The enormous field.

 At the top of our garden is an enormous field. When we first moved here ( gosh 35 years ago!) it was several fields until they uprooted the dividing hedges. This year it has oil seed rape in. The seed heads are now dry and rattle when you shake one.

 Rubbing of a seed head.

 The patterns of the stalks and seed heads are rather intriguing. Fly stitch I think.

This little book in a box sold yesterday in the Guild at 51 Gallery. Lovely! Inspiration to make another with a different theme.

Ridge across the field- wind in the grasses.

Playing with artwork on the long grasses on the ridge across the field. The wind movement is the important thing. Using a roller is unpredictable but interesting. So I rolled some colour on and then printed with an edge of a bit of card.

Field Scabious.

 I have been drawing Field Scabious. Such a delicate pale mauve colour.

 I walked this ridge or embankment that goes across our local field. The story goes that it was thrown up during the second world war to prevent tanks crossing the fields. ( Protecting nearby air fields?) There are concrete pill boxes in the area . It always has a good crop of wild flowers because it cannot be farmed. I counted and identified 13 species in flower plus sorrel and lots of grasses. The wind in the long grasses is spectacular.

One of my favourite wild flowers, so delicate and beautiful.

Wild flowers and butterflies in the Cotswolds.

 The hay is safely gathered in. That leaves the long ridge that crossed this field accessible to look at the wild flowers that flourish there.

 Field scabious,

 Rose Bay Willow Herb and many others. The butterflies gather on them but there were more in the sheltered lane.

 Ringlets, tortoiseshell, large white, gatekeepers, meadow browns

 and a Red Admiral. This photograph  reminded me of my footpath piece made a few years ago now.

I can change butterflies on it when I fancy.

Linseed blue fields.

 These blue fields are quite a sight in the sunshine. They are linseed and grown as a break crop. The oil is harvested to use in paint. Also used for health foods, animal feeds and as a textile- flax. The flowers follow the sun so when we went out in the morning a shimmering blue but coming home later the fields were back to green as the flowers had closed up.

 I have been messing around with paint and oil pastels

the pale blue shimmers and hangs suspended in the landscape.

Day Out

 Yesterday was our wedding anniversary so we had a day out. We went to Weston- super-Mare to see this lovely exhibition in a cafe at the Quarry Nature Reserve. I loved the exhibits because they were inspired by the sea and they really contained the essence of the seaside- lots of inspiring textures and images.

The Old Quarry was also inspiring. We spotted a peregrine falcon sitting up in a tree on the cliff face. Picture two sixty something year olds jumping up and down with excitement! Luckily Alan had binoculars in the car so we could see it clearly. You will have to take my word for it -there is a peregrine falcon in that picture.

Gardening in miniature.

 Summer has come. The garden is like a jungle and only my miniature gardens can be managed easily.

 I love the different textures. They inspired my miniature gardens made a few years ago.

Always a good idea to get another started for next year and so easy to transplant a few heads over. And the slugs and snails don't eat them!