Monthly Archives: January 2022

Back to NYC

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“Highline Neighbor”
Highline Walk, New York City

This building adjacent to New York City’s Highline intrigues me. I first saw a photograph of it in a book on the Highline. As I walked along the Highline this fall, the building’s fluid lines and reflections were like a magnet to my eyes. I spent several moments walking back and forth viewing different perspectives. I easily could have spent an hour. Time was short and I had a lot of area to cover. I will be back!

The building located on 520 West 28th Street is designed by Zaha Hadid. It houses 39 condominium residences. Its fluid curves is a major contrast to the other surrounding buildings. A courtyard garden extends to from the building to the Highline boundary.

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Winter Perspective

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“Winter View from the Perch”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

Standing above our stream and waterfalls gives me a wide perspective of our Japanese garden below. It is very quiet and peaceful up here now that the main stream has been shut down for its winter rest. When I am up here, my mind wanders from enjoying the openness of the wide perspective to focusing on little vignettes and details. Many times I lose track of time as I peacefully dream over the landscape. Winter snow adds a whole different feeling.

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Winter Textures

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“Meadow Grasses & Perennials”
Heatherwood Meadow

The golden brown stalks of our ornamental grasses blew gently in the breeze during a recent snowfall. Their motion inhibited light powdery snow from sticking to stalk heads. In contrast the stiffer stalks of the spent rudbeckia reduce motion and allow snow to build up on the flower heads. The various textures and different shades of brown caught my eye as I walked through the meadow. There is always something to see during my strolls.

A recent heavy snowfall has matted down many of the grasses. Many of the stalks now lay on the ground.

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Just a Pretty Picture

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“Lebanon Cedars”
Heatherwood Winter

Everything just seemed to come together when I created this image. The morning mist had lifted for a clear view of the sky and hillside above Heatherwood. Blue sky peeked out behind puffy white clouds. The sunlight was filtered creating soft shadows across the landscape. The “Pretty Picture” was just waiting to be created.

This image was taken from the roadside leading up to our home. One of our design criteria was to provide view windows across Heatherwood for walkers along the road. This is one of those views.

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Ready for a Barbecue?

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“It Is Not Time Yet”
Heatherwood Patio

It is not time yet to go out to the fire pit and have a hotdog/marshmallow roast. We now have about 15-18 inches of snow here in Eastern Washington. The high level of snowfall has created a lot of work in our Heatherwood garden. While the plants are resting we still need to shovel and plow snow from our driveway, upper patio, and side walks. We also need to sweep the heavy snow off the drooping branches of our juniper and cypress trees (we have over 70 of them). That keeps up pretty busy.

These snow and cold winter months are a good time to sit back and contemplate how we want to see our Heatherwood garden develop over the coming years. It is a time to read and look at books, magazines, and the internet to get new ideas. It is a time to visualize what can be and start planning projects for the coming year. And on nice days, it is a gift just to walk around the garden and enjoy its winter beauty.

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Winter Hat

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“Hokkeji in Snow”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

Our Hokkeji Japanese Lantern with its winter hat welcomes us into Heatherwood’s snow covered garden. A crabapple with its winter apples provides a little red tone in the background. As the apples soften, they will provide winter food for the local birds.

Our winter garden work has stopped for a while. It is time to take a little rest and just enjoy the garden as it is. Now we are planning for our 2022 landscape projects. Ideas flash through our minds as we envision the evolution of the garden. The start of planting season is just three months away.

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Back to Reality

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“Chief Joseph in Snow”
Heatherwood Winter

In yesterday’s post I said that I needed a change from the winter weather and reflected back to warmer times early last fall. Now realism has set in, and I have to get my snow shovel out and clear out the snow. But putting first things first, I had to go out and take a walk around the garden with my camera.

One of the first things I saw was the star of our winter garden. Most of our colorful perennials and shrubs were covered with snow, but our reliable Chief Joseph lodgepole pines still stood out in the winter landscape. They set the stage for the rest of the garden.

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I Need a Change!

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“Autumn Sunrays”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

We are having a blizzard-like snowfall right now. The high temperatures for the last week and a half have been below 20 degrees. The waterfall in our garden is frozen. I need a change! All I have to do is look back on some of the images I created this past year to get a little feeling of warmth.

This warm early autumn image from our Heatherwood Japanese garden was just what I was looking for. I can feel the warmth of the early morning sun rays filtering through the Japanese maples and gracing the lower leaves of a Japanese “Full Moon” maple. The leaves were just starting to change from summer yellow to autumn red. It simply gives me warmth. Maybe it will provide me enough stimulus to go out and collect come cold winter images.

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Happy New Year!

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“Sunrise View”
Heatherwood Winter

Today is the sunrise for a new year! It is a time to look forward to the new challenges and opportunities the new year will bring. There are wonderful times ahead to spend with family and friends. There are new adventures around the corner with new things to learn. There are times for work and for enjoying the results. There are times for quiet contemplation on what is most important in life. It will be our challenge to act on the most important things and make the best of each and every day.

Today will be a great day. Happy New Year!

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