Lake Quannapowitt – Country Design Home

Mar 13, 2013

Capturing Color Palettes

It’s Wanderlust Wednesday, and this week we are returning to Wakefield, Mass to join the throngs of walkers circling the 3 mile path around the lake for their daily exercise. Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, with a hint of spring in the air, hundreds-no, thousands-of walkers/runners begin the migration back to the lake to shake off the winter layers (fleece and fat!) and start the annual pilgrimage to beach time fitness. While walking along, the scenery surrounding me constantly catches my eye, and each season brings a fresh new palette. In the fall, it was all about oranges and reds and yellows and golden sunsets.

With the spring comes budding birch trees,

dormant greenery springing back to life,

and melting ice floes with gray horizons.

I have a new toy on my Iphone this season: Benjamin Moore Color Capture. You know when you see a house and you think “I wonder what color that is- I love it!” Would you ever put it past me to actually go knock on some perfect stranger’s door to ask what the color and paint brand their house was painted? Yup, done that! Now it’s a little simpler- I just snap a shot with my Iphone and the Color Capture Analyzer instantly produces all of their paint colors in that particular shot! Then you just go to the Benjamin Moore website, type in the color in the search box and there you have it-brilliant! So the melting ice and the dark sky over the open waters produced this palette in shades of grays with a purplish hue like Faded Violet and creamy whites from the cloudy sky called Chantilly Lace.

As you move the cursor around on the picture, it will pick up the subtle differences in the palettes- this one has more greens like Quarry Rock

The birch tree scene produced softer blues like Sweet Innocence, more whites and grays with hints of ambers and gold and a touch of coral from the ground cover that is still hidden under layers of mud and dirt.

The Colonel James Hartshorne House , built in 1681, sits on the corner of the lake by the ball field. It is one that I have always admired, and recently they painted it this gorgeous blue-which color blue, you ask? Well, according to the palette, the closest is Bachelor Blue. But the lighting and time of day changes the hue, so best make sure you take several shots to get the perfect match!

Even on the grayest, cloudiest day it still stands bright. And what blue house isn’t complete without a cheery red door? The color of this one? I’m going with the sexy, spicy Caliente.

While I love that red door, which creates its own color palette, my eye was also drawn to the bright green shrubbery in the front that creates a stunning contrast to the rich blue. Dark Celery-the color in the budding shrub tips-is a great contrast to the blues and reds.

As great as that color scheme is for the Hartshore House exterior, wouldn’t it be great for interior space as well? I created this room on the Benjamin Moore Personal Color Viewer. You know all those colors you just captured outside? Go to the website and you can use them in all types of rooms- using their galleries or your own pics! For this one I used the colors from the lake and house photos: Quarry Rock, Bachelor Blue, Caliente and Chantilly Lace– the possibilites are endless!

Just make sure that when you are choosing your exerior colors, like the ones on the Hartshore House, you factor in the landscape and background- whether its the sky or water or the surrounding greenery, they all play a part in your palette! Hope you capture a Wanderful Wednesday everyone! Susan

Filed Under: Color Class, Inspiration · Tagged: Benjamin Moore, Benjamin Moore Bachelor Blue, Hartshore House, Lake Quannapowitt, nature's color patette, using nature as a palette, Wakefield

Aug 1, 2012

Wanderlust Wednesday Cancelled…

By countrydesignhome · Leave a Comment

…due to heavy rains. Since I spent the early part of the day carb-loading (no, I am not training for a marathon, just snacking on almond shortbread cake, chili-lime crackers and mini-butterfingers), I decided to take a quick walk/jog around Lake Quannapowitt before we went out for dinner. What do you call a walk/jog anyway? Wog? Jalk? In this case, it could have been a swim. Started out fine, but got half-way around the lake’s 3 mile circumference when I noticed a dark menacing grey cloud in the distance. Damn. Just as I turned the corner, the skies opened up and the rain poured down on me and the dozen or so other woggers that were getting in their afternoon exercise. In a matter of seconds, I was soaked to the bone, and managed to hide under a tree long enough to snap this photo-attractive, eh?

With the car parked 1.5 miles away, I started back, hoping the Coach would come to my rescue. Alas, that was not the case. All those cars driving by with headlights on? No search and rescue looking for me.

Soooo, I jumped some puddles,

snapped a couple of pics (neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays this writer from the swift completion of her blog)

until my camera started to blur from all the moisture!

Safely back in the car, I made my way home, the wipers working overtime to clear the ribbons of water cascading down the windshield.

Back on the porch-oh hey, my raincoat! I had hung it on the porch to clean off the bird poop I somehow managed to sit in while at SOWA on

Sunday.

