Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Last Week Of October

            October is soon over, though the weather is warm, sometimes it rains all day and night, and then a strong wind blows and the sun shines. The real northern autumn!
At the weekend I went to take a look at my summer house and garden The plants were ready to winter, for cold and snow. In the garden bushes were without leaves, only dogwood, some roses, and apple trees had some leaves. The pond was frozen when I arrived in the morning, but then light ice has melted.



Little silver fir is hardy, its small bumps were still growing.
The dim sun shone spherical thujas and night rain drops. Deciduous rhododendrons (azaleas) dropped their leaves and evergreen ones will turn off their leaves to reduce the evaporation of moisture in the frost.


Then I strolled along the nearest woods.The leaves almost fell down, black trunks and branches were seen everywhere. The birds have flown away, only sparrows, chickadees and magpies stayed to winter. Fog started to fall at early evening, it was quickly getting dark, the days are short in October. I took a few pictures of the foggy forest.


   That is all for now, see you soon!



Monday, October 21, 2013

The Lanu Park In Lahti, Finland


Recently I had a few days away in Lahti, Finland. I love this town, have been before there. It's not large but very comfortable and cozy for citizens. The town is called the Center of the Finnish Lake District.
Having settled at the hotel, I went for a stroll to the Lanu park. So the park is named after the sculptor Olavi Lanu, who created concrete sculptures in 1989 - 1992 and put them in different parts of the forest, among the trees and bushes.


The park is located on the Kariniemi hill, near the Vesijärvi lake. The lake is beautiful, there is a pier for boats and yachts and a place for walking and cycling. Lots of geese and ducks stopped in the park before flying to warm places. 

 
When I began to go up the hill to the park unusual sculptures struck me. It was necessary to consider them to understand what was depicted. Here are two persons, they hug (' tuki '). Next figure is a man sitting under a falling stone. Judging by his face, he pondered and did not notice a stone ( 'hella kivi ' ).

' tuki ' 
'hella kivi '  
This sculpture depicts a meeting of a few people, though I can not say exactly how many they are ('rankakasa'). Not far away in the forest an interesting group was: two men who have faced as stubborn sheep. I suppose they struggle with each other long time and moss have already started to grow on them ('kaksi kivea').

'rankakasa'

'kaksi kivea' 

This figure is as if made of thin concrete rods. I imagined a woman who wanted to get rid from the mass of concrete ('keko'). And opposite another sculpture, a couple was, I suppose they were happy to meet ('harmaa tammikuu')

'keko'
 'harmaa tammikuu'
A little away from the main paths of the park, this figure was located. I think it's meditator man sitting in peace alone ('iso kivi'). Now the sculpture that I liked the most. This was a woman figure lying on her side and concrete waves and threads flown down. Interestingly to look at her hair.

'iso kivi'
The following sculpture tries to raise himself by his hair. But if you look at his legs or roots, they are four, it is clear that he would never get off the ground ('keko')
I stared at the last sculpture, could not understand how a woman's body pierced a stone. But apparently she was not damaged because she clasped her hands behind a head and seeks to swim ('lapi harmaan kiven')   :))

'keko'
'lapi harmaan kiven'

I think any viewer can't be indifferent looking at these sculptures by Olavi Lanu, they make him to think, to consider, to assume. The bright colors of the autumn forest emphasize Lanu's unusual creativity.
From the hill the houses and Lahti hall tower was visible. I went down to the Vesijärvi lake and decided to look at the gallery in the museum. 


There I also found the cute sculpture. The day was interesting, the walk was long and I went to have dinner. Happy new week all!


P.S. 

By the way this is my 100th post.
When in late 2011 I made ​​my blog I would never have believed that I could write 100 articles in English. I hope you have forgiven my few mistakes. Thank you!


Monday, October 14, 2013

GBBD In October

              October came, it's the last month of autumn. Two years ago the first snow fell on October 2. This autumn is warm but the sun is already low. Today I've come late to the garden and when I began taking pictures I've realized that the shadows were long and the plants were poorly lighten. But nevertheless...
I will show what is in bloom and ripen in my garden. 


The asters and sedum, they are actually autumn flowers. The Goldenrod (Solidago) looks amazing when its yellow flowers have faded.


The hydrangea 'Lime light', finally blooms in October, but I think it does not have time to blush until frost. The Grootendorst roses are not afraid of the cold and can keep blooming even under light snow. I like these roses, they are easy to care for and not capricious.


Small violets grow even in October, they appreciate every minute of sunlight but prefer to grow near the rocks those are heated at the afternoon. My clematis 'Rouge Cardinal' began to grow and bloom in June and so on without stopping till snow. It's very unassuming and grateful for the care and feeding. My Japanese maple is not going to drop its red leaves yet.



In October a lot of fruits and berries ripen in the garden, all the birds that do not fly away in warm areas and stay to winter here will eat these berries and fruits. This Kalinka (Viburnum) is ripe, I've eaten some berries: they no longer have bitterness. Chokeberry (Aronia) is very sweet and juicy, I picked a little for pie with apples. Lots of orange fruit are on the Celastrus vine, they have seeds inside. I do not know why, but the birds do not eat these fruits.



I have a lot of work in the garden until the end of October. But I hope that November will be warm without snow. It is necessary to cover the roses, clematis, hydrangeas, carnations, phlox, mint and lemon balm, to gather maple leaves. I have to tie up the branches of young black currant bushes and rhododendrons to heavy snow broke them. Before ice cover the pond I need to put the Nymphaeas in depth. I have long list 'to do' for October.
 I cooked pie with apples and chokeberry, picked in my garden, it warmed me in cold day!


Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Udelny Park: "The Forest Like a Chamber Painted..."

         Last Sunday was sunny and warm, it was about +15 C. Of course , it was impossible not to seize such a gift of nature, a beautiful fall day and not to go for a stroll. Udelny park is one of the oldest parks in the northern part of St. Petersburg.
It is located on low hills, there are several sources that form a small lakes. One of the lakes is not far from the entrance, the another one is in the depths of the park.
The park is known since the XIX century, on its land
cottages were built, many festivities were organized. Udelny park gained great popularity among the citizens of St. Petersburg. The popularity grew even more after the opening of the Udelny railway station in the end of XIX century.
Now the upper part of the park is especially convenient for hiking and sports, for hills skiing and tobogganing in winter. Groups of enthusiasts spend sports activities for children and adults in the park.
I've taken a few pictures of Udelny park in October, and found the poem by Russian poet
Ivan Bunin (read more here)

Here they are:



The forest like a chamber painted 
In lilac, golden, purple, green
Stands on the edge of opening, 
The wall so exquisite and dainty.
The yellow carving of birch-trees
Shines in the sparkling blue
And slight, refreshing autumn breeze
Show easily to you


In the transparent foliage
These gaps into the sky.
The forest like a house's ridge
Smells of dried oak and pine.

And now, the quiet widow, Autumn
Comes to her coloured place.
The fallen leaves are getting rotten
And from the empty space


 


Today it's silence everywhere:
The forest and the sky are calm.
And in this silence you can hear
How leaves fall on your palm.

The forest like a chamber painted 
In lilac, golden, purple, green
Stands on the edge of opening
By some enchantress fascinated. 


 
Ivan Bunin
 "The Fallen Leaves"
 1909-10

Translated into English by Svetlana Amelina

 
Have you liked Ivan Bunin's poem? 
Did you read any Russian poems before? If you know some poets whom do you prefer? Thank you!