Tuesday 11 June 2013

Sunny Days


We have been enjoying some beautiful sunny days.  I have taken every day and made the most of it by being outside.  We have eaten outside and it has been so lovely to sit and listen to the birds and read a magazine and do some drawing and enjoy it all.  After the long winter and cold springtime the conclusion was to enjoy every nice sunny day, as tomorrow it might be raining and the weather forecast gives showers for Tuesday!
We have had walks along the shore and of course I collected some feathers and shells and mermaids purse.
 A beautiful walk this week to the marshes where the board walk takes you across the raised peat bogs and into another world.  It was the dragonflies which captured my attention as they tantalised, each time I crept up close they flew off. I managed a photograph of a damselfly on a fern and my husband captured the second red one on the reed.


The wild flowers seem more colourful this year, more abundant and just beautiful as they have filled the hedgerows.  I loved the combination of pink campion and bluebells and white cow parsley.  The fields are full of buttercups, bright yellow fields  and the grass looks so fresh and green everywhere.

  It all looks so idyllic , brown cows in the fields and buttercups and daisy.  One evening we walked through the old cart tracks through this sea of yellow flowers, I felt like a child surrounded by something so breathtaking and to see butterflies darting from flower to flower.  I am curious that I have not yet seen a ladybird.  Each day butterflies dance through the garden, yellow tips and white seem to be abundant.  The bees and daddy long legs and all manner of other creatures are very much part of our life.  Each night moths bump against the windows and the daddy long legs dance around the bedroom ceiling.  I love having the windows open as I can hear the oyster catchers and other birds on the shore. The first sound I hear in the morning is the birds singing  and we watch their antics all day long.

One day on a walk I found a blackbird egg on the road. It had been taken from the nest and the thief had eaten the contents.  I brought it home and washed it and had to draw it. The large hole was stained with yellow yolk and it was interesting to see two holes on the other side too.



 A little record of bird life, as we have been watching "Spring Watch"  we have seen it is just life in the bird world. I am pleased to see the blackbirds and their young in our garden,  the nest in the ivy fledged safely, so it would be lovely to think they are the same family.
The sepia ink I made last year has been strained through a piece of fabric and I have been testing it,  my oak gall ink looks interesting and will be used soon.
Meanwhile I have been working with the Sepia ink and little handmade paper book drawing some insects.


 Last year I completed two pages and have added another five, so only three to complete this little book which I bought on my holiday last year from my favourite shop.   I used a dip in pen and a paintbrush with the sepia ink. I photographed it in the garden as I was enjoying working on it outside.

 I have been continuing to work on the large fern, see my last post.

 Drawing it first in pencil and now with sepia pens on a roll of paper, which is actually baking paper but why not?  It was the right shape, a long roll for my fern.
I held it up to the light so you can see the whole fern. I still have lots to do to finish it, but really like it.
a tiny snail on the fern
I  love the shape of the curled up tip of the fern.

The evenings have been so lovely with pink, yellow and red sunsets. Tonight the setting sun appears as a red ball and the sky is pink.  I am glad I watched each one and  I really do believe you must enjoy each day and take the time to look and see.

  A magical moment every day seeing the colours.

I hope you enjoyed seeing what I have been doing while I have been away,  as unfortunately I have had some unwanted attention in the form of adult sites which have tagged my blog, so I have kept away and not posted for a while!      
 Thank you for your lovely comments.
Hope everyone is enjoying some lovely days too. I will be back soon.                                     Millyx

Beautiful buttercup fields and damselfly by my husband, thank you x,  all other photographs on ipad by me.

16 comments:

andamento said...

All beautiful, I especially like the buttercup field photos. It's a lovely time of year. It's cold and wet again here, I wish the warm days were back but we enjoyed them while they lasted.

Diana said...

Milly, I loved your message this time. I always do but it seem to convey such peace and I need that right now. So beautiful and you are right we do need to see the beauty each day!! love your large fern and your tiny beautiful sketches of your bugs..what treasures. love to you,Diana

alissaduke said...

It is lovely to see you back again. Thank you for sharing your walk and days. The weather looks delightful and the colours of the fields are inspiring.

