New paintings and regular art updates.
The world is growing fast
But I ache
More things to do,
I ache..
Plants to tend and pot up.
I hurt.
Too much tending,
Too much weeding,
Too much trimming and pruning.
Using sinews I forgot I had.
Back aches,
Shoulder aches.
Hands hurt.
Don’t overdo things?
After years of neglect
My garden is being manicured,
And I ache.
As I sit quietly at home I’ve realised how good the weather has been, and how much blossom is on the cherry and pear trees. And then, my friends have all been posting photos of blossom near them. Clouds of pink and white.
I will try and get a photo against a blue sky, but I just wanted to share this. The bees have been buzzing so they are happy.
I was thinking how the blossom comes out before the leaves. Is that to make it easier for insects to pollinate the flowers?
Now we need rain, it’s been dry for most of the month. Without it the farmers, who are struggling with lack of workers, will struggle even more. Time will tell…. Cherry’s and pears will ripen, hopefully.
In the meantime the Russian vine we planted a few years ago has started taking over a couple of parts of the garden. It ‘rushes’ along, growing fast, and wrapping itself around everything. My arms hurt after spending a couple of hours trying to cut it back.
X
A fellow blogger asked if I used permaculture in the garden, I actually don’t know what that is? We’ve been here about twenty five years and when we moved in the garden was a patch of land fenced off by the woman who used to own the house. It had three lilac bushes a patch of what turned out to be Japanese knotweed and lawn. We rented it off the old owner of our house for twenty years then bought it. I only used weedkiller at the start because of the knotweed. Since then we put in a pond, planted all sorts of trees. Some of its too shady. The walnut tree must be forty foot high. Just put a bit of fertiliser on occasionally. There is rubble and broken pottery under the soil. You get archaeology when you dig it.
I did not believe that we could get mature trees in a little over twenty five years. Some of them seem to grow like weeds. The back of the garden has had a shed and a summerhouse put on it. I’m hoping to do some art in there. We are trying to get perennial plants to grow. I have lots of geraniums but most of all we have a lot of ivy growing everywhere.
It is good to sit in the garden, but I feel sorry for people who don’t have anywhere green to sit.
Stay safe,
Keep well.
X
This is what I was trying to draw. As you can see it’s very complicated. Lots of trees and branches.
Behind me when I took this photo are two greenhouses with green plastic covers, ones got tomatoes in it, the other is waiting for tomato plants that my friend says she will drop off over our gate when they are ready to plant out.
The weather is set to turn, it has been warm and sunny, but the wind whipped up this evening and you could feel the temperature starting to fall.
I took these photos of cherry and pear blossom. As you can see the sky was starting to darken. There have been reports on the weather forecast of thunderstorms nearby. It certainly was getting windy, I hope some of the blossom gets pollenated before it blows away. And then there was a warning of Frost!
My hubby has bought some citrus plants and has them in pots in the garden. They came with the fruit on them. He took them inside the summerhouse for a couple of nights but he’s trying to let them harden off. One was a kumquat, whatever that is. I sort of think they were ornamental, but they say they are edible…. He just eats them whole! Anyone know what these are?
Anyway I might chop one up and add it to a gin and tonic!
X
Oh its coming on…. I’ve been cutting back a few bushes and tidying up. The summer house is full of junk so it needs clearing out. I’m keen to go out there and paint. The weather has been lovely, we’ve not really had any April showers yet. I guess they will be in the way.
Oh I ache from trying to cut back overgrown buddlias and ivy climbing up the cherry trees. When the cherry blossom is out I will try and share photos.
By the way the cat is Woody, he’s the outside cat we look after. He’s really enjoying lying in the sun now the weather has improved. But we have tomato plants, so I’m scared he will squash them!
X
Those of you who follow my blog know I’ve been drawing my surroundings from the safety of my own home.
Today’s challenge was gardening. I chose to draw some pots and a flower bed in a sparkly amathyst colour brush pen. It includes cyclamen, tete-a-tete narcissi and foliage from geraniums and poppy plants. The sun was shining again today, but there was a bitterly cold wind, not helped by the neighbours behind us that had cut down two trees that had acted as a windbreak.
The second drawing is a quick sketch of the stray cat, Woody, who is doing fine sleeping in the shed and roaming the garden by day.
Thanks USK Stoke-on-Trent for the challenge x
Just had an email from the Dorothy Clive Garden, explaining that they are closing due to government advice.
It’s a lovely place on the border with Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire. It is a magical garden on a steep slope. If you get a chance when things have calmed down do go.
This is what I wrote back to them…
We visit to come and see the wonderful rhododendrons in the quarry garden every year, and have been enjoying watching the ecology section being created. Then the rest of it is just wonderful when it’s in full bloom. I love sitting outside the cafe and drawing the view, or walking down the steep slope towards the pond. Watching goldfish as they quietly go about their lives under the surface.
Ive been visiting over several years. When I was fit I used to cycle over with my husband.
I have a very overgrown small garden with lots of trees, but we have some amazing geraniums that have spread everywhere. We got them from you a few years ago.
Hoping for a speedy resolution to the current situation.
Sincerely
It’s flowered. My Amaryllis is in flower. Bright red trumpets. Three big flowers.
There are two other plants, they have leaves, but no flowers. I hope they might still send up long stems with buds. I’m watering them, but it might not be till next year, then perhaps they will flower. Amaryllis like to be tightly packed into their pots, and so I don’t re-pot them until they have started to outgrow their pots. The one that is flowering is over ten years old. It was a Christmas present from my mother. It has a second bulb growing next to it, and when that gets large enough I may try and dislodge it and grow it in a new pot.
I do think they have possibly been overfed this year. When I have fed my orchids I have given any spare water with food in it, to the amaryllis plants. Usually I don’t bother to feed them. They do seem to have put on a lot of leaves so perhaps that is why they are not flowering as well as normal.
X
A few years ago painted this morning glory as it flowered. I’d nurtured the plant on a windowledge, carefully watered it. Put it outside when the summer was warm enough so it would stay alive.
It was in a hanging basket outside in the garden when I decided to paint it in situ. As I painted the flower opened and then at the end of the day closed and wilted (the same thing happened with the following days flowers). Hard to capture but beautiful. I might do a copy or similar painting.
Acrylic on canvas. Small flowers are lobelia, and the cream ones are surfinias.
X
Mallaband-Brown