Another NT Bug House

Stourhead this time

On the Plastic

Think there were teasels in one of the bottles

Good use for old wellies

This was part of the Bug Hotel at Croft Castle.  The sun was in the wrong position to take a picture of the whole thing, but it was impressive.

Des Res?

Grid Lock

How about this for a bit of inspiration for you based on a 'Grid' theme?

Work in Progress

Berrington Hall are currentluy making an Auricula Theatre in their walled garden and this is as far as it had got.  The blackboard has a rought sketch of rows of flowerpots on it to give the impression of what it could look like!!  The wonderful wall behind was home to lots of bees popping in and out.  They looked like honey bees, but guess they were more likely to be masonry bees.

Dinosaurs

I was in Harrogate yesterday and saw this ! It took me back to those 'high and far off days O best beloved' when I was teaching in primary schools and often used this poem - 

         The dinosaurs are not all dead.
         I saw one raise its iron head
        To watch me walking down the road
        Beyond our house today.
        Its jaws were dripping with a load
        Of earth and grass that it had cropped.
        It must have heard me where I stopped,
        Snorted white steam my way,
        And stretched its long neck out to see me,
        And chewed, and grinned quite amiably.

This 'dinosaur' wasn't eating grass of course, but the old Sunwin House building, being demolished to make room for more restaurants and shops.

Blue skies and Blossom

The moment may have passed - google+ refused to upload my pic last week because of the inadequency of the security on my (cheap) phone - but this glorious sight last Tuesday needs a viewing !

I was walking with my friend Judith - a monthly meeting that began 18 years ago - on the disused railway track between Wetherby and Spofforth, when we came upon this fabulous blossoming loveliness set against the bluest sky I have seen since last summer ! It lifted both our hearts and , I would imagine, the heart of anyone who was lucky enough to be walking there on the same day. As it is so early I presume it must be Blackthorn though we couldn't see any thorns. I will make a point of looking for sloes there in the Autumn . The only other possibility I can think of is that it might be a garden escapee and be a variety of Japanese Cherry. There are some flowering around here - though sadly not in my garden. I will have to wait a while until my potted miniature one will be in flower.

insect house

Finished and mounted ! The wrong time of year of course for hibernation but perhaps it will attract some solitary bees this summer.
I have had to mount it on the West facing side of my hut. I thought it would be better on the South side for the winter but it is too big to go on it.

Even if nothing uses it, it looks jolly and my DH has enjoyed making it for me.

Ironworks

Had a splendid time in the Midlands last weekend - can't imagine why people are so disparaging about Birmingham - parts of the city centre are as beautiful as any Continental city !
I was very taken with this ironwork I noticed in Victoria Square.

 I must remember paper and wax the next time I go. Could even have a go with fabric and Markals. Think I would need a kneeling pad too and probably have to go early to avoid anyone thinking I was daft. There is a world of difference between thinking and knowing !

There were beautiful iron benches too - perhaps on my next trip to Brum (May), it might even be warm enough to sit on one!

Last day !

Well I thought I would wind up this daily blog with an indication of the reason (excuse!) that I struggle with eating. Actually that's not true - I have no problem at all with eating but rather with moderation !
 Virtually every week, a local group/charity runs a coffee morning in the Town hall and this week was no exception -

Quite why we have an active Lifeboat charity group in our landlocked town is a mystery, but it has been going for years and raises money several times a year. It is almost incumbent on locals to support each weekly event - and as everyone knows everyone else here, one must do one's duty ! Next week it the Methodists - one of the highlight groups as their ladies are prolific and skilled at culinary products and are the source of most of my homemade jams and marmalades (plus the odd cake for the freezer for 'emergencies'!
This next pic is another of the reasons I struggle -

There is an Artisan bakery at Catterick run by army veterans who are no longer fit for active service. It is run in conjunction with a housing association and the patron is the celebrity chef Rosemary Shrager, who used to live down the road from us until moving south last year. The bread is sold twice a week at our market and this delicious sourdough is my Saturday purchase. It lasts us until Wednesday (I freeze half) then I usually buy a rye loaf to do us until Saturday comes round again ! To be truthful, I could live on good bread so have to restrain myself as best I can !
Our lovely bread board was a present from a neighbour - she carved the wheat ear herself.

