Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.....

My grandfather and I went out to put in the gate and fence between the Nymphaeum and the farm,

but alas, there was too much water, once we got down 2 feet, to dig the further 3 feet we needed to put in the strainer posts,



so we had to abandon it for a couple of weeks until the ground dries out. Still, it will be good conditions for planting the orchard. We also met one of our new neighbours today, who came to say hello and see what we were doing, which was nice.

We ended up going horse riding instead. My grandfather says that until I can gallop flat tack with the reins in one hand and roll a cigarette in the other, I can't call myself a rider!

Chagall and Picasso..

Above: The view from our hotel window in Nice

Last year when we were in Nice, we visited the Chagall and Matisse museums. The Chagall museum was stunning. There was one of my favourite works there, La Maternite Rouge, of which there are 50 signed lithographs. I had looked at one of them in an art gallery in Sydney a few years before and had ummed and ahhed about it until it was too late, so it was much solace to find another one of the 50 at the museum, where everyone can enjoy it for perpetuity.

Above: La Maternite Rouge (Colour Lithograph, 1980)

Above: Vue sur Notre Dame (Colour Lithograph, 1980)

Apart from the lithographs there were many oils on board and canvas, and some examples of his stunning stained glass work:

Above: His window depicting the 5th and 6th days of creation

Above: Abraham entertains the three angels (oil on canvas, 1960-66)

Above: Jacob wrestling with the angel (Oil on canvas, 1960-1966)

We have a couple of Chagall lithographs at home, and just last week we acquired another one to add to the collection:

Above: L’Odyssée I - Protée (Colour Lithograph, 1974-75)

You will find goats lurking in many of his pictures. Marc Chagall was from Russian Jewish ancestry. Many theories abound about the reason behind the goats (and also the hens). I'm not sure any are better than another. Some critics suggest that the goat, omnipotent, represents God himself, present in the background of daily life. Some suggest that it represents the atonement of mankind's sin, linking the goat in the painting with the goat of the Jewish day of atonement, which traditionally had a red ribbon tied around it's neck before being driven off into the wilderness. Reasons aside, I love Julia Robert's line in Notting Hill: "Happiness isn't happiness without a violin playing goat", referring to Chagall's painting La Mariee .

Above: La Mariee (gouache pastel, 1950)

I think that Chagall's dome mural (above) for the inside of the refurbished Paris Opera House (La Palais Garnier) in 1964 is stunning (despite the controversy it caused at the time). He also painted two large works for the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts around the same time, The Triumph of Music and The Sources of Music. Alas I could only view them through a window in passing one evening on a layover (below).

We are currently renting most of our artworks out. Others we have include a few colour lithographs by Pablo Picasso, such as:

Le Picador (colour lithograph, 1961, signed)

and Corrida (wash and colour crayon, 1959)

Once the hotel is up and running at Willowbrook Park, we hope to display these in the communal areas and one in each bedroom, and that the art collection will be one of the many attractions for our guests. I know other people out there are big fans.

Lily of the lake...

'Now folds the lily all her sweetness up,
And slips into the bosom of the lake:
So fold thyself, my dearest, thou, and slip

Into my bosom and be lost in me.'

-From The Princess, Part 7, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

We have just ordered our plants for in and around the lake. We want the lake to have plenty of colour for as much of the year as possible, as well as dense reeds and greenery for the local birdlife to nest in. Waterlillies seem a must..

I found this fantastic collection of antique botanical colour plates. Here are some examples from the collection, along with some photos of other plants we will plant around the lake:

Irises


Waterlillies

Yellow Spatterdock

Water Hyacinth


Pond Pickerel


Marsh Hypericum (St. John's Wort)


Water Forget me not


And of course some more Narcissus...


I wandered lonely as a cloud
that floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden Daffodils
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

- William Wordsworth.

Herms Hedge / Nymphaeum...

A nymphaeum was an ancient monument, usually a grotto, dedicated to the nymphs, especially water nymphs. A herm or term was an ancient Roman statue, usually without arms on a pillar-type base, which was placed on boundaries, or where one's property ended - hence terminus. There are lovely examples of such hedges at Kew Gardens and also at Chiswick House.


I like the idea of having an area enclosed by hedging, with herms in niches all around the hedge, which would mark out the boundary between the park gardens and the farm annex. It would form a kind of nymphaeum as well. From my plans below, one can see where the hedges would go. At this stage they are planned to be planted in Prunus laurocerasus - a Laurel-type hedge (yes, thinking of you Millie), but a cultivar of Laurel which is not quite so poisonous (Laurel is quite toxic to animals, even prunings which have been lying about for months on end), thus not a good choice for a farm boundary. Yew and Leilandii are also good choices.


It would have a wooden gate in the middle of the hedge, with statues placed symmetrically around the hedge, with a vista over the gate to the farm, and would be another area which couples could choose from when deciding where to having their wedding ceremony.

Updated 06/08/2010: The Nymphaeum has been shifted to elsewhere in the park. It is still the same design (see below), but has now been planted, with Cupressocyparis ovensii hedging. Its entrance is from the Hydrangea Lawn...

I am reminded of the same titled painting by Adolphe-William Bouguereau, of nymphs cavorting in a Nymphaeum.

The Potager and Orchard...

I am currently drafting the plans for the potager and orchard. We were planning to put the potager in (all 400 linear meters (1200 feet) of raised garden beds) this month, but have been advised by our horticultural friends Bill and Wyne, that we should hasten to get the orchard planted before the start of spring, and can then focus of the potager over summer. So I may be a little remote over the next few weeks between drafting the layout for the orchard, and planting 1 acre of various fruit trees. I'll update this post when I can, to show you the plans and also how 'the great planting' is going!

David.