House Garden Designs: 2006

Friday, December 22, 2006

A winter wonderland greeted me as I peeked in on the work at the new home. Today the workers had applied a top finish to the basement's stained concrete floor ... next step is a nice polishing ... looking good! We have part of the siding up ... the entire back side is done ... now they're working around to the front.

Photos top to bottom: Front with partial siding up ... taken a few days ago; dining room, new garage doors; evening time; neighbor's cabin (across the street from me).

Christmas Quiz

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Do you like our Christmas tree? We started our own family tradition when my son was small - there was no point getting another one when we already had a seven foot monster dominating our (very small) sitting room and we were going away for Christmas anyway. But now, even when we stay at home, it doesn't seem necessary - this is "our" Christmas tree.

Christmas is a time for quizzes, so here's one for you about some common Christmas plants. I'll put the answers up after the holidays, but if you can't wait, you'll find all the answers on the net (I did!).

1. For me Christmas dinner isn't Christmas dinner without brussel sprouts. It's well known that they taste better after the frost has got to them - but why?
a. The frost kills the plant, which is then preserved because frozen, but becomes tenderer as it slowly decays.
b. Sugar replaces water in the cells to protect them from the cold, and so they become sweeter.
c. The frost breaks up the ground and allows more oxygen to get to the roots.
d. Actually, this is an old wives tale - it makes no difference at all. The important thing is that they've had longer to grow.

2. What was the sap of the Poinsettia used for in the 14th-16th centuries ?
a. as a poison b. to flavour soups c. as a cure for fever d. as a cure for nausea

3. According to Pliny the Elder, holly flowers had the ability to :
a. turn water to ice b. turn iron to gold c. protect against evil spirits d. revive the dead

4. Fir trees were used as a symbol of Christianity from the 7th century, and by the 12th century were Christmas symbols. But what was different about the way they were used?
a. They were burnt as a ritual sacrifice b. They were eaten on Christmas Day c. They were hung upside down from the ceiling d. They were worshipped

5. Only one native British plant has white berries. What is it?
a-d. Oh come on, you don't need clues for this one :)

Doubt if I'll have time to post again till after Christmas, so ....

Happy Christmas to everyone!

Blogger strikes again ?

Has anyone else had problems with their comments recently? For some reason I'm not getting E-mail notification of mine any more ( I won't blame Blogger for that - I probably clicked on the wrong button and blocked the address instead of cancelling the message or something), but I'm also having trouble publishing them. In particular, the system "ate" one message from Lou Laz, so I thought I'd answer her question here.

Lou Laz wrote saying that she was going to be in Milan and wanted to buy seeds while she was here. It's not that easy. As you'll see when you arrive, Milan is all apartment blocks - almost no-one has a garden, and consequently all that the garden centres, supermarkets and street markets stock are fully grown plants, houseplants and in summer balcony plants mainly. If you go to the outskirts and to the roads leading out of town, you'll find more garden centres catering also to people with gardens, but in town the only place that I know that has a really good stock is Fratelli Ingegnoli of Viale Pasubio (they have another centre too, in Via Mecenate - depends which area you're staying in). Their website is here.

Back to the balcony ..... The mild weather has really made a difference this year. By now, I usually have everything stacked against the wall of the house and covered in fleece, but this year not only has it not been necessary, but also everything is still flowering in a way unheard of for December. All the photos here were taken during the last few days. It was the warmest November for thirty years - so warm that they weren't even able to use artificial snow on the ski slopes of the Alps until just this last week or so, let alone hope for the real thing. The four day weekend which we had last week is usually the start of the ski season, but this year there was no chance. As the whole economy of that area depends on the ski trade, it's a big problem. The temperature has dropped a bit now - we had our first frost the other day, though it's back to 7° today - but still nothing like usual.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

This past week all of the drywall was installed and the litter strewn floors were cleaned. No more peeking through the wall studs :) Both garage doors were also installed. Dh's "barn"(garage) is nearly complete! Next week work begins on the outside with the installation of our siding; ceiling insullation is to be "blown" in the attic; carpet and other flooring materials are to be measured; rock for the hearth ordered; tile for the masterbath shower and kitchen backsplash ordered; drywall to be taped ... bullnose corners installed ... and skip troweling the texture on the wall and ceiling surface; and the interior doors and hardware need to be ordered. It will be a busy week to say the least.

