Whether it is an Asian-influenced pavilion, a faux crumbling medieval ruin, or a domed neoclassical temple (picture the one in the rain where a drenched Lizzie Bennet meets up with Mr. Darcy during the climactic scene in the 2005 remake of Pride & Prejudice), garden follies have dotted the British landscape for some 300 years. Despite the not-so-serious-sounding name, these architectural creations are more than just pretty faces.
“They had meaning over and above just being delightful,” says Emile de Bruijn from the UK’s National Trust. Think of follies as a sort of three-dimensional 18th-century Instagram—a way for landowners to share their interests in other cultures or in literature, or to make a political statement, suggests de Bruijn: “The structures needed to be attractive and amusing, but there was always a message somewhere.”
Good Morning! :-)
We had a trace amount of rainfall over the weekend here in Central Missouri. It looked like we were going to get swamped again on Saturday but the storm dissipated when it reached the river.
I haven’t done much of anything in the garden lately. Been helping oldest nephew get his new Mercedes Sprinter van set up to run no-touch expedited freight. We’ve been making steady progress on it. We finished installing the E-track in the floor over the weekend and got the battery box and battery installed. MPPT charge controller and 3kw sine wave inverter were mounted last week. This week we’ll be bolting solar panels to the roof and wiring all of it together. It should be ready to hit the road by Monday of next week.
Mrs. Augie and I did manage to get all of the grass cut over the weekend and she spent a little time pulling weeds from around her cucumber plants. Those things are lush and loaded with blossoms. I expect she’ll start picking by the end of this week. The tomato plants are starting to look like they want to do something. Sweet corn is looking decent and is ready for a side-dressing of urea. I still need to get out there with the weed whacker and trim around the fences. We’re taking the evening off from working on the Sprinter van so I should be able to get that done after work today.