Hearty Harvest

Gleaming

Gleaming machinery go, go go!

Fiendishly harvesting hay;

Leaving tangled tails of honey coloured onions,

Drying in sultry rays.

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-

Cee’s black and white photo challenge -houses

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. 🙂