Photos (top to bottom) Bonus room (guest/office) above garage; storage area (with tub) in basement; sunny day; basement family room showing fireplace; Ann's bedroom bay window with newly installed cedar shingles.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Yesterday, DH and I popped on over to the new home. It was an exciting day as quite a bit of the dry-wall had been put up on the walls. Now the interior is taking shape and the rooms are being defined. Hubby has dubbed his garage, The Barn, as it's about the size of one (1150 sq feet) with a 13 foot ceiling. He really liked the surprise of finding a gas heater/fireplace down in the basement. This was his Christmas present from me to him. Tomorrow, we're off to select the exterior rock trim and rock for behind the great room stove and the front of basement fireplace. What am I doing?? Posting and my daughter is getting married in two more hours???? Better run.

Unidentified Flowering Objects

Every so often this summer I came across plants I liked, but couldn't put a name to. Where possible I took a photo so that I could try and identify them later. I've managed with quite a few but I'm still stuck on the four in the photos. Does anyone recognise them?

The first two were taken while I was on holiday in Caorle this August. I fell in love with both of the plants, but especially with the second one. I'm not usually a great fan of foliage plants, but I'd readily find a place on the balcony for this one. I've never seen another plant with quite the same colours, and I loved the contrast between the deep and bright pink. However, despite scouring garden centres and houseplant books, I've not been able to find either of them.

This, on the other hand, is one of the trees in the garden outside the balcony. It's deciduous, but winter is the only time it doesn't look good. Not only does it have an attractive shape and pretty leaves, but in summer (this is another August photo) puts out masses of white flowers. By late September, these have turned to clusters of bright red berries.

Finally, a climber I spotted when I was in Casablanca last month. It still had a lot of flowers even then, though the even greater number of seed pods showed that it was at the end of the flowering season.

Any suggestions?

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

I actually found a few moments to drive out to our new home. The wall insullation is in and the latest round of county inspections has been completed. Next ... the front door and interior French doors need to be stained and finished along with installing the drywall. Dh will be here to help select the stain colors which will be a big help. Another week closer to our move-in countdown. Things are really coming along. I'm so glad we got the driveway gravel down before all of the snow! The Lord is opening little windows and slots of time to get work done in and around the weather He dishes out. Oh, how thrilled dh is to finally be up and inspecting the progress. He has not seen or walked through the house yet.

Architecture Blogs

Friday, December 1, 2006

A Walk in the Park

Thursday, November 30, 2006

I had two appointments this morning, by chance both on opposite sides of one of Milan's big central parks. The first one finished earlier than I expected, and I found myself with forty five minutes to kill. It was a glorious day - about fifteen degrees, bright sunshine and a clear blue sky, and instead of jumping on the tram as I'd planned, I decided to walk through the park.

I knew the trees were going to be stupendous even before I got inside, and I wasn't disappointed. Of course, I didn't have my camera with me, but I rushed around picking up leaves (good job I didn't have to open my briefcase when I got to my next client) for the scanner. Yes, I know I'd promised myself I wasn't going to spend any more time playing with the scanner when I should be working, but it was stronger than I was.

The yellow leaves are gingko - the tree I talked about in the last post. But I'm not sure about the others. Trees are not my strong point- I can manage the most common British ones but that's about all. The pointy one is perhaps some sort of maple? And the green and yellow ones are lime? But I give up on the red ones. They're about five inches long, and the ones that hadn't yet turned red were a bright orange colour. For some reason it didn't come out well on the scanner, so I excluded them from the pictures.

