Not only music, but gardens, for a while shall all my cares beguile. Image: Su Leslie 2019
The human voice is the first and sometimes the best musical instrument. I love the music of Henry Purcell (1659-1695), and really like the simplicity of this song:
Music, music for a while Shall all your cares beguile. Shall all, all, etc… Shall all your cares beguile Wond’ring, wond’ring how your pains were eased, eased, eased And disdaining to be pleased ‘Til Alecto free the dead ‘Til Alecto free the dead From their eternal bands ‘Til the snakes drop, drop, drop Drop, drop, drop, drop, drop from her head And the whip, And the whip from out her hand Music, music for a while Shall all your cares beguile. Shall all, all, etc… Shall all your cares beguile Shall all your cares beguile
I’ve heard it sung by a number of different people, and this, by countertenor Philippe Jaroussky is my favourite.
My dear friend Sarah at Art Expedition is hosting 30 Days, 30 Songs for the month of June. You can see her latest post here.
Waiting for the music. Part of the tableau inspired by Katherine Mansfield’s “The Garden Party”, created in The Masfield Garden at Hamilton Gardens, Waikato, NZ. Image: Su Leslie 2018
December has been another month of relative inactivity, with few photos added to my archive.
Unexplained pain in my right leg has kept me from traveling much (a visit to Hamilton Gardens notwithstanding) — or even walking far. A post-Christmas visit to the doctor is planned.
But beyond that, I seem to be living in a curious limbo. The Big T and I have talked for years of selling up and leaving Auckland, but while our enthusiasm for a life-change is undiminished, work, families and a host of other roadblocks have continually flung themselves in our path.
The reason for my visit Hamilton Gardens (apart from testing my pain threshold) was to see the newest creation — The Mansfield Garden — named after New Zealand author Katherine Mansfield(1888-1923).
The garden recreates the setting of Mansfield’s short story The Garden Party (1922), complete with the facade of the family home, lawns, Ford Model T on the drive, a pond and a tennis court upon which a marquee has been erected to cover tables laden with carefully recreated facsimiles of the food described in the story.
Written a year before Mansfield’s death from pulmonary tuberculosis, The Garden Party tells the story of the wealthy Sheridan family as they prepare for, and host a garden party. During preparations, they learn that a working-class neighbour has died suddenly. While Laura, one of the Sheridan daughters, believes that the party should be canceled as a mark of respect, the rest of the family disagrees and the party goes ahead. Later Laura visits the dead man’s family with a basket of party leftovers, and is taken to see the body, laid out for the wake.
The story is seen as a reflection on Mansfield’s own impending death. She had been diagnosed with tuberculosis several years earlier, at the time considered a death sentence.
The Mansfield Garden is lovely; both as a recreation of the story’s setting, and as a beautiful space in its own right. It was incredibly busy when we were there, and the light was quite intense, so I took very few photos.
I guess I’ll need a return trip on a quieter, more overcast day.
Marquee on the tennis court. Part of the tableau of the Mansfield Garden, Hamilton Gardens, Waikato, NZ. Image Su Leslie 2018
Detail, Mansfield Garden, Hamilton Gardens, Waikato, NZ. Image: Su Leslie 2018
Mansfield Garden, Hamilton Gardens, Waikato, NZ. Image Su Leslie 2018
Ford Model T, Mansfield Garden, Hamilton Gardens, Waikato, NZ. Image Su Leslie 2018
Detail, Mansfield Garden, Hamilton Gardens, Waikato, NZ. Image: Su Leslie 2018
About The Changing Seasons
The Changing Seasons is a monthly challenge where bloggers around the world share what’s been happening in their month.
If you would like to join in, here are the guidelines:
The Changing Seasons Version One (photographic):
Each month, post 5-20 photos in a gallery that you feel represent your month
Don’t use photos from your archive. Only new shots.
Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them
The Changing Seasons Version Two (you choose the format):
Each month, post a photo, recipe, painting, drawing, video, whatever that you feel says something about your month
Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!
Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so others can find them.
If you do a ping-back to this post, I can update it with links to all of yours.
“Garden as though you will live forever.” — William Kent
Gardening is both an act of faith in the future, and an investment in it. At a personal and a global level, we need plants to sustain life.
My little garden is flourishing right now and giving me enormous pleasure, as well as putting food on our table.
Image: Su Leslie, 2016
As the Big T and I plan our escape from the city, there is quite a lot of uncertainty about where we will g, but top of my wish list (along with high-speed Internet and a good local cafe) is space for gardens and maybe a little orchard.
Image: Su Leslie, 2016
It’s taken me a long time to grow a real connection with the food I eat, and the environment I inhabit. That is something I want to carry into my future.
Detail, Italian Renaissance Garden at Hamilton Gardens, Hamilton, New Zealand. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015
Italian Renaissance Garden at Hamilton Gardens, Hamilton, New Zealand. Photo: Su Leslie, 2015
The Big T and I headed out of Auckland for the day to visit Hamilton Gardens (voted International Garden of the Year 2014). A four hour round trip — but totally worth it.
What do you give to the person who has everything? Probably the greatest gift would be the ability to live with a little less. Far more than any consumer addition, they will treasure the ability to be free.
A single plum ripening on my tree.
The quote is from a piece called “Living with a little less”, and it’s stuck in my head for the last week or so; becoming a lens through which I see more clearly the things that are going on in my life at the moment; from de-cluttering my house, to planning meals around what’s ripe in my garden, to the way I am looking at tv advertising, politics, the environment … even trying to improve my health can be understood as living with a little less … of me.
Much of Watkins’ piece is about the process of design, suggesting that good design can be either additive—beginning with the core of form or function and adding what is needed to achieve that; or subtractive—starting with the outer limits and taking away everything that isn’t needed to achieve the design goal. (Thinking it through, p. 16)
One of the things I relish about Tony Watkins’ writing is the way ideas move so fluidly—from comment on architecture to the observation that:
The powerful philosophy of the consumer society moves us into an additive mode of thinking, but even the wealthy reach a point where they feel the need to have a garage sale.
In global terms, I am one of the wealthy—and now it’s time for my garage sale.
Not only music, but gardens, for a while shall all my cares beguile. Image: Su Leslie 2019