That would have come in handy. A few moments later, the sun peeked through the clouds.

Wanderlust Wednesday returns next week…and remember, when you walk through a storm, hold your head up high- unless you don’t have an umbrella. Susan

Filed Under: Outdoor Adventures · Tagged: jog, Lake Quannapowitt, Photography, rain, run, storm, walk, wanderlust

Jun 12, 2012

The Launch

By countrydesignhome · Leave a Comment

Would have preferred to be blogging about “The Lunch” at a lovely little Italian bistro in Tuscany. But The Kayaks have been in dry dock for over a year now, and it was time to take them for their maiden voyage. These kayaks were a birthday gift for my husband, presented to him with grand fanfare a year ago May-yes 2011! Amazing how an adult could be so excited about a big blue plastic boat : ) Since that time, there were many reasons (ah, excuses) why the kayaks had not been launched. Poor weather, wrist surgery (on my part), lack of PFD’s (for those of you not boating saavy, that stands for Personal Flotation Device, previously known as, and more accurately described as a LIFE JACKET), lack of roof racks and a cruise to the Baltics-my preferred style of boating-someone steers the boat while I relax on the deck with a bucket of beers : )Fast forward to this past Sunday, a glorious spring day, the peace and tranquility of my morning coffee on the porch rudely interrupted by a text from my daughter saying “get ready, we are going kayaking today!”. Great. Good. It’s time. We had recently purchased a new car with roof racks, which up until now, had been utilized for carrying home furniture and stuff from antique shops. No more excuses, or pretty soon, those Kayaks were going to be utilized in a much more artistic form if we didn’t get them water-borne.

Being a reluctant participant, I hung back and took pics while the J-hook racks, and then the kayaks were secured to the roof, and the PFD secured to Bartlet the dog.

Off we go to our local Lake Quannapowitt, which is very pretty in pictures from afar, but not so much up close-a fierce algae bloom has turned the shoreline a bright shade of green. Ok to boat on, but wouldn’t want to fall in!

Since the kayaks were my husband’s gift, it was only fair that he have the first go-round (and yes, I was stalling). My daughter Kate and her dog Bartlet were right behind him, at least for a moment, until the dog decided to test his PFD and his swimming abilities! Frenchies are great little dogs, but we had read that because their heads are quite large, they have a tendency to sink when submerged in water. I am happy to report that his ability to keep afloat with his head above water was masterful, and his PFD worked beautifully! Kate paddled quickly to his side and scooped him out of the water by the handle on the top of the jacket. Of course, I don’t have any pictures of that, because I was doubled-over laughing at the sequence of events. Suffice to say I could never make a living as an official photographer. And with that, the kayaks were launched.

Remember that old Nike tagline “Just Do It?”. With that thought in mind, I finally took my turn around the lake in the periwinkle blue LL Bean Perception kayak. In all the time thinking about and worrying about tipping over and going in the drink, that never was an issue. I did have a few run-ins with some bushes along the shore, but for the most part, it was an uneventful event. Until we packed up and returned home. Now I would like to tell the story that my sore back and neck was from a large wave crashing and tossing me into the lake. Sadly, not true. Safely back home after our maiden voyage, having removed the kayaks from the roof of the car, I had jumped up along the side of the car to unscrew the J-hook racks. Stepping back down, I tripped and fell backwards into the kayaks on the ground! Thankfully, no cameras handy to record that moment in the kayak annals. So my take on the whole experience? Lots of work to secure J-hooks, strap the kayaks to the roof, drive to location, unstrap and carry kayak to water’s edge, PFD’s are not all that comfortable, paddling is quite a good upper body workout, being on the lake is fun, but I would just as soon walk around the lake for my exercise. Will I go again? Perhaps. In the meantime, anyone wanna borrow some kayaks???

Peaceful sailing…Susan

Filed Under: Outdoor Adventures · Tagged: kayak, Lake Quannapowitt, LL Bean, Perception, PFD, REI

Jun 7, 2012

Taking a Break

By countrydesignhome · Leave a Comment

Sometimes you just need a break. In the middle of yet another quilt project with the deadline looming, I just kept gazing out the windows of my dining room “workshop”. Glimpes of the first sunshine we have seen in over a week kept distracting me (something sparkly?!). Such a warm evening… time to go walk the lake.

Around these parts, “walking the lake” refers to Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield. Essentially 3 miles around, the lake is the perfect place to stroll, jog, push a baby carriage and just clear your mind. In 45 minutes, I managed to work up a sweat, create some new blog titles, burn off a few calories and take some pics with my trusty Iphone.