May has been and almost gone.
We've been feeling a bit more unsettled as the UK now has different
lockdown rules for different areas. As we live close to the border
between Scotland and England there has definitely been more traffic
which is worrying. We live in a lovely community where our wee shops happily deliver your
shopping to the door, but we’re unsure of when we will be back with family
and friends. We must stay strong and think of others, and stay at home. Home for me is where I love to be, so I'm not missing much to be honest.
I have my family, my animals and my garden here, and I'm enjoying having
time to try new techniques and styles with my art. I've fallen in love with pen drawings especially. I like the feeling that there's
no room for error, you can't simply rub out a wrong line. It really makes
you think about texture, shading and shape using only a pen. This drawing is
of a friend's dog - he's a real character and I hope I've managed to capture that.
Amber and I have spent time collecting and pressing flowers, grasses
and leaves from the garden and field, and we're planning to create some
pieces of art from this.
As the daffodils and primroses die back, there's plenty of new colour and
growth bursting through. Wild garlic and bluebells are everywhere in the
garden, and the normally boggy part of the field is like a burst of sunshine
from the marsh marigolds and buttercups, forget me-nots, cuckoo flower
and wood violets peppered in garden and field.
Trees and shrubs are thickening up with lush green tones and our oaks are
still very slowly opening their leaves. What were brown beech hedges are
now a burst of green leaves.
Many of our garden birds nest are empty as young have fledged, but a few
left are still filled with hungry chicks. A roe deer left a special delivery just behind our house, as she went off
to graze, popping back and forth to check.
Roe deer give birth and leave quickly, because the fawn has no scent when
born, and a predator would smell the mother deer. Fawns aren’t like horses’
foals that are up on their feet quickly. They will lie still, managing to hold
their wobbly heads up, then will curl up and sleep, and feed once the mother
is back. When she returns, she opens her mouth and makes a clicky noise
to locate her youngster. As a family we have enjoyed seeing the two together daily. They seem to
be used to us going about, but the doe stays very alert at all times. I can't wait to sit down to draw or paint this beautiful creature. I wonder what will turn up in our garden next? I'm completely in love where
I live. I'm grateful to the delights from wildlife that just seem to appear,
they really do lift your feelings. But you need to play your part by taking
the time to really look at nature. Spending time outside is really good for
you, so embrace the weather, wear appropriate clothing and enjoy at your
pace. You may be surprised what you find.
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR
● flowering wild garlic
●new growth on trees and shrubs ●listen to bird calls on your walk ●photograph wild flowers
Stay safe everyone Wildlife carries on and so will we See you next month