PaperWhimsy

England 2008 - Pages from my journal Part I

Travel along with me by visiting my website, PaperWhimsy.com, for the complete (oh, yeah... there's more) full-sized version of my journal (click HERE for the secret door).  I'll be adding updates as I create the pages.  Lots to see (1800 photos should take us pretty darned close to England 2009)!

Happy Travels!

Gardens and Gardening

You just can't help but get the "gardening bug" when you travel to England.  "Garden" is practically its middle name.  Engardenland.

So, while we were on the plane, Draw and I discussed how this would be a fine opportunity for us to start that meadow garden we'd been talking about.  We'd seen a meadow garden for the first time, last year, at Great Dixter and pretty much every garden we visited this year had some part of it as a meadow garden.  Surely we'd have an amazing sprout of grass and wildflowers (weeds) in place of our lawn since we'd been gone over two weeks.

Amazingly, when I rang home once we touched down in the states, my son announced that he'd cut the lawn as a welcome home surprise.  Surprise!  So the meadow garden will have to wait a few weeks though I'm sure the neighbors did get a sneak peek at what's to come later this summer.  How excited they must be!  Finally, the Blair-Drawbridges are going to do a bit of landscaping.

So... home at last and the lawn looked pretty nice.  But what's this?  As I  peered out the kitchen window to admire the lawn.

Do you see it?  Hang on... let me give you a closer look.

Ahhh... a tree.  No, wait.  Not a tree.  It's a... WEED.  Did you realize that if you let Canadian Thistle have its way in your yard, it flowers?

I guess my son didn't notice these in the flower beds when he was cutting the lawn.  Or maybe, because they had "flowers" he figured they belonged?

There are some handy uses for these prickly pests, though.

A security gate. 

You can't get the true height of these because I'm shooting at a downward angle.  They're actually about 2 foot tall. 

And who's going to want to break into those windows, above, with Canadian Thistle standing guard?  Thank you, Canada.

Did you realize that Canadian Thistle grows to 5 feet tall?  It's true.  I measured it.

So Friday, Draw's day off, we are attacking the Canadian Thistle beds.  I have only a slight worry as this stuff is extremely hard to get rid of.  I just read an article by a guy who organically eradicated this stuff from his property and it took him FOUR years.  And he was thrilled.  Blah.   Give me chemicals and lots of 'em.  Canadian Thistle may be persistent and pernicious, but I can be a royal pain in the bum, too.

BTW, doesn't this scene look vaguely familiar?  Except for that weed I'd swear I was in Low Cloud Country.

Welcome home...

Taking Stock

We're well and truly back from our trip doing the mundane stuff like unpacking, sorting through junk mail, sorting through email, washing clothes...

And doing the far from mundane: looking at our photos.

You know, for me, one of the best parts of our travels is savoring all the photos that we've taken.  I really can't imagine how I could possibly remember all our adventures if there weren't photos.  And this year, what a great idea doing the journals.  What I didn't manage to capture, in writing, Draw did.  Heaven help us if we had to rely on our memories.  Seriously, we could barely remember all the National Trust properties we'd visited.  We needed to drag out the journals to bring it all back.

So - journaling... I've learned a few things.  Don't bother painting every last page of a watercolor journal in preparation of the trip.  I spent hours doing that, making a freaking huge mess, dragged it across the pond with me and then ended up doing nothing in it.  I couldn't print photos to stick in it and since I'd already painted every page I couldn't very well repaint them.  I'll use the journal, I'm sure... eventually.  I sure hope so.  The pages are really pretty cool but they need an adventure.

Second thing I learned - make sure you take your art supplies with you.  I left everything at home and ended up spending a fortune on pens, paper, watercolors, blah blah blah.  Left most of it there since I already have the stuff here.

Third - start collecting the leaves, flowers, and whatnots to squish between the pages, from the get go.  I only started doing it about midway through, and even then only sporadically until Day 11.  I love looking at those squished bits of ivy and lavender. 

Fourth - do take a journal.  Take two.  One for writing and the other for artwork.  Most of my art will be done at home but I look at that as just another opportunity to relive the trip, along with the looking at the photos.

Okay then, on to the adventures... stay tuned!

A Sad Farewell...

Oh, what a bummer to find out, yesterday, that we weren't flying out on the Tuesday but actually flying out on Monday.  It's like having a lollipop and someone snatching it out of your hand.  Or an ice cream cone with a double scoop and they both fall off and hit the sidewalk with a splat just as you're taking a lick.

Fudge!

I will return to reminiscing about our wonderful trip but for now, I want to share a few shots taken at Leeds castle on this, our last full day in England.

I will dearly miss Peter and Sheila and Jo.  What a wonderful family I married myself into.  Kismet.  I'm a very lucky gal, indeed.  Gracious, funny, fun...

Anyway, a quick little peek at Leeds and then I'll be back tomorrow evening (hopefully) and every day or so for the next couple of weeks as I reminisce about this awesome trip.  It's been amazing.  And I have 1854 photos I want to share with you. 

Say, what?!

I think this is/was Lady Baillie's bedroom or sitting room.  I just fell in love with this chair and took 6 or 7 photos of it.  This one I managed to catch the lovely floral arrangement at the window.  (See - that 1854 photos isn't such a big deal... it's probably only 300 different scenes.  I usually take several snaps at a time just to make sure I have something in focus.)

Another chair.  And a portrait of Lady Baillie and her daughters.

A statue - not Lady Baillie.  I think it's a queen.  Perhaps if I read the signs around the castle instead of just looking at the pictures I'd be able to tell you who this is and what it's all about.  Nevertheless, it makes a good shot don't you think?

That first chair... again.  And the table with the exquisite embroidery under glass.  Do you think that people really use this stuff?  Sit in the chair - eat at the table?  Maybe this was a game table.  Eye candy.

Door knocker.

Drawbridge.  Three of them.  The charming Sheila who is always smiling, the effervescent Jo who isn't, the camera-shy Peter who is quite the pistol. 

Hmmm... something's up with Jo and Peter.  Look look.  Look at Jo.  Look at Peter.  Look at how they smile.  Smile Jo smile.  Smile Peter smile.  Run Gale run.

A dear family if ever I have known one.   And I have... and it's them.

'Til next year...