Drawn with a Lamy Al-Star pen, De Atramentis ink.
Backpacks
Category: Art
Groundsel, Fern and Sail Plant
A closer look at some of the uninvited plants which have made themselves at home around the raised bed behind the pond: groundsel in the disturbed soil (we do occasionally dig it) on top of the bed, lungwort at the edge of the wood-chip path and Spanish bluebell in damper soil.
A couple of house plants: a fern and our new sail plant, Spathiphyllum.
Tilley Hat
The woolly hat season is over it’s onto sun hats and with my Lowe Alpine Aleutian standing by for when this dry spell ends.
Delighted that a deer hide glove, which I’d assumed has disappeared into a compost bin amongst hedge trimmings, turned up today in a drawer at the back of the garage.
Cauliflowers
Cauliflowers are ideal subjects for me to practice drawing as I attempt to get my right hand back in full working order.
These, drawn in Adobe Fresco on my iPad, were some that I photographed at a greengrocers in Les Halles, when we visited Paris last month.
Cauliflowers featured in Léon Lhermitte’s monumental painting of the market at Les Halles, on display at Le Petit Palais.
Skechers Arch Fit
My latest trainers, Skechers Arch Fit, made in Vietnam, so currently in line for a 46% tariff in the USA.
In 4 days in Paris we walked 33 miles from Batignoles in the 17th Arrondissment to Montmartre and as far as Shakespeare & Co in ‘Kilometre Zero’ by the Seine opposite newly restored Notre Dame.
The Anatomical Snuff Box
The hollow between my thumb and my wrist is the anatomical snuff box. The tendon on its outside edge is an abductor, it pulls the thumb outwards. This muscle and tendon, the APL, is the one that I need to strengthen and rehabilitate on my right hand.
Leeks
Our leeks are smaller than usual as we were late planting them out as we waited for our new raised beds to be constructed.
It’s rather late to be harvesting them but they’re fine. It’s encouraging to have such a good crop from the revamped veg beds.
They worked well in our leek, courgette and Boursin cheese tart.
Pigeons at Dawn
Latest trail cam shots from our back garden: pheasants, blackbird, a pair of robins and – what are you doing there?! – Butch (yes, he really is called Butch), next door’s Labrador but my favourite shot is the wood pigeon at dawn, looking hopefully up at the feeders.
Dudfleet
Recycled material in farm sheds, Dudfleet Lane, Horbury.
Pheasants at the Pond
I spent an hour clearing algae, moss, grass and duckweed from our pond yesterday. The pheasants seem to appreciate my efforts.
The aim was to clear the pond before frogs started arriving but on my first sweep with the net I caught a large frog amongst the pondweed. It played dead but with a little gentle encouragement it hopped back into the water.
That was the only frog and I didn’t come across any newts, which I invariably catch in the net when I’m clearing duckweed in the summer.
The pheasants and a blackbird rummaged and pecked about in the debris that I’d left in piles around the pond to give any creatures that had got caught up in it a chance to escape.