~ For Grace ~

She was weaving in the Rosemary
with a steady, perfect rhythm,
and I wondered...
do they do it perfectly from
the first try,
or like me,
 do they have to 
practice?

These also brought great joy to us three, when they were born on our garden fence many years ago.

  

:: ~ ::

Although I harvest nettles for drying through the summer, I make sure I leave plenty for the butterflies who lay their eggs on them. In the greenhouse at the moment, this is happening....

I love how they wrap themselves inside so as to be safe from birds.

Peacock butterfly caterpillar

It will turn into this....although this one is a little tired and has lost its vibrant colour....

I think this one is a Red Admiral caterpillar:

 

 Some of the things that have been made here this summer...

Mullein flower remedy

Yarrow and Mullein flower remedies

 

raspberry jam

Our first attempt ever, at wine~making. Lemon Balm.

The wine is nearly ready to bottle. We have loved watching the air bubbles releasing, getting slower and slower.

What have you made this summer....?

Cariad mawr

H x

~ Joy~Making ~

It started like this.....

My Man had pulled into a lay-by on the bike, and saw this (rather nice) jacket. He knows of my love of fabric, so he went to investigate, and saw a little chrysalis on the cuff (left side in picture). He brought it home, and I put it for safe keeping in my shed.

The chrysalis was its own glowing little jewel with gold iridescent highlights.

On Monday I went in to check how it was, and saw this....

and the breathtaking, newly born Red Admiral was close by, with wings still wet, and trailing butterfly watercolours on my hands when it crawled on, for me to take it to safety outside. There are many spider friends and sticky webs in my shed.

Look at those beautiful "magic thread" antennae.

 It quickly tucked itself under a large

raspberry leaf....

 

and stayed there....

until yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon, when it came around to the top of the leaf....

I missed its flight, so I hope it goes safely to wherever it needs to go, and lives to lay its eggs in the Spring.  I almost felt like a midwife.

We are back to the grey and wet today, but we have been so grateful for some of this....

 On Sunday we went to the beach. 

The sea was galloping with happiness 

The pebbles were smiling at the sun,

This little moth flew by and carefully chose a safe and sunny stone to rest on, staying for the whole time we were there.

People and dogs were enjoying the sea and the beach, and we....

we sat and soaked it all up, drinking aromatic spicy Chai tea that I had prepared that morning.

My Man

We stayed for about three hours, taking photos and film, lying back against surprisingly comfortable stones with eyes closed, writing, mindful of each moment, as days such as this have been so rare for us here this year.

We went to the library book sale and found
a few treasures.

and picked up a bag of gram flour from the
excellent Indian shop, for making pancakes :~)

We met a lovely, friendly feline...

The grasses and mosses on The Tilly Keepers
turned into the hills she sees from where
she rests. I've grown to like them...I 
wasn't sure for a while. I did enjoy cutting
the pieces to fit...like making a jigsaw puzzle. 
I am now playing with the moons.

~Thoughts Captured on a Magic Cloth~Butterflies~Bees~and a Talking Stick~

Our camera in six years old now, and has had an incredible amount of use. 

The photo of the butterfly was taken with auto focus!!! 

I am selling my treatment couch and buying a new camera!

 My first day of butterfly sightings this year. I saw one flying rapidly, with the assistance of a brisk breeze, in the bootsale this morning, and when we came home this Peacock was beating a tattoo on my shed window ~ ready ~ like all of us ~ to be out in the warmth of the sun. It made my day by pausing for a count of five on my hand before flying away.

I am continuing with the idea, as I wrote over on sew, of ~

a year, in a nine-patch design, with most likely the moon in the centre, and the eight celebrations around it :~ samhain, winter solstice,  imbolc, vernal equinox, beltane, midsummer, lammas and autumnal equinox. 
I am finding that I am making each one as a separate small cloth....

.......Winter Solstice........

Captured Thoughts

As I sew ~ applique ~ the oak leaves around the sun, the needle picks up the first layer

of skin on my middle finger, and I literally become a part of my Magic Cloth.

I find myself holding my breath, wondering if this next stitch will be a 'good' one,

and having to remind myself to breath ~ for that too becomes part of the cloth

~ in and out ~ like the needle, like the stitches.

The 'ghost' oak leaves inside the sun ring ~ green thread? ~ to represent what they 

will become in summer? ~ grey thread? ~ more representative of ghost leaves?

Winter Solstice Cloth ~ the oak leaves are placed in a spiral pattern around the cloth as:

1. They chase the holly leaf away

2. The spiral represents the high 

winds we invariably get on the 

solstices ~ and equinoxes ~ 

The inner spiral of leaves ~ not ghost leaves ~ do them in green, for they are a dream,

~dream leaves ~ dreaming of what is going to become.

Still lots of stitching to do, and the holly leaf to make.

I have long loved the story of the oak and the holly kings

 battling for supremacy on the summer solstice and again on the winter solstice. 

......Vernal Equinox....

this is supposed to be a hare for Eostre. 

My drawing skills are really poor, so this looks more like a donkey gone wrong! I don't want to rip it out yet though, but try Jude's trick of filling in with stitch, the same colour as the cloth, to see if I can get it more hare-like. We'll see. If successful, it will be the centre panel of the small cloth representing the Vernal Equinox. 

The brown patch, is a piece of silk I had tried to paint on and did not like, so it went into the acorn dye pot. It is gorgeous.....almost a bronze sheen to it.

Two years ago, my walking friend...another Jude.....gave me a most beautiful gift, knowing that I love such things.

a bumble bee nest she found while gardening.

Isn't it an architectural work of art. All those little 

'cells' look like acorns or hazelnuts, but they build 

them using wax secreted by their abdomens and 

mixed with pollen

  It has kept me company in my shed for these last eighteen months,

but nature reclaims her own, so this week....

this is all that is left.

Something I made ten months ago....and I could not believe it was so long ago, when I found the date...

My Talking Stick

: :

driftwood, leather, copper wire, clay beads, holey stone 
and welsh crystal wand