Tag: Landscape
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Stump-to-Lumber
In yesterday’s post I mentioned that we’re felling trees again. But my update was brief, overlooking a couple of important details, so I’m revisiting the stump-to-lumber topic this afternoon. (I probably should have titled today’s post something more inclusive since our homegrown wood isn’t exclusively destined to become the next round of Rosslyn furniture, floors,…
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Screening
Still “ciphering” on the particulars of the enclosure screening south of the icehouse terrace. Four days ago I riffed whimsical on the subtleties of decision making for the privacy fence that will conceal the unsightly but essential infrastructure located behind Rosslyn’s historic carriage house). A mid morning meditation on enclosure inspired by ongoing deliberations on…
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More Real than Realism
What, you ask, is more real than realism? Perhaps nothing. Or, perhaps plenty. Poetry, for example. Also art, stories, and so many other creative and curatorial initiatives. “Nothing is less real than realism. Details are confusing. It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis, that we get at the real meaning of things.” —…
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Paint Maintenance
Rosslyn’s four historic buildings exude a quiet confidence as they preside over Merchants Row, Blood’s Bay, Lake Champlain, and the Green Mountains. Understated. Elegant. Sage. It’s her architecture, proportions, and siting. It’s the harmony of symmetry and asymmetry, buildings and grounds, landscape and hardscape. And it is the constant TLC that she invites, for which…
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The Nature of Time
We believe that remnants coalesce, that excavation, observation, collaborative accumulation, and artistic practice allow one to wonder-dream into ancient / modern mysteries about the nature of time.
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Solving the Paver Puzzle
Some days at Rosslyn are more kaleidoscopic than others, textures tumbling, patterns resolving then dissolving again, protean punch-lists pushing the limits of planning and patience, and ever evolving priorities and timelines. Nothing is constant except for change… Some days, many days lately, we’ve been solving and re-solving the paver puzzle. No one ever steps in…
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Stone Paving Icehouse Courtyard
The title of this post conjures a hot summer’s day along the highway, stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, slooowly advancing through a construction site where hot asphalt is being laid in a stinky, tarry, gravelly layer, then rolled flat and smooth with an enormous steel drum ballasted with water, pressing the roadway into submission. Paving. We’ve…
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Mighty Muscle, Mini Machine
I’m overdue for a shoutout to Aaron Valachovic for helping out with icehouse hardscape in recent weeks. During a site visit to review autumn tree work he happened to mention that he’s done stonework before and had some availability. Wait! What? I’ve been pleased with Aaron’s work as an arborist, and his work ethic is…
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Before Time Runs Out
Since returning home to Rosslyn almost two months ago after a capricious walkabout with Susan, Denise, and John, some of the joy and celebration of homecoming has been overshadowed with waiting, delays, anticipation, setbacks, deferring, etc. This tension between ebullient gratitude and serial deferral is sometimes motivating, sometimes profoundly vexing. Lately, more of the latter…
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Move-In Begins
At last, icehouse move-in begins! We’re not yet 100% finished with the icehouse rehab, but we’re close. Really, really close. Inside, at least. Outside, less so. Plenty of hardscaping and landscaping still in the works. But the interior is super close. I need to put the finishing touches on my loft cabinetry, and Peter needs…
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Misty Morning
Much more rain than sunshine these last five or six weeks since we returned to Essex from our cross-country walkabout. Drizzly slow-soakers and sudden gully washers. Never-quite-dry, musty mushroom weather. Lake Champlain riding almost three feet in a couple of weeks, anemic artichokes in the garden, poppies stunted with blooms battered. Rainy day delays compounding…
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Autumn Landscape Poetry
TGIF… time to put another log on the fire, pour yourself something refreshing, and unwind for a moment together. Busy-ness and a continuous cascade of commitments can gradually hypnotize us during the weekly hurly-burly, so let’s take a few minutes to exhale and redirect our attention at this dramatic time of year. Transformation all around…