Tag Archives: bee

Petersham Nurseries

I finally got to visit Petersham Nurseries this summer and I must say it was lovely.  The nursery is tucked away from the main road and could easily be missed, but once you negotiate the little lane it opens out into an oasis of calm.  I discovered the limited parking after driving down Church Lane and finding no spaces – at this point it started to rain and I had to do a 3-point turn in the tiny lane and park elsewhere.   But, determined to sample the tea and cake, I battled on.

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Garden collage

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Pot collage

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Cake collageThe flowers were exquisite and I took so many photographs.  I couldn’t leave without treating myself to a new cactus and even managed to buy a birthday present in the gift shop for a ‘difficult to buy for’ gardener.

Garden Posts (Part I – Making)

Over the last few months I’ve been busy working on a new mosaic, well three mosaics actually, to cover the plain concrete fence posts on our patio.  I took lots of photographs as it helps to look at the design from a different perspective.   So, I hope this post will show the process I use and give you some idea of the detail involved.

I decided to work the three panels at the same time so the design would flow.  I wasn’t working to any plan, I just knew in my head what I wanted it to look like.

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When it came to making a butterfly, I started experimenting.  I took a piece of plain glass and cut it to shape and then painted the back with several layers of nail varnish.  It worked out beautifully for this and another butterfly, so I used this method again for snails, ladybirds, dragonfly and bees wings.

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This little spider was a regular visitor.

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Even though it was blisteringly hot, our extremely furry dog would sit in the shade and stare at me, willing me to put my cutters down and play football.

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I wanted to include as many garden visitors as possible, even the ones that aren’t always welcome, so snails had to be included!IMG_81576 frog collage resize

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I took a photograph of this moth sitting on a window and followed it’s simple lines in mosaic.IMG_8332 Collage resize

At the very bottom of the panels I used stained glass to make grass and added another snail and a hedgehog.

Next – sunburnt shoulders, cement hands and the installation ……

 

Garden Ball

This terracotta ball has been another project that I started and shelved some time ago.  But with the promise of Spring in the air and little crocuses and tete-a-tete daffodils popping out of the ground, I was once again inspired.  And I’m so glad because it is probably one of my favourite pieces to date.

Citronball N1

Citronball butterfly

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Citronball dragonfly

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Citronball bee

I’m hoping to see lots of butterflies, dragonflies and bees in my garden this year……..

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…… but maybe not so many snails !

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