Our rainy Sunday

So, what to do on a rainy day? Being inspired by our holiday visits to galleries, and also yesterday seeing BB's Godfather, Keith Pettit, exhibiting his wonderful wood engravings at The Hive in Lewes, the boys got their heads down to do a spot of 'arting'.

Meanwhile the rain did pour and pour....

For BB art is far from his strongest interest, and although he can be encouraged to draw, he isn't very enthusiastic, believing that he is rather 'rubbish' at it! Hopefully he will be able to gain more confidence at his new secondary school. In the meantime, Sam decided that he'd try the next level on Angry Birds!

Whilst in Lewes I spotted a few classic records in the charity shop, so as the rain continued to pour, we listened to the oldies but goldies, which seemed appropriate on the retro record player... Bali, hi...

Lunch for Steve and myself consisted of sprouted spelt bread, with humus and black olives, alfalfa and radish sprouts, cucumber and pumpkin seeds -  no dairy, no wheat and importantly no pesticides! Even the boys with their rice pasta and pesto escaped the dreaded highly cultivated wheat.

With the sun coming out in the morning, Zaf and I had managed to collect quite a haul of juicy blackberries on his walk (despite Zaf's best efforts to eat as many berries as he could directly from the prickly bushes). BB and I decided to make apple and blackberry crumble for pudding, and even Sam helped by peeling the apples.

No sugar, just a dribble of agave syrup

The crumble top was made with oats, cashew and pecan nuts, chia seeds, dates and a lovely dollop of thyme honey. For dinner I rustled up a lemon and spinach risotto, with roasted (sweet and tasty straight from our green house!) tomatoes, sprinkled with a helping of pine nuts and a smidgin of Parmesan!

An unexpected highlight of the day was a particularly lovely bunch of jewel-coloured dahlias. They were given in exchange for two pieces of glass panels which Steve had put on Freecycle.

 There wasn't much the two furry chaps could do, other than kip in their own loveable way!

But the good thing about rain is that it makes rainbows, and we had the pleasure of two of these lovely apparitions.

Hope you had a great weekend too!

 

Creating my own Kate Tulett art

At the South of England Show this year, in the pouring rain, I stumbled across the very lovely Kate Tulett in one of the craft marquees. Kate is an art teacher, artist and generally a splendidly bonkers lady! I thought her collages were fab, and longed for one of her creations myself, but settled on a one-day textile course held at the school she teaches at in Oxted. But unbeknownst to me, my great hubby sneakily arranged for me to receive one of her aquascapes for my birthday, knowing that I have a particular penchant for all things sea related.



It was done in great haste as we only 'discovered' Kate a week away from my birthday, and the collage was a surprise, so it involved secret emails, and a hand-over on a garage forecourt.
I love my picture, it even has lines from a poem that Steve wrote for me many years ago!

Those who know me are well aware that I am a hoarder as far as fabric, buttons and ephemera go, and I like art which is both textural and three dimensional. So having a go at creating something as fun as one of her pieces was quite a challenge. Letting go, and allowing myself to empty my head of science and bees and such, even for a day, is not always easy. Nature accompanies me where ever I go :o)

And despite being amongst many (many!) children on the course, Kate was patient with all and sundry, no matter what age or temperament. I have done some machine embroidery before so I am reasonably comfortable with a sewing machine, but am always open to new techniques.

We looked at the work of Sophie Standing, a very clever textile artist and Kate explained her techniques, before embarking on our own projects. And although I haven't finished it, I'll show you how far I managed to get today.

First a sketch on muslin, then acrylic paints washed over the canvas

Here's one of Kate's pieces in progress

And two stages of other pieces of Kate's work!

Next the fabric stage, and here the photo of my garden for inspiration

Kate's desk!

My collage beginning to take shape with fabric scraps

Oh, oh! Small people upturning the giant fabric box and hiding amongst the multitude of textures and colours! Great fun!

But, of course, bees are always in my heart, and always part of my garden...

You'll have to wait to see the completed article, as there is more to add to my master-piece. However, I am pretty chuffed at the way it is progressing, and even the din of enthusiastic noise from what seemed like a hall full of halflings didn't deter my enjoyment of the day.

Many thanks to Kate and her two peachy assistants!

Easter decor

It's Sunday eve, and two weeks have passed since Easter. The boys are back to school tomorrow. It's been a hectic two weeks, fitting work and a trip to Grandparents in, together with keeping the boys entertained, so the blog has been put to one side. So to start with...here's with some Easter decor.

 

I bought a couple of pots of  Muscari a few weeks back, and kept them in the greenhouse until they were close to flowering. Muscari are perennial bulbous plants native to Eurasia that produce spikes of dense, usually blue flowers, and are commonly known as Grape Hyacinth.

I have kept Easter cards that the children have made over several years, and displayed them with a cute little chick eggcup.

