Renee asked about my presentation last Friday about restoring Gene Stratton-Porter's "Tame" Garden, so here goes. The basic presentation was the same as I gave at last spring's garden walk (inspiration, creation, neglect, renovation, restoration), but I inveigled an overhead projector and added pictures to the presentation. Projecting some of the old photographs revealed amazing details. Click on the picture of her touring car for a larger view. This is what she used to collect specimens from the wild. She hung large waterproof bags along both sides of the car and stuffed them full of plants. Note the plants stacked high in the back seat. The most interesting feature is the fuzzy hood of the car, which is how she transported mosses she collected. I'm not sure what the black box is that she is holding, but I suspect it might be her 40 pounds of photography equipment. And she went into the field with high boots and breeches, very improper for a women in 1914.
The presentation went well, but I almost didn't make it. As I grabbed my coat to leave the house, I bumped the very large and very heavy table leaf that I store in the coat closet and it fell on top of my foot. I fell to the floor and just gasped, but the show must go on and I had both the laptop and flash drive with me, so I hobbled to work. Thank goodness for cruise control because I couldn't use my right foot much. It's feeling much better now but the entire top of my foot is black and blue.