Gleaming
Gleaming machinery go, go go!
Fiendishly harvesting hay;
Leaving tangled tails of honey coloured onions,
Drying in sultry rays.
Tag Archives: summer
Printmaking indulgence
Yesterday I indulged myself ccompletely. My inner creative child just loved inking up the two collagraph plates that I designed and made a couple of week ago. At this time of year there are lots of summer blooms to enjoy so I couldn’t resist making a collograph print. The plate was made from mounting board. I used wallpaper samples to get texture, netting, twine untwisted and teased out for the stem and lots of pva glue for subtle highlights to suggest the frailty of the petals of the Peony. Next I mixed vintage coloured inks. The photo above shows the plate after it had been inked and through the press.
Here’s the first result. The colours and detail came out well. I was pleased with the result (always difficult to show on a photo). My print was hand pressed on A3 Watercolour paper.
My next post will show my next collagraph. I hope you enjoy It.
Tranquility among the grasses
Bashfully passing through
Languishing grasses,
As peeping, floppy poppies
Leap and dive like dashing
Flamenco dancers.
Mystical Thistles
Mystical Thistles
Twist their silver
Bristles.
Sycamore keys
Kiss in seed
Filled mists.
Fairies in gilded rickshaws
Ride at a lick on
Chamomile lawns:
Admired by
Nymphs
Tooting silver
Horns.
Victorian town Parks such as this one near the stunning Embankment in Bedford, offer beautiful borders along pathways to explore, abundant with nature, away from the hustle and bustle of the town. I enjoyed a lazy summer afternoon here with a friend after a leisurely lunch. I expect these thistles will appear in my design work soon! 🙂
Rowing on the River Ouse at the Embankment, Bedford
Enjoying a leisurely stroll on the Embankment, Bedford
Sensual Sloes
Sensual Sloes,
Juicy and black
Like crows.
Lucid in
Tangled ancient
Hedgerows.
I have been watching these delicious sloes ripen as I walk past with my dogs every day. Soon I’ll be harvesting them and steeping them in gin. It has been a lovely summer for fruits and nuts.
Petal Power
Scintillating scented roses,
Some with a hint of mint
Vanilla
Or satiated sherbet.
Tumbling and curling
Petals
Hushed, by
The Burly
Humble
Lunching Bumblebees.
Secret Scabious
Field Scabious,
Secretively peeping
From the fringes of
A shady lane,
Where weeping reeds
And sweeping leaves
Shelter them from
Melting in the
Sweltering summer sunshine.
Black and white challenge- Pretty pavillion
Southill village cricket pavillion, Southill Park estate and a very relaxing game of cricket taking place on the green. A lovely place to enjoy a cup of tea.
I took this photo (originally in colour) about three Sundays ago. We were visiting the Southill Park estate in Bedfordshire as it was open to the public as part of the National Gardens scheme: Bedfordshire Open Gardens. The sceme raises money by charging a small entrance fee to the gardens, selling plants and of course cream teas.
We were early, so leaving my husband to chat to a few other garden enthusiasts, I wandered off with my camera and came across this delightful, typically English scene of cricket being played on the village green. I just love the thatched pavillion which fits perfectly with the many old thatched cottages in the Whitbread family estate village. Actually I prefer the shot in monochrome because it looks nostagic.
Many thanks to Cee for providing this challenge. You can see more like this by looking at her blog
Cee’s Black and white photo challenge-
Masquerading Veiled Fairies
Masquerading veiled fairies
Dance in a cascading
Mane
As radiant stamens
Parade their flames.
The dogs and I love to walk in our local nature reserve; I call it the Fairy Woodland because it really is a special place to sit and enjoy magical moments such as the delicate scent of mingled blossom from a dew drop, a tiny Blue butterfly sunning its wings on a buttercup, a cuckoo and at dusk the eerie cry of a barn owl.
Happy first day of June everyone. 🙂
The best of 2014
Firstly. Happy New Year and thanks for your support last year, for your enjoyable comments, friendship and also for welcoming me to your blogs. 2014 was challenging in many ways. We moved house unexpectedly again in June, however recently and probably one of the reasons why my posts have been more sporadic, we have purchased a lovely cottage which we will be renovating over the next few months, which will be our permanent home, at last! I have set up a new blog to write about the trials and tribulations of renovating our Victorian cottage and hopefully if my technical skills will allow me, I will add a link to my new wordpress site. I will obviously be continuing with this one as I love writing about nature and will always be out walking my dogs. Another challenge was my mother’s serious illness, which thank goodness she seems now to be recovering from after the removal of her right kidney, a major upheaval for a 77 year old woman! She was so brave.
On a happy note, I really enjoyed being the mother of the bridegroom at my son’s Scottish wedding in July. It was such a beautiful wedding and a stunning location. I hope you enjoy the photos. Anyway I hope you will all continue to enjoy reading my blog this year and possibly take a peek at my little cottage blog. Enjoy, thank you and peace and blessings. 🙂
