Antiques

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Hannah

Today we headed to a small town along the River Exe called Topsham. It was once a thriving port and many of the houses are in the distinctive style of the dutch merchants of the time. It’s full of little alleys like the one I’ve drawn. Since moving away from Devon I have collected so many great regional words for these sorts of alleys. Vennels, ginnels, closes…to name a few!

There is a brilliant antiques warehouse on one of the old quays in Topsham. I love going and could easily spend alot of money there. Today I really fancied a wooden postbox and deckchair from a steamer. Never mind where on earth we’d put them in our house or how I’d get them back to Scotland!

Such considerations were far from my mind on a not dissimilar day not long before I got married. Getting married necessitated moving and my friends in my old job had been really generous towards my leaving collection. I wanted to get something special for my married life ahead. I spotted the chest of drawers from the door and I knew it was for me.  But it wouldn’t fit in my car. Nor would it fit in my Dad’s car. I managed to rope in a friend with a van to move it to Yorkshire for me but he wouldn’t be down to Devon for another month. How was I going to get it back to my parents’ house?

I’d hire a van! And my poor Dad would drive it! Brilliant. The chest of drawers was soon loaded into the back of the van. I surveyed my new purchase with pride. It was then that the van door was caught by a gust of wind. Swinging out into the passing traffic it met the side of a car. A deep scratch screeched down the whole length of the car. It stopped abruptly.

I knew this was going to be bad because the car was immaculate and had doilied cushions in the back window. I just knew that the owner of this car was someone who owned a small dog and spent a lot of time on his bedding plants (not that there’s anything innately wrong with those things). I couldn’t have been more right. The gentleman who got out of the car had on beige trousers, wearing the waistband far too high, and his shirt was one of those awful thin kinds through which you can see the wearer’s nipples. This was someone who was going to enjoy making us apologise. And he did. To his credit my Dad was very well-behaved, which is not like him at all. But I never did live down that chest of drawers and whenever we go to the warehouse my Mum always comments on how nice it is to buy small things from there.

Posted in Family and friends, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Messing about on the river

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Hannah

There is a hidden spot that not many people know about along one of the rivers near to my Mum and Dad. We headed there one hot afternoon this week with my Dad’s friend and his grand children. They’re a bit older than Little Owl but she loved watching them messing about on the river in a giant inflatable ring.

There is an old ford on this part of the river so it’s an ideal spot for paddling because it’s quite shallow. There’s also some soft sandy patches along the edge of the river bank for those with tender feet. This is where Little Owl enjoyed being, chasing minnows with an old ice lolly carton.

Dragonflies hovered and danced over the water, while sand martins darted and dived after insects across the ripples. I wouldn’t have known they were sand martins except Dad’s friend knows his stuff. They nest in holes in the sandy banks. Apparently all this rain and the accompanying high river hasn’t been much fun for them this year. We also spotted a small eel that briefly reflected the sunlight before flitting under a rock.

Posted in Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Messing about on the river

Slow worm

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Hannah

I am sat in my Mum and Dad’s conservatory with the doors wide open. The evening is hot and still. The sky is tinted pink by the setting sun. What a contrast to Scotland. Although, Big Dreamer does tell me the weather has improved there.

On arriving at my Mum and Dad’s, Little Owl and I lost no time in delving into Dad’s raspberry patch. To call it a ‘patch’ is just plain wrong. Dad presides over a raspberry ‘jungle’. You’ve no choice but to dive on in because the bounty is well worth the hunt. Enormous raspberries droop from the laden branches. Little Owl’s face is soon smattered with red juice and seeds. I know there’ll be no getting the stains out of her dress, but moments like these are what life’s all about so we wade back in gleefully!

This morning we headed over the fields for a paddle in the sea. Down one shady footpath we were stopped in our tracks by this beautiful slow worm..and slow he was not! I think they’re incredible creatures; not snakes or worms but in fact, legless lizards. You can see a great video of Bill Oddie meeting one here. My sister and Little Owl weren’t so sure and they hot footed it away, squealing.

