Another sunny day, and it's amazing the countryside's so green & lush when we've not had more than the merest sprinkle of raindrops for the best part of two months. I was hoping for a bumper crop of strawberries on my allotment, but the plants are desperately thirsty and I don't reckon I'll be scoffing bowlfuls of plump, juicy berries this year. But at least the foxgloves are almost ready to flower, and they've self-seeded everywhere. It should be quite a show. A couple of years ago, at least, I planted a packet of red clover seeds, and not a single one germinated. Then, low and behold, look what's popped up. The seeds must've been lying dormant until conditions suited them. A patch of this also appeared. I know it's a plant classed as a 'green manure' as it's good for the soil, but can't recall it's actual name. However, it's a bee magnet. They absolutely love it, and we've all got to do our bit to help t...
Yesterday was my monthly StitchArt session at the local art gallery, and very enjoyable it was too. We trooped upstairs to a room I'd not been in before. (Honestly, the building is like a maze!) We were concentrating on one particular abstract painting, but there were plenty of others to provide us with inspiration. The session was all about colour and about applying paint to fabric. Firstly, there were some stunning pictures in the gallery. I particularly liked this 'Off the Irish Coast' by Jack B Yeats. The colours were much more vivid than can be seen in this photo, with brilliant blues and green in the seawater and soft pinks and pale purples in the sky. (Apologies for the wonky-ness of my photos. I was trying to take them without getting in anyone else's way.) Here's another beauty. 'Silver Estuary' by C R W Nevinson, showing a scene near Rye in East Sussex. However, the painting we concentrated on...