Almost forgot !

Ir has dawned on me that daily blogging, particularly when one has nothing of value, not to mention interest, to blog is a rather pointless exercise.  I started with good intentions but find myself struggling to post a meaningful blog most days, I have therefore decided that tomorrow's post will be my last in this daily endeavour - and I will have completed a calendar month of posts. One out of twelve isn't great but better than none. Perhaps next year I will go for February which at least has the advantage of fewer days!
A few random pics for a penultimate sign off and maybe I'll find something pertinent tomorrow for 31st.

Still frosty in my garden.

The bubble gum artist made this artwork outside my neighbours house last autumn - the pic is her house (attached to mine) with her name and those of her three children painted in the 'pebbles' that form the border.the lego man is a size indicator.







Just because I like them, these fat lambs were at the Sheep Fair last September.

Bug House (post modernization)

This is my first insect house, (chez hazeltwiglet) built by my own fair hand!!  No frame and no DH to  help me.  It has now been modified so I will take another picture and post it soon.  It houses solitary bees and other bugs.

Another project on the go

A frosty, snowy start to the day so my planned coffee and cake meeting was deferred until tomorrow. Not wanting to waste a free morning, we went to the tip to get rid of the mountain of garden rubbish we have cleared in the last few days (without, I might add, making much visible impact on the garden). A quick trip round the (depleted) market resulted in half a metre of polycotton which I hope to get transfer paint onto tomorrow.
When we got back, it was time for me to go patchworking in the Town Hall and my DH decided he was going to make a start on my Premier Inn (possibly only Travelodge) for insects. Being too mean to buy new wood, I had suggested he use some pieces of oak we had lying around. It was unfortunately a little on the warped side, so a great deal of energy had to be expended to make a useable frame - here is its beginning

He has found enough oak to make its pitched roof too and we have some copper left to felt it with. If you  look behind the electricity supply channel you will see my whippet left over from the WI Call my Bluff when it was part of my Yorkshireman guise ! DH thought it was too nice to throw out especially as the night after the WI do, he answered the phone to a lady who asked 'can I borrow your whippet' ?

Seasonal Sunshine

It has been such a miserable day - wind, rain, sleet, snow and cold! This bit of seasonal sunshine is delicious and cheery -

These blood oranges from Italy are so juicy and sweet, they would make anyone smile. Some were wrapped in lovely papers - I have smoothed one out so you can see. The background is the piece of breakdown printed fabric I am planning to use to cover my new travelling journal.

Another walk

I can't pretend I did this walk today, but it is 10.30 and I have just come back from the pub - went for a drink with Jane after the History Society meeting. It was a talk about Jerveaux Abbey - a very lovely place  just a mile or two down the road from here. It is a privately owned Cistercian Abbey, which has very little left in the way of stone - probably because the last Abbot took part in the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536 and Henry took his revenge by virtually razing it - 250 years to build and less than three to demolish. Lots of local churches ( and houses!) have bits of the old Abbey in their fabric. The speaker was the person who owns and runs the Abbey - it is a very peaceful, quite low key place - entry by honesty box - with more than 200 species of wild flowers in season, and an excellent tea room. Might be an afternoon visit when you come to stay !
My walk though was, as usual very local. The Community Office has leaflets about the 'Leaves walk'. This begins (with an acorn) at the school and follows a trail of stone leaves which pop up in various guises along the way .This pic is the first leaf (depending on which way round you walk ) and is in John Waddington's field behind the church.

Here is another of the leaves - there are 6 in all - which serves as a bridge over one of the streams that feed into the River Ure.

Perhaps we'll do this walk too when you come to visit.

Another project ?

At Harlow Carr on Saturday we enjoyed lots of sun despite the fact that the temperature barely reached above 3C. The winter garden was looking good with brilliant Cornus stems and lots of hellebores - not much smell though - it's very open and there are no enclosed bits to trap the wafts of loveliness from sarcococca or winter honeysuckle. Perhaps it was just too cold - even close up the Witch Hazels had almost no perfume.
It was lovely to walk round though and there were lots of children enjoying the snow which was still in evidence particularly in the woods. I was very taken with the boxing hares -

but I'm  not going for willow weaving this time.
Instead I rather fancy this insect hotel for solitary bees and the like - it's a bit elaborate for my garden and was about three feet high but I think I might utilise the hollow stems of last year's plume poppies which I just happen to have saved to make a more modest version - a Premier Inn rather than a 5* establishment !