Autumn

Friday, November 24, 2006

Autumn is full swing here now, although up to now temperatures have still been fairly mild - it's about 10° today, and that's more or less the lowest daytime temperature we've had. But it's been quite windy some days and the leaves are falling fast - I've been collecting them for scanner photos.

I wished I'd had my camera yesterday as I went down a road lined with gingko trees. Gingkos are used quite a lot in Milan as roadside trees and in the autumn are just a mass of yellow leaves. I was on the bus unfortunately, so couldn't steal one for the scanner. I'll have to find time to go back ...

For those of you who asked, I've still not been able to make the Chrysanthemum photo from a couple of posts ago clickable. I don't know why. These ones aren't either, so it must be something to do with them coming from the scanner and not the camera.

I'm still swamped with work and have hardly put my nose out on the balcony this week. I must find the time this weekend as there are bulbs still to be planted and things need moving into their winter positions. I suspect that when the temperature does drop it will do so with a vengeance.

The change in the birds that are around is a sure sign of winter coming. The starlings that a couple of weeks ago were massed in hundreds of thousands over the city are now long gone, and this morning I saw a robin in the garden. The one we had last year (the same, or this one's Dad?) had clearly established the horse chestnut tree outside my bedroom window as the centre of his territory. All through the winter I was woken up at 2 am by his singing. I'd wake up and lie snug in bed listening to this beautiful liquid song. I hope he comes back this year ...

Casablanca

Saturday, November 18, 2006

I had to spend four days in Casablanca for work last week. If you’ve never been, don’t put it on your wish list – the smog will take a day off your life for every day you spend there, and with the exception a of a few stupendous buildings it’s a phenomenally ugly town.

There are signs that they’re trying – the streets, which tend to be wide, are all lined with trees and there are various small parks and squares with trees and flowers dotted around the city. Palms abound, but I also saw lots of other types, including some ficus benjamina which made mine look like a bonsai. There was also an enormous old magnolia with a twisted and knarled trunk which must be fantastic in spring when it’s in flower.

The Casablancans don’t seem to be great balcony gardeners. It was 25° when I was there, so in summer the heat on the balconies must be phenomenal, and probably very little would survive. However, the richer, residential areas of the town are made up of villas with gardens – all surrounded by high walls and hedges. The most popular hedging plants were hibiscus, plumbago and bougainvillea – I’d never seen the last two used as hedges before, but in some cases

they were up to fifteen feet. They were past their best by now, but when they are in full flower (or bract in the case of the bougainvillea) must look incredible. Except that in most cases their owners seemed keen to keep them under control and they all showed signs of having been cut into rectangular box shape. At the top the new growth was flowering madly, but down below everything had been chopped bare. It looked like those hair cuts where the person shaves their head right up to the crown and then leaves the top long.

What’s the point? If you want a flowering hedge, let it flower. Cut it back in the winter. If you want a nice rectangular shape, use privet or box or something.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Over the past two weeks most of the interior electrical work has been done. We have wires here, there, and everywhere! Before the workers begin sheetrocking, I 'd like to take photos of the walls just in case we ever need to make a repair or remember what's behind the drywall. Now the exterior doors are installed, including the trimwork. Our circle drive has been graded again and has a nice layer of gravel ... this will help hold it together during the winter; with all the rain we've had, things were getting pretty soupy. With the electritcal workers we have another mess of wood shavings, etc. Monday I met with the builder and the lighting supplier to place the final order. Dh will hopefully be pleased with the choices and locations of outlets. He's coming up in a few more weeks and should see a gigantic change as we had just barely poured the concrete footings on his last visit.

I ordered two of the foreground chandeliers for our foyer.

