IVAOM: moss on a plate

A Valentines Day present for my daughter and her family.

The big heart shaped stones were found by Little Miss M, in the stream near my house a few years ago, the others have been sitting in my ‘heart-shaped stones’ collection on my bathroom windowsil. The moss and catkins are from my garden.

I am still experimenting with moss-on-a-plate arrangements and when I saw these little stained glass trees on the Not on Amazon (I do not buy from Amazon) page on Facebook ….. well of course I had to get them.

They are made by an independent UK artist, TaylaMadeGlass

This is not an Ad, I like to support small independent businesses, the link is in case you would like to find out more.

I am joining in with Cathy and her hugely enjoyable In a Vase on Monday meme.

Cathy has made a moss-on-a-plate for the garden and that is my next mission.

Spring?

On Thursday, a brief break in the relentless rain saw me donning my wellies and making a dash for it – catching a walk in the sunshine before it disappeared again.

Gorse in the hedgerows is always a cheery sight.

I walked straight out across the fields and looked back towards my house across the very soggy land

But I am so lucky compared with the thousands of people who have had their lives disrupted by the floods.

Then, into the woods

I can’t quite explain the sheer joy of seeing sunshine slanting through the clumps of hazel, it made me feel like a woodland sprite skipping over sunbeams.

Look!

Bluebell shoots!

And the sky went all bluebell too

with catkins!

My whole being was soaking up all this light and joy, making up for months of grey, wind and wet.

Peeping through the trees at the fields looking so green in the sunshine

and of course the obligatory photos of lichen – I am so fascinated by this stuff – I am convinced it holds secrets and answers and healing properties as yet untapped

Moss is nearly as fascinating

but doesn’t hold the magic of lichen.

I do hope you have been able to catch some sunbeams in your neck of the woods.

In a Magic Garden on Monday

….. where a dragon, Frosty the snowman and a little glass duck can frolic happily together

The above arrangement was created by Little Miss M aged 5, in a pot of succulents

 

 

 

 

 

Then we added to it

with two more funny Forever Flowers  made by Jodie

The photo below is Jodie’s, showing more of her wonderfully bonkers creations

I just LOVE them!!!! They make me smile and brighten up a dull, rainy Jaunuary day.

We added some ‘flowers’ made using sculpture pieces by Zolo

These pieces are great for the children to make fanciful sculptures with – sadly they cost a fortune to buy from the US once shipping and customs duty ave been added. I first bought a set at the airport in New York when I was coming back home in 2008. Then luckily a friend of mine was able to get another set for me when she visited the US more recently.

The vase:

Hazel catkins, ash twigs and golden privet.

Pop over to Rambling in the Garden to see what Cathy and other gardeners, from all over the globe, have put in their vases this Monday.

In a Dish on Monday

My daughter and her family (Miss E, Master R, Little Miss M and Mr.M) went on holiday last week. To welcome them home I made this little cameo, which is photographed in my hall before I took it to their house.

Joining Cathy for her worldwide garden party held every Monday over at Rambling in the Garden.

I used hebe, hazel, primrose, succulents and this flower spike from a laurel

A few empty snail shells were put in the corner as Little Miss M loves snails – when she was 2 she collected them and made houses for them.

In the early 1990s I worked at Dansel , a bespoke woodworking Gallery. If you are ever in Dorset it is well worth a visit. It was a wonderful place to work and very tempting. I am lucky enough to have a few pieces from those days. Each piece was signed by the maker. The mirror frame was made by Simon Teed.

The sycamore bowl was made by Peter Dalby in 1992. It holds Angel Cards, which were created as part of the Transformation Game at the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland.

If you would like me to pick a card for you, let me know in the comments.

The picture you can see in the mirror is a piece of felt I made at a workshop run by Di Pattinson a few years ago.

I can highly recommend her workshops.

The piece was immediately pinned to a canvas painted with acrylic paint mixed with sand and there it sits – I always intended to do more to it but now I think I like it as it is. I could fix the pins at the back with Sugru.The diamond weaving hanging below it was made for me by Miss E for my birthday. She knows my favourite colours! Orange and pink together always a winner!

Maybe, I could fix it on to the painting ……. hmmmm ….. ….

I’ll leave for a while….. I think I like it ….. what do you think?

Vase on Monday: Spring is on its way.

Hazel catkins and bay leaves, with houseplants of the week, three tardy hyacinth bulbs – still beautiful though. They promised to flower at Christmas!

All four containers are charity shop finds.

Such a challenge to photograph things well in the gloom, some days it never really gets light at all. I’ve had to ‘brighten’ these pictures quite a bit.

I love the way catkins start as tight little bundles and gradually shake themselves out into fluffy chenille. They will stay looking good for weeks so that one can enjoy spring green leaves bursting forth before very long.

The Bay tree was here when I came to the garden, it has elegantly long thin leaves, smells divine and is currently smothered in buds

Joining in with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for her weekly International Vase party.

I joined the party in May and it is fun looking back at all the vases. I can’t seem to make a photo montage here so I have made my own Vase on Monday Pinterest page. It’s great to see them all together.

For a heady visual feast go to Google images for In a Vase on Monday and see so many of the other fabulous vases

GGorrrrrRRRRggggeeeeooouuSSSsssssssssss!

and also joining in with An English Girl Rambles

and

Cee’s Odd Ball Photo challenge

I played with this in iPhoto and used the ‘Fade’ filter – I’m pleased with the soft pinkish glow.

I think it might have been my Granny growing hyacinths in these special glass jars that turned me on to the magic of gardening as a child – the white roots in water with the light shining through never lose their magic…

…and in black and white:

Can you remember what first sparked your interest in gardening?

Stourpaine Walk

Sunny Sunday!

A walk around Stourpaine, a friend and I were walking the paths of our ancestors.

The larks were singing the sun was bright …

First we stopped off at Compton Abbas

a peaceful spot

this rhododendron was showing off magnificently

we saw yellow butterflies – could they have been Yellow Brimstones? in the churchyard at Compton Abbas

a font by the door

the Bible has been there all that time

sunny haze and ploughed fields, the crop cycle beginning again

lunch at a pub

the ambience delightful, the food – not so much!

Stourpaine

storm damage, my have the winds been fierce this winter

Victorian lych gate

doodle inspiration

an extraordinary name caught our eye – no relation

this font is so plain it has been sent to a curtained corner!

I am not religious but I love the history that churches hold

the village

cute house with lovely, not too formal, topiary

a grumpy looking little ‘Thelwell’ pony

and then for a walk on Hod Hill  …….