August Nature Notes...seaside special

Hello Lovelies,
By now I expect most of you are familiar with these posts.This is the eighth monthly post I have written and I'm still loving them. I have noticed and learned so much about our wild flowers and creatures like butterflies this year ,it's becoming a real interest of mine and made me appieciate nature even more.

As usual I will start with the book that inspired me........

Written in 1905 ,here are the Edith's illustrations for August.....

There are not many this month but they are lovely and here are the books interesting facts and folk law ( you can click on any image to enlarge) ...

My own images of nature this month were taken on our holidays. We took the long journey to Cornwall and were very fortunate to end up staying very close to this beach . To say this is a gorgeous spot would be an understatement. I know there are many lovely beaches in this part of north Cornwall but this is the best one we have discovered.

On this particular day we were enjoying a beachy day, British style. ...wind breaks rather than parasols...lots of layers that can go on and off as the weather changes ( me) body boards and wet suits (Mr BM and the boys )
After lunch, while the boys were playing in the sand I made an excuse of popping to the toilet and headed alone for the grassy area you walk through to get to the beach. I had noticed how pretty it was and wanted a closer look.

Like most of the beaches in this hilly area there is a stream draining into the sea and many families with smaller children were enjoying this area at the back of the beach.....this water is actually colder than the sea but lovely and clear........

I leave the beach and head into the grassy area behind it.This is a National Trust beach and though I can find very little on their web site about it, it's obvious this area in particular supports a lot of wild life ......

There are many flowers I'm familiar with like Knapweed.This gorgeous Crocosmia ,a favourite from my own garden ,was growing as a wild flower ......

We saw lots of these lovely flowers growing along the roadside in Cornwall...great swathes of orange that really looked stunning.....

I wander around listening to the sounds of children playing, the roar of the sea in the background and at my feet the crickets (or grasshoppers ) are making that noise that always reminds me of hot Mediterranean days. I did see a couple of these little fellas but they were too quick for me to photograph so I've included a close up of Edith's illustration of a green grasshopper ......

I loved the sunlight reflected in the little stream.....

And I did manage to snap this pretty Gatekeeper Butterfly which had landed on the lovely plant with yellow flowers ...Common Fleabane....

I also loved these pretty Daisy like flowers which some research tells me are Corn Chamomile......

As you can see I was having fun playing around with low angle shots I love the effect of the blurry background and the flowers generally look even better from a bunnies eye view. Speaking of bunnies ,there were loads of rabbit holes in this area too.

It really felt like high summer but there were some signs that autumn is just around the corner. Fruit ripening on the brambles.....

And ferns ( photographed from below) going brown at their tips .....

After visiting the little girls room and buying Mr BM a new body board as he had just managed to snap his old one I headed back to the beach.
 At the foot of some pretty impressive sand dunes I was particularly taken with this structural plant....

which I've since learnt is Fennel. It looks stunning close up ....

and the stems were covered in snails !....

Another creature I spotted at the foot of the dunes was this ....

Sorry it's a bit blurry but it moved pretty fast . I haven't seen one of these before and it's very striking .Apparently it's not uncommon ...it's a six spot burnet moth.

I decided to climb over the dunes and was rewarded with this view of the area I had just been exploring...no sign of all the lovely flowers from this distance but it gives a good impression of the landscape ...lots of little hillocks as far as the eye can see.......

As I near the top of the dune I love this glimpse of the turquoise sea and the blue sky with a few fluffy clouds....

A little further you can see the waves ( which were perfect for boarding that day apparently) and some brave people who have climbed the rock at the waters edge ( you might need to enlarge this to see them ).......

Tearing my eyes away from this stunning view and looking down at my feet I was rewarded with spotting Sea Holly.......

And the much maligned Ragwort ...

I know this is very common and poisonous to livestock so generally disliked but I'm sure it has it's place in the eco system supporting many insects . I love this description of Ragwort in my thrifted "Observers book of wild flowers"..........

In this picture you can see just how popular this beach is on a sunny day in the school holidays :0)

Our little camp is amongst this lot so I guess I better go and deliver that body board...maybe I should use it as a sledge and slide down...or maybe not !!

It was definatly a day to remember and I'm glad I've had the chance to record it here .

