A few Blissful Days by the Sea.

Spending time by the ocean restores my spirits like nothing else can.

I went to Newquay with two friends – we have holidayed together before many times, so we know it works. This was a special birthday treat for one of us, spent in a very special place.

The video was taken on our balcony and the round room at the end was our sitting room with 360 degree views – it was spectacular.

We walked, we ate delicious meals, we did a mind-scrambling jigsaw together, we danced to 60s and 70s tunes, we read, we watched the surfers and the golfers below, we relaxed, we laughed and breathed in all that ozone.

lunch at Lewinnick

I hope you too can soak up some holiday vibes from the photos – put on a bit of Elvis, the Stones, the Beatles and the Proclaimers and you will be right there with us!

Would you like to live here?

look at the salt water swimming pool

On the walk home: a bench with lichen and rusty bits!

on the beach we found thousands of these magical remains of By-the-Wind-Sailors

a type of jellyfish, but so much more than that

we watched the stormsand drank coffee in the cosy Seaspray Beach Cafe

and every day a rainbow!

it was magic!

Fennel and Irises

My daughter and her family have been away for a few days and I wanted to put some flowers on the table to greet them on their return, but right now my garden doesn’t have much to offer. (Must do something about that for next year.)

Sometimes something quick and simple hits the spot nicely.

and I like the way the fennel echoed the spectacular light fitting in their sitting room

Fascinated by the delicate lines of the fennel flower heads I had a play with them against a rust-dyed background

Placing a piece of glass over them to flatten them against the fabric.

Now it is decision time – do I recreate these shapes in stitch, or paint, or try some other method, using them as a resist. My sister suggests Brusho paints – I had never heard of them before, so that is an exciting new media to experiment with.

I am also wondering about using the Cyanotype Process, but that would take some practice. I am going to allow the thought to bubble away on the back burner of my mind for a while.

Onto the Irises – I am including this bit as a Garden Diary entry to help me remember the names of the new Irises I have just received from Chailey Irises

4 new Irises

Grindelwald,  white, fragrant, mid to late flowering with some blue markings

Hi, white, mid season and fragrant

Summertime Blues, pale blue and highly scented

Raspberry Blush, pink with a long flowering season

Irises are my favourite flower, especially when they are scented. I love their sculptural shapes and the way they look like flamboyant dancers with wide wavy skirts. I have cleared a patch of ground to fill with irises and bulbs, these are the first ones to go in – looking forward to Spring!

Now to think about planting for some colour in August. I look forward to seeing what others have in their vases for inspiration – I need something perennial, bug and slug resistant and low maintenance.

Joining Rambling in the Garden and other garden bloggers for In a Vase on Monday.

 

Scrap Happy: Weaving

It is the last month of The Stitchbook Collective and this month’s box of goodies is all about weaving.

Helen has sent us a kit to create a loom on cardboard but, you must know by now, it’s all about rust for me! So what better than some old rusty sheep wire to create my own little loom.

and as if by magic

it fits perfectly on the Stitchbook page.

It needs a backing to cushion the spikes of the rusty barbed wire.

As I was doing the weaving with yarn, I wondered whether it would work with just bits of metal woven through linen thread. I have to admit, I am thrilled with this one.

I am not quite sure how to mount it, but I am just enjoying it as is for now.

When Little Miss M (8) saw my weaving she asked if she could have a go, so I made two more looms for our afternoon by the lake.

We collected reeds and other bits and pieces, and she sat on her paddle board to weave

and together we made our diptych entitled ‘An afternoon by the lake’

I am planning to mount them in a box frame when they have fully dried.

Joining Kate and her merry band of scrappers for Scrap Happy Day

Kate, Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean,
Joanne, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie, Bekki, Pauline,
Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin and Vera

 

Silent Sunday Sand Spiral

Made by Miss E.

Silly Saturday: Zoom

The Shelbys are having a Zoom meeting ……..  now don’t all talk at once!

