Turned to Stone....
Recently, I visited a stone merchant to buy a piece of rock for a client's garden. It seemed a straightforward enough idea but, when I arrived, I was confronted by literally hundreds of different pieces of all shapes, sizes and colours.
The pieces with circles carved into them appealed greatly, especially those with water running through. Their smooth interior face contrasted beautifully with the rough, natural surface of the outer faces.
But then I liked this group of large standing stones - they reminded me of the prehistoric ones that litter our English landscape. The Cotswolds have a good number of these, so it made good sense to continue the tradition. I have written about some of these local stones in the past and we hold them in great affection: http://lifeinthecotswolds.blogspot.com/2009/09/three-very-special-cotswold-reasons.html and http://lifeinthecotswolds.blogspot.com/2009/07/speaking-to-5000-year-old-soldier.html.
Time for a reality check. How could we lift these giants into place when there was no easy access? And so we went for this one - as large a piece as two of us could manhandle (and it nearly killed us in the process, as did digging the hole for the reservoir in root infested ground) - but we were happy with the end result.
The pieces with circles carved into them appealed greatly, especially those with water running through. Their smooth interior face contrasted beautifully with the rough, natural surface of the outer faces. But then I liked this group of large standing stones - they reminded me of the prehistoric ones that litter our English landscape. The Cotswolds have a good number of these, so it made good sense to continue the tradition. I have written about some of these local stones in the past and we hold them in great affection: http://lifeinthecotswolds.blogspot.com/2009/09/three-very-special-cotswold-reasons.html and http://lifeinthecotswolds.blogspot.com/2009/07/speaking-to-5000-year-old-soldier.html. Time for a reality check. How could we lift these giants into place when there was no easy access? And so we went for this one - as large a piece as two of us could manhandle (and it nearly killed us in the process, as did digging the hole for the reservoir in root infested ground) - but we were happy with the end result. 
Absolutely fantastic.
ReplyDeleteReally beautiful in its simplicity!
ReplyDeleteI love rocks and boulders in a garden Johnson--such natural beauty! Not a fan of moving them though--out of my league there. Hope your back didn't suffer :)
ReplyDeleteJeannie
Oh it is just lovely. I love using large boulders in many of my designs. They make a huge statement and you do not need to maintain them.
ReplyDeleteHi Johnson, job well done on the stone... what a wonderful transformation from an unattractive space to focal point.
ReplyDeleteYour beautiful landscape (photos) of Snowdonia made me linger. They seem to go on forever.
Many thanks, all of you, for taking the time to post a comment - always much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteMore on Snowdonia to come, Di and probably more on stones too, in due course!
Johnson
I love the ones with the holes in. Stone is tricky, so easy for it to look out of place and imported. it needs a connection with the place I think.
ReplyDeleteand talking of place, love your snowdonia photos. If you come to North Wales again you should look at the Clwydian hills where I live - very much a backwater and forgotten as people head to snowdonia, very ancient and beautiful.
Thanks Elizabeth - I shall have to pay a visit to your neck of the woods. I don't know Wales too well and it sounds lovely.
ReplyDelete