VIKTOR DONOVAN: July 2010

Thursday, July 29, 2010

IN LOVE WITH ENGLAND

All pictures published with the kind permission of UGArdener.

"I am a middle aged American man living in the North Georgia mountains near the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. My wife and I are active hikers. We love to travel in England because of the cool weather, the extensive public transportation and the thousands of miles of public footpaths. I have been working on a garden of my own for twelve years. I have used many of the ideas that I have gotten from English gardens."

These are the words of "UGAardener", a wonderful and prolific photographer. He has most generously shared his experiences in many albums of English villages and gardens. His pictures are artistic and inspired as you can see above.

Many visitors to England, never get beyond London (and some people never get a chance to go on a vacation at all) so this is a fantastic opportunity to see England at its best and most beautiful. Here is the perfect guide!

Below are some of his many albums (many days enjoyment) presented in no particular order. (Playing music is recommended, and also using the "full screen" mode. Click in the right hand lower corner where there are four dots. To leave the "full screen" mode, press the "esc" key.)

-The Gardens, Park and House at Chatsworth in Derbyshire (the house used as Pemberly, the estate belonging to Mr. Darcy in Pride and Predjudice)

-Wakehurst Place, Sussex

-Broadway, Cotswolds, Worcestershire

-Snowshill Manor, Cotswolds

-Bourton on the Hill, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire

-Batsford Arboretum

-Bourton House Garden, Cotswolds

-Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire

-Tissington, Derbyshire

-I do not like hiking myself, but I certainly enjoy the photos from the walk in the Shropshire Hills and Tissington Trail in Derbyshire.

-More hiking: Dovedale, Beresford Dale, Wolfscote Dale, Milldale and Biggen Dale in Derbyshire and Heart of England Way near Sezincote

-The Cobblestone Streets of Rye, East Sussex

-Haddon Hall, Derbyshire

-Eyam and Stoney Middleton

-Sissinghurst the famous garden created by Vita Sackville West

-Hidcote Manor Garden, one of England's most interesting gardens.

-Bakewell, Derbyshire

-Ludlow, Shropshire

-Sezincote Garden, Cotswolds

-The Oxford Botanic Garden

-Chastleton House and Village

-Oxford - City of Dreaming Spires

-Moreton in Marsh, Cotswolds

-Stow on Wold to Lower Slaughter, Cotswolds

-Hatfield House, Hertfordshire

-Blockley Village, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire

-Nymans Garden in East Sussex

-Dedham and Flatford Mill - Suffolk

-The Garden at Henry James' Lamb House, Rye

-The Arts and Crafts Garden at Standen, West Sussex

-Mill Dene Gardens, Blockley, Cotswolds

-Baslow Hall and Village, Derbyshire

-And of course there is dear old London. Walk one, two, three, four and five

So what influence have all these trips to England had on UGAardner's own garden in Northern Georgia in America? I have discovered many.

Our UGAardener has been a big contributor to the English Garden Group where there are masses of pictures to enjoy!

UGAardener has many more albums, here grouped in "collections" to make it easier. Here are the "500 most interesting" photos from all his albums.

There are other photographers also in love with English gardens and I particularly like this selection by Nigel Burkitt.

GOTHENBURG VINTAGE TRAMS

Gothenburg, Sweden, has only trams and busses (no underground).

During the tourist season, the vintage tram association (Ringlinien Tramway Society), operates the old trams from the railway-station to the Liseberg Funfair Park. These old trams are a bit rattly to ride in, but a joy to behold. Want to see more pictures?

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

NEVER BORING

On the Internet you'll find photographers' categorized images in their albums:

There are traditional albums, with photos from Blenheim Palace and famous English gardens (Sissinghurst, and Hidcote) and even one showing American Lighthouses.

Do you feel like looking at stained glass? Or 82 pictures of George Washington? Or perhaps pictures of statues of lions and eagles?

Sometimes the collections are very specific and unusual.

If you get a sudden inclination to look at images of the letter 'A' or the letter 'O', or look at different kinds of door handles or pictures of bricks, or images of numbers from 0-359? -- then there is an album out there for you.

If you have an interest in London Street Art, there are 900 images! And there are 991 images of paintings and tapestry in one album! Or why not have a look at one hundred close-ups of faces? Or an album containing 170 images of everything orange.

You will need some time for this. And some music perhaps. With music playing in the background, the watching is more enjoyable.

(Also be sure to experiment with the various options for the slideshows. You can chose various speed and whether information should be displayed or not)

Saturday, July 24, 2010

EYES ON THE ROAD

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

ITALIAN VISIT

With Internet you can be in Sweden and still visit Italy.

A superb tour-guide is an American professor Deborah Guber whose photography is quite superb.

