Welcome to the GVAG Blog

The tree stood between the house and the garage, the flat-roofed building seen here.

Tree Rings

Tree Rings, my most recent sculpture, was installed at Glen Villa a few weeks ago. Making this sculpture has been more challenging technically and mentally than I anticipated. Certainly it has taken longer than I thought it would. The project began in September 2014 when the top of an old maple tree blew off during a heavy…

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The low stone wall marks the foundation of a sugar camp that once stood on this site.

Colour in the Woods

At this time of year, when the startling reds and golds of a Quebec autumn are long gone, the woods around Glen Villa are grey and colourless.       At least they appear that way at first glance. But a closer look reveals all sorts of surprises.     This year, thanks to the unseasonably warm…

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Photo courtesy of Broadwoodside.

Broadwoodside: A Garden Review

Broadwoodside is the garden of Robert and Anna Dalrymple. Located some 20 miles east of Edinburgh in Gifford, East Lothian, Broadwoodside is a garden of subtle humour and artful plantings. When the Dalrymples bought the property in the late 1990s, it was nothing but a collection of derelict farm buildings. Since then, under their direction, gardener…

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Colour and shape smack you in the face.

Doing the Unexpected

Does your garden suffer from the blahs? You know, that late season feeling when everything looks past its best before date and a walk around the garden drags you down? That’s how my garden has been looking recently, and that’s how I’ve been feeling. But I may have found a remedy. To prepare for a…

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The one touch of yellow makes me think of a trendy young woman who dyes a single lock of her hair in an odd colour.

Following My Tree: November

I haven’t followed my tree, a linden or basswood (Tilia americana), since August. The reason is simple — in September and October I was travelling during the time when the Tree Following meme (originally hosted by Lucy Corrander of Loose and Leafy and as of this month hosted by Squirrelbasket) was open. But I’m at Glen Villa today, so a…

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