Sunbathing like daisies #30DaysWild Day 1

To celebrate my first official post of #30DaysWild I am going 'sunbathe' with daisies.

I love cheerful buoyant daisies.

The way they seem to happily grow

in places of their own choosing. 

I love how their little sanguine faces follow the sun.

Our lawn is comfortably 

endowed with small and optimistic

clouds of yellow and white. 

Mowing around them

can be a challenge, but one we are happy to do!

#30DaysWild - you can do it too

Good bye May - it's been fun - Well HeLLo June!!

May - you have kept me busy, the sun has shone - brilliantly and the garden grown (and needed watering). By the looks of things, May has kept you on your toes too.

I thought I would firstly....

Welcome my new followers, I am always amazed (and gratified) that people actually read and comment on my wafflings - so thank you - you make me go ... squeeeeeeee!

And secondly a quick round up of our Scavenger hunt and a reminder of what I am up to during June.

Jak from Jak's Tales had a wealth of stories from Africa including a lovely one of her meeting Lady Olave Baden-Powell. Susan from Granny Smith's Quilting quite astounded us at the depth of an open cast mine she'd photographed - I have had to go back and have another look - there is the teeniest tiniest HUGE mining truck at the bottom of that hole!

Julie of Julie's Scrapbook had a excellent selection of images and one that caught my attention was her 'Group' picture. It was of ducks and she said ...... Group of ducks is called a "skein", "string" "team" or "flock" ... I never knew the collective noun for ducks could be skeins or strings or teams! You learn something new every day!

Fiona from Made in a Muddle joined us for the first time this month and provided some lovely stories and pictures - my favourite was the blurred hands as they busily crocheted away :) Lovely Lady once again filled her post with pictures of her busy life, I always stand in awe at what she achieves!

Fil from With a Song to Sing (and a Story to Tell) joined us again this month, her choice of piano was lovely, three pianos and three stories for the price of one word :). Welcome to Barb who had struggled to link up however she managed, well done Barb! She used her recent holiday in the Outer Hebrides (a favourite place of mine) to supply most of her images.

Well done everyone, another good month of stories and pictures and if you didn't visit any of the participating 'photo hunters' please do - we all love comments and meeting new folk!

Now, next month - June, I am participating in a challenge of posting a 'wild themed' story a day.  Organised by the Wildlife Trusts UK, I am taking part as a '30 Days Wild Blogger' as Hawthorn.

I hope you'll visit and comment and be inspired to 'go wild'.

Our own photo challenge for June is also wild life themed but fortunately for you it is back to just the 10 words! The list, as usual, is up on the right hand side of this page.

#30DaysWild

May photo hunt

Wow - what a beautiful May it has been - so much sunshine (and not a lot of rain) my poor vegetables have regularly needed a good drink!

I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else has posted :) remember June's Scavenger Hunt words are 'going wild' themed and have now been added to the side bar - have fun with them!

Any hoo, here goes - May's Scavenger Photo Hunt...

Bark
Not far from us is a small nature reserve with a mixture of trees. I love the mature bark of the Silver Birch. The deep fissures and cracks in the silvery bark reminds me of Runic writing. The Silver Birch is also known as the Lady of the Woods and is a 'pioneer species' as it is one of the trees to first colonise sparse areas. It is such a tactile bark. Love it!

Weave
A couple of years ago, during a particularly gorgeous early summer in June, we were on holiday and came across this little fisherman's cottage completely covered in fabric. We were stunned and just had to stop and investigate further. A number of other folk were doing the same. Standing around the corner and 'holding court' was the artist, who was dressed in the same fabric. She explained that it was an art installation to highlight the issue of both weavers and fishermen and their declining value in society with both woven cloth and fish being outsourced by a cheaper supplier. Although this installation was up in southern Scotland, the mill she'd commissioned to weave the cloth is not too far from us down here in Lancashire.

Vast
Last summer, the sky was filled with the most gargantuan storm clouds, they swirled and billowed and grew to astronomical proportions. I watched (with camera ready) to capture any electrical excitement ..... nothing. Pah.
The clouds then melted, almost like ice cream and drifted off - pathetic!! I had to put in two photos for this one, sorry - broke my own 'rules' but one picture didn't seem to give the sufficient effect of the vastness of tumultuous cloud activity.

