Mousy Brown's House-Creating, crafting and collecting. Enjoying Life.

Aquilegia...

Aquilegia, otherwise known as Granny's bonnet or Columbine, is to me the flower that signals Summer is on it's way...arriving as they do after the other Spring flowers and filling my garden with their beautiful, delicate petals.  I've never planted any and the varieties that self seed are all the common Aquilegia Vulgaris, I think...but I would miss them so much if they failed to appear. They are particularly lovely in the evening light, lit from behind as the sun is decending.  Their flowers form a backdrop to our early Summer days, appearing in every corner of the garden, in shades from the palest pink through blues and purples...some single blooms and others like little fluffy pom poms.  The bees love them too and whenever you are near them you hear the distictive low buzz of multiple visitors enjoying their nectar.

How about you? What flower means Summer to you?

Apple Blossom

If an apple blossom or a ripe apple could tell its own story, it would be, still more than its own, the story of the sunshine that smiled upon it, of the winds that whispered to it, of the birds that sang around it, of the storms that visited it, and of the motherly tree that held it and fed it until its petals were unfolded and its form developed.

Lucy Larcom

Wild Garlic

No, this isn't a wild and lovely woodland floor...it is wild and beautiful but it is actually in my garden...under the apple tree.

Every spring we are lucky enough to enjoy gathering this wild harvest and at the same time we get to enjoy its magnificent display of blooms too!

The "fragrance" might leave a little to be desired but along with the cherry and apple blossom it is a heady part of the perfume of Spring.

This year I discovered this list of new recipes...but I'd love to hear if you have a favourite way of using it too?

Daisy Daisy...

I've been spending as much time in the garden as possible...the long grey Winter is slowly becoming Spring and I need all the vitamin D I can get.  Slowing down and sitting quietly for an hour each day, when I get back from school, makes me feel so much better and gives me the boost I need to carry on with all the chores that need doing every evening.  It doesn't happpen every day but as much as possible I get my garden chair, my knitting and a cup of tea and go out to spend time with my new chickens!  Often my needles rest in my lap as my eyes are caught by all the simple lovliness about me. Fuzzy orange bees, with their little nest holes in the grass, the garden birds busy meeting and nest building and the daisies...which this year are particulary plentiful and as I get up close reveal a complexity and beauty I so often overlook at less meditative moments in the day...

Alternative scarecrow?

The cherry blossom has been so beautiful this year and I am hoping it will be followed by an equally bumper crop of fruit.  Last year we didn't manage to pick a single cherry, the downside to sharing our garden with an enormous number of birds! I have decided to start attatching things to the branches early this year in an attempt to distract our avian friends. Wind chimes, crystals and a few Japanese fish flags are already in place and now the bunting has gone up too. I'm not sure it will work but it's worth a try and if all fails at least it looks pretty...

Mrs Pepperpot.

Our little flock of backyard bantams became sadly depleted this Winter.  With only two old silkie ladies left we decided the time had come to add a few more younger hens to the coop.  Mrs Pepperpot is a silver laced wyandotte bantam and is settling in nicely (along with her husband Mr Pepperpot).  She is laying tiny white eggs and her favourite spot is under the lilac in the sunshine.  We also added a couple of silkie/wyandotte cross bantams but they have instantly become broody and are refusing to leave their nest boxes unless forced...let me know if you have any suggestions for ways to get them out and about again, they would be greatly appreciated!

Cherry Blossom

“Is the spring coming?" he said. "What is it like?"...
"It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine...”

Francis Hodgson Burnett - The Secret Garden

Lligwy Beach.

Thanks to Instagram we discovered Lligwy Beach recently.  Not far from where we usually stop on Anglesey and yet we had no idea it was there.  A beautiful stretch of sand, shallow water a a cool beach cafe.  We spent a windy afternoon enjoying the sea air and one of us was even brave enough to get wet...

Solar Dyeing

Yesterday, appropriately bathed in sunshine, I started three solar dyeing jars. 

One contained Ivy berries (Hedera Helix).

One was topped with bark that had fallen from a Silver Birch in our garden.

One contained the skins of red onions and some fresh leaves of sorrel.

They all had a mixture of fabric scraps, some yarn and threads.

I didn't really know what I was doing BUT it was one of those occasions where I had to stop thinking and planning and just had to get on and do it...

Now I just plan to be patient...and if it doesn't work I'll just try again!

Dark day walks

In these short, dark days of Winter, I find it so hard to motivate myself to get out and walk every day. Everything calls me to stay warm, dry, cosy.  Even the dog would rather sleep by the fire than brave the chill wind and grey sky. Energy levels are low and sitting in a comfy chair with some knitting seems a much more sensible way to spend my time.

Yet, each day I get out and walk, and each day I am so glad that I made myself do it.  An hour later I return home, cheeks glowing and fingers tingling with the cold, feeling ready to tackle anything put in front of me. These dark walks are filled with inspiration, sights, smells and sounds of nature, something new every time. Skeleton trees against indigo skies, the sounds of birds roosting and the smell of smoke from wood fires in the air.

Simple pleasures.

Reminding me even on the darkest days, how much goodness there really is around us...