Jacquie x

Edited to add  ::  Look what hopped into our conservatory litterally an hour after I published this post.


A stunning grasshopper.I thought seeing this chap was an amazing coincidence after I just posted about failing to get a picture of these creatures.I have never seen a grasshopper in our garden before .

Here it is out side after Mr BM released it ........

Apparently the difference between Grasshoppers and Crickets are crickets can't fly and are nocturnal,grasshoppers can fly and are about both day and night...I saw this one fly so I'm sure as I can be that it's a grasshopper :0)

Kaleidoscope Blanket Progress

Hello Lovelies,
Maybe I should have called this post "Kaleidoscope Blanket...not much progress" :0) Those few completed hexagons on my mantle are all I have ready to join to this WIP.......

I still love this cute hexagon and I know that I will love all these bright colours even more when the grey days of Autumn and winter return......

You can find the tutorial for the hexagon and a separate tutorial for the joining method in my side bar.......

Does anybody remember when I started this project back in May ?? Well it got set aside in favour of lots of small projects followed by this blanket. Then this blanket.

When we were getting ready to go on holiday a few weeks ago I realised I needed a portable craft project to take with me . It's not that I ever get very long to craft when we are away but there are always a few quiet times and I do find it very relaxing to do a bit of simple crafting.
I'm sure I've said before how I love the fact that crochet is so easy to pick up and put down. A little metal hook, a small pair of scissors and a bit of yarn fits easily into your handbag . Like my camera ...I wouldn't do on holiday without it :0)

Here is my traveling crochet kit ....same as last year.....lots of bits of yarn ....I needed many colours and full balls take up lots of room ( yes I did make the bag...some time late eighties....it's lasting pretty well and I still love the Laura Ashley fabrics )..........

Then in the car and on the beach and in the caravan I made these.........

Lots of kaleidoscope centres. This pattern is a tad more fiddly than your average granny, each round being different from the last . So I find it easier on the brain to make them production line style, a round at a time.
I managed to complete 51 of these centres ....enough ,I think, to move on to round two . Better check with the pattern how it goes :0)

On a seperate crochet note I was thrilled to see another version of the crochet doily I made ( you can see it in the pictures above and there's a link to the pattern in my side bar)over on a blog I love ...Cozy Things.See Kristen's fab pastel version here and do check out the rest of her blog...some gorgeous crochet and stitchy goodness to feast your eyes on :0)

Have a great weekend

Jacquie x

July Nature Notes

Hello Lovelies,
 please excuse this repeat posting . Due to my lack of technical knowledge I accidentally deleted this post a couple of weeks ago .So I'm sorry if you have read this post before, and especially if you left me a comment.
I'm having to re write it as I don't want to miss a month out of this series of posts 12 monthly posts inspired by Edith Holden's lovely book ...Nature notes of an Edwardian lady. Edith's beautiful illustrations were painted in 1905 . A time when the only way to capture the close up beauty and colours of nature was through the medium of paint. I think her love of the natural world around her shines through in these images.....







 The book also includes interesting folk law and facts....



Here are my photos taken of the wild plants and animals observed in my local area in July.......


       I love the field Scabious growing tall amongst the long grasses in the above picture.

Knapweed is something I saw a lot of in Cornwall last week though this picture was taken in our local country park last month. It has all the prettiness of thistle flowers without the painful thorns.....


                     
Even the easily overlooked grasses look pretty in macro........



    

I particularly like this delicate type ( sorry I'm not familiar with their names)...




I have just found out the white parts on this grass are not seeds as I originally thought , but the male part of the plant , the stigma, waiting to catch the microscopic , wind blown pollen ( the first grass pictured above has pinky stigmas).........



I did not know the name of these mini beasts ,but after my first posting of this picture Louise kindly informed me they are Red Solider beetles...........



Along the roadside verges tall grasses mingle with the frothy white meadow sweet.........



Also spotted at the roadside this Chicory.....isn't that a gorgeous blue !..........



And thanks again to another lovely reader (Garden of Daisies) for answering my plea for the name of this plant...it's Greater Willow Herb and you can spot it in the verge picture above if you look closely...........



