Although I live in a town, I was brought up in the country and I am a country girl at heart I think. To this end wild flowers and weeds take up as much space as more cultured plants in my garden. And I am always deeply happy when something shifts in my green space that makes it feel more rural. This year the rough hedge on my front garden's edge has wild roses which are now in flower, and brambles and honeysuckle in bud, and jasmine. These plants are weaving through the fairly old and unkempt holly, and the hazel and hawthorn which are beginning to bush up. It's a very small stretch of hedgerow which is particularly wonderful to me because it is inhabited by sparrows and a robin this summer. These things make life feel good.

  

 My space ...

First day of the norfolk and norwich open studios event. I felt a little queasy beforehand as I've not done this before and I'm fairly reclusive to be honest. But, everyone who visited was lovely. It was a real treat to meet the people who I didn't know, and to see a few old and more recent friends. This blog post is to say thankyou to the people who came by and helped to make today an easy, gentle day. Much appreciated.

Mostly of late I have been trying to get my studios into presentable shape for the open studios event at the end of may. However a week or so back I gave myself time off to sample with dandelion petals and different mordants. This is pure play for me, and I get very excited by the range of colour that can be produced from something so free-ly available. I am continuing to pick and dry the dandelions so I have the ingredients ready for when I have more time to spare.

And a few flowers from my garden

Beach finds ..

I went to Cley yesterday with my good friend Colin, we'd been promising ourselves a trip since before Christmas but there hadn't been a good day so just not got round to it before. Still, it was worth the wait because it was a beautiful day. The sun was mostly shining but sometimes covered by dark clouds which made for a dramatic and changeable sky. And the wind was a little blustery but not cold. There might have even been a spit of rain occasionally but nothing compromising. We walked from the car park towards the little house on marsh that looks over to Blakeney, beach combing and being. It's an odd thing about beach combing you never really know what is going to draw your attention, it could be stones or shells or driftwood or scrap rope or rusted metal or ... this time I noticed a couple of strange fish things, to be honest I'd have left them there normally because they were neither of them pretty but I didn't have my camera so I have brought them home though I find them a little horrifying. I'd like to draw them, both of them, one was a skate tail, maybe, it had fierce barbs that looked like teeth and the other was a dog fish skin, after I have drawn them they will go on my compost heap, at the moment they are preserved in a lidded bucket of dry silver sand.
On a rather more delightful note the sea campion and thrift were both in full bloom on the dry marshes and as we sat to eat our lunch Colin noticed a field of blue which on investigation later turned out to be linseed or flax, very beautiful close to and at a distance. Also there were little terns nesting and fishing on the shore line. Little terns are exquisite little birds, it is hard to believe that they are tough enough to take the life that they live, nature is amazing.