Lichen

We'd been walking in the Galloway Forest, the summer had been particularly moist (ok ok - it rained a lot!) and the trees were dripping wet but were draped in gorgeous curtains of moss, reindeer moss and swathed in lichen. Reindeer moss is also known as reindeer lichen, which is more correct as it is not a moss at all!

Silhouette
This silhouette of a man striding towards the setting sun on the longest day 2015, is my man.  We wild camped on the side of a hill that night, watched the sun set and the moon rise. Felt the downdraft of an owl's wing and watched the mist clear as the sun rose. My heart still aches at the beauty and the splendour of that night.

Glass
So many of this month's images are from the archives, this one is no different. In a small Scottish village was a secret garden where we sat and ate our lunch. We'd never have found it if the shopkeeper who we'd just purchased some bread from, hadn't given us directions. In the garden were a number of mosaics influenced by the area's industries and wildlife. I loved the irridescent glass used for the jumping salmon. And, when it rained (which it did a lot that holiday if I recall!) the glass shone out and sparkled beautifully.

Wave
Last summer we went feral on a sandy slip of an island - North Uist.  The evening sunsets were heartbreakingly beautiful especially when coupled with the frothy sea. Most evenings the tide had been out, however over the week the tide times changed and by our last evening there and with the assistance of a brisk onshore breeze, the waves were foamy and bubbly. The sound as the bubbles burst and frothed on the beach sounded raw and primeval and oh so delicious.I left a sizable chunk of my heart there.

Long
My 'Margaret Dashwood' heartwarmer shawl - well, to be precise - slightly over half of the shawl. I love it. Youngest 'styled' this photo, providing the wooden stump for me to stand on, he then made me hold out my shawl as he draped it across the floor in front of me. A Lord Lichfield in the making?

Green
On the Sunday afternoon after my folks had gone home from our birthday picnic in the garden. The sun was low enough to shine obliquely through leaves. I stood beneath them and watched the insects pootle about. There is something special at this time of year - the greens are so verdant, so vibrant, so full of promise and vigour. These are from my hanging basket strawberries and the small insect creating the silhouette is probably a 'Frit Fly' sunning itself in the last of the evening rays.

Chocolate cupcake 
Not exactly a cupcake - but oh so chocolatey! Not far from the village is a small but wonderful nature reserve. Used by dog walkers, children, hikers, families and us. Moss loves it, there are spaces to run, rivers to swim in, fields to play and paths to follow, woods to explore and for us - a rather good and simple cafe. They are dog friendly, positively encouraging walkers and allowing dogs into the cafe. 

And then, then there are cakes.... oh the cakes.

Eldest, Himself and I sat in the sun, Moss asleep on the grass beside us. We had large mugs of tea and Eldest had hot chocolate adorned with a huge froth of cream ....then there was cake.... oooh nom nom.

So, there you have it, 

my ten words for the month of May. 

I am off now to read your lovely posts :)

Stepping off at the deep end

I'm a teeny bit terrified if the truth be told,

a little bit elated,

(ok a little bit more than 'a little')

 Plans and discussions

are turning into

REALITY

Scary stuff

but good too!

I am now a 🎨CONFIRMED ARTIST🎨

at TAM trawden artist & maker Art Event

Eek!

Edited to add....

Thanks Jill for the hint..!
Forgot to say when it is, silly me!

21-22 October
In Trawden,   Lancashire.

I'll share proper details
as they are confirmed xx

Did you see it?

The skies this evening......

Were glorious

On fire

Amazing

Beautiful

 Did you see them?

They even made the national and local weather report news.

And while I was marvelling at the beauty,

two teenager girls walked by.

They'd not noticed me,

they were so engrossed in their own

profanity filled conversation ....

almost as colourful as the sky

but certainly not as outstanding.

Welcome to my new followers - lovely to see you here in my little corner of the world, 

glad you have come along for the ride :)

Taking part of 30daysWild

 #30DaysWild

Now the rain has stopped

After two days of fairly solid but oh so welcome rain, 

this evening was beautiful  

The sky was filled with swallow screaming parties - a wonderful sound. 