Last month I was also pleased to spot my first Peacock butterfly this year...they are really lovely but one I would especially love to see is a Small Tortoiseshell, they were so common in my childhood but I never see them these days , I'm hoping it's just because I now live in a different part of the country and not because they are rare these days( do any of you lovelies see them ? )............



Hopefully this is an improvement on my first version of this post :0)
Jacquie x

Back from our travels

Hello lovelies,
Yesterday we returned from a fabulous holiday in Cornwall ......yes that's the Cornish coast in the picture above...isn't it stunning !!!  Could easily be some where exotic don't you think ? There was extended family to share our days with. It was a fun filled mostly sunny week and looking through the 227 photos I've just uploaded  I'm feeling a little sad today......

 I'm also feeling pretty pooped right now but I wanted to pop in to say how much I have missed you lovelies. Thank you all for your wonderful comments on my patchwork. I can't wait to finish it soon and share it with you all.

I also wanted to apologize to those who kindly commented on my "July nature notes" post. I accidentally deleted it before I went away so I will have to rewrite it as I don't want a month to be missing at the end of the year.

Whilst we were at the beach I was so happy I managed to sneak  away for a little quiet time and I was able to take some lovely pictures for a seaside" August nature notes" :0)......

Look out for that in a week or so ......I'm hoping you will love it !

Yes I'm feeling very lucky this summer.......two fab Holidays in quick succession ......now I really need to get on with school uniform buying ......two sets of uniform for my twins who are starting secondary school in 3 short weeks...hope they still have plenty in stock .Wish me luck :0)

I hope you enjoyed the selection of Cornish images I scattered through this post....it really was a holiday to remember in an idillic spot .

Just off to catch up with my favourite blogs.
Jacquie x

Playing with Fabric

Hello Lovelies ,
this week I had to get out my sewing machine...to alter some clothes for a friend....not a job I relish. But as she kindly offered to have the boys for a couple of days whilst I was at work I really didn't mind .

Having my machine out also gave me the opportunity to do something with these little fabric squares I cut up a while ago.......

I was inspired by some amazing patchwork duvet covers ....using gorgeous vintage fabrics....check out Kates and Janes wonderful creations.
I have only managed to acquire a small amount of vintage fabric on my charity shop trips so I also used bits from my stash ...some of it's pretty old any way .

I think a big part of the appeal of patchwork to me is that it is a great way to recycle fabric and use up little scraps left over from other projects.

So I sewed the squares right sides together into pairs...must have done this before many years ago or seen it online.....

I then ironed the seams open ...again I'm not sure if this is correct but I just went for it...no time to check online....I would have to put my machine away soon (the only place I can use it is on the dining table ) ...anyway I was having lots of fun making it up as I went along........

When I had ironed all the pairs I arranged then on the floor...again I was aware how little time I had so the spread of colours and patterns is not perfect but hey ho.

I quickly sewed together the rows and ironed the seams.
Then I joined the rows ...taking time to pin the corresponding seams in an attempt to avoid seams that didn't meet.

Here's what I ended up with ..........

Ooooh ...lovely :0) I had a big smile on my face when turned over the finished piece ......

It's not perfect but I don't really mind .I love the vintage effect of the soft colours with an occasional bright square .

At the moment I'm in the middle of quilting it ...something else I really have no idea about :0)
I found some wadding in my stash and cut up an thrifted duvet cover for the backing, then began hand quilting with embroidery thread and a running stitch.....

The stitches are not  huge, the squares are pretty small...just 3 inches before joining and now about 2 1/2 inches . I'm using pale pink thread as I didn't have enough white but I like it more than I thought I would. As you can see my stitches are not perfect but I'm hoping that will give a "rustic" effect . I was way too scared to try machine quilting....

I'm really enjoying playing with fabric and finally doing some patchwork...one of my crafty resolutions for 2011. It's just a small project ...maybe it will inspire me to try a larger piece someday.Like the fabulous quilts on this blog or this .

As to what this will be...maybe you can guess but I'm not saying at the moment :0) but it is to go with an earlier thrifty find .

Hope your week is going well.

Jacquie x

p.s. thank you to Louise and Garden of Daisies for your Nature answers in the comment section of my nature notes post.