Coronavirus has hit Shelbyville

None of the residents wanted to get ill

It was with some resistance

They had to social distance

Yet they found they could communicate still!

 

All of them had the Zoom App installed

So during lockdown they wouldn’t feel ignored

They could chat every day

Sing songs, dance and play

No chance of them getting bored!

 

At 9 every day it’s keep fit

With the Aliens it’s become quite a hit

With their yoga and gym

They keep themselves trim

They are not the type to just sit!

 

Maggie and Shelma miss going to town

All the shops they love have closed down

But the girls are not stopping

They now do internet shopping

They’re the most glamourous Shelbys around!

 

Sandy misses Shelma whom he dated

His love for her is unabated

He keeps the romance blooming

With lots of daily Zooming

Most of it is very X-Rated!

 

poem by Judy E. Martin

photo by Sandra Dorey

There might be some of you who have not met the Shelbys before, here are a few links

Meet Maggie, the Pole Dancer      Maggie    More Maggie    Meet the Family        Meet Shelma      Shelma and Sandy       Sandy

It feels so good to team up with Judy once again. She is a frontline worker as a nurse and I am full of admiration for her. I was delighted when she said she could find the time to create one of her fabulous poems to go with the photo.

Many thanks for the work you do Judy and thank you so very much for sharing your humour and poetry with us.

 

 

Thursday Walk

Same beach different sky.

I went back this morning to see if there were more purses to be found

Here is my morning’s haul

Only 8 purses today.

I was so pleased I found a Cat Shark purse, as this is Little Miss M’s (aged 7) favourite.

And this is what happens when your granddaughter tells her Mum that she would ‘fill it with pearls if she found one’

 

 

Botanic: Jennifer Steinkamp

Wishing I had stopped to make a video of Botanic and wanting to find out a bit more about the Sculptures I saw in London I found this

It must have been a magical experience to see all of those videos in the centre of New York, I only wish the You Tube clip was slower and longer.

Here are some more videos of her work – mesmerising

 

There are lots more to enjoy on You Tube.

I will be looking out for more of her work. Here is a link to her website: Jennifer Steinkamp

and, from the website, here are the dates for more installations in London:

Sculpture in the City, 9^th Edition, 10 Fenchurch Avenue, London, United Kingdom, curated by Stella Ioannou
September 1 – September 30, 2019
November 1 – November 30, 2019
January 1 – January 31, 2020
March 1 – March 31, 2020

They are in my diary, although how many I will be able to get to, I don’t know.

I’d love to know what you think of this kind of art. Do you like it?

Silly Sunday with Pompoms

Penelope PomPom was cool

She didn’t like following the rules

She still wanted to be naughty

Despite being past forty

And just loved acting the fool

***

She kept herself looking good

The envy of the Mums in the hood

With her spiky green hair

And bright pink outerwear

She worked it like nobody could!

***

Her kids just thought her the best

She could twerk and floss with the rest

Their friends would come running

When they saw Penny coming

She would always make them less stressed.

***

Poem by  Judy Martin©

Pineapple   play by Sandra Dorey©

 

Penelope Pompom has turned the corner and is enjoying life again – maybe a bit too much. 🙂

 

Silly Saturday with Penelope Pompom

Once Penny had hit middle age

She found it hard to engage

Finding lumps in her custard

Or a ham sandwich without mustard

would sent her off in a rage!

 

Penny once sweet and so calm

Now caused her family alarm

Being so spiky and sour

Miserable and dour

Her twins thought she’s cause them some harm

 

Off to the doctor to find out the cause

Of Penelope’s new character flaws

The hot flushes and stress

Weight gain and night sweats

The symptoms must be menopause!

 

Penny felt cut to the quick

No wonder she always felt sick

Always crabby and tearful

Het up and fearful

This menopause was like a cruel trick

 

She took the kids out for the day

Off down Shelbyville way

The sand and the sea

And her friends’ company

Kept her bad temper at bay!

