Saturday, 4 April 2026

Storm Dave on the way 🌧️⛈️🌧️

 

Yesterday evening we took our evening walk along the cliffs . It was hard work walking against the wind !

                                              🌧️ ⛈️🌧️  

So apparently , that wasn't Storm Dave yesterday . πŸ€”  No .... Storm Dave is still on the way .⛈️

It's going to hit the northern parts of the U.K. and Ireland later today . 

It could still be pretty windy here in Cornwall overnight .

This is going to be a severe one , so  please take care everyone , especially if you're driving  .

I suggest not walking along the cliff footpaths today and keep well back from the sea .

                                                🌧️⛈️🌧️

                                                          



Friday, 3 April 2026

More Stormy weather 🌦️


 Walking against the wind this afternoon .  Storm Dave on the horizon just brushing past the Lizard coastline . 


Stop to study shaggy lichens thriving on ancient rocky boundary walls .


Ruby buds of Thrift waiting for a bit of sunshine . 

Then home and off to the shed to prick out and pot on Cosmos seedlings .


I really should have sown each one into it's own 3"pot . I accidently dropped the seed packet and too many fell out !  
Two days later they have all come up !


I put two in each pot and a few to give away .


I have put them in the greenhouse and I hope they'll still be o.k. tomorrow .

If these don't make it I still have more seeds to sow . I love Cosmos 🩷


I couldn't find the right type of string to tie the sweet-pea and bean frames , so I cut up strips of old stockings . 

                                       Ooh la la !               Perfect ! 

Tomorrow is forecast to be gusty and later on in the day we may get severe gales .

I like to get the frames up while the earth is soft to push the poles in .

I won't be sowing beans just yet though . Maybe towards the end of the month /beginning of May and this depending on how the weather is behaving .

I need to make space on the shed bench  . The Tomatoes ... sigh ..I am just champing at the bit to get them into the greenhouse , but really ought to hold back while these wild weather fronts keep rolling in .

 Hmmm ...... we'll see ...


              Things are beginning to stir .🌿 The Tree Ferns are awakening .
 

                                                         πŸŒΏπŸ€πŸŒΏ


                                                             πŸŒΏπŸ©·πŸŒΏ   
                                                                  

                                                           πŸŒΏπŸ’›πŸŒΏ

Wednesday, 1 April 2026

Having a Rest Day - Perpetual Nature /Botanical Watercolour Journal

 

                    Cosmos is germinating !  πŸ€—πŸŒ±πŸŒ±πŸŒ±

   I've not done very much in the garden today , aching from doing too much yesterday ! 

Ricardo had a long morning at the dentist , my daughter took him , so I had some precious time to myself .

I checked all was well in the shed and remembered to add some perlite to my tomato pot/bags in the greenhouse .


It helps to get air into the compost . Glad I didn't plant the tomatoes out just yet .  

                       I gave it a good stir  .

                              I thought I might never get back up again !  🀣🌿

That mission quickly completed , I then set off to have some nice quiet time to myself doing some watercolour painting .

I  promised my good friend and therapist Hannah , that I would make time for myself , to do a Perpetual Nature/Botanical Watercolour Journal . 

I used to enjoy painting wild flowers years ago , it's very calming and I love this idea of painting something each month that I have come across in the garden or on our walks .

I have had all the bits and pieces for a long time , but just kept hitting the brick wall , couldn't get started or whenever I felt in the mood to do it I would be needed elsewhere , or there was too much noise .

I need absolute peace and quiet , nothing but the birds singing in the garden or the rain on my window .


So , at last I had some time . 

 I sat down to make a start .....but first I had to peel off all the wrappers and labels .I was originally going to do swatches of all the names and colours and numbers . And then thought that would be nice  but take forever to do .

When I was into cross stitch , I was very strict with myself to keep the labels on the skeins with all the numbers on and I have a swatch card that I made for myself all the numbers , names and colours . But now I do needle-painting or freestyle embroidery and I use my embroidery threads like paints that I choose by eye .

So I gave up with doing a paint swatch card . I will just try them out before I use them on my painting .


Rosa Gallery water colours are gorgeous !


 So are Winsor&Newton  .


But ....

           Icky , sticky and fiddly !  Next time I'm going to buy tubes instead of pans !


And then , when I was finally ready to paint . Ricardo comes home  .

Had to make my poorly boy soup and nice very soft rolls .....and treacle pudding and custard .. paracetamol and a cup of tea .....and do the washing up  .

I left him dozing in his armchair  .


    .....and went out into the garden to gather a few Violets .



It is surprising how intimidating a blank sheet of watercolour paper can be ! 

But ...

This time I smashed down that brick wall !  I could hear my dance teacher saying "Just do it !" 

            April looks a bit shaky , I might try and tidy that . 

With just one very annoying half an hour  ( he woke up ! )  being called to figure out how to make the photocopier work and make him another cup of tea and paracetamol  .

I thought I'd finished this , until I noticed a teeny tiny snail .


          I must paint him in ! 🐌🌿..... and then take him back out into the garden .

          We are very excited as our granddaughter is going to be on the news tomorrow ! 

                       Goonhilly Earth Station .....not far from us ..and ....

                 πŸŒ•  Something about the NASA  Artemis 11 Moon Mission   πŸš€

                       That's all I know at the moment .

                                    Hope the weather is good for the launch !

                                                    Peace and Love 

                                                            πŸ€πŸ•Š️

                                                         Debbie x