alabama Photographs, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Bus stop meadow

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On a weekend walk in the southern suburbs of Stuttgart, I paused near a bus stop to admire the long uncut grass between the sidewalk and the street.

A little further down the street.
Another street, seen from a bus.

(Click on any of the thumbnails above to scroll through larger versions of the photos.)

Many public green spaces in the area have been left unmown this spring, and they could hardly be more beautiful.

Sumer is i-cumin in—
Lhude sing, cuccu!
Groweth sed and bloweth med
And springth the wude nu.
Sing, cuccu!

[Summer has arrived,
Loudly sing, cuckoo!
The seed grows
and the meadow blooms
And the wood springs anew,
Sing, cuckoo!]

— Anonymous, from “Sumer is i-cumin in“

ADDENDUM:  I just realized that today this blog is four years old.  Thanks for visiting!

The fire pit in May

Cindy at enclos*ure3 Comments

There is a fire pit underneath, awaiting summer cleanup — but I was drawn to the nice arrangement of shaggy grass and logs* (and, of course, the bench and the other beautiful pile of wood in the background).

This is at my brother’s and sister-in-law’s home in Loudon County, Virginia. The picture is from her (mostly about) quilting blog, deeroo designs.  Check out the spring color in their garden and also some ideas for half-square triangles here.

There’s another nice arrangement of logs here.

Tomorrow Tuesday Wednesday, about my own long grass. . .

Of all our sunny world
I wish only for a garden sofa
where a cat is sunning itself.

—Edith Södergran, from “A Wish“

*I imagine a nice little snake has been drawn to it too.

Photo © deeroo designs.