Entry tags:
unsubdued dawn
[OT from cottage renovations]
The sunrise colours are so lavish this time of year.
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(HDR image from Android 'phone)
Entry tags:
suitable for the occasion, I hope
[OT from cottage renovations]
What does one do for one's dear sister's birthday?
Give her flowers, of course.
These were taken out on the Circle and in the cottage garden while wishing you birthday greetings by (very) long distance 'phone.
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Scilla siberica
Scilla siberica
Forsythia
Entry tags:
after midnight the snow had stopped ...
[OT from cottage renovations]
... and here is what the Circle looked like through the front door. Taken with ambient light.
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( +1 )
Entry tags:
sunset across the octagon
[OT from cottage renovations]
Seen through its ripply old glass exterior windows, the interior of the Town Hall catches the setting sun. It is the natural gathering place where we meet for all sorts of functions, but when empty this most public of our spaces takes on an intensely private feel.
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McCathran Hall
Entry tags:
catching the light
[OT from cottage renovations]
At this time of year it's a rare treat to catch an early train and make it back to the Grove during daylight. The trip back out from the city seems a bit odd; normally in winter one rides in darkness and by the time the days get longer and lighter the trackside view is normally obscured by vegetation so the passing scene had an unaccustomed level of detail.
On getting home I managed to get back out into the light without undue delay, but prior forgetfulness on my part had meant that the camera battery hadn't been sitting in the charger and as a result the device was only operational for a short time though with sunlight running out it didn't make much of a diffrence.
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Jackson Park
In the fading light with snow on the ground this dried hydrangea was set in an ambient light that was softer than I had expected.
hydrangea
Entry tags:
all shiny above
[OT from cottage renovations]
First Avenue cottages, their metal porch rooves gleaming in last Sunday's afternoon rain.
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With the leaves down, sight lines have opened around the Grove and architectural detail is now easier to see and appreciate.
Entry tags:
In its own time
[OT from cottage renovations]
There's always somebody who doesn't get the memo, or perhaps this is just an example of rugged individualism. Or of feline-grade stubbornness. For whatever reason, out in the Circle this azalea has been blooming even as autumn winds down.
Light frosts have not yet deterred these blossoms though a continued decline in overnight low temperatures can be expected. It's not clear to me which pollinators it might be seeking to attract, but one presumes that the effort is expended for some purpose other than that of catching my eye as I wander past.
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Azalea
Entry tags:
a few more from last weekend
[OT from cottage renovations]
The end of last weekend provided more opportunity for the taking of pictures than for their processing, so here's the rest of the batch. For the most part our leaves were taken down by a couple of days worth of rain, trading more sky for a certain starkness of appearance, so it's good to look back those few days to see what had recently remained.
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These dogwood leaves out back were still hanging on, positively glowing as the morning light came streaming through.
Cornus florida
While out on the circle these Japanese Maples were completely dazzling.
Acer palmatum
... and down on Chestnut Road and Oak Street these leaves, among the kazillions to have fallen in the Grove, over the past few weeks, created a found composition that was appealing even in random collections and detached from their trees.
Much of the Grove is dedicated as parkland, some instances of which are small and inobvious in that they have no marker and do not appear on published maps. Knott Park is a good example, occupying the open area between Grove and First Avenues. Its spring and summer dogwoods and hydrangeas give way in the fall to this leaf display -- followed in turn by an overwinter dormancy in which one remembers and anticipates the other seasons.
Entry tags:
uno más
[OT from cottage renovations]
Not quite finished with yesterday, here's one that I didn't mean to leave behind.
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Ginkgo biloba
The leaves of this ginkgo are mostly turned and, for that matter, mostly fallen. This one is losing colour but has acquired a couple of strands of spiderweb while in the near distance some others are taking on a ghostly appearance in the last of the day's light.
Entry tags:
opportunity cost
[OT from cottage renovations]
November in the Grove is our time for the annual leaf crop harvest, or it would be if it had any market value. Failing that the next best thing is to pile them along the walkways and paved roads from which they are collected by impressively massive and noisy machinery and hauled off to become compost. The nearby Asbury community used to accrete truly massive leaf piles but some sort of development has been underway over there and that part of their facility has been a construction site for rather a while now so our excess biomass has since been diverted to places unknown.
As the leaves turn and fall into the ever-shortening days one has to choose carefully: any time spent moving leaves is subtracted from that available for walking around to appreciate and perhaps record the show, and vice versa.
The images below represent Saturday's trade-off in this regard:
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Step out the back door and the low hanging leaves of the dogwoods are right there, catching the afternoon light.
Cornus florida
Meanwhile out in the circle the Japanese Maples are at it again, leaves glowing like bright jewels:
Acer palmatum
Down at the other end of the Grove the stately sycamore is using the same light into a different, but equally compelling way against a wonderfully blue sky ...
Platanus occidentalis
... and nearby these stellate leaves are not to be overlooked.
Around the corner and a ways down Brown Street the light is helping along this found composition. There's a lot going on here: paint on paint on cement; shadows on brick and mortar; bits of detail that at first seemed extraneous but on taking another look seemed to belong.
Heading back along Oak Street, looking up into the sugar maples the effect was once again completely overpowering.
Acer
Coming back to the Circle one returns just as the light is starting to run out.
127.0.0.1 a/k/a ::1
That was yesterday. This afternoon's images are still in the camera. With any luck they will appear in this space in another day or so.
Entry tags:
something's fishy
[OT from cottage renovations]
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Acer palmatus
In addition to the play of light and shadow, the leaves in this image are suggestive of traditional Japanese koinobori fish kites trailing the breeze. This image was taken on Thursday, about a half year too late for Tango no Sekku Boys' Day but it can't be helped: these trees run on their own cycle.