Just watch this space !

Another copper !

Not the policeman kind - just my leaf sculpt !

We started out with the intention of using the upturned leaf as the birdbath, but then I found the circular bottom of the old tank and plans changed. The 'stalk' of the leaf is a piece of copper pipe curved so that it could be riveted onto the leaf. We used one of the stones from the garden and drilled a hole into it so that the pipe fits snugly and balances the weight of the leaf. I am very pleased with it  - looks lovely with the rain on it and hopefully will develop more verdigris as it ages. It is currently sitting outside my hut - this is a gravelled area with three large box balls - plus three new ones which I have grown on in pots and have just planted out this year.
Yesterday when we went to Harlow Carr I saw something that might also be at home in my garden - I'll have to blog that tomorrow !

More copper stuff

Thought I'd better show some more of my copper garden stuff - I was saving it for a day when I didn't have anything else to blog but despite the fact that I went to the RHS garden at Harlow Carr today and have something to post about that, decided I'd better show it !
This is my birdbath

The bottom of the coil is set into a piece of stone cut/drilled to fit so that it is perfectly stable. I am going to plant a variegated ivy into the bed you can just see bottom left and train it around the coil on a piece of wire. a friend of mine has done that round a metal dustbin that she has a tree planted into and it completely covers the bin now and looks great. I do have rather a nice ivy in a pot that needs moving, but it may be too big - I want to encourage a good leader to cover the coil and keep the rest trimmed. I certainly don't want it to invade my bed - I already struggle with existing ivy in there. I can't remove it completely as the bed is about 4' higher than ground level at the back door and it is held in place with a drystone wall. The ivy that cascades over the wall is the only thing that keeps soil erosion at bay !
Here is a close up of one of my birds -

you can see that he is wired into the rim of the birdbath. He is one of a set of four birds that were part of my Christmas present from my daughter. Three of them are on the birdbath, the fourth is a peacock so his scale isn't right for a garden bird. He will live in my hut.

A river walk

Well a bit earlier today after Thai Chi this morning, DH and I went for a walk upstream as far as the Fishermans' Hut - well known walk destination for the world and his wife (and their children and grandchildren) in the summer months when there are lots of visitors. There is something very appealing about a hut that has to be walked to and it is treated, in general, very well . There is the occasional bit of graffiti biro'd onto the wall but usually only of the ' *** was here' variety. Most comments in the visitors book are complimentary and the pens are usually left in place ! My DH obviously felt the need to read the comments this morning.

  There are various illustrations on the walls - mainly fish related such as these examples of fly ties which also show examples of the graffiti!

Many people have sheltered from the rain here and the river next to the hut is a favoured place for fly fishing as it is easy to walk out into the middle of the water and there are rocks so the water gets oxygenated and that's what the fish like (so I'm told). The water is winter deep at the moment so you can't see how lovely it is - we'll have to walk here when you visit and you will be able to see how different this view from outside the hut is in the sunshine.

From the fishermans' hut we walked up over the field and into the Marfield wetlands - old quarries filled in and landscaped courtesy of Lafarge. There a couple of hides and lots of birds - mainly Canada geese and swans at the moment.There are remnants of the old industrial past, though the weighbridge has long been recycled for scrap but this evidence of its midlands heritage is still apparent.

The boots needless to say, are mine !


                                                            

Pieces of eight !

Had a very yo ho ho evening at the cinema this evening  watching the Live transmission of Treasure island from the National Theatre . Brilliant stuff - Long John Silver's parrot was one of those animated puppets and Jim hawkins was a girl! So I'm a bit late with my blog .
I did take some photos of my mobile today - it's quite hard because against the sky you get a dark image like a negative, but using the flash makes the copper look a bit glary, especially as you get the fronts of some leaves and the back of others - and, if you are unlucky (or photographically challenged ) you manage to cut the ends off leaves ! however, here they are , warts and all -
well I like them anyway 










Thought I might as well give you a few views -with and without flash.

