New paintings and regular art updates.
Just when I think the plants can’t get bigger we get torrential rain and they grow! And it’s hot, they are happy.
I think our back yard is full. The hanging baskets are pulling the old fence down. But I turn round and my hubby has snuck an Ash tree in! I love it. I hope some of it survives into the autumn. I will continue to post pictures as it grows.
We even had three ripe blueberries today.
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Looking great now they have been well watered. The hot weather is really hard on them. If you look at them they wilt. But it’s worth the effort. Lots of colour and different plants. There are lobelia, petunias, begonias, pelargonium and other flowers in them.
It’s spectacular at this time of year.
This is the cat statue I showed on this page yesterday, in situ in the garden. I’m afraid the plants have dried out a bit and wilted in this heat. I might put some new pots in front of the cat.
I think the lilies are being munched by lily beetles. They are big and bright red. They don’t have spots like ladybirds. I’m hoping they don’t do to much damage. You are supposed to squash them but I can’t do that.
Anyway, thanks to my friend again for making Esher cat. He is a real friendly face in the garden.
This is the cat sculpture my friend from Sculpted Steel made for me from a sketch I drew. It’s lovely and she just shared her photo for international cat day. It cost quite a bit but it was worth every penny. It now lives in my garden with plants growing through and round it. I am very grateful to my friend for creating it for me. She is a brilliant blacksmith.
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rusty bedsprings
Slumped by the wall.
Used to support beans growing tall.
A line of washing shades the view
Helping ease the sun’s bright hue.
Plants bathed in heat
Wither and dry
Turning brown
Hope they don’t die.
Above all water of life,
Carried in the clouds
Stopping great strife.
Overall its a British summer.
Bright in parts, in others dimmer.
Some places have vines,
Others marrows,
As the heat of the day
Makes eyes narrow.
So interesting view
Shirts, trousers a few.
Dry in one day.
That’s all I can say.
Visited a friend who has some bean plants growing and some tomato plants.
I was jealous, my tomatoes only have a couple of fruits on them. And we don’t have any beans. But I admire her ability to grow them. It’s good to go out and visit people at a distance. It’s better than sitti g in my house. I still wear a mask even if I’m outside. That made it hard to have a glass of elderflower cordial so I relented because I was thirsty and we kept a good six feet apart. Now I’m back home in the cool. It was 36° C in places today. The hottest August day since 2003, and it’s forecast to get hotter!
I went out to meet someone and saw a bank of weeds at the end of the carpark. There were some interesting flowers amongst the plants and the bees and hover flies were drinking at them. I recognised Himalayan balsam and Convolvulus, Dock weed and Teasle, Thistles and Ragweed (I think its called). I think it’s amazing how plants can push up through tarmac, live in walls, grow on cliff faces. Life will prevail!
I create, then wither
I grow and then die.
You breathe my air,
you eat my leaves
you take my fruit.
I let you…
But I am green,
I am life
Chlorophyll,
Xanthophyll,
Phloem,
Xylem,
I nourish.
You damage me at your peril.
I am the green man.
Don’t let it come close! It will swallow you whole. The woman screamed at me as I walked up the hill. I saw what she was pointing at in front of me. A giant swirl of leaves and tendrils.
What is it I asked her. But she was running in the other direction…
Then I noticed the thing was moving, it was edging towards me. I turned to run but there was another one. It had sneaked behind me when I wasn’t looking.
I jumped in fright, ducked and tripped. Falling and running at the same time, I twisted as the tendrils touched my coat, desperate not to let them touch my flesh.
A hand grabbed my shoulder and arm, it pulled me away from the plants.
You don’t want to let a Triffids get you. A man pushed me into his car. We drove away.
Now I’m in London, I still don’t know what’s going on. Hopefully I can find out?
We put up two little greenhouses for the tomatoes this year. We’ve given them plenty of food and water. It’s a bit shady, not the usual place we put them, and they have grown leafy, but with very few flowers, and they don’t seem to have set. It’s getting too late for tomatoes now. On the other hand the local shop gave us some very withered and dried up small tomato plants yesterday but they have fruit growing on them. Weird… Anyway I guess I’m lucky we had other produce xxx
Mallaband-Brown