I would dearly love to know what type of tree this is. It was here when we moved in, and although this portion is healthy and flowering profusely, other parts have dry brown leaves. I had to remove quite a bit last fall because of this. The way the leaves are attached to the branches is very unusual, they are distibuted around it in a alternating pattern. It looks a bit like a monkey puzzle tree. Any clues to its identity would be much appreciated.
Yes, never one to hang back from trying the latest technology, warts and all, I have installed Vista Home Premium on a part of my hard drive. I do still have the option of booting into my old XP setup, which allows me to sleep at night. So far, the transition has been surprisingly painless. One big exception: Second Life. I am a virtual exile from SL until my video card manufacturer (Hello ATI) releases drivers that don’t make Second Life crash when you launch it. At least they’ve released Vista drivers for my card (Radeon X1600 for those playing along at home), unlike NVidia who are getting lots of grief because they haven’t. I can sync my ancient Handspring Visor Edge organizer which is a lifesaver - I only found out that there was a Vista compatible version of the Palm Desktop software by consulting this helpful list, the palm site doesn’t make it clear. Anyone else in the same situation wants Palm Desktop version 4.1.4E.
On the graphics front, Photoshop CS and Painter 9 seem to run well. I am working on Page 1 of my comic and should have a b/w version of the first page ready to post in a day or two. Without text yet - I’m going to see how much of the story I can convey in pictures, then add text as needed.
In the garden, some of the 50 Free Bulbs I planted recently are starting to appear which is quite exciting. I’ve also planted three white agapanthus that were starting to grow in the plastic bag they arrived in… I took pity and put them in the ground over the weekend.
Globe thistle
Originally uploaded by bgaloot.
I really love the weird spiky globes that have appeared on this thistle in our back garden. I have no idea what happens next, and am tempted not to look it up on the Web so I’ll be surprised. A sculptor in our neighborhood has two amazing, huge silvery thistle plants in her front garden that have just bloomed. Basically, I am always in search of the Dr. Seuss garden… the stranger and more surreal the plant, the better.
French trees
Originally uploaded by bgaloot.
I actually took this photo some time ago in Dinan, it must have been spring after a severe pollarding and before the leaves come out and reassure you that yes, the trees are really OK. I love weird shapes like this, my abstract paintings often feature similar items. Another favorite of mine is sprouting potatoes. I was thinking about these trees because we recently had someone pollard a tree in our back garden. It’s what you’d call a maple in the States but it’s a sycamore here. Anyway, I don’t think it was planted on purpose, but a tree is a tree, so after hemming and hawing we decided to keep it, but it was very tall and weedy, and it lost a branch in a high wind. After the tree man was finished I thought it was a goner for sure (and this having seen the french routine work so well). It was about half its former height with short little branch bits sticking out. I’ve realized that I have so little faith in plants; I am amazed when they continue growing after what look to me like major setbacks. The maple is now bushy with leaves and doing just fine, thank you, as is the buddliea that resembled four twigs when I pruned it earlier this spring. Stay tuned for garden photos.
The last two days have been beautifully sunny which in the UK can seem like a real treat. Blossoms are visible everywhere, and even our gnarly old forsythia hedge looks cheery and festive. I’ve been home recuperating for the past few days, but have ventured out to prune some poor unsuspecting plants in our back garden, and to take the dog around the block. The neighborhood is eerily quiet because of the school holidays, although we did see a little boy today who called Chickpea a cat.
This afternoon, I posted a TIFF file to the printer who does Giclee prints on rag paper, I’ve picked six images from this year’s Tate story for the Artweeks display. Preparing this enormous file in Photoshop has convinced me that I do need to upgrade my PC soon, it is barely able to handle the load and I had to physically step away from it and do something else while waiting for a file to open today - my urge to fiddle with other applications was not helping matters. I keep thinking of it as my nice fast machine, as it was when I got it, but that was about 5 years ago… it also sounds like a small refrigeration unit and is prone to overheating.
I’m very excited about the fish with feet fossil discovery. Those people with the bumper stickers were right all along!
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