A miserable day !

I was hoping to post pics of my copper stuff today - which I am very pleased with - but it has been such a grey, wet, sleety slurry of a day that I wasn't able to take any good photos. They were either very pale or very dark and did no justice at all to the new additions to my garden so I decided to share with you the joys of my downstairs loo (not literally of course)!
Yesterday, when I was in Harrogate I found that I had spent 15p short of £25 - the required amount to use a £5 off coupon that my sister in law had about her person. In order to take advantage of the coupon, I bought two bunches of daffodils , reduced to £1, so still saved £4. The daffodils are so cheery - I have them in my downstairs loo, as it is cooler than the rest of the downstairs ( people do not linger there!)  and they will last longer.

The framed pics behind are all Mothers' day or Anniversary cards with bits of embroidery on them - not done by my daughter of course - I fear she would barely recognise a needle if it stuck in her !
While we are 'in the loo' , this next piece is one of two serving as window covering and is fabric and paper covered in Tulle with machine embroidery and thermofax print. It was made a couple of years ago with Ineke Berlyn on a course called 'Transparencies'.

It is hung in a perspex frame and is not as skewiff as it looks in the pic. It filters the sun when we have any and works quite well as a curtain.

Ladies that lunch!

Yesterday was the inaugural day of the WI luncheon club and 16 masham WI members + 1 visitor from Coventry (my sister in law) went to the Freemasons' Arms at Nosterfield for lunch. This establishment is ' by Royal Appointment' - or at least by Royal Visit on Tour de France day 1 when William, Kate, baby George  and Harry (the Warrior Prince - Daily Mail) visited for lunch !
I cannot believe that Kate ate much of the delicious but very calorific fare, but great fun was had in deciding who might be sitting where the royal bum had reposed !
I came home to find that great progress had been made on my birdbath and leaf - more news tomorrow ( I can sense your bated breath!)

Plough Monday

Well, obviously Plough Monday follows Plough Sunday and yesterday we all (ourselves and visitors) went to the Plough Sunday service at St Mary's. The plough is pulled in by local farm workers and a churn and a fleece are also carried in. The service has been held for centuries and is the traditional prayer for the ploughing, sowing, growing and harvest as well as asking for a blessing on the work of all involved in working on the land. It was very jolly and afterwards the Highside Longsword men danced their traditional dance which, we were told is specific to Dallowgill (just outside Kirby Malzeard) and was the first longsword dance collected by Cecil Sharpe of the English folk dance and song society in the early 20th century - there's a claim to fame if you ever heard one. It was very intricate and ended with all the swords intertwined and held aloft. Afterward there was mulled wine and hot sausages at the back of the church !
I didn't take any photos in the church, but earlier in the day, on my walk, I saw the plough outside the church and was able to take a pic then.

A Frosty walk

Walked all the way round the downstream circuit this morning - there had been a hard frost so the furrows of mud were passable without thigh boots for a change ! There were really interesting patterns in the frozen puddles and I took several pics -hard to choose which to post!
This one is pieces of broken ice refrozen in the furrows.

There were lots of lovely patterns to see.

I do not lack inspiration - the perspiration bit is a bit harder to achieve !

Just a Quickie

Expecting friends round for a meal tonight so need to do a quickie as I may not have another chance before today ticks over into tomorrow. This  pic isn't very good as I forgot to take it before it went dark so have had to manage with the light from our outside security light. It is not really designed for taking photos by.  Pic is how far Brilliant Bill has got with my bird table project.
The front , birdbathy thing, is the bottom of my old copper boiler balanced on the heating coil that used to be inside it - just trying it out. Behind is my leaf made from part of the body of the boiler. Things are at an early stage at the moment but I hope to post more on this project in a few days.

Ordnance marks

I have found two Ordnance benchmarks locally, though according to the benchmarks Database there are 10 in the town. I will have to keep a lookout when I am out on my walks. The two I have photographed are one in Church Street and the other on the wall of the Church - which,strangely enough isn't in Church Street ! The one in my pic is the Church Street one.
Ordnance marks are survey marks which used to allow the calculation of heights above the Ordnance Datum so heights above sea level could be worked out . They aren't maintained anymore but are still kept on a database. You learn a lot of things walking around - mostly useless !