Posted in Countryside, Growing things, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Slow worm

Southerly Sojourn

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Hannah

Little Owl and I have been packing today. It is time for our annual migration south. My family are all in Devon so we try to get in one big trip every year. This year Little Owl and I are going ahead of Big Dreamer, who will join us later, because we are required for dress fittings, shoe shopping, and hair trials. My sister is getting married and Little Owl and I are to be bridesmaids! It seems we’ve chosen a good time to go. The temperatures are soaring down there, while up here the rain continues. On the farm a tractor got stuck in the mud, then the second tractor got stuck trying to pull the first one out. They’re taking the digger to them both tomorrow.

So, we have done a last bit of weeding, baked Big Dreamer a cake, and stocked up the freezer. I think he’ll survive. As you can see Little Owl has packed her bag and it’s waiting by the door. I’ll have internet down there so my aim is to keep blogging while we’re away. I hope you’ll stay with me for our                                                                               southerly sojourn over the next month.

Posted in Countryside, Family and friends, Illustration | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Broad Beans

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Hannah

Some seeds in our garden have completely failed to germinate this year. I’ve not seen hide nor hair of the beetroot, courgettes, or pumpkins. The odd spinach and lettuce has come up but nothing compared to last year. In contrast, planting the peas in tubs has been a real success and our strawberries in the hanging baskets have done well. None of it makes it to our dinner plates though. Little Owl and I are far too effective at munching as we go about our daily activities.

One thing that has been a real revelation has been chickweed. We think we may have imported it when we spread the manure over the garden as it has popped up literally everywhere and definitely wasn’t here before. You can read about the epic manure pile here if you’d like…it’s okay if you don’t want to! Apparently chickweed also tends to thrive when it’s wet so that’s one good thing about all this rain. I was busy pulling it up when one of our friends told us it’s edible. It tastes a bit like watercress and is great in salads.

The broad beans are also doing well in their fortress against the rabbits. They’re such great plants to grow here because they’re so hardy. As long as I stake them well they laugh in the face of frost and gale. I found this great recipe last year for broad bean patties from Catherine Mason’s Vegetable Heaven. You can cook them up in a big batch, stick them in the freezer, then pull them out for an interesting vegetable accompaniment to a meal all through the winter. My slightly modified (as usual!) version of her recipe goes like this…Steam your broad beans. Whizz them up with garlic, spring onions, ground coriander, parsley, egg, salt and pepper. Roll them into balls and fry on both sides. When they’re cool you can stick them in freezer bags for storing. My top tip is not to make the mixture too wet as they’re difficult to turn otherwise.

Posted in Cooking, Growing things | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Isle of Skye

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Hannah

Apart from Orkney and the Shetlands I’ve never been too bothered about visiting the Scottish Islands. Whenever I’ve read about them there always seems to be a bit of an attitude towards visitors from ‘outside’ the islands and who wants to visit somewhere you’re not welcome? I can understand where the mindset comes from. Where I grew up the term ‘grockle’ is used for tourists to the region. But it’s a way of looking at things that I’m intolerant of. Looking down on people who have saved long and hard all year to come on holiday to where you live seems rude and unkind…never mind biting the hand that feeds and all that. So, it took the presence of a lovely friend living on Skye to get me to visit for a few days this week and I’m really glad we went because it is beautiful.

I especially loved driving down through Glen Shiel to get to Skye. It’s a landscape that puts you in your place. There’s nothing playful or funny about it. This is a very serious place to live.

At the top of this post is a quick sketch of the caravan we stayed in. Next is the Fairy Glen to be found near Uig in the northern part of the island. Little Owl searched fruitlessly for fairies there and it certainly felt like they were just around the next corner. Finally, I loved these stones hanging around the traditional thatched cottages. I assume they’re to help keep the roof on in bad weather.

Posted in Family and friends, Illustration | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Synchronised lawn mowing

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Hannah

Big Dreamer has been told at work that he’s posh for calling the grass in our garden a lawn. Apparently he should say “Back Grass” and “Front Grass”. He thinks this sounds rude so is sticking with “lawn”. These perfectly serious etymological conversations reflect folk’s frustration at not being able to trim the grassy jungles appearing in everyone’s gardens because of the incessant rain.

