Friday, April 20, 2018

Forgetmenots And Daisies. Primroses And Dreams of Imaginary Sea Creatures

What a difference since my last post. Spring is well and truly here now in all her sweet perfumed glory. My old friends the forgetmenots have returned and the gentle daisies  are saying hello upon the lawn with the heavenly primroses.
Such a perfect colour the blue of a forgetmenot don't you think? 
The lawn is coming on nicely not being a lawn. Now our children have grown up we don't need the space for ball games and driving little pedal cars or bikes around, so there is really no need for such a large area.  Each year we have been letting nature paint her masterpiece a little more instead. This year will be the same and we will cut it back accordingly to whats coming up. We have some shorter areas up near the house where we put chairs and such, but the rest of the space the bees and butterflies and all other insects need it more than we do, so I just can't justify a blank green cut space for no purpose. Wasted in my opinion when you can have a much prettier beneficial space such as this. I will share the lawn progress at later stages so you can see what comes up and keep a list this year of everything that grows. I haven't planted anything except, fritillaries years ago and some crocus. Whatever else comes up just seeds itself or has been there hiding all along. Our lawn has always had a lot of moss and not much grass which I've always loved and is good as it seems to give the plants more of a chance and less competition having to compete with tough grass?
Easter came and went in a flash. There was feasting and family and then they were gone again. My chestnut and chocolate meringue sort of collapsed, but was quickly eaten by all. :) 
With the newness of Spring I bought myself a few fresh supplies.  
And after all the cold weather and the long winter I have found myself dreaming of the sea and sand and shells and the magical imaginary creatures that inhabit those salty turquoise waters...
Sea hare: An extremely rare and shy creature that if you are lucky enough to spot will  almost certainly be hiding in empty shells.
Sea Unicorn: You didn't really suppose that all the unicorns had disappeared did you? 
It was lots of fun doing these, so there maybe more creatures in the pipeline? I've made these into greeting cards. Pink! now you don't often see pink in my designs. Maybe it's my age? Maybe as I get older I will become one of those sweet old ladies that wear pink hand knitted cardigans? ;-) Although I don't use it much, I do actually like it and think it is gentle and pretty. 
At the same time I made a couple of my older sea themed designs into cards too. The Selkie and Narwhals designs.
And I also turned the recent notebook designs into cards too, and added another one to the designs. 
All of the cards are available in my shop now in various sets.

Until next time...
Enjoy the sunshine!
x

12 comments:

  1. Lovely post Karen, like you we are gradually letting our garden do it's own thing. Love Forgetmenots reminds me of my childhood. Xxx

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    1. Thanks Maura. Glad to hear you are letting your garden do the same. I feel we have to make up for all the places we are losing and that are continuously strimmed back which is heartbreaking to see. I love forgetmenots too, although it's the primroses that remind myself of my childhood :) x

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  2. your primroses snd forget-me-nots are so lovely! i agree about lawns being smaller and better for it. every so often i enlarge my flower beds further into the grassy areas, and i've never missed an inch of that grass!

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    1. That's good to hear :) You can never have too many flower beds.

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  3. Ohhh yes : spring has arrived here too !
    (full force !!!)
    Lovely new "sea" paintings !!!

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    1. Thanks Els! Glad to hear that Spring is upon you. A merry May to you!

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  4. What a lovely idea, letting nature take over.

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    1. Thank you. I'm looking forward to sharing what comes up :)

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  5. You're making me feel so much better about my garden! We've always had a patch down the bottom that we leave uncut and the some of the hedges get a trim once a year if they're lucky. I've a few flowers in pots that I've grown from seeds and one area in the garden that I'm hoping to make a bit more colourful but other than that I love to see the wildness and for things to take root in a natural way. We've got a cheeky young palm tree that has taken up residence!
    I absolutely love your new paintings, so delicate and beautiful. As for knitted cardigans, I've always worn them, and pink! xx

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    1. It's nice to have a garden that's big enough to let a small patch go wild isn't it. I love how a cheeky palm tree lives in yours. Must be so much warmer down your way.
      My pink 'liking' adventure continues and I bought a lovely magenta pink velvet skirt in the charity shop the other day ;) x

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  6. Such lovely illustrations! Magical x

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