Inspiration

This is another photograph that I took yesterday in the snow. It has taken me a lot of fiddling to find out how to move it from Google + into Picasa so I will be able to print it - I am no Techie.
The pic is of a jumble of things I have saved from work we have done in the garden - a drain surround that was in the old outhouse, a wheel from some implement or other and roof tiles and just stuff !
 It was under the ivy that grows abundantly (whose purpose is to deflect one's viewfrom the big green coal bunker ) so it wasn't thickly covered by the snow. It immediately made me imagine it as either a piece of collage plus embroidered details or a laminated piece on organza, again embroidered.
Neither piece may ever see the light of day but just for the moment it has inspired some ideas.

Winter Wonderland

Got up this morning to a sea of white - early on , before the day's traffic got into gear, even the roads were covered. My garden looked prettier than it has done since last summer, but the weather has changed again and we have had fairly heavy rain for two or three hours now . The wind is back to howling down the chimney , and my garden is back in its brown winter coat - but it was jolly while it lasted, though I suspect that areas of the country that have had rather more than a 'prettying' wouldn't agree.

A brilliant morning

The sun came out to play this morning and for once the wind, though still present (and remarkably chilly!) had calmed somewhat from the riot of the last few days.
I walked downstream to the confluence of the Ure with one of its smaller tributaries, the River Burn and from there followed the Burn upstream intending to exit at a road bridge so that I could complete a circular route home. Unfortunately a number of trees had fallen across the path - the first one I was able to step over with not much problem, but the next one convinced me that I should retrace my footsteps - well I have got short legs !
In any event the walk was a joy - lots of snowdrops in the woods along the Burn, though I am still waiting to spy my first primrose.
Unfortunately the sunshine didn't last beyond lunchtime but it was brilliant while it lasted.

View along the Burn

Here's how I spent my evening !

Well just because  I live in the sticks doesn't mean there is nothing to do in the evening ! Take a look at tonight's offering and eat your heart out !

You can always rely on the WI !

Wet Wood

I could have said wet Sunday ! It has been miserable for vitually the whole day. I did get out for a little while, but soon retreated to the warmth of home. I walked 5300 steps today - only about half my usual quota - lets hope the rain desists soon - I am definitely a fairweather walker.
When I was on my way home I decided to come in the back way which entails walking over a neighbours drive to get to mine. There was a pile of logs waiting to be sawn up for the stove - some hefty enough to make me glad it wasn't me that had to saw them - they were wet and shiny and reminded me of a starling's plumage. I took the pic because, one of these days, it might inspire me to base a piece of embroidery on it.

New Year, Old Friends

Despite the gales I braved the bus today to travel to Harrogate for the Embroiderers Guild meeting. It has been several months since I last went, as my main branch now is elsewhere. It was good to catch up with people I hadn't seen for a while and I enjoyed the talk and the tea!
While I was in the kitchen I noticed the sign over the sink and had a chuckle despite having seen it many times before - no doubt a certain person will remember it, but just in case, here's a pic !

The Colour of Winter

I have bought a new sketchbook to work in on the theme of Winter. I already have one started on Autumn, so have bought a book the same size and intend to work in it until Spring, then start another seasonal book and so on. I have no illusions that the books will be filled this year or even next, but like the idea of having a book for each season to turn to as the year rolls on.
Full of enthusiasm yesterday when my sketchbook arrived, I painted several pages with gesso ready to work into - my head full of snow and black tree outlines . Then, this afternoon I took the downstream river path (the scenic route past the sewage works) and I made a discovery ! The colour of winter is actually brown ! In reality I know this. My garden, based mainly on herbaceous perennials shows me the truth every day I clear a little more of the collapsed debris of last year's growth . It is just not the automatic picture that comes into my head when I think of winter. My brain is seduced by images of frosted leaves sparkling in the sun and white white everywhere. Now that I have noticed the 'other' reality I will make space in my sketchbook for all the palette of winter.

On the river bank I saw this lovely alder with its feet almost in the water and the oak still holding onto its leaves despite last night's howling wind.