It's Been a Sketchy Sort of Week

It can't all be good, but mostly it is when I am in the garden with the birds.

Garden gate - watercolour sketch

It’s been a sketchy sort of week.

The weather has been all over the place, from hot t-shirt wearing sunny days to chilly evenings benefiting from a blast of central heating. We’ve had misty rain, heavy stair-rod rain and crashing thunderstorms followed by fairytale rainbows. Winter jumpers have been in and out of storage like yo-yos, shorts, nearly made it on to my very pasty looking legs but shorts are pretty useless for pottering around the garden as there are so many stinging nettles just waiting to prey on any bare skin that happens to be walking by.

I should have remembered that on Saturday morning when I decided to pull out a patch of nettles noticed when I was feeding the birds, still in my dressing gown. Optimistic as always that I would be able to avoid getting stung, away I went, pulling out thick hairy stalks with huge tough leaves, some of them taller than me. Of course I got stung to bits and my legs and arms itched with the uncomfortable sensation of pins and needles all day long.

In between the rain, the nettle stings and bloody scratches from trying to outmanoeuvre two pyracanthas who didn’t want to be detached from their rotting wooden posts, there were of course plenty of moments to be joyful for. The garden doesn’t have to try too hard to make me forget the not so pleasant jobs, they are part and parcel of gardening at the end of the day and without the scrapes and the scuffs the end results would not be so rewarding.

Opposite The Cottage - Rainbow after a May Storm

As always, the garden and its inhabitants have a way of raising the spirits with small moments that fill the soul with gladness and this week the birds have made their usual contribution to the happiness pot. The familiar mew of the resident buzzards as they soar in circles above the cottage is a sound I never tire of and I am grateful beyond words to be able to spend a small part of my life in their presence. Watching two fledging great tits calling and being fed in the hedge just outside the kitchen window took up far too much of my time but well worth every minute standing at the sink trying to keep perfectly still so as not to frighten them away. A tawny owl has been visiting at dusk. Perching on a nearby telegraph pole to survey his surroundings then swooping low and silently past the window, disappearing for a while then flying back to wait for another opportunity to feed. In the Autumn, when the owls are looking for a mate before building their nests, the ‘twit’ of the female and the answering ‘twoo’ of the male can be heard in the darkness, a sign of the changing seasons, just as welcome as the cuckoo call heralding the Spring.

A new quiet spot by the side of the studio is the perfect place to sit in the shade listening to the chirrups and tweets of the birds who live in and around the garden. This week I have seen the usual robins and blackbirds who share the space with the tits; great, coal, blue and long-tailed. Wood pigeons and collared doves make themselves known with their gentle coo-cooing. Greenfinches, chaffinches, goldfinches, a jay, a songthrush, the kestrel in the field opposite and of course the majestic buzzards, not forgetting the much smaller but just as bewitching wrens and little dunnocks, who I still like to call shufflewings, as that is what they do.

The recent incessant rain may be more than we are used to in the UK but I think I am becoming accustomed to it. I have noticed I no longer puff in disappointment when I peek behind the bedroom curtains in the morning and see the raindrops on the path below. Chores indoors seem more enjoyable when I know I can’t get outside where you would usually find me in fine weather. Days are a mixture of showers and blue skies, as I am writing this we have just had an almighty downpour but now the sky is summer blue with a few slow moving fluffy clouds. Apologies to those awaiting balmy days full of nothing but warm sunshine but, dare I say it, I quite like this meteorological yin-yang and it would appear I am not the only one.

Hostas, one of my all time favourite plants and one I have more than anything else of in the garden, are positively glowing with health. If I have a space, it will more than likely be filled by a hosta, such is my affection for this versatile architectural plant. They are just so easy to work with, easy to divide, their impressive foliage seems to compliment anything they are planted next to, they do well in containers if kept well watered and the leaves are incredibly beautiful, if you like green. There are several varieties planted in the ‘woodland’ area with its ferns, foxgloves and shade loving perennials. More are enjoying life up by the wildlife pond which is full to the brim at the moment. Usually I would be topping it up at this time of the year after a few warm days, but the rain is doing my work for me and there is more to spare in water butts and buckets for the next few weeks if the pond needs it.

A Cool Spot to Sit

On a drier day I managed to squeeze in a little bit of very quick watercolour sketching, something I have been neglecting recently due to limited time but I enjoyed painting these little mementos of the garden. Thirty minutes for a spot of mindfulness never goes amiss and, as always, I would urge anyone to get a sketchpad and pen to have a go. I use Unipin Water and Fade Proof Fineliners and a cheap set of watercolour paints, for this sort of thing you don’t need to splash out on expensive paints and brushes, especially if you are just starting out.

So there you are, a week of gardening ups and downs but the ups win, every single time.

Have a wonderful week and thank you for being here, it’s a privilege to share my thoughts and garden with you.

Lots of love,

Lindsey x

Your messages are like little treasures and are gratefully received. Thank you to those who regularly take the time to leave a comment, every one is very much appreciated.

I am on holiday next week, up to God’s Own Country in beautiful Yorkshire. I will try to post something while I am away but hope you will understand if I disappear into the hills for a few days for a much needed rest and catch up with my gardening widower husband for a while. My son promises to take over feeding the birds every day so hopefully they will still be here when I get back.