Mark and I have been living in this house 25 years this month which seemed like the perfect occasion to invite all of our friends to stop by. They did. We spent Sunday catching up with folks we haven't seen in a while as well as those we see weekly. The weather was perfect: not too hot or sunny and no annoying bugs.
. . .
A rare moment sitting down. I'm chatting with my gardening friend and almost neighbor, Cindy. We were making plans to meet to go hear Fergus Garrett of Great Dixter at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison this week.
Our photographer friend Tom Schmock took lots of wonderful photos including the one above and the one below of fellow photog Dan.
Dan's wife Susann took a few photos the way most of us do these days: with her phone.
We told everyone that they were free to invite a friend since it was an open house and the number of guests didn't matter. These women were "friends of a friend' and we had a great chat about my Conran canvas chairs. She also owns the same chair and had never come across it before. I've never seen it at anyone's house either.
When we have a big group like this, there is enough room in our garden to be able to walk around and still enjoy the views and have room to stop and talk.
These two were among the early arrivals which is why no one is sitting on the bench. It was occupied most of the day.
An artist/photographer and two writers. Bobbie (on the right) is interviewing Mark as preparation to write one of the essays for his book on his State Street photos.
Beth and Dave are doing extensive work on their first house together and starting a garden as well.
Beth asked me to walk her around and tell her what some of the plants were and when (or if) they flowered. It quickly turned into a tour group!
Jutta (with her friend Paul) is the wonderful horticulturalist who has been helping us get the garden under control. I love working with someone who knows plants!
Tony (with his friend Audrey) used to live in the house behind us. As a city arborist he was a great neighbor who could talk to us about our trees and do a little pruning as well.
Four gardeners who live on the other side of town. John and John (left) are mainstays of the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society. Gary (in the baseball cap on right, with Joey) is one of the first serious gardeners I ever met when I moved to Madison. He's involved with historic preservation and very knowledgeable on the subject. We got our heron sculpture from him as well.
Two former co-workers from The Capital Times newspaper.
Two of my sisters-in-law catch up.
Mark and I had a great time and hope everyone else enjoyed themselves as much as we did.
Though we will both admit that standing on our feet and talking almost constantly for six hours took more out of us than we expected. We could tell it's been five years since we did this and we are definitley getting older!
