(sorted by time from the present to the past)
As usually, we have participated in organization of the main cultural event - "The evening for the convent" providing public access to our garden, information boards of sights here and refreshment for visitors. The arbour in the rosarium has become a new music stage with firs concert held - our folkrock band "NOW". Many thanks to all who came and supported our activities. See the gallery for pics from the event.
15th-22nd July we have prepared The Creative Week in the Convent Garden for anyone skillful who likes crafts and meating people. (Invitation in Czech only)
Intensive works to prepare the garden for the main season go on. The final schedule for the "Church night" is HERE (in Czech only).
The third Easter celebration in our garden is behind us and with the Cross symbolism in our mind together with the coincidence of the architect Jan Soukup offering us to borrow some old stone cross, we climbed up the small "Golgota" in the garden - the place where the nun cemetery lies - and fixed this cross upon the top of the headstone replacing the missing piece. See also the web page clickin the cemetery active area on the "Project map".
After the winter we have started the new labour season, mainly in the Rosarium. You can see the pics on the "Project" web page. With our friend Marie we have started pruning the fruit trees in the garden. And major reconstruction of the retaining wall along the way to the Jesus statue has begun.
We have prepared performances for the "Church night" planned on 1st June: Leaflet (in Czech)
The website was updated especially the page with the Reconstruction ane revitalization projects. The Christmas celebration was connected with decoration and lighting up the spruce - the Christmas tree in front of our house, which event pleased all the neighbours passing by. Also some sad news - our friend, the Malamut dog named Mates, left us on 2nd Jan and now he has benn in the "dog heaven".
As this winter was quite warm we have proceed the Rosarium building (soil works).
10/2: "The Convent Locking" - evetn held by local Popular education organization with entry to our garden. Gardening is in progression - creating a new large flower bed close to the main gate. We have applied for a subvention to reconstruct the main entrance gate with all its masonry and the roof of our house.
Finished the Pumphaus reconstruction - see the Project page in menu above. We have participated in organization of the main cultural event - "The evening for the convent" providing public access to our garden, information boards of sights here and refreshment for visitors. Many thanks to all who came and supported our activities. See the gallery for pics from the event.
The works have been continued; cleaning the eastern part of the woods, finishing the major cleaning of the Virgin Mary Spring, finishing works on the Pumphouse. Lubor has performed wit his friends within the cultural event "Night of Churches 2011" here in our Church of The Virgin Mary Birth in Chotesov - see the videos in the gallery.
As the grant for the wood treatment will not come to us due to the mortgage, we continue ourselves and have started cutting down the self-seeding trees according to the project.
yurt 2011This year we would like to built a yurt in our garden to provide nice and comfortable place for group retreats and other events. Click on the picture for more info.
We have managed to prepare the garden for The Anniversary celebration (895 years of Chotesov, 800 years of the Convent, 400 years of the Order foundation and 100 years of the Jesus Christ Statue. Much work has been done as re-opening the bricked up doors to the Convent yard, mowing the grass and instalation of the new statue of the Virgin Mary - many thanks to the author, Larse Widenfalk from Sweden. And in collaboration with local craftsmen we have finished the pumphouse inner reconstruction so the visitors and helpers can use new rest room and shower. You can see pictures of these days in the gallery.
The garden is awakening and our work has started again. We have retrieved a great number of roofing tiles from a house in next door good enough for the reconstruction of the former pumphouse which is about to start these days. We have completed stocktaking of the gardening tools to keep the order and know what is to be repaired or bought new. We have built an interim staircase to improve the access to the statue of Jesus Christ (see the gallery). The well has been reconstructed by the firm of Petr Lässig from Pilsen. And the best news - we have obtained a grant to rebuilt the statue The Virgin Mary of Lourdes; the installation is planned for June this year.
The winter months are not the best for gardening but we haven't been sleeping at all! We have finished the project "Reconstruction and Revitalization of the Garden beneath the Convent of Chotesov" for which we have applied for a grant under the Operational Programme Environment (financed by the Cohesion Fund and the European Regional Development Fund). Besides this we have completed two smaller projects: The Re-instalation of the Statue The Virgin Mary of Lourdes and Building-in the Rest Room for Helpers into the Former Pumphouse (the small house next to the main gate). Both these project are expected to come into realization this year and we hope this is going to come off with the help of our fine friends. PF 2010!
The major cleaning of a rubbish in the garden (many years old as well as some "gifts" from some of our fellow citizens) was carried out in the weekend 17th - 18th oct. by the volunteers - members of the Brontosaurus Movement - many thanks!
In present days a dendrologic survey and stocktaking of trees are performed by Petr Hodonicky from the Faculty of Horticulture in Lednice. The conceptual study of the garden is going to be based on the results of this survey as well as further woodcutting of unhealthy trees. Thank you for any donation to help us paying the price of the survey (1600,- EUR), see the acc. number in the contact page.
Our team has joined the Evening For The Convent Of Chotesov, a benefit event with a wide cultural program. Much time we spent by the house adjustment for moving in.
Next maintenance work in the garden is scheduled on 27th - 28th June and 4th - 6th July. Welcome any helpers.
The past weekends we spent working in the garden. Many, many thanks to the volunteers - Lubor's friends who contributed to cleaning-up of the wood in the western part of the garden in really earthshaking way.(See pics in the galery or the whole set on the web "rajce.net"
First maintenance works have been done - cleaning the Spring of Virgin Mary and the place of the Christ statue. (See pics in the galery.)
- the works on the design of the house reconstruction and a new building of the ecological centre have started as well as working out the study of the garden reconstruction. We have obtained the local authority permit for the woodcutting of self-seeded trees and bushes so some of the first garden cleaning works can start in forthcoming weeks.
- first small project has started - trying to obtain a grant to rebuilt the statue The Virgin Mary of Lourdes which used to stand above the spring in the left part of the Garden and was destroyed by the Army. In addition we are going to establish a link-up with all the persons acting in the Convent complex to try to obtain a grant offered by the European Regional Developement Fund and the Department of Culture - this would be a really good chance to move on the renewal process.
- finished the geodetic survey of the whole estate, continuing dealing with the authorities of historical conservation, first consultation with the experts from the Faculty of Horticulture in Lednice
- our association was registered by the Home Office