 

poem by Judy Martin©

pineapple art by Sandra Dorey©

 

Judy and I have teamed up to be silly again. I just love Judy’s take on things, I send her a photo and she responds with a poem, sometmes within minutes! Do pop along over to her website and fine other poetic gems and find her book filled with her wry look at life.

You can find more of our nonsense if you put ‘silly saturday’ into the search box, top right on this page.

 

 

Astrantia

A crown for the goddess Astrantia.

With her attending angel.

I have been following Floral Forager on Instagram, she also has a website.

So inspiring! She makes wonderful headdresses and this is where the idea took me.

I sought out the frame after seeing these wonderful creations at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2016. I can’t remember exactly where I got the frame from now, I think it was from an Etsy site –  it might have been this one: Geckomeister.

The angel etched in a glass block – how do they do that??? comes from St David’s Cathedral shop. I bought one for each of my grandchildren as a christening present.

I’m joining Cathy for her IAVOM meme, where we pop something in a vase (ahem) from our gardens and share our arrangements with other gardeneners all over the world.

You can see my more conventional arrangement using Astrantia here.

Yesterday I had the utter joy of going to the Rare Plant Fair at Sculpture by the Lakes

 

I bought 3 plants

An alstroemeria, a trailing snapdragon which sounds almost too good to be true and some quaking grass.

My daughter chose alstroemerias as the main flower to decorate the marquee for her wedding reception so they have a special place in my heart – I hope I can grow them – any tips?

Also joining

Cee’s FOTD

Silent Sunday: Paintings in the sky

Click on the photo to view full screen – breathe in that summer sky.

When the world gives you PomPoms

When this pom-pom trim arrived I knew just what I wanted to do with it!

Beach Bunting: adding beads and shells

Inspired by Attic24’s Dune Blanket.

I used:

Beading Needle

Silamide waxed nylon beadstring

Seed beads: here is a link to some similar to the ones I used.

Swarovski crystals:  I used 3mm bicone clear AB crystals, although I’m not sure where you can get them from nowadays

Semi-precious gem stones

and some shells with holes in them – gathered from the beach.

Put a knot in the end of the beadstring and attach to the bottom of the triangle at the back, sew a knot by taking the needle through a loop and exit at the very tip.

Add a crystal, a bead or semi-precious stone, a crystal and a seed bead, then take the thread through the hole in the shell

and back up through the beads and crystals and into the point of the bunting triangle.

Fasten off at the back

And there you have it! Some seaside bunting

Inspired by Attic24’s Dune Blanket

Find the pattern for the Triangles here.

and

The photo tutorial for making the triangles into bunting here.

Let me know if you have a go at making some Beachy Bunting, I’d love to know how you get on.

Pineapples from my Garden

Cathy from NanaCathy, knowing my penchant for pineapples kindly sent me a photo of a pineapple door wreath made out of sunflowers, so instead of doing the digging and the weeding as intended, of course I had to have a play. Thank you Cathy for the inspiration, it was fun! 😀

Luckily the weather has been glorious this Easter here in the UK and I have been blissfully gardening each day, so some digging and weeding got done eventually.

Most of my garden is still waiting for much needed attention, but there are little cameos here and there that I love

Self sown cerinthe survived the winter under the espalier pears

Early morning sun through the amalanchier sings spring!

and the randomly planted Brompton Stocks, wallflowers and other self-seeded joys are really perking up in the sunshine

I do hope you have been able to enjoy a garden somewhere this Easter.

Pop along to see what other gardeners have been up to at Rambling in the Garden.

and

Cee’s Flower of the Day

 

Celebrating Narcissi

From the field that surrounds my daughter’s new home

There is also a cherry tree, so in homage to last week’s vase from Greenway House:

looking good against the colours in the sitting room and adorning the golden locks of the resident flower fairy

Joining Cathy for In a Vase on Monday

and

Cee’s Flower of the Day

Saturday Shells

 

On Tuesday I found these shell people at Greenway House, the holiday home of Agatha Christie – oh what a delight that place is – if you ever get a chance to visit GO!