Watch some slideshows from

Or take a longer Italian tour

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

NO TEABAGS PLEASE - WE'RE SWEDISH

There are many tea and coffee specialty shops in Gothenburg -- shops usually packed with people. If you are the impatient type, this is not for you but it's your loss. The shop assistants are usually super-friendly, charming, willing to advise you and let you smell the a glorious variety of teas stored in large metal containers. It all takes time. If you are so inclined it's great fun and worth the effort!

The Earl Grey teas have authentic bergamot oil -- no artificial fragrance as is the case these days with most commercially packed teas. One shop actually sends Earl Grey Tea to customers England!

The teas you choose have handwritten labels and you're eager to get home and try the new flavours or enjoy a favourite you just stocked up on. The shops also offer gift wrapping at no extra cost. Besides appreciating good quality tea and coffee, a customer also values the person-to-person-over-the-counter shopping. It's an old-fashioned, more personal way of shopping - the way it was before the invasion of the Super Store.

NEW BOOK!

Much of human activity is centered around food. We think of food whether we’re hungry or not. We spend a great deal of time buying it. We take hours preparing it (well, some do). We talk about it. We read about it in cook books. We watch television when chefs talk about it (sometimes to excess). When we socialize, it is often centered around the communal intake of it. We give it as gifts. Food, we can’t escape it! Some people become keenly interested in preparing food for themselves and others; many have become what we call “good cooks”. Usually a degree of creativity is involved together with a keen interest to entertain and a need to take care of others, to be a good host. It is such people that one remembers, and that is how I got started on Food & Folk, remembering, for example that excellent couple, Beatrice and Clayburn La Force on their ranch in Alpine California. After that I just kept going.

MY HOMETOWN GOTHENBURG

A series of closeups (224 photos) of Gothenburg, Sweden. Language: English and Swedish.----- This book consists of a series of closeups of Gothenburg. It is no history book but, hopefully, it will generate some curiosity about our city. When you walk in a city like London you are struck by Britain’s colonial past and its enormous wealth which manifests itself in buildings and institutions all over the city. When you walk in “Little London” as Gothenburg is often called, one is keenly aware of its importance as the best fortified city in Northern Europe. Two forts still watch over it. Remnants of the seventeenth century wall, and the meandering moat are a reminder of the city’s military past. Positioned on the West coast of Sweden, Gothenburg was once a world leader in ship building and shipping and evolved naturally into a merchant’s city. The English and Scottish heritage here is very important. There are clues and traces everywhere. One has only to look.

A GARDEN IN MY HOMETOWN

A book in English and Swedish about the Garden Society of Gothenburg--TRÄDGÅRDSFÖRENINGEN -----The Garden Society of Gothenburg is one of the best preserved early 19th century parks in Europe. It is situated directly downtown, offering lovely walks in the park or in the shaded woodland areas along the canal/moat, waterfront. The garden recently went through a major renovation under the auspices of Ulf Nordfjell, the internationally known landscape designer. The aim was to bring the garden back to its old nineteenth century glory. Carpet bedding returned and five new woodland areas were designed by five international garden designers. A superb new rose park was added, a successful blending of historical roses and perennials.

Love letters from my Swedish grandfather Folke to my American grandmother Olga 1909 - 1961

My American grandmother, Olga, met my Swedish grandfather, Folke Jonsson, in Brussels in 1909. Olga was 18 and Folke, 23. They settled in Gothenburg and Särö, Sweden. Olga, being American, had her family in Florida, and Folke soon came to realize that if you marry a woman from another continent, and this woman is charmingly independent, innovative and brave, and has her own means to boot, she is bound to want to visit her native country some time -- or several times -- or more than several times. To Folke, a sensitive soul, the long separations were quite painful and he suffered till his darling Olga returned. He “talked” to her in his frequent letters. Olga saved all his letters, in their original envelopes, in neat little bundles held together with different coloured ribbons. They were a treasured lifelong testament of his love. Olga and Folke corresponded in English as Olga was American and preferred writing in English. Had my grandfather Folke married a Swedish woman who had stayed at home, there would not be this stack of his letters today. He never intended the letters to be shown to others, but more than one hundred years have passed since Folke wrote them to his darling Olga. I have enjoyed getting to know my grandfather in this manner and I think others, not only relatives, should also share that privilege.

A pictorial Companion to the letters in the book above: 150 pictures of Olga & Folke 1909-1978

NEW BOOK BY DONOVAN O'MALLEY

REVIEW: "...O'Malley continues to prove that he is one of the more important writers around, a writer who with every book brings into our lives some very strange, often exceedingly humorous, and now, frequently very lonely people. His ability to create language for each of his characters is sharp, well studied and written, and without belittling anyone he, in language, shows the difference between class, and education, and exposure. Likely that comes from his experience in writing plays where characters are alive and moving, but with his considerable literary skills he makes his written page people morph into real life folks. He is in top form here ... " Grady Harp, June 12 (Hall of Fame reviewer)