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

Random Sunday Silliness

Seen in a children’s picture book in Egypt. (2019)

Silent Sunday in Cumbria

A couple of weeks ago at Leighton Moss

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. 🙂

Beach Walks

On my retreat I got up each morning eager to see the sunrise,

hoping to catch that moment when the sun just peeps above the clouds.

After some crochet, and timed according to the tides, I went for a walk to one of the two little beaches nearby.

When the sea was calm, there was a heron

 fishing

but I was looking for rusty bits and seaglass

On the whole the weather was good

with the low sun adding beauty the the hedgerows.

Looking back from the path, if you zoom in, you can see my caravan perched above the beach.

So back to my cosy nest for some more crochet

This is what two weeks of mosaic crochet looks like – in Stylecraft Special Aran and 5mm hook. The pattern is Santa Cruz by Daisy Knots.

Then out for another walk to catch the sun setting

I wonder where I will go for Christmas 2022.

If you could go anywhere in the world for two weeks on your own, where would you go?

Sammy the Seal, Weymouth

A friend has been staying near the beach in Weymouth this week and we have been been meeting for walks and al fresco lunches.

A favourite place on mine is the The Lookout where it can be a bit breezy but the view is worth it, out to sea and looking over Lodmoor.

Before retirement, I used to work in Weymouth and often,  if I had an appointment with a colleague, rather than meet in a stuffy office somewhere, I would suggest The Lookout. Very few people are there during the week outside school holiday times, so confidential meetings could be had whilst looking out to sea.

Seeing Lodmoor from here made me realise that having lived here all my life, I had never walked around the Nature Reserve, so yesterday I put that right

There seems to be only one path that just goes straight across and you don’t really get to see much for the reeds, although I do get fascinated by the lines and patterns they make

and the reflections in the water

They turn up in my doodles

The path leads to a crossing over the road, then up the steps, over the wall and onto the beach

where every day a digger pulls back the pebbles from the sea. The following photo was taken in October.

Then, back along the beach to have fish and chips at Cafe Oasis.

and later as the sun was beginning to set, a siting of Sammy the Seal.

He has become a local celebrity this year. He appears on Facebook pages, on the News and in the papers. Friends have seen him and even been swimming with him but up until yesterday I had not seen him.

He was not lying in the most photogenic position, and one can’t get too close as there are Marshalls standing near to protect him and people and their dogs.

If you Google ‘Sammy the Seal Weymouth’ you can see loads of You tube clips and all the links to his appearance in the newspapers. In this clip, you also get to see the huge dormant cruise ships that have also been a Lockdown feature of 2020

I chatted to the Marshall and she told me that Sammy has been checked by the Marine Biologists who say he is 2 years old and comes from the colony that lives on Portland (the island you see in the background). He goes back to visit but seems to prefer contact with humans, coming up onto the beach in the early morning and at dusk. Apparently he won’t mate until he is 4 or 5 years old, so I wonder if he will be on or near the beach for the next couple of years.

Silent Sunday Stroll

Wordless Wednesday

Silent Sunday: Swan Lake

Happy Easter Vase on Monday

Happy Easter Monday Everyone!

What a blessing a garden is at any time, but most particularly at this staying-at-home time. I give huge thanks every day.

And look who I discovered in mine yesterday, a very welcome resident

I put the photo onto our family WhatsApp group for the children to guess what it is and to give him or her a name. At his second guess, Big Bro got it right and decided it was a male called Walley.

Having found this description on the internet:

“The slow–worm is much smaller than a snake and has smooth, golden-grey skin. Males are paler in colour and sometimes sport blue spots, while females are larger, with dark sides and a dark stripe down the back.

Average lifespan: up to 20 years

Length: 40-50cm”

I think it might be a female, although it doesn’t have a stripe down its back. Amazed to see that they can live up to 20 years.