We escaped the confines of the house and went into the garden.

The cats were pottering around, Himself and Youngest were in the workshop 

and I stood and listened to the sounds from the garden, 

the excited screams of the swallows, 

the buzz of insects foraging

 and birds settling down in the trees.

I thought it would be a good time 

to 'hunt' the bees as they rummaged around for their final meal of the day.

The more I looked and listened,

the more I noticed the plants 

rattling,

quivering

and giving up their precious nectar. 

The evening light made taking clear pictures

a little tricky

as did the cats as they came to 'help'.

They like to watch wild life too (that's what they keep telling me!)

 There was a very buzzzy garden bumblebee

inspecting each blossom of the Polygonatum (Solomon's Seal).

I tried to creep up without disturbing the bumble

and no sooner than I'd focussed with the camera,

the bee was off checking out another flower.

The rain had really brought on the garden,

flowers are opening

and the bees are feasting!

Just look at those little baskets of pollen on the bee's legs! A busy little worker :)

I think this one is a Barbut's cuckoo bumble bee, 

I hesitate because although the markings are similar,

 this variety is mostly found in the the south, 

we might be a bit to far north here in Lancashire.

Eventually the midgies desire to eat me whole

sent me indoors.

But not before I stood at the gate for a moment longer,

observing the swallows 

dashing through the sky.

They are a joy to watch.

Taking part of 30daysWild

 #30DaysWild

In which I discuss rain (briefly) knitting (a little more in detail), birthdays (to include baking) and #30DaysWild

Now, I am not one to get excited about the rain, but today I am happily making an exception as I watch the rain hammering down the window. After a rather dry winter and a gently warm and dry spring, the garden is a little parched. The water barrels have been completely emptied onto the potager keeping the veg seedlings alive. So to see the rain, steady wet stuff, makes me (and my garden) rather happy :)

In my last post, I shared a snippet of my current knitting and a smidgen of the book I was using .... Sorry J, should have imparted more detail! So, I shall reveal the finer points ..

The book I was gifted is called 'The Best Of Jane Austen Knits 27' (I have linked it to amazon but I have no affiliation nor am I paid in peanuts/wool or books by them). It is also on Ravelry HERE. The wool is DK 'Colour by Numbers' by John Arbon Textiles and has been in my stash for some years, I was lucky enough to find three whole hanks languishing at the bottom of a box. May be I should dive in head first more often!

It is a gentle rhythmic pattern with a ten row increase until the centre back, then the reversed gentle decrease. I am half way as I type and really want to get it done so I can start wearing it.

When we collect and drop of Eldest to uni, I have two hours each time of dedicated knitting time - they are the fastest two hours of the day.... I don't often decided to repeat a knit but I suspect I will with this one. May be the next one will have rich wintery colours or autumnal tints, oh, what a wonderful thought ... one for each season in the perfect seasonal colour. Yum.

Sunday was my mum's birthday and the sun was shining. It called for a picnic birthday tea in the garden. It was such a pleasant afternoon, sitting in the sun, drinking tea and eating various rather calarifically loaded goodies while watching the cats bounce on flies, flop over and sunbathe on the path, tramp through the potager with size 10 cat feet. We rather overdosed on chocolate cake, butter biscuits, scones and homemade fudge. I waved my waistline goodbye as it rapidly disappeared.... must go and find it again (but not just now!)

Youngest has been experimenting in the workshop and has been creating sparks (I try not worry, but I do a quick finger count each time he appears ... yes, still has 10 - phew)

It is still raining. Still steady earth soaking stuff. Good. The water table must be quite low, the rivers and reservoirs levels are down. 

A gentle reminder of this month's Scavenger Photo hunt, remember - only choose ten words and share with us your stories and pictures.

Then in June, I am part of #30DaysWild and will be posting a daily 'wild' themed story and photo. Our June Scavenger Photo hunt list will be similarly 'wild' but is only the usual ten words.  

I am not asking you to join in with the #30DaysWild, but do ask you to pop over and see what it is all about - you may even be inspired!

If you fancy seeing what sort of things 

I blogged during the previous two years

2015 - HERE

2016 - HERE