Friday, July 14, 2023

The Bobcat Trail, Newtown, CT

Map of all the trails and layout of this woodland wonder.


One of the many area's to sit and relax on the trail.
There are other spots with portable fire pits and additional seating.
Views to see thru the woods a horse farm and pond below

Paula with the sunglasses Paul's co creator of the trail
and trail map.

Paul leading a hike while discussing all the features of this
amazing site.

Hand made walking sticks

Lots of great food, additional garden area and decking in the
backyard.  What a fun spot to come to.

Gravel trails, large boulders thru out the trail
will photo some of the rock formations next time. 

A creative labor of love can't wait to go back


 

Monday, September 12, 2022

Wonderful Hypertufa Workshop at Joan and Michael’s Home (Sept. 2022)



 Dear Members,

When I arrived at Joan and Michael’s  at 10 AM yesterday, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Not only did they have a well-tended display gardens despite the summer’s heatwave, but they had prepared all of the needed materials for ensuring a highly successful workshop. 

Not knowing how much of the hypertufa mixture would be needed for 13 participants who would be bringing all types and sizes of plastic containers, boxes and baskets for their project, they hauled 200 pounds of cement and two large bales of perlite and peat moss they had purchased for the Club from 3 different stores. In addition, they assembled a collection of tables, chairs, wheelbarrows, buckets and mixing tubs out onto their shady lawn areas.

Just in case, any of our members needed containers or small cardboard boxes, there were several dozen of each along with plastic sheeting, Pam spray, extra gloves, scissors and mason tools! Joan and Michael thought of everything we might need.

When Mike W, Joan and I started to plan this workshop we talked about a simple lunch for participants but as usual along with picking up some readymade wraps and brownies from Costco, Joan also made her scrumptious cucumber salad, melon and blueberry salad and tossed salad! 

What a bounty of delicious treats and plentiful soft drinks awaited us after we cleaned up from our somewhat messy artistic efforts!

With a lot of sweat and toil over an hour and a half, Mike W. and Michael kept a steady stream of batches of the gooey mixture flowing onto the work tables. So the mixture didn’t dry out, the batches were small and as a result,  each one was quickly scooped up to fill the forms while the next one was mixed up.

Since I never attended this type of workshop I didn't realize how much work and attention to detail it entailed! 

For example for better quality, Joan and Michael had set up a sifter for the peat moss. To ensure correct follow-up treatment of our creations and to serve as a guide should we later attempt more adventures in hypertufa, Joan sent us home with a complete instruction set!  
For artistic inspiration, Joan mentioned using some of her garden’s leaves and flowers to create nice impressions in the soft mix and many of the attendees added bits of them from her garden into their creation. 

In the coming days, each time we look at our trough or troughs, we will remember how we spent that perfect day in their gorgeous gardens enjoying each other’s company due to their hard work and thoughtfulness. Big Thanks go to Joan and Michael for all their hard work planning and executing this workshop and to Mike Wicki for his sweat equity at mixing the batches to just the right consistency! 
Kris Atwood
HCN President





















Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Rain Gardens May 2022 meeting

 Our Rain Garden Event at Dottie and John Evan’s earlier this month was a well-attended lovely time for all!  But for the first time ever, we had no leftovers and those that arrived a bit late found little left to forage! Some people forgot to tell us they were coming or to bring something to share. These member-hosted events are a special treat and our hosts should know how many are coming and what they are bringing so that we have sufficient food and drink for all. 











Friday, November 12, 2021

November meeting: Gardens Visited by Tammara and Mark

 Another great meeting as Tammara and Mark shared their experiences with gardens this summer. The club had a tour of Innisfree  in May and a beautiful slide show was presented by Tammara. Be sure to make a visit there.

Mark shared his experience of growing orchids by hanging them on his deck.  So much fun to learn about orchids behavior and see their beauty. Mark also answered gardening related questions.

Joan shared wonderful plants for the group to bring home and enjoy while Dottie baked her delicious huckleberry muffins.

See you in December at our annual holiday party, please rsvp asap.  

Happy Thanksgiving!







Thursday, October 14, 2021

Annual meeting Oct. 14th + Making pressed fern cards with Paula Toi

 Our budget was distributed, the annual holiday party plans were discussed but more importantly  Tamarra will be stepping down as President.  Anyone who is interested in stepping forward to hold this position along with a VP and secretary please let Tamarra know if you are interested asap.

Paula did a presentation on making fern cards which was a big hit.  The cards turned out beautiful!

Take a peak.....