I am very happy to see her, but wish she would eat more slugs as I am finding masses of the little blighters munching away at my irises and hostas.

My daughter and her children brought me a wonderful food box full of delicious goodies from a local vegetarian cafe called ‘Feed The Soul‘

The box included some delicious cakes, and drinks, boxed mixed salad meals and chia pudding – health in a box YumYum!!!

The children had picked the flowers for me from their field of scented narcissi. My daughter calls herself a beginner gardener and you can follow her progress on her Instagram Page – @newgatenarcissi

You might like to see the fun we had with the narcissi last year – here

This year is different.

How are you doing during this time of lockdown?

So far, I’m loving it. It feels like a gift to me. Time for quiet crafting and gardening with very few interruptions.

I feel extremely fortunate that I have a garden and neighbours who wander past and stop for a chat every now and then. They are all at home, so a close feeling of community is building like never before. It feels like it must have felt about 100 years ago. Everyone working in their gardens or on DIY projects – there seems to be always a power tool whirring away somewhere in the village.

My daughter lives just across the field from me, so she can come over with the children and we can have a catch up across the lawn.

It would feel very different if any of my children were in danger, out there on the front line. Or if any of my family or close friends contracted the virus. But for now the best thing I can do is stay at home alone and I am more than happy with that.

I do hope you found a satisfying way to celebrate Easter and wish you and your families and friends all the very best in the weeks and months to come.

Joining Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for In a Vase on Monday

and

Cee’s Flower of the Day

 

Stay Safe

Stay at Home

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’

 

 

Wednesday Walk

Just look at those colours!

Walking along the Sea Wall this morning,

my intention was to power walk along for about a mile and back again, but when the spring tide has thrown up these beauties

of course it turned into the usual beachcombing walk

Drama in the skies –  just before I got very wet walking back to the car

Worth it though!

Wordless Wednesday

(turn volume up)

Windy Wednesday Evening Walk

North Dorset

On Wednesdays, after school,  I take my granddaughter Miss E to her Gym Class. In the winter I am happy to sit for the two hours with crochet and a flask of tea, listening to podcasts on my iPad, but yesterday was such a lovely evening, I dropped her off and drove on for about 10 minutes and went for a walk.

 

Is this a Six Spot Burnet moth?

Joining Cee’s Flower of the Day.

Wordless Wednesday: Evening Walk

 

Glimpses from my walk yesterday evening.

Turn the sound right up to hear the birds and the bees.

Swan Sunday

We had a magical family day out yesterday at Abbotsbury Swannery.

Feeding time for swans is at 12 noon and 4pm

Children are able to go and feed them too.

There were masses of breeding pairs to see

and cygnets – awwww!

There are Go Karts, a Maze, a Quiz, a Playground and a very good restaurant, which all makes for a very good day out.

And – Little Miss M and I added 3.2 miles to our total – 75.2miles completed – target 500 miles

Little Miss Spiderman

Little Miss Spiderman was delighted to find a snowy spider’s web this morning.

 

I think this photo could qualify for Cee’s Odd Ball Challenge.

Wings

………Continuing to share our lovely bright Winter’s walk around the Bishop’s Palace, Wells, Somerset, England.

There is a smaller wings sculpture in the South Garden.

here, viewed from the ramparts

from where one also gets this glorious view across the Somerset countryside

Peeping through the ramparts

you can see the moat below

There are some videos of the gardens and last year’s cignets here.

Like us, the swans were basking in the sun

(Noelle and Alison in the Whispering Gallery)

And so was a cheeky little robin

sitting on his favourite posing post

All of us glorying in that clear blue sky and the warmth the sun gave us

Noelle suggested this photo of me trying out the wings, it was such a fabulous day our spirits were certainly soaring

and I must show you Noelle’s marvellous hand-knitted hat and scarf/shawl, which looks like wings to me

more to come …..

Swanie Silent Sunday

Joining in with Cee and the Daily Post: Silence