Flutterby Patch

Foxglove country

It's foxglove time here in Lakeland and Beatrix Potter, who lived in the area, added these tall pink flowers to several of her illustrations. Here is an example from 'The Tale of Jemima Puddle-duck'.

..... 'Jemima searched for a convenient dry nesting place. She rather fancied a tree-stump amongst some tall foxgloves'..... (Sounds idyllic doesn't it).

Foxgloves above Tarn Hows. This lovely place was one of the many Lakeland 'beauty spots' bought by Beatrix Potter to save them from destruction by developers. It is now owned and cared for by the National Trust.

The narrow lanes round here are all edged by foxgloves so tall and heavy-headed they almost topple over.

This is Brantwood, the home of John Ruskin until his death in 1900. With magnificent views over Coniston Water and the mountains beyond it is open to the public and there is a vast selection of Ruskin's work on display.

Just look at the view Ruskin got from his upstairs windows. Across the lake is the village of Coniston and the mountain that watches over the village has the splendid name 'The Old Man of Coniston'.

Close to Brantwood, and taking shelter from the wooded hill behind, is this pretty stone cottage which is typical of those found around the area.

Once you have looked round Ruskin's house you are free to explore the garden he created. On the edge of the garden, next to the car park, are some enormous rhododendrons. Just look at the height of this one!

As it was such a hot day I walked along the lake shore.

But all too soon it was time to return home. On the way back we passed the lovely Yew Tree Farm which was once owned by Beatrix Potter. It was used in the recent 'Miss Potter' film as the location for Hill Top her Lakeland home. Yew Tree Farm is now owned by the National Trust and remains a working farm. The traditional tea room in the house was first opened to visitors in 1933 and is the perfect place to enjoy light refreshments on a hot day.

I'm ending this post with more foxgloves. When I was a child my granny always treated me to a glass of lemonade and chocolate biscuits on this pretty plate with a pink foxglove design. It was part of an art deco set dating from 1930 but sadly only plates and saucers remain. They are now in my safe hands!

Time for some light refreshments I think.

Until next time,
Eli

Buried treasure

Have you ever dug up anything old and interesting in your garden? Wouldn't it be wonderful to live on the site of a medieval village or a Roman fort, a place where hundreds of people have spent their lives and discarded everyday items. What fun it would be unearthing objects from the past.

Unfortunately our garden is not on a site of historic interest but a few years ago a new water main was laid under our road and as the deep trench was being dug a variety of interesting objects came to the surface. There were a number of ink bottles and here are a few of the undamaged ones that I found.

And there were numerous aqua glass bottles. Don't you just love that colour?

I was cautious when picking up these medicine bottles for fear they might still contain something toxic. Embossed in large letters on the blue bottle are the instructions 'NOT TO BE TAKEN' (I hope no one did!)

Broken china lay everywhere and I gathered the blue and white shards with plans to make a mosaic one day. I'm still planning and adding to the stash whenever I break a plate!

Throughout Britain people keep a watchful eye open for 'buried treasure' but unfortunately broken clay pipes are often all that is found. Most men smoked them in days gone by and when they broke they were instantly thrown away. The one pictured above is a typical 'find'.

And here is the kind of treasure I'd love to discover. They are early British silver coins dating back to around 1250 and I bought them a few years ago from an auction sale. They'd been found by someone using a metal detector and are not particularly valuable but to me they are priceless. I love the idea that these tiny silver discs were being exchanged for goods and services over 700 years ago. Were they lost by their owner or maybe hidden from robbers and forgotten. They must have a few interesting stories they could tell!

I suppose I should just keep digging and one day I might discover some real treasure!

Until next time,
Eli

Green shady places

After last week's colourful 'rosie post' I thought I'd take you to some of the shadier parts of our garden. Neglected corners where ferns and brambles thrive.

Let's follow this little path and see where it leads.

 
We could leave the garden by this little 'secret gate' in the hedge. But we won't, we'll head for the far corner of our patch.

This is my husband's domain. It's where weeds and hedge clippings that aren't suitable for composting are piled high ready for burning. As an ex-Boy Scout my husband really enjoys having bonfires (the bigger the better!) The large logs are from a larch tree he felled and I'm not sure if this arrangement is meant to be an artistic 'log-man sculpture', a chopping block or a seat. It probably serves as all three.

We are surrounded on all sides by woodland. As you can see it is quite dense at this time of year but lovely in all seasons. We enjoy watching roe deer, badger, fox and rabbit in the wood but not in the garden as they can wreak havoc. Deer and rabbit eat anything and everything; badgers dig up the lawn looking for worms and the fox raids the dustbin....complete chaos! Most of the time we manage to keep them out thanks to a high fence.

Back to our garden and this is a safe refuge for small mammals and birds. What a perfect reason for not moving this tangle of fallen branches interlaced with brambles. I guess it could be home to a great many different creatures so we are happy to leave it undisturbed.

But who's this little fellow? He's certainly not one of the creatures I was expecting to see! I wonder where he's going with his bundle of feathers? Let's follow him.

I think he's disappeared up these old stone steps and is hiding in the shadows. We'll creep up very quietly and see if we can find him.

Ssh! Don't make a sound. He's sitting over there. I wonder what he's up to?

He seems to be busy stuffing his soft downy feathers into a cotton bag. I do believe he's making a pillow.

Oh dear! He must have spotted us. His little stone seat is empty and he's left one of his feathers behind. Did you see which way he went?

Perhaps we should leave him in his shady green home and head back into the warm sunlight where the flowers bloom. We'll return again later in the summer and see if the little fellow is anywhere to be seen.

This little hobbity fellow is the same size as my Midsummer fairies and measures just 4 -5 inches (10cm - 12cm)

Until next time,
Eli