Christmas Tea at Surreybrooke Cabin

The Take Joy Society had their 2023 Christmas Tea at Surreybrooke's rental cabin.  I've written about Surreybrooke gardens several times.  Look for those posts under Surreybrooke in the Archives in the sidebar if you want to see more about this magical place in Middletown, Maryland. . .

If you enjoyed the music on the slide show, play it again while you read the rest of this post!

Surreybrooke House/Garden Tour Get-Together

This month's Take Joy Society get-together was to tour Ron and Nancy Walz's  civil-war-era house and personal garden at Surreybrooke on the Open Days Tour sponsored by the Garden Conservancy.  Open Days features private gardens throughout the country.  There may be one in your area, so check the Garden Conservancy link above.  Unfortunate for the others, Cindy and I were the only one's able to make it today.  We got to see the modern addition as well as the original part of the house. This is looking back down the walk we came up to get to the new addition.  In the distance is the mountain range I live on.  You will see Catoctin Mountain in the background in many of the photos. . . .

Surreybrooke Garden Tour Get-Together

This month several members of the Take Joy Society met at Surreybrooke for a garden tour and picnic.  Surreybrooke has been in operation since the late 1970s when Nancy Walz began her business at craft fairs selling handmade candles and dried-flower wreaths from homegrown everlasting flowers.  When I moved here in 1981 I made yearly visits as she began to grow her business by selling plants next to her house.  As she expanded her flower beds on their farm I could always go there to get ideas for my garden and buy perennials and annuals you don't usually find at Lowes or Home Depot.  Over the years they have added four greenhouses,  reconstructed salvaged log cabins to house garden-themed merchandise, and built buildings like the Pavilion to host weddings and other events.

The tour started at the Pavilion where we'd have our picnic afterwards. I'd brought along a tablecloth and had small pots of succulents for Edie and Chris from my garden so I was surprised to find the tables were already set with quilted tablecloths and pots of succulents! . . . .