{"id":30139,"date":"2016-10-15T17:00:02","date_gmt":"2016-10-15T10:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/war-and-peaceful-gardens-in-the-land-of-tolstoy\/"},"modified":"2016-10-15T17:10:54","modified_gmt":"2016-10-15T10:10:54","slug":"war-and-peaceful-gardens-in-the-land-of-tolstoy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/war-and-peaceful-gardens-in-the-land-of-tolstoy\/","title":{"rendered":"War and peaceful gardens: in the land of Tolstoy"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nA visit to Tolstoy\u2019s country estate gives writer and gardener Charlotte Mendelson an insight into the relationship between nature and creativitySpringtime can kill you, but autumn is worse. If one\u2019s soul responds to nature \u2013 and, as Louis Armstrong said of jazz, if you have to ask what that means, you\u2019ll never know \u2013 then its beauty is painful. Whatever TS Eliot thought (the poor man was wrong about so much), autumn is the most painful time of all. Walking in the grounds of Tolstoy\u2019s country estate at Yasnaya Polyana, yellow birch leaves turning gently as they fall, is almost too much, particularly for an oversensitive novelist. Five of us are here, imported by the British Council to broaden Russian conceptions of British literature. We have worked \u2013 by God we have worked \u2013 but, this morning, among the wooded paths and ripe, rich leaf mould, nothing else seems to matter, not even fiction.For cramped city-dwellers, the incomprehensible excess of space is dazzling: the \u201ccascade of three ponds\u201d, each more invitingly cool and swimmable than the last; the fir woods thick with fungal life; the juicy grass. Even the ponies have had a surfeit. There is so much silken birch bark, pinkly tender beneath its epidermis; so many fallen, unregarded apples and ancient, lichen-spattered branches: mustard, pigeon, rose. One wants to sniff and wallow; at least, I do. Surely this is normal? A reasonable response to being knee-deep in the dew and bracken: surrendering to the space, the wildness? Continue reading…
\n
\nSource : theguardian.com
\nRead more…War and peaceful gardens: in the land of Tolstoy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A visit to Tolstoy\u2019s country estate gives writer and gardener Charlotte Mendelson an insight into...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-7Q7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":140375,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/uk-needs-more-lab-space-if-it-wants-to-be-science-superpower-ministers-told\/","url_meta":{"origin":30139,"position":0},"title":"UK needs more lab space if it wants to be science superpower, ministers told","date":"November 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Leading property firms also call for more tax breaks and improved transport links to hubs ahead of autumn statementThe UK needs to build more laboratory space, improve transport links and offer more tax breaks to achieve Rishi Sunak\u2019s ambition of becoming a science superpower, two leading property firms have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24511,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/british-weather-paves-way-for-spectacular-autumn-colour-experts-say\/","url_meta":{"origin":30139,"position":1},"title":"British weather paves way for spectacular autumn colour, experts say","date":"August 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Wet spring and sunny conditions pave the way for a spectacular display of colour, according to the Forestry CommissionAutumn could come as early as mid-September as a wet spring and sunny conditions pave the way for a spectacular display of colour, the Forestry Commission has said.England\u2019s wet spring saw\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34948,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/autumn-statement-why-the-chancellor-mustnt-cut-stamp-duty\/","url_meta":{"origin":30139,"position":2},"title":"Autumn statement: why the chancellor mustn\u2019t cut stamp duty","date":"November 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Philip Hammond can do a deal for the rich homebuyers of Mayfair or do something for middle England insteadWednesday\u2019s autumn statement will be the first test of new chancellor Philip Hammond. 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