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!

My big birthday

Well, this year I reached a little milestone, and was somewhat uncertain about how I'd feel about that. And I must confess I was somewhat up and down about it. It's seems to be a time to take stock of your life and think about where you are heading. But hey-ho, time waits for no man (nor woman!) so after an emotional start, I had a lovely surprise in that my two sisters had flown over to help me celebrate my birthday. And what a brilliant surprise that was! It was alas a short visit, but we decided to head up to London for a fun day out! Came home with an unexpected permanent memento on my shoulder from my trip with my very naughty sisters :o)

Me and my sister Tania

Lunch at Camden Lock with my two sisters, Tania and Lea

Time to do something different, being eaten by fish!

Although I am not generally happy about 'using' animals for human entertainment, I had a good chat with the owner to ensure they are kept in good conditions, and they certainly all looked in good health.

We wandered around the market, and discovered that this shop had just THE most fantastic clothes! Could have come home with one of everything!

Liked the key display

Unusual building decorations

We then headed off to the London Eye, to have a look over the city!

Not sure who that man was??? But he was happy to pose in the photo, cheeky chap!

Marvelous view over the Thames

Houses of Parliament

View over the city

When we got home from London, a family party awaited, complete with roasted chicken, salad and 'proper' chips, followed by a slice of Danish lagkage AND a beautiful birthday cake, lucky me!

My beautiful bee birthday cake!

Happy birthday to me!

I also had a lovely surprise birthday party organised by my husband later in June, with all my dear friends, happy times!  :o)

 Here's to the next many years! 

 

At the London Literature Festival

I have sadly fallen very behind with all my news on the blog, so the next few posts will be a quick round up of the more interesting ones. 

In May I was asked to be part of a discussion forum, 'A Future without Bees', at the London Literature Festival debating problems that our bees are facing today. Also sitting on this panel was bumble bee expert, Prof Dave Goulson and Steve Benbow, a commercial beekeeper based in London.

The evening was chaired by BBC correspondent Bill Turnbull, currently presenting on BBC Breakfast, who also happens to be a beekeeper.

The event was held at The Southbank Centre, a complex of artistic venues in London, on the South Bank of the River Thames. It comprises three main buildings, and is Europe’s largest centre for the arts.

By the Thames

The Literature Festival had a bee theme

Nice, but the cells are the wrong way round!!

Never been on a proper stage before!

In the toilets with the proper stage mirrors!

Before the audience arrives

Bill Turnbill, Dave Goulson and me

Bill Turnbill, Dave Goulson, Me and Steve Benbow

It was an interesting evening, and ended with a rather large jug of Pimms downed in the company of my husband and Mark Patterson, a good beekeeping friend!


For a full review see Emily Heath 's blog post Adventures in Beeland

Walking barefoot with Zaf

Everyone should sometimes walk barefoot. I don't think we do enough barefoot walking. Our feet spend months and months hemmed into shoes not feeling in touch with the Earth that supports us. We are too worried about treading on sharp objects or getting cold feet, and I feel this way too, mostly...
But it's good to sometimes just walk barefoot. Feel the changing textures of grasses, the wildflowers and the cool bare Earth under our toes, and even the grit and the sand of dusty pathways.

We used to do this as a children...at what point did it become 'not the done thing'..?

The most beautiful Sussex countryside

Zaf, the most beautiful dog :)

The extended spring appears to have made plants, trees and bushes absolutely drip with flowers and seeds. Here a range of maple 'helicopter' seeds

The elderflower bushes are laden with flowers. I collected some flower heads to make the first batch of cordial.

"Barefoot Days"

In the morning, very early,
That's the time I love to go
Barefoot where the fern grows curly
And grass if cool between each toe,
On a summer morning-O!
On a summer morning!

That is when the birds go by
Up the sunny slopes of air,
And each rose has a butterfly
Or a golden bee to wear;
And I am glad in every toe--
Such a summer morning-O!
Such a summer morning!

By Rachel Field

So... go on, get those stinky socks off, wiggle your toes and touch that Earth, 

I guarantee it'll make you smile!