So it's been awhile. We're still here! Things have been busy. I purchased a used drum carder, and my daughter and I have been playing with that. It's been fun blending fibers, colors, and (my favorite part) adding sparkly stuff! I confess, I love fiber with bling. Now I just need to get my spinning wheel tuned up so I can spin some of this stuff up. Did I mention how soft it is?
Moving on.... Last weekend we made a trip with my mom to
Ladew Gardens. It's only half an hour from our place, so I'm not sure why we haven't been before. I drive by all the time. But we waited until an absolutely hot, humid, really sticky summer day to go. Because that's Maryland weather peeps. And if you're going to see a really cool topiary garden that is mainly an outdoor attraction, that is when you want to go. Well, actually, the site says that June is one of the best times to see the gardens in bloom (they neglect to mention anything about Maryland weather in June, but those of us who work outside in Maryland know how it is). It was still really awesome, and I think the hot weather kept some people from going, so it wasn't terribly crowded. We went on a tour of the house too. The man was a traveler. He bought an old farm plantation with a house and fixed it up to be more like an English manor, going to auction houses and other places internationally to bring back items to furnish his house (some of them rather large, like entire walls made of Tudor wood paneling). He also knew lots of rich and famous people, some of whom came to visit. His library is interesting too, with over 3,000 books. What is more intriguing to me is that it was designed mostly around one piece of furniture. He brought back an oval writing desk from one of his travels, and didn't have anywhere in his house that it "fit." So he built a library to fit the desk (complete with a hidden door behind one of the bookshelves). And that is just the house.
There were a number of different gardens, each with their own theme. I have put some pictures below:
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| Mom and Colleen walking through the terrace gardens. |
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| A view of the house and terrace gardens from a distance. |
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| Colleen having fun in the Victorian garden. There were fountains in most of the gardens. |
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| Some of the arches in the rose garden. |
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| I took lots of pictures of these rose arches so my husband can make me some. (Right sweetie?) |
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| One of Colleen's favorite parts: trying to catch the frogs. |
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| The "wading pool" and a view of the house. |
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| A nice refreshment on a hot day. |
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| Topiary swan. |
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| I thought this arch was neat, as it was completely made with trees (no metal that I could see). It looked like something from Middle Earth. |
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| Colleen on the other side of the archway. |
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| Possibly our favorite topiary: the unicorn. |
