Taming the Jungle!

I had just stopped for a breather and noticed this butterfly on the handle of the fork.   It was obliging enough to stay there while I fetched the camera.   I think it's a Tortoiseshell though the colours in my photo are somewhat faded.

Couldn't resist this bumble bee on the verbena - they have obligingly moved out of our compost bin so we can use it again.

We bought this monarda for the bees so I hope they appreciate it.

In the nursery where we bought this cone flower it had a gorgeous Red Admiral butterfly on it.   I am waiting for one to visit it now it's in our garden.

I am abandoning the garden and my husband this weekend and going off this afternoon to enjoy myself on a course with Frances Pickering.  It's residential so I'll be waited on hand and foot and be able to concentrate on my favourite pastime of making fabric books.   I hope there'll be time to take some photos.

Recipe for a weird meal?

No - it's a bit of experimental eco-friendly dyeing.   One of our group members recently attended a workshop given by the Australian textile artist India Flint who dyes all her own fabrics using plant material and no chemicals at all.   She gathers her leaves, flowers, bark, lichen, etc. and places them between layers of fabric which are then tightly rolled and bound so that the fabric is in very close contact with the plant material.   The bundles are then boiled for about 1 hour - I think that is right, anyway it's what I did.   White vinegar gives darker colours so I added just a dash to my boiling water.   I used bits of old sheeting, and oddments of silk cut to approximately A4 size.

Silk and wool give better results, cotton is not so good.  I tried some ripe honeysuckle berries which produced these yellow blobs.  They are brighter in reality and look better than this photo which looks like a very dirty tablecloth!

Colours from previous layers seep through onto the next one.  Here I think are very faint marks from red rose petals.  I wonder if I had used a newly opened flower instead of one which was beginning to fade I would have got a stronger result.  Maybe I didn't roll or bind them tightly enough.

Spent day lily flowers give quite a strong colour.   Strange that they come out purple when the flower was a rich deep red.

I love the leaf shapes I have here from my heuchera leaves.   They were from one of the dark purple leaved varieties.   I was surprised and a bit disappointed not to have achieved any shades of green even from comfrey leaves, and also surprised that the lichen covered twigs and bits of lichen I pulled off a tree trunk gave no result at all.

However, I am pleased to have had even mild success from such sketchy instructions and must look into this in greater detail.   Obviously a knowledge of which plants to use will be essential rather than just going round the garden and hoping for the best.   Possibly picking leaves at certain times of the year might make a difference - I'd better buy India Flint's book!

Advice for costume makers!

My daughter, who can be seen in medieval costume on my previous post, came to borrow my floor to cut out another outfit.    This is her unorthodox way of finding out if she has sufficient fabric for the garment she has in mind!  Half the time she doesn't even have a pattern.  I do everything by the book plus a pattern and don't always get a good result, and the infuriating thing is that just about everything she makes in her free and easy fashion turns out really well.  It's enough to make you sick!

Here she is taking helpful advice from her trusty technical adviser.   If Poppy sits or lies on the fabric, then the garment or other item will be a success.    Years ago our cat was my adviser and if he slept on a piece of  my textile coursework I could usually rely on getting a distinction for it.

I am so pleased that the weather seems to be cooler and more comfortable.   I might even get some gardening done tomorrow.  I found the humidity of the past two days very hard going.

Hello Again!

Last weekend I went to the Berkeley Skirmish held in the grounds just below Berkeley Castle here in Gloucestershire.   It's a lovely setting and the occasion celebrates the Battle of Flodden.   Many people,  my daughter and son-in-law among then, take part camping and living medieval style for the weekend, cooking on an open fire, using wooden plates, bowls and spoons, and generally trying to be as authentic as possible.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of these two gentlemen in their colourful costumes.

There were dozens of stalls manned by craftsmen selling their work.  I loved this handsome wooden bench outside one of the woodworker's stall, and felt sorry for the chap in the suit of armour as the day was very hot.

This young lady is my daughter - she was on the battlefield later in the day as a water wench taking water to the 'injured'.

