Pleasant was my Tuesday as I drove with the company of my neighbour HH to the wonderful Acorn Nursery. We chatted away, never lost for conversation. A remark from Wise Web Woman made me think about the loss of family and friends with whom/who you have great memories. New people may come into your life, but you don't have the shared memories.
But I do have shared memories of living here for twenty plus years and knowing HH for all that time, even if we only became proper friends since Ray's death. Time over, I would have invited her to Ray's memorial gathering. I did send her photos and videos etc. HH really liked Ray, but he once put her in the freezer and was quite perfunctory with her when they came across each other in the lift, or wherever. She mentioned it and I do remember why but not in great detail. For all Ray's wonderful qualities, he could take offence quite easily.
Anyway, in a confluence of matters, Hels recently posted about Edna Walling, and I read something too about Edna Walling. She was a well known mid 20th English style local garden designer. To have an Edna Walling garden was very desirable.
She built a house in what was then countryside beyond the city limits of Melbourne, in Mooroolbark and lived there with her close female friend. She designed houses and gardens in the same unpaved road, I believe still unpaved to today, for other female friends and their own close female friends who lived with them.
Have you got the picture?
What amused me, and HH as I told her, was that the locals in the 1950s referred to the Bickleigh Vale street populated by women as Trouser Lane.
Oh yes, a couple of you might be interested to know Edna was Yorkshire born. I wonder how many married suburban wives and mothers might have pleasured themselves with thoughts of what went on in the Bickleigh Vale village.
Excuse me while I clutch my pearls....
ReplyDeleteLOL
DeleteBesides JayCee making me giggle, I've offended folks many times and never understood how or why. Perhaps I'm on the autistic scale, reducing my social skills. ~shrugs~ And that garden center reminds me of a favorite around here. I'd enjoy strolling there with you. Hugs, my dear.
JayCee, better that your hands go in the direction.
DeleteThank you Darla. I don't think I've offended too many people but I expect I have a couple at times. I've never done so with intent.
Delete:) In my case, some misunderstandings have been exacerbated by partners such as the neighbor who suddenly, after fifteen or so years pretending I didn't exist, began acknowledging me after his divorce. ~scratches head~ Lucky for us, the couple who bought that house are delightful. Best wishes, Andrew.
DeleteDarla, I kind of get that in a way. I made contact with people after Ray died who I hadn't seen for years. It might have just been a one off coffee catch up, but they were good experiences.
DeleteI'm glad you had such a pleasant outing. Can't go wrong with nurseries or gardens. Beautiful pic.
ReplyDeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
For sure, Sandra. Thanks.
DeleteRay was an interesting mix of a person! Many sided. I'm glad you've continued your friendship with HH anyway.
ReplyDeleteBoud, Ray was probably close to... what's the word....duel personality...no, split personality. There is a better word. I just managed each situation as well as I could, balancing between being supportive, without being supportive of the supposed offence, while still supporting the person who had 'caused' him offence. HH and I may not politically agree, as I've gathered, but she is a nice and decent person, and is equally horrified by #47 as the rest of us.
DeleteThat garden is looking really good
ReplyDeleteIt is a nice one, Roentare.
DeleteI love that garden. Trouser Lane made me laugh. For all the stiff formality, homosexuality was rather an open secret, wasn't it? I wonder if it was easier to be a lesbian couple than a male homosexual couple in those times.
ReplyDeleteDebby, it certainly was easier for women. Two women living together was a convenient relationship for both of them, and not suspicious, and generally lesbian sex wasn't illegal in most countries, perhaps because it is as alleged, Queen Victoria could not imagine women having sex. One of our brother friends had an aunt who lived in an inner Melbourne suburb with a woman for decades, and even our gay brother friends did not know if they were a couple or not.
DeleteWhat a lovely garden; perfect for a long nap or a good book and then a long nap.
ReplyDeleteBob, maybe perfect to watch your gardening man keep things in your garden neat, tidy and trimmed.
DeleteWhat a lovely little neighborhood, it sounds peaceful and quiet.
ReplyDeleteStill dead quiet, I believe Deb.
Delete"Have you got the picture?" Nope. I don't know what the hell you are talking about. Why can't you just spell it out in plain English?
ReplyDeleteYP, they were inclined to be Thespians.
DeleteSeems you had a good time with HH which is good.
ReplyDeleteTrouser's Lane, good name for it and yes, I wonder!
Margaret, while written in jest, I do wonder how many women think about it.
DeleteOften I think does one sexual preference really matter when there is so much else going on in the lives of people. That she managed to create beautiful gardens is surely the zenith of her achievements. I matched her with Vita Sackville West of Sissinghurst fame. Both a lover of men and women and an ability to live easily with the confines of her community.
ReplyDeleteThelma, surely age and drive driven. In the midst of terrible wars, children are willingly conceived. Edna's gardens were stylistically English, with some Australian native plant influence, but much less formal. It is hard to imagine Edna creating a white garden.
DeleteI've read about Edna Walling gardens and seen pictures too, but never wanted one myself. Far too much to look after. I didn't know about the women and Trouser Lane.
ReplyDeleteA really keen gardener, River, would probably not see gardening as work. Yes, better you don't think about Trouser Lane.
DeleteLove so many aspects of Edna’s gardening style. I think she laid the foundation for pick and choose what suits your taste , structured or unstructured as well as native . I love green gardens that are loosely organised .
ReplyDeleteTrain guru Andrew, why have tram platforms been built on Domain Road , are trams returning ?
I some ways she was formal, but I did like her throwing potatoes out into a garden to see where she would plant birch trees.
DeleteOne pair of tram platform stops has been built. It was in the contract. I doubt it will ever be used by trams, but it is now being used by the 605 bus, so not an entire waste of money, just quite a bit waste of money.
To have an Edna Walling garden was always very desirable and still is now. But few families could afford that sort of space in their front and back yards, these days.
ReplyDeleteQuite so Hels. A very different era. I expect housing in Bickleigh Vale Village is rather expensive.
DeleteAnother good read - amusing and thought provoking, finding the comments helpful too
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
Thanks Alison. Comments can be the best part of one of my blog posts.
DeleteMany people live lives of hidden desire.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt TP, as you have mentioned yourself.
DeleteThat garden looks so lovely. It is o good that that area has remained intact, Andrew.
ReplyDeletePat, I expect if I visited, I wouldn't see very much from the road. "Trouser Lane", was open one year to visit for Open House.
DeleteThe garden looks enticing, like a secret garden, quiet, mysterious.
ReplyDeleteStrayer, while with an English style, her gardens were good and well suited to Australia.
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