Our lovely neighbour is home again after being away in China for a month where she and her brother have been constructing an amazing sculpture, the Chinese God, Thousand Mile Eye.
Thousand Mile Eye by Sue Hill and Pete Hill
Showing the scale
Sue brought us home presents – a beautifully embroidered scarf for me and a super sharp peeler for Mr S.
Beautiful scarf
We had hailstones this morning but Welly Dog smiled through it all.
Back garden from indoors in the hailstorm
While we were at The Hubble Trading Post, we treated ourselves to a beautiful piece of Navajo weaving and then, when we were in Monument Valley, also on Navajo Nation lands, we found a pretty dye chart which shows some of the natural dyes used in the making of the rugs and wall hangings.
Small wall hanging woven by El Dora Bia, Style Burntwater
Dye Chart made by Rosalyn H Washburn (Dine)
Our eldest daughter is visiting for a while to help winterise the boat and she brought a couple of presents with her, elegant 3D printed vases, one red and one black, shapes that would be impossible to make in any other way.
3D printed vase
Monday 17th September 2018
Today, a drive through more incredible landscapes from Colorado to Utah and Monument Valley, that landscape known to many from the ‘movies.’
The road to Monument Valley
Walking home from town today, we suddenly caught an unusual view of Carn Brea Castle from just near our house.
Carn Brea Castle
Our Three Wise Monkeys are now in charge of a floriferous Begonia which was yellow when we bought it, changed to pink soon after and is now this lovely peachy colour.
Begonia
This morning on Radio 4, I heard this beautiful poem by John Clare being read but I missed the introduction so don’t know why it was chosen. The summer has not been ‘beaming forth’ today as temperatures have plunged from 30C to 15C and the skies have stayed grey though the last many weeks past, we have had the most glorious sunshine.
Sonnet by John Clare
I love to see the summer beaming forth
And white wool sack clouds sailing to the north
I love to see the wild flowers come again
And mare blobs stain with gold the meadow drain
And water lillies whiten on the floods
Where reed clumps rustle like a wind shook wood
Where from her hiding place the Moor Hen pushes
And seeks her flag nest floating in bull rushes
I like the willow leaning half way o’er
The clear deep lake to stand upon its shore
I love the hay grass when the flower head swings
To summer winds and insects happy wings
That sport about the meadow the bright day
And see bright beetles in the clear lake play
Looking it up, I discovered that ‘mare blobs’ are marigolds – what a delightful name!
Just beyond the car park where I park to sing on Thursday mornings, is a garden where this statue stands, speaking to me of Serenity.
Statue in nearby garden
Our white garden is fading and blues and oranges are taking over that patch.
Day Lily
The veg trough is full! We need to eat more salads and I need to bake more cakes so that I can decorate both with Violas.
Edible flowers for cake decoration or in salads
We went on a bit of a pilgrimage today to find the new statue of Millicent Fawcett, Leader of the Suffragists, in Parliament Square, the only statue to a female among eleven men!
Millicent Fawcett
The detail on the statue is fabulous – the fabric and folds of her coat, her leather boots, her jewellery and the stitching effect on her banner…
There was a beautiful border of bee laden Lavender just nearby.
Lavender
Another of my heroes was in the square – Nelson Mandela, again with intricate detail in the bronze.
Nelson Mandela
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