There were plenty of attractions to keep us entertained before the battle itself, one of which was a display by these beautiful birds of prey.   Poor barn owl wanted to sleep the afternoon away - isn't it beautiful?

It was very hot and very windy and I don't think they were at all keen to provide us with entertainment.

I loved this part of the programme.   A couple of dozen youngsters were lined up and armed with rubber 'swords'. 

Their opponents were similarly armed.

 

When the command was given they were very eager to go into battle .... 

........ and showed no mercy!

We saw knights on horseback jousting.

And this was the King's camp.

As the afternoon wore on, various costumed warriors and characters began to assemble.

Then onto the battlefield they came.

There were some very loud bangs and lots of smoke from the cannon.

 I imagine it must have been unbearably hot under all that padding and armour.

The archers getting ready to do their bit - my son-in-law is in there somewhere.

A few dead bodies for a little drama.........

and then off they all trooped for a nice cold beer!

It was a wonderful day but my photos have not really done it justice.   I don't know where the time has gone since then but I have been very busy trying to catch up on all I want to do and make up for the lost days when it was too hot to do anything at all.

I must try not to leave it another fortnight before posting again.

I just needed to be patient!

I have been waiting for these to come into bloom for ages.   The buds were all tightly closed for such a long time but have suddenly popped and what a treat.

Both are lovely but the top one is my favourite.

It was so hot on Thursday that we didn't go on anywhere else after doing the weekly shopping and headed for the river at Twyning just north of Tewkesbury.    There is a large country pub there and a stretch of public land beside the river - we have been there many times before.   We found a spot in the shade which was very necessary and this the view in front of us as we ate our picnic lunch.

There are attractive scenes whichever way you look.

Even the motorway in the middle distance here, doesn't really become a blot on the landscape.

Lovely reflections.

The pub must do a roaring trade in summer and out of season we have had lunch there, but it seemed a crime to sit inside and all the shady tables had already been taken.  In any case, we had brought our lunch with us.

I believe there are chalets for hire as well as caravans and certainly boating activities to be had.

Two of these craft moored not far from us and the occupants all trooped up to the pub for lunch.

This lovely swan had to compete with the ducks for crusts thrown into the water.

After they had eaten all the crusts in the water these chaps all got out and came up onto the grass to see what else was going.

There is something cooling about just being beside water.   We enjoyed watching the various boats going up and down the river - a sailing yacht, two motor boats, a tiny boat with outboard motor and several longboats.   Perfect weather for messing about on the river.

It has been considerably cooler today and I have actually managed a bit of gardening.   The borders look a lot tidier and I am hoping for similar temperatures tomorrow when I can tackle the rest of the garden.

We had quite a lot of cloud during the day but now the sky is clear again and I have just noticed a beautiful almost-full moon rising above the trees - lovely sight.

Summer Delights.

Since our son drastically shortened the main branches from our ornamental cherry tree, the crows love to perch up there having a good old nosy around.  I'm not sure if this is a hardworked parent bird or a youngster.

I was quietly panting indoors last evening when I heard the unmistakable sound of a hot air balloon burner and rushed outside.  At first I couldn't see one anywhere then looked up to see this lovely sight right above my head.    I haven't seen one for ages.  Our old labrador hated them and would bark ferociously at them with his hackles raised as he defended us from the invaders from the sky!

A new acquisition is just coming into flower - I love the colour.   It is called Dizzy Heights so I hope it doesn't live up to it's name too well or it could be difficult to cope with.

The summer jasmine is flowering it's socks off and smells so lovely.   The bees love it too, though they wouldn't keep still long enough for me to photograph them.

Those on the marjoram were more obliging and although it is now looking very straggly I can't bear to cut it until the bees have had their fill.

You can just spot another delight - that little wild strawberry on the left of the picture - halfway down.  It always amazes me how much wonderful flavour can be packed into such a tiny fruit.

I'd better go and do some watering.   Keep cool - it's lovely really!