The Magic Of Morning Light And Notebooks For Those Who Love The Moon

Morning light as it quietly rises beyond the hill. Taken from my kitchen window.

Being more of a night owl, I'm not normally an early riser so don't often see the dawn rise. This morning though something woke me. Pink glow through lacy curtain stirred my heavy eyes to open. I went downstairs to put the kettle on for the first cup of tea of the day and took my camera to the window.  A soft misted morning of late August.  'Red sky in the morning shepherds warning' the old words pop into my head, memories of childhood. My neighbours cockerel crows and in the field just over the hedge the sheep begin a dew drop spangled breakfast. I stand with my mug in hand watching nature paint her masterpiece on the horizon, feeling blessed to witness it.

On the ceiling is a blood vein moth. Through it's wings streak the darkest pinks of the morning sunrise. This beauty rested all day, until the moon rose, then I delicately cupped it in my hands and let it fly free outside.

I'm still working on some moths. This time painted on hares again. They really should have been ready ages ago... but other things have a habit of getting in the way, like they so often do.
As soon as they are ready I will add the dates of listing times etc in my Etsy shop announcement.

One of the things that got in the way of finishing the hares was designing some new notebooks.
A pack of three,  especially 'for those who love the moon.'

'Moon Gazers notebook'

'Moon Dreamers notebook'

 And a 'Little notebook for moon lovers'

Notebooks are available here
It's quiet in my studio, enjoying the last days of summer. Just the radio on, a cd or an audio book.

And when I'm tired of the chatter of radio and sound of human voice it's just me and the sounds outside with my door ajar. And occasionally if I'm lucky I will get a visitor. This sweet one was waiting for me to add extra treats to the bird table. A relative of Robin Goodfellow? I hope so?

Some other work I've completed since my last post here.
'Dreaming Of Bees' Small hand painted talisman

 Bee pendant/talisman

(Both of the above, have already been sold in the shop)

Now summer has almost come to an end. I have a calendar in the pipeline ready for 2018 (which hopefully shouldn't be too long in the making) and some winter cards to finish designing.

Some favourite things of my summer 2017:

• Flowers, flowers and more flowers! :) 
• Pottering in the garden
• Visiting my sister on St Michaels Mount and midnight swimming beneath the moon in the causeway
• Lots of elderflower cordial
• Drinking mead sitting around an outdoor fire
• Roses. (yes more flowers)
• Swimming in the Aegean and walking among ancient olive trees
• The gentle meditative sound of grasshopper and cricket in the garden
• Seeing hedgehogs back in the garden
• The friendly birds on Holy island
• Feeling warmth on my skin and walking beneath blue skies
• Spending time with Son and Daughter both home from Uni 
• Finding beautiful moths

Flowers are those little colorful beacons of the sun from which we get sunshine when dark somber skies blanket our thoughts. ~Dodinsky

A Hare and a Fox and the Sweet Blossoms in May

Back again, is it really a whole month later!?  I'm sure each time I say I'm going to blog more I actually end up blogging less which is a little weird?

We've had beautiful dry weather here in Wiltshire since April and many of the flowers are ahead blooming this year. In between working, the days have been spent soaking up May's heady perfume, and imprinting the song of blackbird robin, thrush and lark like a precious seal on my heart and soul. I'm sure the sounds are healing. I'm just waiting for a scientist to prove it sooner or later? 

Beautiful May.  Hawthorn decorates the hedgerows with sweet  frothy creamy (and sometimes pink) boughs. Oh but they go too soon when that impish west wind plays games for fairy weddings and summer snow showers, scattering the petals beneath to create scented carpets for wood mice.

"Tis like the birthday of the world,
When earth was born in bloom;
The light is made of many dyes,

The air is all perfume:

There's crimson buds, and white and blue, 
The very rainbow showers
have turned to blossoms where they fell,
And sown the earth with flowers"
~ Thomas Hood

The greening is all dressed up with lacy gowns along hedgerow and field. Here in the garden, the cow parsley is spreading nicely too. 

When the days have had a chill in the wind, I take my tea break in the greenhouse. Enjoying the warmth with the plants whilst they're busy growing. There is lots to plant out still and plenty of digging to be done. The ground has been very hard because of the lack of rain but the last two days have provided a few showers and refilled the water butts. 

I have a good view of goings on from my studio window. I can clearly see why all the peanuts have been disappearing so fast! ;)  Mrs squirrel doesn't mind me, but makes a swift run for it back up the plum tree when the cats spot her. 

The birds in the garden have been busy raising their young. I see them daily stocking up on food at the bird table and then they are off again. This precious soul found time to stop and serenade me with a spring song.

Here's some other wildlife captured on camera recently. The friendly chaffinch below I encountered on a walk yesterday near Avebury. The moth and may bug I found in the greenhouse and the heron and swans are a regular sight on the river. 

