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...

Listening to the Hedgerow

Old hedgerow share your story,
Your tales and songs and spells
of morning misted dew drops, on petals of blue Speedwell.
Whisper me the wild and woven ways of forever, as I walk the winding lanes.
Teach me the secrets of bedstraw, sorrel, celandine and stitchwort;
Bryony, archangel, pimpernel and violet;
Stitch and bind the leaves and sap with woodbine into each strand of my hair.
Wrap me up in hawthorn blossom and let the birds build nests upon my heart.
Fill my bones with the scent of bluebell, lest I should ever forget.

~Karen Davis 

In May it's as though time stops. Steps are taken back in time and a remembering becomes more prominent. A remembering of the old ways of hedgerow and home. If I sit in among the greening then I can almost disappear. Away from the modern ways of car and telephone.

If it wasn't so chilly then I would probably take up residence on the soft moss, beneath the apple tree whilst it blooms. Just so that I can inhale as much apple blossom scent as I possibly can.  It's one of my most favourite smells in the world, especially when it has the morning dew or raindrops on.

The apple blossom is almost finished blooming now and it's the hawthorn's turn. After a poor year of blossom last year it has certainly made up for it this year. It's absolutely covered in flowers and is literally vibrating and humming with the sound of bees.

It is over a month since I last posted on here. I have felt the need again to step back from social media. No reason really, just a little weary of all the chatter.
There have been lots of jobs to do in the garden and not enough hours in the day. I made a rather rickety structure for the sweet peas to climb this year. I'm not sure how it will stand up to strong winds?

There have been walks to the bluebell woods and a short trip to Cornwall, which I will put in the next post. In between I have been quietly working away painting. The next shop update will be Tuesday 31st May at 7.00pm UK time. This will be 8 hedgerow hares and whatever else is finished and ready.

Enjoy the bank holiday weekend. :-)
X

Moonrakers

In my last post I told you that I had been working on a painting and that I'd share it in the next post. Well here it is....
                                                            'Moonrakers'

It's for a local exhibition that I'm taking part in this June which will be part of the Corsham festival. The exhibition theme was Wiltshire/a personal Journey, who you are and you're work.  I decided to take on the famous old Wiltshire story of the Moonrakers with a whimsical twist, including my white hare guide that still leads me one step ahead along my path.

And a bushy tailed  foxy friend to join him.

Oh and an owl..

For those of you who have never heard of the Wiltshire Moonrakers, then let me explain.
Many years ago, when wealthy men wore shoes with silver buckles and women wore long gowns, smuggling was rife. Some Wiltshire folk decided to hide contraband barrels of french brandy from custom officials in a village pond. (The location is believed to be the Crammer in Devizes)
One night when the owls and foxes spoke to the bright full moon, they came quietly to retrieve it using rakes to pull the barrels out. In the middle of the act they were caught by the revenue men who asked them what they were doing raking the pond? Pointing at the moon's reflection they replied:
"Why, just trying to catch that big piece of round cheese Sir"
The excise men thinking they were simple yokels, laughed, left them to their business and went on their way.
The Wiltshire men were left to carry on  and I'm sure were very happy with their french brandy!
                                         
This picture is not the best quality as it's just a photo when the painting was on my desk. But, I have plans to get it scanned this weekend and make it available as a print in my Etsy shop shortly.
                                                                        ****
My what a lot of rain has fallen this week. It rained non stop most of last weekend then rained on and off all through the week.  My water butt that was standing dry is now overflowing which I'm most pleased about.  On May 1st the sun shone on May day.I took my camera to greet the new month. This is what I saw.

Rain soaked fields and a river that had burst it's banks.

The old bridge taking strain.

I moved away from the watery world and back amid the little woods to see signs of greening. Wanting to capture something special on Beltane/May day. I was greeted with the pungent scent of wild garlic otherwise known as ramsons, buckrams, bear leek, wood garlic, broad leaf garlic,and bear garlic.

I love this little plant, it reminds me of playing in the woods as a child.
Then I came across another favourite Jack by the hedge.

And Periwinkle.

  Faerie size bouquets of hedge/cow parsley.

And twirling new growth of sticky cleavers.

And such pretty flowers and good for bees, dead nettle and ground ivy.

I took a slip of each and brought the new growth  inside, placing them upon my window sill.
Earth's delicate simple treasures.