Silent Sunday: Full Moon Rising

as the sun was setting

at 5pm today

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Camouflage

My daughter took this of me whilst we were on a walk on Monday.

We have had a lot of rain recently. The roads were so flooded that Miss M could not get to school so we were able to add a couple of miles to our target of walking 500 miles (cue the Proclaimers).

Our rate of clocking up the miles, which when we started was about 48 per year, was first hit by the pandemic and some very busy Summers on the farm. Now Miss M’s very full social life and list of sporting commitments means we have to grab any chance we can get.

We only managed 18 miles in 2020 and last year.

Current total: 185.4 miles.

 

Black Feathers, White Flowers

Continuing my account of the Land Art Course with Dan Lobb at West Dean College:

The walk from the bench, to gather the cut grass, took just over 5 minutes each way. The walking and the raking became a beautifully satisfying daily practice, allowing my body to be well exercised and fully part of the installation.

Dan remarked that seeing me raking and trundling backwards and forwards with my wheelbarrow, reminded him of people raking in Japanese gardens. I realised that the same thought had been at the back of my mind and I was so pleased that he had brought it to the forefront.

As you may know, I love most things Japanese and was lucky enough to spend 15 glorious days on a textile tour in 2015. This photograph from that trip came to mind. (If you type ‘Japan’ into the SEARCH box you can see lots of posts about my trip, but here is a link to the first post about it. )

I found I would take one route to the hay and a different route back. Each day and each time of day, offering new things to notice in the garden

There seemed to be an unusual amount of feathers on the ground.

Were the birds moulting in the heat, or were the feathers more noticeable because the grass was so parched, yellow and short? A couple of us began collecting them.

Walking back past this clump of Annabelle Hydrangeas, I couldn’t resist popping a black feather into a few of the white frothy balls.

A little breeze was blowing and the birds who had gifted the feathers were calling in the trees above:

At the time, this was my favourite ‘installation’, if installation it was.

It felt very Japanese – Dan had pressed the Japan button, and I was off!

The video feels to me like a visual haiku. I went to Google translate.

Seeing the words written and hearing how they are spoken,  the title

‘Black Feathers, White Flowers’

seems like poetry to me

A Bench of Gratitude

Working with this bench at West Dean College on a Land Art Course, became a very meaningful process for me. It also led me to make other pieces of Land Art in different locations around the garden.

This is the third post about it, you can see the first here and the second here.

The bench is, under a Lime Tree, in the front of the college and therefore seen by all the garden visitors and college students. Not the sort of place I thought I would have chosen at all – but it chose me.

After weaving in the first bunch of grasses, I walked back to the tulip tree to gather more. I counted my steps as I went. It took 150 steps to get from bench to tree.

As I counted out loud, I was reminded of my Welsh maternal Grandfather.

I did not get to sleep easily as a child and he used to pat me whilst counting out loud, very quietly, to help me get to sleep. I could choose how many pats 100, 150 or 200. We had a very close relationship – I had not remembered the patting for years and years. I felt very close to him as I was walking and a feeling of gratitude that I had him in my life, washed over me.

I picked just what I could hold in one hand, walked back and wove the dry grass through the back of the bench. Back for another handful and this time I placed it as a bunch to the left. This referenced sheafs of corn and also flowers left on benches and other places, in memorium.

My intention was to gather more grass to bulk up the sheaf, but after a walk around the garden, I saw some cut grass and decided to gather this to create some sort of spiral or other path, leading to the bench.

As I raked up the cut grass, I made a meandering path, which became my second piece of Land Art.

I came to like the spin off pieces more than what happened around the bench, but if I had not started with the bench the others would not have been created.

Silly Saturday Shadows

I had such a wonderful week at West Dean and will share more of the process with the bench in another post, but today is Saturday and time for a bit of silliness!

Does my bum look big in this?

I had fun on the last morning (yesterday) walking around the grounds of West Dean College playing with the shadows in the early morning sun.

If you would like to see more of what I got up to you can visit my @rustnfound Instagram page.

Have you had an opportunity to be silly this week?

Scrap Happy Wild Wool

I spent a few days in Seaton, Devon, near the wetlands, last month.