Chrysanthemums

Monday, November 13, 2006

Over two weeks since I posted - I've been swamped with work. The Indian summer didn't last long - a few days after I wrote the temperature suddenly dropped to ten degrees, and everything on the balcony went into shock. Not so much due to the temperature itself, as to the overnight change. Luckily we had forewarning, and I brought in the last of the more delicate plants. Around about the same time there was a really interesting post on Hanna's blog explaining exactly why some plants are more susceptible to cold than others. It had never occurred to me to think about why plants didn't like the cold before.

The temperature has now gone up a bit to around about 12° daytime temperatures and everything has got over the initial shock and settled down. My chrysanthemums are now in full bloom, and I used one of the big white ones to take the scanner photo below. The idea is not original - it comes from an artist called Katinka Mason. My personal favourite is her White Calla Lily. But when I tried, I was amazed how easy it was. You just lay the flower on the scanner and leave the top open while you scan. I use them for desktop wallpaper as you can use the black space for your icons.

I managed to grab a bit more sun last week though as I had to go to Casablanca for work. More about that in the next post ...

Saturday, November 4, 2006

With the exception of the front steps leading to the porch, the framers are finished ... they even cleaned up their MESS inside. There were empty pop and coffee containers everywhere, along with tons of sawdust (no, not the pooch)! The piece of machinery in front of the garage windows is being used to build a basalt rock retaining wall for the porch step landing. There will be the same rocks used in the back for a low... but rather long retaining wall. The interior walls are marked for the whole-house vacuum system. Thursday and Friday the actual electric and gas meters were installed on the outside garage wall. ... I guess this coming week more electrical and duct work will be done and probably the beginning of sheet rocking the inside walls. This picture was taken Thursday when we had a light dusting of snow. Since then, the temps have warmed up and our snow has turned to rain. We've dubbed our home the Mangy Moose Lodge!

Sunday, October 29, 2006

My Sunday drive found some more work done at the new home. Window trim, soffits, copper roof, front porch floor and support beam are done. This coming week the framers should finish up with the stairs leading up to the porch and a few other minor items. My daughter, Ann's, baywindow bedroom has a deeper than normal closet to later accomodate a mainfloor laundry room ... it's now had the plumbing roughed-in. Everything is moving right along. We had snow flurries and sleet today ... with some snow showers expected tonight.

Indian Summer

I said last week that the temperature had dropped and called the post The Beginning of Winter. This week we've had record temperatures for the time of year. It's been up to about 25°C some days, and this morning I was back out on the balcony in a T-shirt. A few things gave up when the temperature fell last week, and I spent most of the morning clearing them out, but everything that didn't is continuing to flower happily. And as you can see from the photo, the bees are continuing to visit. At the back of the house there's a medlar tree which is now in flower, and this morning it was covered in swarms of bees and the odd butterfly. Most of the butterflies seem to have succumbed to the cold though - I haven't seen any of the little brown ones which were so common up to a few weeks ago.

All very nice, but as I gardened this morning I was wondering what havoc it was liable to play with the environment in general. Turned on the TV to watch the BBC World news over lunch, and found a feature on how climate change in the world as a whole is threatening to turn large areas of Africa to desert. And checking on their schedule for the rest of the day, there's a programme this evening on the melting of the Arctic permafrost and the catastrophe that it's liable to cause because of greenhouse gases being released. A depressing end for an otherwise lovely, sunny Sunday morning...

The medlar tree flowers between November and February

Saturday, October 21, 2006

We have windows!! (a nice surprise today)

Friday, October 20, 2006

ROOF IS UP ... I'm so happy, so very happy ! Last week it rained inside my new home ... the roof was not completely covering the top of the house. There was water everywhere ... but by the following day, it was 90% dried out ... Now it can rain all it wants, as long as the wind doesn't blow rain sideways through the window openings. The color is called mission brown ... so is my basement floor color (um). Two bathtubs have been "installed", the rough-in plumbing for the entire house is about completed, and the bonus room above the garage now has a framed end wall, flooring, stairs, and the bathroom. Here's a few pictures I took today.

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