After a rather hectic start to the week, the garden overhaul project has been a welcome dose of peaceful balm. M has been working some serious fence magic, while I’ve been on archaeological duty in the flower beds, unearthing a treasure trove of old bulbs, stubborn grass, and the odd pottery shard. The more I clear, the more the beds look like they’ve been enthusiastically widened over the years – the tell-tale sign being the rather higgledy-piggledy planting scheme that makes little sense in terms of height.
Prime example: during my excavation of an overgrown patch, I stumbled upon a small, neglected peony clinging on for dear life. I’ve liberated her into the sunshine and will definitely report back on how she fares now she can see the sky again.
I’ve had a stern word with the granny’s bonnets (Aquilegia) that were attempting to smother her and politely relocated them. Hopefully, she now has the space she needs to look utterly amazing (at least until the inevitable rain arrives 24 hours after her first bloom!). The plan is to fill the newly liberated space with some low bedding plants and the cosmos I’ve got sprouting from seed in the greenhouse – fingers crossed!
The makeshift bird bath, set up by J about three weeks ago, has finally had some customers! The sparrows, clearly feeling the effects of the recent dry spell (honestly, where is the rain?), decided to break the ice. And once the sparrows approve, the queue forms quickly. Their enthusiastic splashing seems to have tipped the scales on the Great Pond Debate – the plan, discussed almost to death, has finally got the green light thanks to the avian uptake. It’s a good reminder that even here, practically neighbours with the coast and marshes, quiet pools of fresh water are always a hit.
Nature highlight of the week: Little X and I spotted an orange-tipped butterfly fluttering past, not once, but twice in two days! It looked almost too delicate for flight but managed with surprising pizzazz. I swear it knew we’d stopped to watch; it definitely took the scenic route past us, seemingly enjoying the attention.
My slight melancholy over the last of the village cherry blossom falling has been thoroughly uplifted by the arrival of the bluebells this week. I spotted a beautiful drift of them in the local churchyard, carpeting the ground around the base of the big trees. A closer look revealed some were the chunkier Spanish hybrids – beautiful, yes, but a bit pushy, apparently quite vigorous and prone to elbowing out our native ones. Still, a haze of blue is always a welcome sight.
Inspired by all this, the nature colours I’ve been playing with in my sketchbook this week are washes of violet and ultramarine. Naturally, I’m still adding dashes of Daniel Smith’s Moonglow, purely because it’s lush. The bluebells also reminded me about a tube of Sugilite Genuine I bought back in March and hadn’t touched. I’d vaguely planned to mix it with Payne’s Gray (my go-to for tiny bird feet), but it slipped my mind when setting up my palette. So, I pulled it out for a test swatch, hoping for a nice warm grey… only to be blindsided by its unexpected level of sparkle! It’s practically glittery. An interesting surprise!
In other news, the Champion Species badge project marches on quietly in the background. We’ve had updates from the manufacturers, the timeline is looking good, and the backing card designs are just about ready for sign-off.
It won’t be long now until I’m photographing the actual, in-the-flesh badges for the Forest of Bowland National Landscape website. Wonderful, really, after living with the artwork for so many months, to see it transforming into something real and tangible. I’ll be sure to share some more behind-the-scenes glimpses once they arrive!
How does that feel? I’ve aimed to keep your lovely casual voice while smoothing out the grammar and adding a few descriptive touches here and there. Let me know if you’d like any further adjustments!
Next week
Mexican fleabane