These were in the Morning Room along with other vintage shell designs

The lighting is kept low, so it was not easy to get good photos.

Such exquisite pieces of shell art

Agatha Christie spent 8 weeks of the year in this house on the banks of the River Dart.

The garden is glorious, the camelias and magnolias stunning – I have more photos to share with you

lots more!

Click on any photo to see it full screen.

Linking with Cee’s Flower of the Day

 

In a Nest on Monday

Hellebore and Hebe in a Lost Garden.

This little hebe is the star of the show in my garden at the moment, I just love it’s pink tips.

The hellebore sits in one of last year’s blackbird’s nest found in the loganberry which is trained against a wooden fence.

The crochet mandala is a pattern by Helen Shrimpton, called Lost Garden and inspired by the Lost Gardens of Helligan. It will be a blanket.

I had a play with the photo to create a more vintage look

Which do you prefer?

Do you think either would make a good greetings card?

Pop along over to Cathy’s Garden blog and see what gardeners all over the world are putting in a Vase this Monday.

Edit:

I’m adding a close up for Cee’s Flower of the Day

Result of the Christmas Card Giveaway

There is SO much I’m itching to tell you about, my mnd is in a bit of a happy whirl with it all. I went away for a couple of fun-packed, creativity-packed weeks and it is taking me ages to come back to earth and order my thoughts enough to make some coherent blog posts. But first – the results of the Giveaway!

19 people voted, 18 wanted to be included in the Christmas Card Giveaway

Thank you so much to all who let me know which picture they liked the best

It was a close run between the all white card and the one with the green hearts

Votes as follows:

9 votes for the White Tree

6 votes for the Green Hearts

4 votes for the Red Berries

Most of my family liked the Green Hearts best so I decided to have the White Shells and the one with the Green Hearts printed. And the proofs have arrived – but I’m not happy with them. They don’t seem to have the vibrancy they need. So I will need to go back to the printer and see if we can sort that out. A shame as I was hoping to have them ready to send out by now.

Anyway – enough of that – you want to know who won!

I wrote the names on some pages I was using for collage

 

folded them and popped them in a bag and asked Cathy’s husband Mr E. to pick out three pieces of paper for me.

And the winners are …..

 

 

 

 

Karina of Murtagh’s Meadow

Kerry of Love those ‘Hands at Home’

and

Jamie of Hook This Weave That

 

Congratulations all!

As soon as I have the cards printed I will be sending you 3 each.

Please go to my Contact Me page and email me your postal address.

Thanks again to everyone who took part, it was such a help to get your comments.

 

Not in a Vase on Monday

Celebrating Cathy’s 5 year anniversary

Hastily gathered on a walk this morning and quickly arranged. Couldn’t miss out on this one!

Does anyone know what this is – a tree with Ash-like leaves and white berries – upright structure, about 15 feet tall. Gorgeous!

Congratulations Cathy!

 

Shell Art and a Giveaway

Help!

I have created 3 shell Christmas trees and I’m wondering if one of these designs would make a good Christmas/ Winter Solstice/ Seasonal Celebration card…..

Do you think they would make good cards?

If so, which one? I can’t decide.

Number One: White Tree

Number Two: with Red Berries

Number Three: Swarovski Crystal Green Hearts

The cards would not have the watermark on them when printed. They would be blank inside, with my name a web address on the back.

I will be giving away 3 cards each to 3 entrants (names pulled out of a hat) and will post them anywhere in the world.

To enter you must

1. be a follower of my blog – sign up in the link top right if you are not already following.

2. Let me know, in the comments, which tree you like the best

3. Let me know if you would like to be entered in a Giveaway.

 

You can enter anytime up until my birthday on 11th November.

The result of the Giveaway will be announced on or around the 15th November and the cards will be sent as soon as they have been printed.

Good luck!