Your projects are so interesting, especially the small book. I am glad that you took a photo to show the size of the "large" fern. I would not have guessed that it was THAT big.

Looking forward to continuing updates

Starr White said...

Hi Milly, Valerianna from Ravenwood Forest suggested I visit your blog, and I'm so glad I did. I will be following along to see more:)

Frances said...

Milly, I was so glad to see a new post from you, and find it full of beautiful photographs of your glorious part of the world and of you splendid current art.

Those fields of wildflowers are really something spectacular. I completely agree with you about really taking a long look to appreciate what we are offered every day.

I've seen just a few dragonflies around these parts...and they were darting about with great speed. No chance of a photograph!

Your handmade book is filling up so beautifully, and I also very much admire you paintings of the pretty egg shell.

And then...I must tell you how beautifully you are drawing that fern. It truly is unfolding along that long translucent paper. I can appreciate the steady, careful, observant, graceful and very skilled pace at which you are proceeding. Ferns have always interested me. Their life cycle is visually so dramatic,

Hoping to see another post from you before too long. Meanwhile, please do enjoy being outdoors in all that beauty. xo

sea-blue-sky & abstracts said...

Hi Milly

A lovely post and I share your view about making the most of the beautiful weather! Particularly like the ink drawings on handmade paper, something to do with texture and line perhaps?

It's interesting to read about 'the unwelcome attention' you're not alone - I've had to delete direct comments on posts that have circumvented Google's spam net!

Lesley x

Debra said...

I am just in awe of your beautiful work. I love it.

Debbie Nolan said...

Millie - all the things I love to see when I visit you...flowers, beautiful art work, your lovely land and also your written voice. You do your posts so well my friend. Thanks for sharing. Love the fern and all the detail. I just picked up today a broken robin's egg and thought I would do a little drawing...guess we must be drawn to the same things. Have a blessed day.

Acornmoon said...

I am in love with your little book! Such an unusual idea, simple but special and your wonderful artwork make it a book to treasure.

Feathers said...

Love seeing the fern--what a labor of love! You are so good at all that detail. The little book of handmade paper is really neat, and I love seeing all the drawings of little "beasties". I've not found any eggshells here this summer, though all our birds are back and keeping quite busy, so I know they've hatched many already. I did find a robin nest which had fallen in a recent storm--empty, I'm glad to report--I've been doing a study of different violets as they've bloomed, quite fun to note the differences in them.

Hopeyou keep enjoying your summer-I'll be checking back to see your new work. (sorry to hear about the "adult" problem--somehow it doesn't seem like an adult thing to do.)--Hugs to you-Anita.

Kim Henkel Creations said...

Oh Milly what beauty you create. I don't know what to comment on first! The photos are lovely, I too am enjoying every beautiful summer day we have, as you are right we never know if they will stay.
The beautiful egg you picked up is a delight to see, and your rendition of it as always seems to capture its delicate beauty so well.
THen there is the amazing amazing book with the spectacular insect drawings. Oh how I would love to gently pick it up and explore each page as they opened. I am sure you would hear an awe inspired sigh every time I turned a page. A delightfully beautiful creation Milly.
And last of all the beginnings of the spectacular fern drawing. What a challenge you have made here - the size of this piece is something I could not even think to attempt. I do hope you will share more it along its journey.

What a wonderful visit I have had.
Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Such a lovely drawing. Marvelous inspiration too.

Carol said...

I love stopping in to see your exquisite work!

RH Carpenter said...

Great things to share this time. I 'm glad you showed the size of the fern drawing - so long! Sorry about the sites tagging you - I wonder why and adult site would tag your nature blog? I hope it doesn't cause problems. And I don't understand the purpose of Pinterest at all except to break copyright rules of all the people who have created the pretty thing they pin.

JP said...

so glad to see you back - the fern drawing is fantastic - glad you are ok - have missed your lovely posts

Pondside said...

Summer must be beautiful in your part of the world - it certainly sounds lovely, the way you describe it.
I liked seeing what you've been up to. Here's hoping that the nasty cyber bullies lose interest in your site soon!