Sleepy Mice, Toadstools and A Face Among Leaves.

We have two cats and love them dearly. But sometimes, well,.... cats will be cats.

The other morning one of my two, was doing just this, being a cat. I opened the back door to find two of the dearest little mice. Not a mark on them, almost untouched, but sadly dead. I made a grave for them lined with leaves beneath the hawthorn tree and placed an apple core for their journey.  These two mice stayed with me all day in my head and inspired me to paint.

Two toadstool hangers.

The words read: 'Rest your spirit beneath the sleepy leaves and wild woods'  and 'When the sun fades sleep gently dear one'

Nights have been chilly this week. A fire has been lit on more than one occasion. In the garden I am being watched and shadowed by a friendly Robin.

The other morning I went out in search of capturing Autumn rain drops. 

Autumn can be seen everywhere now. Have you spied her watching you?

 

 'She swept through the garden with a misty cloak. And beneath berry boughs I spied her Autumn face'

   ***

(Wooden Heart Hanger and both Toadstools will be listed shortly in my Etsy shop) 

And before I leave, here's a little enchanting Autumn magic I found on You tube.

 ..

Autumn And A Starlight Hare

Autumn always seems more peaceful somehow? Is it because things are winding down, giving in, getting tired, in preparation for winters first touch of icy fingers? Things shine brighter in Autumn. Berries, dew covered apples, colours of changing leaves, there is more contrast. The skies seem bluer than blue against the blood red of the hawthorn berries. Behind that peaceful exterior though is a busyness.  Harvesting and storing quickly before the last of the runner beans wither, toughen and dry up. Before we hear the weatherman on our radios and televisions announce that temperatures will drop to a ground frost, while Jupiter shines in the fading years sky.

 I hear the slow ticking of Mother nature's clock, steady like a heart beat.
 Creatures stock up and indulge in extra sunny days before the big sleep.

Preparing and looking for possible places to spend those long cold months.

A spiders web, a lace curtain in fairyland,

catching the mornings sunlight sparkles.

 Darkness comes early now. Time to restock the log pile, ring the chimmney sweep, light the candles, incense and buy those new slippers you've had your eye on.
For some it will be their very first taste of Autumn. A first taste of blackberries and first sharp smell of cold and frost in the air.  

 As you may have guessed, these are the baby chicks with their Mum behind, that hatched a few weeks back.

If only we could all look at things as if we had never seen them before. As if it were our first Autumn. Maybe then we wouldn't take things for granted and would appreciate the small things that we have right in front of us?
I put the finishing touches to the painting I had on the easel this week. This picture has been in my head for a long time and has waited patiently for it's turn to come out.  The Starlight Hare is an acrylic painting on wood panel and is available as a print in my Etsy shop here...

Refreshed

Thanks everybody for your lovely comments. Yes, thankyou I had a lovely break in Cornwall and am feeling refreshed again for the Autumn. Now I am busy. A stack of wooden hearts  and creatures are waiting to be brought to life. The painting on the easel is almost finished, and there are canvases waiting in the wings that are calling too. This is just a quick post to show you some Pendants. Again made with the leftover scraps of wood.  I still have a big bag full, so you will be seeing more pendants for quite some time. ;)

If you are interested in buying any of these, I will be listing them today in my Etsy shop.
Hope you are all having a good week?
x

Still Sand In My Pockets

Sea Fever

I MUST go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over. 


John Masefield 

I am home, but there is still sand in my pockets.

Crystal clear sparkling rockpools, bone white shells, sea glass, seaweed tresses of mermaid hair, tiny fairy fishes, selkies, seals, castles Kings,wizards, turquoise and Tintagel have been let into my wooden house of dreams. They have joined the dance inside of moonstone, hares, velvet winter coats, hearts,words,spirals and midnight cats. Seashells decorate the houses garden now and salty waves lap gently into the mossy moat. The little passages of my minds house are never ending with wonderings and wanderings.  Right now I can see a small window and moonlight shines through its leaded diamond panes. A door is ajar and whispers of words are escaping and creeping into the smallest places. They hide in matchboxes, jam jars, teacups, mirrors and the shadows and sparkles behind a curtain.

A door has opened and words have returned.

 

                                 

Happy September everyone!

A Late Summer Break

These past couple of days I have felt quiet and wordless. As though a switch has been turned off, or I've been put onto auto pilot.  Natures way of reminding us to have a break from the routine, step away,  recharge. So I will do just that. We are away to a cosy place among the sand dunes by the sea, soon. A place to let the ocean breeze toss the cobwebs into the atlantic surf. I wonder what the mermaids will do with my old thoughts?
In between I'm going to look for dragonflies and kingfishers, read about belladonna, mandrakes and maybe do some wild swimming?