There are some beautiful walks and tranquil places to sit and ponder

When I saw all that wool on the fence, I just had to gather some

I washed it and then decided to felt some

by making layers of vertical and horizontal strands – about 7 layers

Then adding soapy water, I put the layers between bubble wrap and rolled it this way and that with a rolling pin.

Now to add some rusty bits

using some rust dyed thread

and framing the result in a acrylic box frame

And another one with old rusty sheep wire

I rubbed acrylic wax into the rusty wire to halt the rusting process, but have left these nails to continue to rust into the wool

Felting takes ages and is physical work so I started just to make soft little balls, just rolling them lightly in my hands – this is a work in progresson some corrugated iron. Not sure where it is going yet.

Joining Kate for Scrap Happy July

Silent Sunday at Sculpture by the Lakes

Sculpture by the Lakes

Silent Sunday at Minterne Gardens

Minterne House Gardens

Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday: A walk on the heath.

Silent Sunday: West Dean

Short stay in Cumbria

After visiting Cathy’s garden, the next day I drove another two and a half hours to visit a friend from school days who lives in Cumbria.

The weather had turned cloudy. On the first afternoon we walked at Leighton Moss and the next day walked along a nearby canal.

The decommissioned canal is now a haven for wildlife and a fun feature to have at the end of the garden.

Not quite sure of the purpose of this stone construction, which was at the top of the bank going up to the canal.

but obviously I enjoyed finding this little collection outside a farm gate

and I have a soft spot for old, rural post boxes (I wonder how long they will be in operation for)

and roadside plant stands

Then we walked along an estuary and up through the woods to get a view of the hills and mountains of the Lake District, which were just peeping through the November skies

A happy time reconnecting with an old friend and seeing a very different landscape.

Next day I was off to Harrogate to the Knitting and Stitching Show!

I am very excited about telling you all about it – it was FANTASTIC!

Silent Sunday in Cumbria

A couple of weeks ago at Leighton Moss

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!

Castle Drogo

Last week I met some friends at Castle Drogo, before travelling on to Cornwall with them to stay in Newquay for a few days.

Castle Drogo is one of the most bonkers places I have ever visited. Unfortunately the house was shut but you can see some photos of the interior if you go to the # Castle Drogo Instagram page

It was built between 1911 and 1926 as a family home?!

What were they thinking!

It looked like a prison or a workhouse to us.

Trees mask the glorious views to the moors as you walk around the house.

There are two magnificent arbours. We were not sure what variety of tree they were but my best guess was a type of birch.

My favourite tree was this magnificent maple, what a colour!

with its twisty moss covered trunk.

After lunch in the cafe we drove the hour and a half to Newquay.

This is the view from the apartment we were staying in.

Oh happy days!

Silent Sunday: Newquay, Cornwall.

 

 

 

 

Slow Sunday Haiku

Leaves falling

Showing front and back

Autumn’s here

 

It is a long time since a haiku popped into my head.

This one was inspired by this post by Mrs Gumboots.

Joining Cee’s Challenge FOTD – Autumn Leaves

A Day with the Boys

Good morning

Good afternoon

A walk round the pond.

We wanted to identify this little bird – it was so tiny and hard to spot in the fir trees. Such a loud alarm call for a tiny bird.

Even harder to find with my phone, look at the top of the video and it will come into view

We searched the free App ‘Chirp’, I have on my phone, once we were away from the bird. (we should not play recorded birdsong near birds as it confuses them) The nearest we found was the Willow Warbler and the Chiff Chaff, but ‘Chirp’ did not have their alarm calls

So I looked on You Tube and we found this clip

We think it is a Chiff Chaff, what do you think?

After a glorious gentle summer’s day in the sunshine, a last wander before bed

Good night. 🙂

Walled Garden

This is a delightful find and not too far from where I live.

An old Walled Garden in the process of being restored by volunteers

and raising money for the village church roof fund and charities

The River Bride runs through it

and it nestles quietly in the valley in the village of Little Bredy

There is even a basket of sticks left by a bridge for playing Pooh Sticks.

This little man-made waterfall is in grounds of Bridehead, a short walk from the Walled garden.

A wonderful wander followed by a traditional English Cream Tea, which consists of a pot of tea (in this case some not-so-traditional Lemon and Ginger tea) and a scone on which to spread jam and clotted cream.

Sunday Saunter

Click on any photo to see it larger

We heard the cuckoo!