March is the month I allocate to mass-making my gifty robins and topping up any hares that have sold out. The garden is very busy, so on dry days I am out sowing, mowing and moving plants. If I have worked hard over winter with my crafting, website and Etsy, I can garden at my leisure.
Friday 1st March
The garden is only just coming to life with early tulips and daffodils, primroses and hellebores, but there is a lot of sowing of seeds for summer colour. I am particular in my colour combinations for flowers, I deem it my research for colours I use in my crafts.
I'm busy planting out sweet peas, this photograph of last year's peas is wonderful for its colour quality, with the flowers merging into the wallpaper, purple accents of petals reflected in the
dark grey print of the wallpaper. Even the water in the simple jam jar is of the same greys and I love the grey/green stalks offering a contrasting colour complimented with the weathered wooden crate.
Monday 4th March
A lesson learnt that things are never forever! I had this bright multi-coloured chunky wool which I have used to make an unusual drafty. The background colour for the draft excluder is a pastel rainbow, though in the photo there is only purple, to blue to green and until it is complete, the full colour spectrum is so subtle in change that it'll only be evident once it is finished. The drafty isn't the important thing here, hence the poor colour quality of the photo, but the chunky wool has been a nightmare for me.
I had the wool for ages with no particular purpose but it was just really pretty, waiting for the perfect project. After deciding to use noticeably different thickness wools to add an interesting feature of Drafties, I found I had a wonderful pastel rainbow range of wools and so set about making this Drafty. I was so excited about having a great idea I didn't check the amount of chunky wool there was on the ball and ran out halfway through! Such a rookie mistake! Anyway, I thought 'No problem, I'll just nip up the road and get another ball!'. Unfortunately, this wool has been discontinued and despite roaming the internet it was definitely all gone. I had one last search using different words and eventually. I found one lady selling one ball and some scraps! So many lessons learnt here: 1. Don't assume everything is forever, 2. Persistence prevails, 3. 'Ask and it's Given', positive thought works!
Friday 8th March
It was a glorious day! Look at what was in the post! It is a fabulous day when all three of your plant and seed retailers deliver their catalogues and offers on the same day! I have already made small orders, I have so much more control these days! In the past it would be 'want, add to cart', but these days I have cut my plant spending right down. Instead, I collect my own seed, take cuttings from existing plants and swap with neighbours. It is still great to look through the flower books for inspiration and ideas
Wednesday 13th March
This photograph is a close-up of the herb Rosemary. As mentioned last month I have been juicing each morning and a fab juice is apple, pear and rosemary. When I was taking snips for the juices I noticed how beautiful the rosemary flower is. I love the blue/purple shade of the flowers when the bush is viewed in full, but just look at how amazing the detail and colour is! Here are the same colours as the jar of sweet peas, particular favourites of mine, but I really was quite surprised that I had never noticed these close-up colours!
Perhaps what is most disturbing is that after all this time, I have only just noticed this. Am I slipping with my attention to colour detail?
Friday 15th March
Robin Time!
Once a year in March, I allocate five solid days to making my stock of 100 gifty robins. It is a long, slow slog, but when I remind myself of how much people love these freebies, it is much easier to carry on making them! I pick a stack of DVDs and slowly work my way through the processes. Here are 100 organza bags filled with lavender and 100 jute twine knotted loops ready to make the robin bodies.
Saturday 16th March
After making robin bodies yesterday I have sore fingers and string burns, so the second day of robin making is cutting the wools ready for construction. Here you can see a bag of the bodies made yesterday and bundles of 5 robin brown colours, where each year has a slightly different colour hue. I use two shades of spicy, rust orange for their chests and a warm grey for the little dash robins have under their wings. I will start making the robins after a day of finger rest!
Monday 18th March
Here he is, one of the MANY robins I have made, this one has the holly and jingle bell embellishment (available on Etsy), but the majority are ready to be gifties, and are sent out with each first boxed order!
and my Robin colour study:
Wednesday 20th March
I have been wanting to draw a large A2 doodle for a while now, but it is a big commitment as it takes ages to do, maybe 2 weeks, so I have to have enough time to complete it. I find if I start a large piece but draw it in stages, there isn't the natural flow that I seem to achieve when I draw the whole thing in one go!
Until I have the time I have been doodling small tiles in my bullet journal, also experimenting with using colour in different ways. Most of these ideas have
come from studying my garden! Working small tiles is a great way to experiment before developing the ones that work well on a larger scale!
Friday 22nd March
We have been juicing for over a month now and it is going really well. The colours of each juice is incredible, this one is apple, cucumber and mint. It's very refreshing, but not a great one for suppressing your appetite
Sunday 24th March
I have been wanting to get some photographs of Sleaford for my blog on Life in Lincolnshire, but with the constant heavy grey cloud, it has been a long wait. I also wanted to get photographs without cars and people, so I had planned to get to Sleaford for 7 am on a Sunday. With it only being March and the sun low in the sky, it meant that the shadows would be harsh, and I wouldn't be able to take photos facing East, which was a pain. If it were mid-summer the sun would be higher in the sky and so not shining into
my camera and therefore I would have got some great shots. Maybe in mid-summer, I will retake these photos as some of them are lovely. This is St Denys church looking down Carre Street, no cars and no people.
Our Honey
Loving Lincolnshire
Study of Boston
More Farmers More Food
Study of Sleaford
Tuesday 26th March
With it being so cold, wet, grey and basically rubbish, I have been in the greenhouse potting up my tubs for the summer. This photo from last year shows pots of Phlox, Bloody Mary nasturtiums and pot marigolds with blue and white harebells and Californian poppies in the bed behind. This year we are removing all the narrow lawn paths and replacing them with green granite chippings. I'm very excited as I am sick of mowing the awkward paths and crawling along cutting the grass over bricked edges.
Not because it is a boring job, (I don't mind this sort of task as I can think of creative things whilst I do it!), it's just that it takes a long time. Having gravelled paths will save me a day a week in mid-summer, plus my flowering pots will look amazing on stone rather than with tufty grasses around the bottom!
Cottage Garden Design
Quintessential Cottage Garden
Cottage Garden In The Summer
Sunday 31st March
HOPPY EASTER!
Here are the Easter bunnies relaxing after a night of delivering eggies! Stella, in the middle, has been fully accepted by the two Bakewells, which is great for her to be with her own kind, but it does mean she doesn't spend as much time with us. It's so funny watching her squeeze between the other two and we don't know how she does it because you can't get your hand between the two Bakewells!
I had to just add this screenshot because it is so funny. With every photograph that is put on my website, I have to add 'tag words' describing what is in the picture so that my images show up in relevant searches. The website provider automatically generates tag words, which 50% of the time have to be deleted as they are irrelevant or wrong. Look at the two tags beside the green arrows, so funny!
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Thanks for another wonderful read and photos, it’s great to read if your antics, plans, creativity and your garden. Thanks for sharing. Michelle xx