A couple of weeks back on the 1st of May there was definitely some 'Spring magic' in the air.  During a walk I encountered  5 hares, 2 foxes, and 2 deer.  But the best bit of all was seeing a fox and hare together. The fox walked through the hedge to the side of us then proceeded to walk down across a field past the hare. They looked at each other and the hare just stayed put and the fox just walked by glancing at the hare as he did so. Just seeing each animal on their own is a wonderful encounter at any time, but seeing 'both' well it felt as if it was my birthday or that Spring had gifted me a special moment. Here is the moment below, which I managed to capture very quickly. My camera is not the best at pictures from a distance but you can make out the hare and fox. :-)

And here are more hares.

Work wise this past month, I've been busy designing and turning work I've already done, into cards. these sets are both available in the shop. 

'Love the land and treasure the wild' and 'Love the Earth and all her creatures'

'May your dreams be filled with magic' and 'Believe in your dreams' 

I've also just finished these little 'Spring inspired' hangers.  

These will be going into the shop this Wednesday evening (17th May) at 7pm  (UK time)

Until next time, I shall leave you with a song from Lisa Knapp's brand new album, which has been my playlist daily for the merrie month of May and is just perfect I think. (link in my side bar to the whole album)

 Have a great week. x

A July filled with Flowers.

With July almost over it had to be time to pop in and say hello to this rather neglected blog.
I've been having a sort of semi creative break for a while, so haven't got anything totally finished in the way of art to share... but I have flowers, so many flowers.  My July has been a July filled with flowers.
Flowers are I believe, a good way to balance the negative news that seems to be happening in the world almost on a daily basis these days...
Lets begin with a walk in Gloucestershire. The Slad valley, home to Laurie Lee. Cider with Rosie country.  A warm but overcast day, quiet except the gentle hum of bees and summer soothing sounds of cricket and grasshopper. Marbled white butterflies flitted from one knapweed bloom to another.  Fields of wildflowers, scabious, clover, orchids, yellow rattle dotted the fields.

We passed an orchard with the prettiest white cows and apple trees laden with mistletoe. 

Through a wood where a faerie had been busy making a home  

And a holloway,  silent yet so full with the whisperings of ghost horses and travellers.

“Bees blew like cake-crumbs through the golden air, white butterflies like sugared wafers"

~Laurie Lee Cider with Rosie

Take my hand, follow me to the purple scented fields of lavender...Somerset Lavender

Now if I had brought with me a discreet blanket and soft pillow then I would have been quite happy just to have laid myself down between these rows and spent a whole day and night here, breathing in this wonderful heavenly scent and soaking in it's energy.  Do you think anyone would have noticed me? ;-) No doubt the bees would have and maybe the hare that has been spotted in the fields on occasion I hear. 

This was my first ever visit to a lavender farm and now I would like to have my own. So I bought two little plants of the favourite variety to start me off on a small scale. :-) 

After browsing the shop filled with all things lavender, I bought some essential oil and then we sat for a while on this bench soaking up the surroundings and eating lavender ice-cream. 

Such a lovely place, if you are in the area then you must definitely pay them a visit. 

There were other  flowers at the farm too. The sweet peas were a joy to behold. The scent took me straight back to working many years ago in a local hotel. The smell of beeswax on old wood, and picking the sweet pea posies for the freshly cleaned cottage rooms. I always loved that simple task of putting a posy of flowers in a guests room to welcome them.  

More memories are stirred seeing  marigolds. Bright and cheerful and the smell and sticky, sappy marigold scent of childhood summers.

“I must have flowers, always, and always.”   

~Claude Monet

And now to home and to the little patch of Earth that I lovingly tend to. Such magic that comes from a tiny seed scattered on bare earth.

“People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.” 

~ Iris Murdoch

I am not normally someone that is into bedding type plants or hanging baskets but this year I couldn't resist this petunia which I have just planted on the edge of the border. It is surely made of velvet! The purple black reminds me of a Queen's gown or cloak in a fairytale Or the Queen of the night from the Magic Flute? How wonderful it would be to design a fairytale garden.. . Now there's a thought.  

My rather delicate Tolkien inspired structure that I shared earlier, has survived so far and has sweet peas blooming now and is doing it's job rather well.  

“A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in--what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.”

~Victor Hugo -Les Miserables

Flowers give so much pleasure and scent can really lift your mood. So if you are feeling  sad with the world or lonely or just want to lift your spirits, take the time to go out and smell the flowers and if you haven't any nearby then go on, treat yourself and buy a bunch. We need the return of flower power! 

“Find gratitude in the little things and your well of gratitude will never run dry.” 

~ Antonia Montoya

I shall leave you with this little angel that flew inside the other day. A plume moth. Plume moth caterpillars feed on bind weed so please please remember to leave some in your garden for this sweet soul.  Its all in the little things...