Entry tags:
old tree, old glass
[OT from cottage renovations]
(click through this thumbnail for higher resolution image)
Old tree seen through old glass of new window*; image dates to last weekend so in net time it too could be considered old, or at least outdated: by today most of its leaves were already down.
-----
* which a close look at this image shows could benefit from some cleaning.
Entry tags:
out of sequence
[OT from cottage renovations]
(Things are starting to get a bit out of sequence but I didn't want these to be left behind)
OK, so these are actually from a couple of weeks ago, but I'm going to have to beg your indulgence in the hope that late is better than never. An abundance of afternoon light coming down through changing leaves was impossible to ignore.
These were over in Chapel Park:
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| maple | oak |
Singly and in small clusters the effect was intense, but in profusion it was nearly overwhelming:
Entry tags:
windfalls
[OT from cottage renovations]
Last weekend there was a wedding in the Grove - the ceremony was held at the Gazebo followed by a reception in McCathran Hall and a large tent set up in the Memorial Grove. It was A Big Deal; caterers were busy for much of Saturday with the setup, part of which included decorating the tents with a number of lime green Chinese paper lanterns. The festivities were held on Sunday and by Monday morning tents, tables, chairs and the rest had all been whisked away. A few items had been left behind, including the lanterns which when I passed by were for the most part collected in a corner of the Memorial Grove though a few escapees were gently rolling around, helped in their travels by the slightest breath of a breeze. Before leaving the area I gathered up the strays and returned them to the fold, though for how long would be anyone's guess.
In shape and colour, if not size, they resembled green apples and the midmorning light coming through the paper looked, well, like this:
If pressed I would have to admit to having tampered slightly with this part of the arrangement as found:
Entry tags:
lake conditions
[OT from cottage renovations]
in response to listserv queries about conditions at the lake.
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Maple Lake
some open water near the spring
Entry tags:
out of sequence
[OT from cottage renovations]
[crossposted to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif){kind=small}
itsinthedetails]
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this image is actually from a couple of weeks ago but I hadn't gotten around to putting it in this space.
pipe end with eye bolt and turnbuckle
I'm not quite sure what it was about it that caught my eye, but I found it oddly appealing. your mileage may vary -- that's OK as it's all in the eye of the beholder.
Entry tags:
snow. more of it.
[OT from cottage renovations]
given how ridiculously soggy wet this year has been it really didn't come as a surprise when the temperature went down for the precipitation to have continued.
it was a very quiet day here in the Grove, most folks having the sense to stay indoors.
the only people I saw abroad had snow shovels, sleds or cross country skis.
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the Circle
there are some images that I haven't had the sense to get past taking, and this is one of them. of note is that the snowcap on the porch roof has drifted up above the bottom of the upper front window; it is odd to look out through it and have the view partially obstructed by snow.
cottage in snow.
of course. what else were you expecting?
McCathran Hall
with no events going on in the Town Hall the snow was drifting up to its porch. the sign in front, the flag and the brick chimney provide the only chromatic highlights in an otherwise highly subdued scene.
1stAvenue
another iconic image, we seem to have some severe repetition settling in here. the large oak growing up through Mimi's porch is framed by lesser trees in the foreground; that one on the R with its leaves doesn't do much for the image but I was neither able to crop it out nor willing to remove it digitally (not that I wasn't tempted, but perhaps tomorrow will afford a chance to go back and find a better location from which to try again with this image).
cottage row
Acorn Lane
unlikely though it may seem to those who know the setting well, this has become one of my favourite views within the Grove: looking down Acorn Lane across Chestnut Avenue and the church parking lot into the West Woods. this is another image I've tried to capture at different times but it can be a challenge to compose -- I wanted it to be about depth as well as height so it needed more cropping to the R than I would have liked.
if you think you've seen this before, you're right.
crank the wayback machine to April 2006 (and scroll to the bottom of the entry).
Grove Avenue
holiday lights shine brightly on the façade of Hutch and Linda's cottage.
Entry tags:
not in bloom
[OT from cottage renovations]
the snow moved on and the following day wasn't quite as warm as predicted, which meant that the snow was taking its own time about melting off. clumps of it remained in the tops of the trees, trapped in the interstices out at the edges and presenting a completely misleading appearance of abundant spring blossoms.
surely if one waits long enough that will happen, but not just yet.
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Chestnut Road
not in bloom
Entry tags:
crystalline precipitation
[OT from cottage renovations]
we don't often get snow this early in the season, and if tomorrow's forecast holds it will be melted before the day is out.
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snowy façade
Center Street
the snow accretes to good effect onto twigs, leaves and berries.
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lonicera |
Ridge Road
upper field
the reason for heading out in the first place was to see what effect the snow squalls and lighting were having on the treeline between the upper and (what remains of the) lower fields. these thumbnails really don't do justice to the moody atmosphere ... click on through for a better view.
treeline recedes into the snow
the break in the hedgerow
walking on through the break, nearly ignored by a few deer ambling by, for once I found the highway interchange construction project to be neither an auditory nor a visual blight.
the upper field's most prominent tree presented a ghostly aspect, snow and light combining in a way that made it impossible to stop for just one image.
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Entry tags:
the light passes through
[OT from cottage renovations]
the Grove's hostas often have variegated leaves, some of them quite spectacular. give them enough time and the hydrangeas can often do nearly as well though only at end of life.
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Bittersweet Cottage garden
Monday's watery sunlight passing through the same leaf as seen against different backgrounds.
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| hydrangea | |
this is in its own way an historic event: the first time that stupid T-111 siding on the newer parts of the place has been useful for anything.