Welcome to the GVAG Blog

Our house and boathouse are dwarfed by the hills that rise behind.

The Colours of Autumn

I missed the peak of autumn colour this year in the Eastern Townships of Quebec — where colours are as good as (or better than?) any place in North America — because of some trips that took me away from home. So when a friend sent me a photo he took a week or so ago of the hills…

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Formally clipped trees line a perfectly edged walkway in front of Ascott house.

Ascott: A Garden Review

Note: Recently I became aware of a technical glitz that was causing problems with the delivery of this blog. It has now been resolved. To those of you reading a blog post for the first time, even if you subscribed many months ago — my apologies for the delay and welcome to the Site and Insight blog! I…

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The cottage retains its original strongly contrasting paint colours.

Prospect Cottage: A Garden Review

  The garden at Prospect Cottage, located in Kent on England’s east coast, was created by the late Derek Jarmon, a filmmaker, diarist and early advocate of gay rights. It is a garden that sits lightly on the land while simultaneously conveying a powerful sense of place. It is also one that elicits a strong response from…

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Changing Colours

This year autumn is slow in coming. Often by the end of September, the hills are as colourful as the big box of Crayola crayons I always begged (unsuccessfully) my mother to buy, with trees standing in ranges of red, orange and pink, gold and chartreuse, and occasional patches of dark wintery green. Not this year.…

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