Squares & an overgrown bit of garden

Just a quick one  as I've got an extra shift at work today, the hight of the season & all that (I should have gone into food production!)

Some squares.

The parking ticket for the Highland games at the beginning of August - my eldest & my 'dil' came up specially from Edinbro to compete - he was 3rd in the 2 lap race, nearly exhausted himself but rallied for the long jump, joint 2nd & the hop skip & jump (same as the long jump really) 2nd. He came 3rd in the Scottish Universities Athletics last term, proud we were! So he earnt in prizes almost the cost of the car hire!

Next is from box of bits, a hydrangea squelched in gesso inspired by Julia, the gold wax didn't highlight as much as I'd hoped, packaging, the back of a needles packet, couldn't resist!, & coloring in inspired by a CPS demo of one of their DVD's.

This is a pic of our little terrace with a kind of one sided pergola/screen. When the stream is low there's a 10' drop so with the youngest being 4 when we moved into our home we had to make the terrace safe a priority. It also gives us privacy, tho there was a peep hole for the  stream - gone! It's the most exposed part of our garden so it's trial & error. I did the honeysuckle no favours (to the left of the Clematis Tanjutica) I must have forgotten it liked woodland conditions while planting it! But as you can see the clematis is very happy, about 5' deep in the middle! It has a white montana thru it for the spring so even tho I did cut a lot back early this year I need to forget about the spring flowers & not be a wimp about pruning next year. (The amount of 'compost' it made is amazing! ) There's the  new Vilchenblau rose with a new clematis on the left of the arch. My D sits with me very gingerly when we (& the midges) allow ourselves a coffee break as it is covered in bees. Love it!

Here's the Vilchenblau (sp?) rose just before I went away, as shown before.

I took this one towards the end of July, wonderful when all the tiny buds come out. They don't last long, just hanging on now. I guess Autumn isn't that far away after all, but, each day as it comes!

Bits of a summer garden in August

It seems that in hot arid parts of the Northern hemisphere summer is over, we're discussing seedheads & Autumn, already. Ok, so I collected some seeds today from my Aquelegia but I am not ready to accept Autumn yet! I guess it pays  to be in a moist part of the world after all, parts of my garden are still positively summery, so on this gorgeous, lightly breezy, therefore midge free, sunny day I took a few photos of my garden.

Clematis & Solanum, my birthday plants

Lots of feverfew from my old friend Jetta

I'll never tire of a foxglove still enjoyed by the bees

lacecap in my little woodland

wrong end of the country for a gravel garden, but still.

I missed out on annual sweet peas but still have the perennial ones

I need more Sweet William, it looks like a cluster of Pinks.

I had such fun making this for Billy's 18th ;) He'd just been fishing with a mate up the North end of the island & caught a huge Pollack which was delicious, as were the Mackerel. This looks nothing like either fish! I used, as you may have noticed, the same papers I'd made for my postcards. I 'borrowed' a 'fly' that Billy had in his collection of tied flies. He assured me it was a good one & will probably want it back. Also that you don't catch pollack with a fly - that's me told!

I've got 20 postcards towards my month of July, of course. Of that 20, 7 are 'missing' from my photos file so I'll have a browse around a few blogs to see if they were the ones posted about. If not, no matter!

I completely forgot on this bright day, to take a pic of my next strip of August squares. Too excited prancing around the garden in amongst the summer flowers!

Can I avoid politics?

I'm feeling a little sleepy today. My D, bless him, took it upon himself to start watching the election results at....3.30am! He did warn me, but I assumed (never assume!) he meant 6am, that I might have a guilt free luxurious coffee in bed (instead of my usual guilty one ;) )with a gardening magazine or something. No, I tossed & turned, flushed hot & worried weather my middlest was still on his 6th yr night out! (we had the phone call, got off lightly there with water bombs over the balcony ruining one or 2 school lunches, tsk, tsk, high jinks indeed - we'll have a word later) Did doze a bit, but feel like I've been to an all night party, without the party bit! The tv is red hot, too :) Just wait till Chealse week!

I found a bit of paper with stencil like cut outs, possibly from making a little collagraph. stuck 'em down & colored 'em in. Similar to one of my cards, ripped up tobacco waste, Bits of the papers I've been painting, an adaptation of an excersise on Quilting Arts Daily by BerylTaylor, love her stuff, & bits from my box.

Linda at Blue Eyed Girl (blog roll) said she visited a friend who was showing her desk. Ran out (on Wednesday) to see what mine was like. Don't know how the flower book got there! The painting table looks so neat (yes, that's neat for me) as I share it with D who uses it toframe  his pics using pristine white mounts, & I had to tidy it away. the plyers are there to open the tubes of paint, they're so old. One day I'll be able to invest in a new set of colors, meanwhile, I WILL use what i have!  Not ideal know, but it's a great new space we're learning to share. The desk, well, a door, really,  is ALL mine & altho not finished since the sort out, I love it..