Yesterday the sun shone periodically. There was the odd shower but nothing heavy. As if they had synchronised their watches Big Dreamer, our next door neighbour and the Farm Manager headed out to mow the grass in their respective patches at 18.00 hours. Big Dreamer comes bottom of the lawn mower hierarchy round here with his electric mower. Our next door neighbour has a petrol powered one and the Farm Manager is the king with his ride-on mower.

At 18.34 the buzz of grass cutting abruptly stopped. It had started raining again with the job only partly complete. Big Dreamer glared at the grass from the kitchen window. “There’s all that grass that won’t stop growing and those rabbits will eat everything except the grass!”

Here’s some of the poppies that are growing in our garden at the moment. The rabbits don’t eat them and they are flowering in spite of the lack of sun. Hurray! Also, just to let you know…following overwhelming contact from you fine folks we will be pursuing the ‘live and let live’ strategy concerning the wasps. You totally won me over by suggesting I could draw the inside of the nest once they moved out. Inspired I’d say!

Posted in Countryside, Illustration, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Synchronised lawn mowing

New Stock

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Hannah

Little Owl and I bumped and bobbed our way to Innerleithen today in my jumpy car. The route from our house to Innerleithen is majestic. A narrow strip of tarmac full of potholes runs along a valley bottom, enclosed on both sides by steep slopes. A rushing-gushing tributary tumbles alongside, occasionally breaking its banks onto the road. My foot is never far from the brake as Black-Faced sheep wander freely. For a while we are held up by a whole flock, shepherded by a man on a quad bike and his two collies. Little Owl shouts, “On n’grass sheep!” and tuts loudly. I held my breath every time we rattled over a cattle grid as my boot was full of precious pictures to be delivered to Carol at the Chapel Street Gallery.

Carol is a brilliant person who makes me feel like I’ve come home. She genuinely loves artists and is fabulously supportive. There is nothing pretentious about her or her gallery. She found some toys from her own children (now grown-up) for Little Owl to play with and we were soon all on our knees putting toy pigs to bed in the hay loft. My hare pictures have found a home with her until some lovely person decides to purchase them so if you’re interested do head over there. Alternatively you can pick-up a limited edition print of the originals from my online shop.

Posted in Illustration, Making changes, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on New Stock

Wasps Nest

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Hannah

Everything has gone wild while Little Owl and I have been away. The garden has grown a good foot, including the weeds! Although there’s no sign of my beetroot seedlings yet. We also have some new wild residents. Wasps have started to build a nest underneath the canopy by our front door. The nest is about the size of a golf ball and it’s beautiful; all carefully formed curves and ridges. The received wisdom is that we should get rid of it. Big Dreamer says he’ll “whack it.” Honestly!

I have been delving into my books and if we can live and let live, I’d rather. I have learnt that wasps are great for pest control in the garden, they only nest somewhere once, and they all die off in the winter. By October they’ll be long gone and unlikely to return. I don’t mind the odd sting but I think Little Owl might not agree. On the other hand Little Owl and I are off on our annual sojourn south in a couple of weeks. By the time we get back it’ll be nearly time for term to start again and we’ll be out all day. The cooler weather also means the wasps aren’t that active. Hmmm, I think we might see how things go for now…

Posted in Illustration, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

In print!

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Hannah

Here’s my Vintage Edinburgh article for Pretty Nostalgic. As it was the first issue I’d not seen what the magazine would be like. It’s very different from what I was expecting. They’ve done a grand job with my article and it’s great to see it in print. I was lucky to catch a copy of the first issue still in the shops as the second issue was out the beginning of July. The Pretty Nostalgic team won an RHS Silver Medal for their Preserving the Community garden at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show this week. Well done folks!

Little Owl fell down the stairs yesterday while trying to carry several books and hitch up her trousers. She was under Grandad’s supervision. Just to make him feel really bad she took everyone to see where she had fallen. “Roly, roly, bott, ouch,” she told us all earnestly.

Posted in Family and friends, Illustration, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment