Cyclamen - Winter Colour...

The cold wet winter persists, except for a few brief dry interludes. It was during one such dry spell I managed to snap some pictures of the cyclamen we have potted up in urns along the terrace, balcony, and cocktail lawn. Even on a gray day we still have some colour...

Winter Update...

Here are some of the pictures of WBP and the progress to the end of this month...

Above: A hyacinth pushing its way up through the frosty bark mulch.

Below: The frosty Bluebell Walk

Above and Below: Cobwebs in the early morning light.

Cobwebs on the recently pruned grapevines...

Above and Below: Some pictures of the lake on a frosty morning. The frost was so deep the top of the earth was frozen and the lake had very small patches of ice on the top of it. There was a beautiful crisp crunch underfoot as I walked across the lawns.

Above: A view of the project from the same vantage point as last month. You can see the carriage house now has a roof on it and is just awaiting the slate tiles to be placed (and the cupola to be built and craned on). The raised lawn is finished (and will be sown with grass in the Spring once the earth has finished settling). We planted 200 hornbeam trees around the 3 lawns close to the house, which will start to give the closer parts of the park some definition. They were planted as per the plan below...

The sun did eventually come out. Here are some views from the opposite side to the lake...

You can see how wet it has been. We were planting the hornbeams in mud, and almost got the tractor stuck on a few occasions. It will soon grass over again - much of the dirt you can see has been newly dispersed as we had the surrounding soil leveled prior to planting the trees. 

Here is a sneak peak inside The Stables Suite of the Carriage House. It was cosy and warm up in this loft space...

The windows have also started to arrive in dribs and drabs. Here are the french and bifold doors from the Kitchen (left) and the Salon (right) onto the loggia. The glazing with the cross bars has yet to be fitted in the Salon doors.

Below: The French doors in the Gold Drawing Room...

We also planted a further 100 trees in Badger's Wood. They were assorted English and European trees such as Oaks, Alders, Chestnuts, Linden Limes, Liriodenrdons, Ginkos, Rowan, Ash, Junipers, Holly...

It will look a lot more impressive when spring comes and the 'dead sticks' as one friend calls them, bush out in green leaf. 

We made a little video of walking the serpentine walk through the wood. It transpires that there are 365 steps through the wood, and it starts facing the sunrise and finishes facing the sunset - two lovely but unplanned co-incidences!

C'est Trés Trés Froid!

Continuing the theme of Winter, here are some evocative seasonal photos. I feel shivery just looking at them...

Source: Tumblr

Willowbrook Winter...

Sorry about the silence, but I have been back home in NZ enjoying time with Peter and looking over the changes at WBP. It definitely was a change in clime going from Dubbo, wear I am still wearing shorts and a T-shirt to Hamilton, where I was rugged up with multiple shirts, vests, jerseys and coats! Winter had arrived well ahead of me, and with it some glorious frosty photos...

 Above: A weeping birch on the banks of the lake

Below: A frosted hillock behind the lake

These were taken at 10am, and the frost still had not melted!

Below: The Dietes grandiflora waiting to be planted alongside the well overgrown brook. You can't even see the water for the long grass...

Below: The orchard, still with some morning frost.

  Which cleared over the course of the morning...

Below: Looking towards the hedge we planted two years ago.

The first half of the vineyard...

The last rose of Summer on a background of Winter Hornbeam...

Below: The Bluebell Walk down towards the lake. The Silver Birch have grown from three feet high three years ago to almost twelve feet. The bluebells and hyacinths have yet to come up through the mulch. Something to look forward to in October/September.

 
The view from the carriage house site (where they have already put the power on ready start construction in the next week or two)...

The gate with signage to the farm, where the leiland hedge is doing well. We are not going to let it grow any taller than it is at present. There is a clump of daffodils which comes up around the base of the sign each spring.

So, all poised to finally begin. I will believe it once the first sod has been turned as we have had so many set backs over the past two years with red tape, professional exams, and weather. However, it has turned out for the best, as we have had time to tweak plans, find the best builders and craftsmen, and let the gardens become established so as not to have a large house on a bare plot of land. I now wait with baited breath for the diggers to roll on in.