Little book of lockdown 2

 I finished the second little book, this one inspired by walks and the garden during lockdown. If you follow my Instagram account you will have seen this patches in the making.

 The hay is being cut and baled up. Always in this field there is a ridge that can't be cut and so the wild flowers are left to prosper. My next piece of work is about this ridge.

 It was thrown up during the second world war as tank defences, or so the story goes. It is always interesting to see what flowers and when.

 Knapweed.

I love Scabious and its delicate shades of mauve.

cow parsley in stitch.

Well the weeks go by with much the same routine. lockdown is loosening a little but for us older people, much the same and fearing a second spike we won't be out that much where there are people about. Having our food and other stuff delivered or collecting it from outside the stores.
 Working on this piece at the moment. I seem awfully good at starting new pieces and hopeless at finishing them so want to get this one completed.

 Below is the other cover of the butterfly concertina book.

 This is me on my birthday with cake and sun hat tells you it was hot.

 Ending with a shot of dandelions from one of our daily walks.

Daily walks in the Cotswolds.

 In these strange times I find I am not keeping my blog uptodate so this morning early before it is needed I am doing a little entry with a few pictures from our daily walks for permitted exercise. We are lucky. We can walk out the door and into the fields and lanes.

 The weather has been glorious and the verges are sprouting with foliage and wild flowers. There are butterflies and birds to identify. The soaring song of the lark is one of my favourites.

 This is an old stone barn. Most around here have been converted into homes so one of the few left. I do hope it has some barn owls nesting inside.

 Below - a surprise to find some tulipsflowering in the lanes. These must have been planted, perhaps a memorial site. Keep safe and well everyone and love to you all who regularly follow me. I am still stitching and there are regular updates on my Instagram account. louisemaywatson. You don't have to join or have an account to look at it.

pictures from the lanes.

 We are now in lockdown in the U.K. We are only allowed to leave our homes to go for food shopping or medicines. But we can go for a walk everyday and we are so lucky to be able to step outside into the countryside. Lots in blossom and the weather is gorgeous so counting our blessings.

 My 2 grown up children are working from home so this house will be busy. Alan is busy in the garden, lots of work to do there.Busy planting and tidying. Love to all, stay safe and busy. xxx

Meditation cloth and local observations.

 Difficult to know what to say in these worrying times. I am at home with all the family. I hope you are safe and well and managing it all. I am doing a bit of work on the circles cloth- good for calming.

 We are so lucky to be able to walk everyday in the countryside and observe the spring coming in. These are tiny wild strawberries in a lane wall.

 Sunshine on lichen. Yes we had some sunny spring days (but now it is back to drizzle.) Super colour and textures.

 Lastly the greylag geese are more visible by the local lake as they nest. They like to graze the fields and fly over early morning with their wonderful honking noise.Keep well everyone. I am posting everyday on Instagram because it is quick and easy. xxx

stitched meditation.

 I began a new piece of work at the weekend - a kind of spin off or second piece to my large meditation circle. I have been trying to think of what to do in the borders of this large piece and had an idea of words that calm the mind. I decided to make a small piece just for myself. So I have been thinking of a series of words that could take me into a peaceful place. (Like at the end of yoga in corpse pose) Choosing quiet and gentle colours. Not sure if the stitching is working but hurray that stitches can be undone if I change my mind.

 I thought I would stitch a word each day and think deeply about that word throughout the day. Difficult to choose just a few words but some trigger a response more than others. I wonder what your words would be?

Yesterday morning - a walk to Cherington pond. Calm and serene with autumn colours. (also very damp and muddy!)

Signs of Autumn and cake illustrations.

Signs of Autumn in the lanes and hedgerows now. The season of mellow fruitfulness. I am working on the cake illustrations for our community recipe book. Most will have to be in black and white for cost purposes. Not so much fun as colour. off on holiday again soon so want to get some finished before then. Making a large choice in black and white and hoping to get better at it.

Cake in fabric and thread and Rowan.

 I have a commission to do the illustrations for a community recipe book for our village cafe. Most will be drawings in black and white but I wanted to do some in fabric because that is actually easier for me than the drawing. Colour does help with cake illustrations! The village cafe is open on Tuesday mornings and run by volunteers in the Social Club. The idea was to combat loneliness and isolation in a small rural community without many buses. It has also helped to introduce newcomers to the village and be a hub for village life. Book swaps, garden produce swaps, knit and natter, workshops, recycling have also developed at the cafe. It has been a huge sucess and the cake recipe book hope to celebrate a year of opening( In November) You can only have a recipe in the book if it has been at the cafe and requested by a customer. So I am very glad to say I will have a recipe included. More of that another time.

 This week has been our daughter Rowan's fortieth birthday. Here she is on a birthday walk by the boathouse at Woodchester mansion N.T. Below is the card I made her from her Rowan tree in our garden. The colour is just beginning to turn.

Rosebay or fireweed. Meditation circle.

 Here is the Rosebay Willowherb we were discussing. Such beautiful bright pink spikes. I have stitched it lots of times.

 I have gone back to my meditation piece to add the colours of summer. I have also made my border outline of a square.

Yesterday I put in blue sky and pink rosebay colours. It begins in the centre with winter colours and comes into spring greens. By the outside it will be Autumn and back to Winter for the border. Well that is the plan. These first 2 weeks of August are called dog days and the season does hang on the cusp at the moment. The fields are shorn and the sultriness pervades like time has stopped. First signs are peeping in like the brown withered seeds of the docks and the first thistles setting. There were goldfinch feeding on the thistle seed.

veg plot framed and the Rococo Gardens at Painswick.

 The computer has had a massive overhaul and is all better! So normal service is resumed, if only humans could be mended as easily. Above is the veg plot in its splendid box frame ready for Grow Your Own at the Guild next month.Below are pictures of the Rococo Gardens at Painswick. Today is the last day over at Quenington and if you enjoyed that, you will love this garden complete with garden buildings, maze and pigeon house. It is a huge garden set in a valley with sculpture trail for this summer. If you can't get there here are some pictures to give you a flavour.