 

Bunting was made using hessian and stamping words and pictures on, very simple and rustic. And, of course, the usual egg tree was put together with blown painted eggs, chickens and other Easter bits collected over the years.

I also made a little nest as a centre piece for the table. I collected some fallen birch twigs when I was out walking the dog, together with a few lacey pieces of lichen. I added some little eggs and a chick and finished it off with a peppering of fluffy feathers.

Muscari look so pretty in a metallic pot, and can be planted in the garden once they have finished flowering.

These lovely painted eggs were picked up in a thrift shop some years ago, and I like them so much that they don't actually get packed away with the Easter decorations, but are kept on display in a cabinet the rest of the year.

And, of course, the Easter cake! It was made by Sam, with help from his teacher at school. This treat was enjoyed at our family get-together and was quite yummy!


Have a good (and thankfully warmer!) week ahead!

A touch of pink

In my little home I have a corner or two that I frequently change. I like to see change, it keeps the house from looking boring. This time the colour veered towards the pink, inspired by a pot of hyacinths given to me as bulbs by my mother. Sitting on the windowsill they grew as the day-length increased, until they sat there pretty in pink wafting their lovely fragrance around our parlour!

In the background lurks a copy of a screenprint by Angie Lewin called Lichen and Thrift. She is one of my favourite screenprinters. I particularly love the flowers she chooses, and there is always such wonderful movement in her prints.

I have a fondness of displays that are made up of collections of old and new, bought and made. Here the 'made' is a couple of felt cupcakes and a pink painted terracotta planter (with candle). A large enamel jug with roses and white painted hazel, an enamel oil lamp, some crazy Empire crockery from the 60s and a wooden darning egg all sit nicely together.

A sweet, silly teapot completes the display!

Meanwhile, outside, the bright pink flowers of the Bergenia brave the chilly, early March air to expose their reproductive organs to tempt any passing (and hardy) pollinator!

With a houseful of boys, sometimes a girl just needs a touch of pink!!

Our new edible hedge

The last section of our old Lonicera hedge really needed to be replaced as it had become old, woody and rather broad. Every time the snow lay thick the hedge would tilt at an alarming angle. The other section facing the road was replaced two years ago with a native hedge and is coming along nicely. Once a decision to do something has been made in this house, it generally gets done pronto. I am not one to procrastinate - life's just too short, and besides now is a good time to be planting trees and hedges. We purchased a new hedge from the nice man at HabitatAid, Nick Mann, and I excitedly waited for the arrival of a new edible hedge to replace the old one. Sounds a tad sad to be thrilled and whooping when it finally turned up on the doorstep, but that's the kind of gal I am!

Looked a little like a body bag had been delivered!

Opening up the goody bag :)

We had asked a neighbour, who is a contract landscaper, to remove the old Lonicera hedge, so that we could concentrate on getting the new one in as quick as possible. Steve made a rustic fence just to give the border an edge and the hedge something to grow against.

After a good drench in a bucket of water, Steve got the whips in, and although BB was supposed to be helping his Dad, he wasn't too impressed with the bitter wind, so watched on for a bit, before disappearing back inside! A final layer of mulch completed the task, and the job was done!

Today after a refreshing (!) walk with Zaf, we headed down to the local garden centre and picked up a dozen heritage (posh word for native) primroses and a couple of pots of Scilla siberica. Not only are the flowers of this bulb a lovely blue, but my honey bees enjoy the nectar and pale blue pollen it provides. Hopefully these and the primroses will naturalise and produce many more plants in years to come.

In case you were wondering what's in my new edible hedge, here is the species list:

Prunus cerasifera (Cherry Plum)
Prunus domestica (Bullace)
Pyrus pyraster (Wild Pear)
Malus sylvestris (Crab Apple)
Corylus avellana (Hazel)
Prunus spinosa (Blackthorn - produces sloes)

But if you fancy a walk past our hedge in Autumn, I'm afraid you might have to wait a couple of years or five before any scrumping is likely...

Prunus cerasifera - Cherry Plum

Have a really good (and hopefully warmer) week ahead!

Some of my favourite things..

At the moment these are some of my favourite things:

A very sweet skirt, with lovely embroidered twittering birds! I found this scrunched up at the bottom of a plastic bag with other bits of linen in a thrift shop for 50p

A great find - an original piece of art - found in a thrift shop some years ago, it remains a favourite item, there's always something new to discover when you look again...

An ever changing little corner filled with treasures - including bowls from Anthropologie and a selection of bird skulls :o)

Pretty embroidered cushion

Vintage patchwork knitted blanket, and a Christmas present cushion from my good husband

My white roses from my lovely hubby

A really nice book about growing plants with edible flowers

My latest haul from my favourite charity shop, appropriately in spring colours!

Interestingly, few of my current 'special' things are new; they are mostly pre-loved or hand-made. I am not really a bling girl, nor do I particularly go for the boutique look!

Do you have some special peachy things at the moment?