May's :: Pick and Mix

It's pick and mix time again at the summerhouse. A post of  the little bits and pieces of Summerhouse life, so help yourself to fruit jelly, my favourites are the peach ones.

The view from the window.

 

I took this photo of view earlier this morning, it's been a cold and cloudy day here at the Summerhouse, not feeling much like the middle of May at all. I'm loving how lovely the trees are looking in this shot, I'm glad I managed to get a shot of the blossom before it was lost to the winds.

Sweet peas

Do you remember, in last months pick and mix when I blogged about planting my sweet peas 'here'. Well they've being growing really well on the windowsill, maybe a little to well, I pinched the tops out a couple of times, but they really needed to be planted out, I felt quite sorry for them keeling over and clinging to each other for support, but I didn't want them to be planted out with all the stormy winds of late.

So at the end of last week P helped with planting them in the border by the Summerhouse, I've got a new obelisk for them this year after the old one fell to pieces, isn't it sweet, like something you'd find outside a hobbit house.

It's quite tall so they have got plenty of room for growing and flowering, I can't wait until the first flowers are blooming.

Birdie Brooches

Do you remember my post a week or so ago about making a bird brooch to help raise funds for the charity Ovacome, 'here' well this week at craft club, we got all the brooches together, don't they make a sweet little flock. Lindy has been busy making lots of other items to take up to London this weekend for the charity. You can check them out 'here' on her blog.

Out in the garden

So much has been going on out in the garden, now that Spring is in full swing and  Summer is hopefully on the way. I've been taking photo's over the month and here are a few of them. Carefully taken to hide the weeds, believe me there are plenty. Seriously you could build a Dandelion army!! with whats growing in the garden. First up we have this pretty Aubretia, I love the colour sooo much.

And the tulips have done so well this year, these are the pink and purple ones from the Summerhouse border.

But best of all were the stunning tulips at the front of the house. Yes I know I've already waxed lyrical about them in my 'three things post' but I just couldn't leave them out of the pick and mix. Sadly the stormy winds of this week have put pay to them, so I'm glad I managed to take some photo's of them at there best.

These are the Bluebells growing on our Rockery, I do love them so and hopefully sometime soon I'm going to make it to a Bluebell wood.

I also love love love the colour of this Honesty, There is loads of it growing in our wildlife strip, this year, I know some consider it a weed but it's a favourite of mine. I figure a weed  is just a plant in the wrong place and this beautiful plant  is definitely growing in the right place, in the wildflower border so that's fine by me.

I'm also over the moon happy with the ring of bluebells growing around our lovely Horse chestnut tree by the Summerhouse.

I was very lucky to catch this lovely little butterfly on the peach blossom, I took this photo last year but couldn't resist putting it in the pick and mix. I think it's a female orange-tip we usually have lots in the garden as they like the orange blossom plants we have dotted around.

and of course the lovely Camellia

Merlin has also been enjoying spending lots of time out in the garden.

Where as Dylan our other mog has been too busy having duvet days for the great outside, here he is in my comfy bed !!!! I'm sure he thinks he's a person as he loves to snuggle down with the duvet over him!!

All about Alice

At my local craft club this week we were set a new book to create crafts about. You can read more about the last one on Moby Dick here, this time it's Alice in Wonderland.  It years since I read the book. So I being wracking my brain as to what I could make. I've come up with a couple of ideas. 

The first is to do some postcard sized watercolour and ink paintings of images from the book and then set them onto another piece of card so they look like playing cards, the plan is then to attach them onto a backing paper to look as if the cards have been dropped. What do you think? I not entirely certain that my art skills are up to the job ? but I'm going to give it a try.  Above is a trial run, it's of a giant Alice so big only half of her fits on the card, I have plans to do the Hatter and rabbit and some other characters from the book too.

Although I do have a back up plan if my paintings are so bad they look like a child has done them and I can't face them going into a local exhibition, which is to decorated a Mad Hatter top hat, more on that another day.

Summerhouse songs

I thought I'd be brave and share another one of my original songs on here. Like last months pick and mix when I shared a clip of my song the 'The Sailor Bride'   This song is called 'Someday' copyright Clare Banks 2011, and it  has more of a Americana feel.  This clip was recorded in a friends kitchen  a couple of years ago with Chloe Overton on mandolin and singing harmonies, it was just recorded on my camera after we'd been working on  the song, so the quality's not the best.Let me know what you think of it? Since my last pick and mix post I've still not been well enough to make it out to play at my local folk club.  I do miss going out and listening to live music and being well enough to play at folk club and the local Americana session.

Hopefully the clip plays OK if you click on it, at some point I'll get around to finishing recording, some my songs on the eight track, I just need to find some energy from somewhere first.

Well that's all for today I hope you enjoyed your meander through May's pick and mix

Clare xx