I have a painting on the easel but it's not quite finished yet so that will have to wait until my return to show you by which time hopefully it will also be professionally scanned and  available to buy as a new print.
I will be back in September  finger stained from blackberry picking, refreshed and ready for Autumn.

Before I disappear I thought I'd share some new additions.  I've always had a 'thing'  and been drawn to glass cabinets with treasures inside. Well recently at the local Car boot sale I was lucky enough to pick up this for £20 which I thought was a bargain. My collection of shells fits happily and now do not need to be dusted.

The other new addition sits happily on top of the seashell cabinet. A gorgeous hare. ( large middle one)
My Dad bought me this as a surprise very early birthday present ( he saw it , bought it and couldn't wait until December to give it to me! ;)  Thanks Dad xx

My Etsy shop will be closed from 26th August until 5th September.
So until then, I'll leave you with some songs I've been listening to lately. See you soon  and make the most of and enjoy the rest of the summer.
x 
 

Wild In The Garden And Some Chirpy Birds

The garden has taken the path to wild, unruly and untamed.

It's become a little paradise for insects.  

The part of me that likes things organised has been put on pause when it comes to the garden. What a difference this little piece of 'wild' has made. There are more insects seen here than anywhere else in the garden. It's a joy to see all the bees, crickets and tiniest of blue butterflies enjoying this little patch.
While the garden gets even more wilder, I've been busy  with a new project.

Let me introduce you to my new studio/summer workspace...

After much ummings and ahhings I finally decided to get one of these.
I am so excited about working in here. It's surrounded by hawthorn, hazel, plum, roses,and orange blossom, and I  plan to plant foxgloves and honeysuckle and hang bird feeders for my feathered friends.
There is still quite abit of  landscaping, digging and planting around it, to turning it into an inspiring wild retreat outside and in. So I will continue with it and hopefully the warm days will continue well into Autumn to enable me to work outside that bit longer.

I will leave you with new chirpy bird designs some of which will be flying over to Etsy shortly.
Oh yes, don't forget to wish upon a shooting star! The Perseid Meteor showers    peak on August 12th.

And The Winner is.....

Everything has been running late today and so here I am a little later than expected in the day to let you know who has won the giveaway. Thanks so much for taking part everyone. :-)
I really enjoyed making these pendants so I'm sure I will be making more as there are always snippets of wood left from the larger hangers.

So this time as it is late and there were a lot of comments I used the random number generator thingy and the lucky number to come out was 7.
 So who was the 7th comment? .......Drum roll...... Ta da ! It's ...

Lizzie

Lizzie please email me your address and I will get the pendant in the post to you.  :-)

xXx

Where My Footsteps Have Been And A Little Giveaway.

Footsteps on ancient  land. Wiltshire my birth place and home county.

Land of magic, standing stones, Avebury, Stonehenge, Silbury hill, crop circles, chalk hill horses and Moonrakers. Where the landscape is strong with the smell of cut corn, hay and farms.

If you stop, be still and really listen, there are voices, memories and secrets blowing on the wind with the whispering sea of grass.

And when you look closely between the grass, there are jewels to be found.

And when you look above it there are the friendliest of faces.

Today I left my home land for a trip across the border into Gloucestershire, to another equally magical place.
My feet walked pathways that Romans, JRR Tolkien and Dr Who had trod. An enchanted forest.
Follow me and tread the path of Puzzlewood.

Have we have wandered straight into the pages of Middle Earth? All is quiet, the wind is gentle on the leaves but the trees creak. Could they be Ents and will they start moving their rooted feet?..                                          

 Everything is clothed in a cloak of moss. Rocks, cold stone, frozen in time.

  A Greening place.
  Mysterious, magical, A fairy tale land.

The air is clear and the branches are decorated.

 A labyrinth of secret passageways. I was careful not to stray from the path.

 Do the ferns and spiders webs hide an entrance somewhere to an elven home? 

Is it this way?

Or across here?

 A storyland of pathways, I could have stayed all day. My photographs do not do this place justice. It is truly another world. You can read more about it here and I found two wonderful film clips on You Tube which capture the essence of the place if you are interested in seeing more.




Now it's time for a little celebration. Lately I've noticed that the numbers of followers have been steadily going up, so to show my appreciation, I think it's time for a little giveaway!
Not wanting to waste anything, recently I've begun using the small scraps of wood and turning them into necklace pendants. This one is forest inspired and will be the giveaway prize.

 All you have to do is be a follower and leave a comment. The lucky one picked out on Monday 2nd August will win the necklace.