Look what's grown!

Last year, at the end of the season, I bought a very sad looking lily from a garden centre, largely because I felt sorry for it and it was being sold off cheap. Its leaves had been nibbled by vine weevils and it was generally rather the worse for wear.

At the start of the year, the new little shoots suffered from late frosts, depredation by slugs and an attempted incursion by lily beetle. (This was strange. I only found one, which was squished immediately. I haven't seen traces of either them or their disgusting larvae since. Here's hoping).

It's only a very small lily, around 40 cm high - but look at the bloom it's rewarded me with! There are two more huge buds waiting to open, and this one's about 21cm across. But you'd never have guessed from last year that it was capable of a performance like this!

P xxx

I wouldn't describe myself as a digital artist, but...

Actually, the main reason for putting this on here is so that I can send it to Gretel at Real Illustrators cos for it's her birthday!

I've been experimenting with Photoshop recently, which is something of a departure for me on account of the fact that the only way in which I could be described as a 'digital artist' would be down to the fingers which seem to grow on each hand!

Still, I hope that because it's a swift, it makes you think of summer ...

CAS xxx

Illustration Friday - Dance!!

Here are some very elegant bears dancing gracefully round a rose bush. It's a pity to think that 'Ring a ring o' roses' is actually a reference to the Black Death, but these bears don't seem concerned.

I gather that there are some illustrators who don't like it when people put links on Illustration Friday which relate to work they did yonks ago. Well, I put up my hand. I'm an offender. But it does mean I actually get to put up SOMETHING, which I just wouldn't have time to do if it was all starting from scratch.














So, hope you like this one anyway ....

CAS xxx

Yay! Looks like we're back on air!

Blogger seems to have had some technical problems over the last couple of days - I haven't been able to put up any new posts, or even publish comments. Never mind! It all seems to be sorted now! Anyway, this is the final one in the series of Puflet's window cleaning adventures ...

Still cleaning Windows ...

Puflet has to stand on the window sill to reach the higher levels.

He is clearly having lots of problems with those white streaks you get when you have lots and lots of soap suds. You know, when every time you wipe one line away, you have two others and so on...!

This cleaning cloth is one of the yellow jobs with red sewn edges.

CAS xxx

Cleaning the windows of Puflet Palace

Puflet is normally quite shy about being seen in public places, but here he is, cleaning the first of the windows of Puflet Palace. Eventually, the Palace will have a gallery all its own where people can go and look at pictures.

Hence the need for a spring (?) summer clean.

He'll probably do the next one tomorrow.

CAS

xxx

This is where I went on my 'olidays. Well, some of it.

I have to confess to not being much of a one for taking holiday photos, unless they're for reference purposes. If you're going around looking at the world through a camera lens it's very easy to miss interesting things, fall over people, put your foot in a puddle or not notice you're about to fall backwards off a cliff.

Anyway, we went to the Chippenham Folk Festival (cold and wet) and then went via Glastonbury to stay with friends in a wonderfully remote part of Devon. These shots were all taken in the Somerset Museum of Rural Life, in Glastonbury. This first one is of a tithe barn - I do love the timbering they used on these things.















And here we have what I assume is a cider press - though if any of you know better I'm prepared to believe it. It's just that it was Somerset, and it looked too big to be used for pressing flowers.




















And, finally, a view of Glastonbury Tor from the yard at the Museum. It seemed much more effective to take it from ground level, cos for the Tor itself is EXTREEEMLY steep, and the top of it was awfully windy (see also my comments on why you don't want to spend your holidays looking through a camera lens, above). Considering we are supposed to be having the worst drought for 100 years, don't you think that the countryside looks rather green? And somebody forgot to tell the Rain Gods in Chippenham that they were in drought mode.





















Still, it meant that we came back to a nice, green, lush garden where Nelly Moser is just starting to flower ...

Love,

CAS xxx