City Views, Country Dreams

Good evening from New York.

If you have visited here a time or two, you will know how much I do love the country, even though I have chosen to live in a huge city.

This post is a tribute to some dear friends of mine, who last week treated me to a day in the country. The weather was perfection. Our destination was about 40 miles north of New York City.

And so, in our rented car, we set off mid morning. And, mid-day decided to have a restoring stop. This was not our destination, but rather a lovely spot next to a pond.

On the other side of that reflective pond was a mill. Its wheel is just to the disappeared left side of the mill. I cut off the wheel to show the goats that were exploring the pond, while we rested under the trees.

We got back into the car, and continued on. Our destination was a fabulous place. It seems to be an undiscovered treasure. It is Stonecrop Gardens. Those of you who live near fabulous gardens across the Pond would definitely appreciate this place.

When we parked in the gravelly car park area, and emerged to that gravel, and looked at the green trees, shrubs, and iris blooming around us, it was the quiet that struck me.

True peace. I think that there was one other car parked. It was this welcoming quiet that would characterize the rest of our visit.

We ambled up a wood slatted pathway toward the little Potting Shed building where we would register our arrival, pay a very, very small fee, and receive a map to guide us around the expansive grounds.

Stonecrop is a place where botanists may come to study and observe, where students may learn a thing or three hundred about plants.

The site was once an estate owned by a particular family. It is now a teaching garden.

Every part of this place seems artless, yet could not have been what it is without lots of skillful planning and carrying through.

There are woodland areas, pond areas, rose gardens, areas where horses ramble, greenhouses where fledgling plantlets take root. There was something about this group that reminded me of some Chinese scroll paintings at the Metropolitan Museum.

In this part of New York State, there are lots of stone walls. I would love to learn how to build such a wall.

Here is one of those horses. Under a sky that truly shows what June can be.

This is a sample camellia. We saw hundreds. In many colors. I just liked this one best.

And here is one of the pond areas. Remember that we walked around and around, and had a splendid picnic lunch and walked around some more. And the entire time perhaps saw ten other people. For a New York City resident...this is just astounding.

We did not see Blackie, the resident black snake about whom we were warned. We did see lots of frogs, turtles, a few duck, and lots of tiny fish. And we heard much bird song. And saw many swallows as the day reached afternoon.

Since the day was so sunny, I took along my hat with the wide brim. I also took along my big linen tote bag with a sketchbook and colored pencils. Yet. Even at our relaxed pace, there really was no time to sketch. I took many photos, in addition to those posted here. Perhaps I can use those pictures to do some drawing and painting.

The above photo was taken by one of my traveling pals, and shows me in a beautiful little wisteria-covered gazebo, on the edge of a lilly pad endowed pond, next to a bit of rocks. Remember the name of the garden is Stonecrop Gardens.

The above photo shows one of those crops of stone, with one of my friends exploring the route to the next layer of ponds. That pond was just a short climb up the rocks...or stones.

We stayed almost until sunset, watching the light change, watching big clouds move across the sky. We were so glad to have had wonderful weather for our day in the country.

We lingered as long as we could. What dear friends I have to have treated me to this beautiful experience.

Hoping that you all will enjoy a sampling of our visit.