Sweet Child of Mine

My latest collage on fabric which includes vintage photograph and 19th century french textile pieces....

My place looks like a scrapbook room...with all the cut outs, papers and fabrics as well as paints and half finished pieces of work....

Sitting in the corner looking at me questioningly is the pristine, red covered moleskin book just arrived from The Sketchbook Project.....

.....it waits...I ponder its outcome....

the blank page is a scary place!!!

have a great weekend......

Reflections

Is the world this way or that?...sometimes I wonder.......

Bonny Heather

Beautiful patches of bright heather are out on the common now......every so often..interspersed
between the gorse bushes....thriving on very little...

it always reminds me of my trip to Scotland when i had just finished college.....many years ago but the memory is as sharp as ever.....

i had got the sleeper coach from London to Edinburgh..from there in the early morning train across to the Kyle of Lochalsh..i had a summer job at a hotel on the Isle of Skye....

that train journey was breathtaking.....hills, mountains and glens....green and purples covering the lands.....travelling close to the waters edge...seeing the wildlife..birds and deer...i swear my heart was in mouth the whole way with the stunning beauty of it.....

That journey is still heralded as one of the most scenic in the world...

Somewhat gentler scenery here today.....don't you just love calves.....we have watched these charmers growing all summer....they don't bat a long lashed eyelid even when you get up close...

..the sky was just wonderful today...

Littlecote House and the Baby in the Fireplace

Last week my Mum and I went to Littlecote House which is not far from us....they where opening the gardens under the National Gardens Scheme for charity......

It is now a hotel with leisure club but it has had a varied past....

...it is a Tudor mansion and many...many years ago when it was open as a country house open to the public our school had a trip here.........
...
needless to say there are quite a few ghost stories... one particularly grisly one was about baby that was born here and the master of the house was so outraged about it he threw the baby in the fire.......its mother... originally called 'The Grey Lady ' if I remember correctly..... walks the corridors crying for her child.....we all scared ourselves stupid over this and of course we all saw her!!!!

..but on a beautiful sunny Thursday..all our cares were for the lovely gardens and whether we could find the ramp to the cafe for a cream tea!!!

..we had great fun careering down this slope.....Mother in her wheelchair.....the wind whistling by us .....laughter in the air.......

.....until I realised there was only me to push her back up again!!!!!

July Garden

The garden is coming on a pace.....

The David Austin roses we planted are on their second flush of flowering.....this crimson one is especially beautiful but not as strongly scented as some of the others....it looks delicious with the lavender......

...beans that look like a giant could be hiding at the top!!!.........

we don't have a veggie patch all ours are in grow bags or pots....

...things are stirring in the green house and we are starting to plant some seeds for next spring...got to look forward....


...my sister- in- law gave us the teeny plants of tomatoes which have grown into unruly monsters!!!!

..they should be striped when they ripen and are called 'brandy -wine'..we can't wait to try one..!!

..all the Montana has been pruned so we can see the nest boxes again.....all occupants now flown away.....

....I hope your summer garden is giving you much pleasure too. x

Create Tuesday....Limits

This is my entry for this weeks Create Tuesday with Mr Toast.....
The theme was 'limits'...

as in my art course i have been working with maps i decided to continue that theme......

...so this is a board painted with acrylics....collage with vintage text and map and newspaper cuttings.....
the map has been extended with markers to make an imaginary roads taking you where ever you want to go!!!

Thanks for calling in...xx

dark shadows

This week I have been playing around with some photography and using the Picasa tools....its a time waster that's for sure!!

.....on visiting the library to get some poetry books out to inspire yet more artistic endeavors i booked out a tiny volume of Christina Rossetti's poems......

.....please never read this if you ever feel blue as it would make a happy person almost capable of slitting their wrists.....but if death and loss make your happy this is the girl for you!!!

however, lurking amongst 'Passing away' and 'After death' was this;

A Birthday

My heart is like a singing bird

Whose nest is in a water'd shoot;

My heart is like an apple-tree

Whose boughs are bent with thick-set fruit;

My heart is like a rainbow shell

That paddles in a halcyon sea;

My heart is gladder than all these,

Because my love is come to me.

Raise me a daïs of silk and down;

Hang it with vair and purple dyes;

Carve it in doves and pomegranates,

And peacocks with a hundred eyes;

Work it in gold and silver grapes,

In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;

Because the birthday of my life

Is come, my love is come to me.

Christina Rossetti.

Beautiful......

Summer Grasses

Thoroughly enjoyed our walk in the sun yesterday......experimenting with my camera........but loved the colours in these grasses.....

until the little black chap discovered a very nice sniff!!!!!

London Visit...

Do you know when John Denver Died????....
no...i didn't even know he was dead.....
why do you ask.... well as I was waiting to meet up with Miss Magpie outside Harvey Nichols last week that was the question I was asked......
i peered at the rheumy eyes of this old gent and thought..
is this a wind-up...are YOU John Denver.....!!!!!...his
young companion just laughed..whether at me or at him i don't know....
anyway I decided to move on after three other people stopped me to ask ,one , if i could speak English and two, could I give them directions......
I moved on before the doorman moved me on for soliciting!!!


These are two of the fabulous window displays that they were in the process of installing at H.N's
.......
I could have taken more pics but couldn't stand the heat..in more than one way!!!!




..this tree is made completely out of lead pencils....amazing!!!

daydream walking

Sun filtered though wispy clouds

the gate bangs hard behind us

hedgerows filled with songs of unseen birds

flowering lace fills the air

legs are tickled

by grasses waving

wheat stand tall

unripe and waiting

meandering breeze moves it

as an unseen hand

whispers

blue, white daydream walking.

Creative Tuesday..Snack

This is my piece for today's create Tuesday......

Queen of Heart Tarts and a nice pot of tea!!!

Had a bit of trouble getting the handle correct and still not sure about it but there you go!!!

Now I am off to put the kettle on......happy days...xx

Sunday walk

Today the weather as better for walking the Lodger...he doesn't really like these hot days

but today was breezy and fresh....

we walked a route that is only open to the public through the months of July and August.....

..and you have to keep to the paths....

this way!!!

down through the pine woods to the lake.....Temple lake......because..well there is a temple folly above it.......
Since i last walked along here they have cleared lots of the woods of invasive rhodies....it is a very beautiful walk along here......no fishermen today......

..at the end is a little jetty and the water lily pads make lovely patterns across the
water.....

you walk though alleys of paths flanked by azaleas (now over I'm afraid)
...to come out at an old entrance gate.........

telling you that this was once a very grand place.....

Hope you had a lovely Sunday..

Happy Weekend..

Happy 4th July to all our American friends.....

xxxxx from Kay and The Lodger....