Strawberry Surprise

We have been delighting in the delicious, juicy berries

from our garden this year,

so I thought I'd make a brooch

to celebrate!

Dornoch Day!

This was what it was like when

we arrived at Dornoch beach today.

My girls walked off towards the sea,

and vanished from sight.

Thankfully the sun burned through the mist

and we had a lovely day out.

When you are going to make a big sandcastle,

you need a big spade!

You are never too old to play!

17 going on 10.

It's fun to splash about in a hole with your big sister,

and sandcastles are the best...

...but there is nothing nicer than a cosy cuddle

after a spot of paddling.

There be dragons!

I swear that creature had a cheeky face!

My dh, Rod, has a new toy. It's a Fuji Finepix S8100.

This little fellow paid us a visit this afternoon,

and posed extremely obligingly for it's photo.

I'm still trying to identify the species

at the British Dragonfly Society.

http://www.dragonflysoc.org.uk/

Rainy Day

It's rather grey and wet today, and we have visitors,

so not much time to do anything creative just now.

I thought I'd show you this little expresso pincushion

I made a while ago out of a lovely little vintage coffee cup.

Fresh from the Garden

I am on the Church flower rota this week

and this is my humble effort.

God's creation is so beautiful!

These are all from the garden, except for the green

ferny foliage, which is from the roadside! (Sweet Cicely)

It's been a while since I did any flower arranging,

I forgot what a delightful thing it is to do.

Polymer Poppy

I couldn't resist creating a poppy in polymer clay.

It was a fiddly business, but I'm quite pleased with the result.

It's about a quarter of he size of the real thing.

It is now a brooch.

Today I...

Today, I have

• sanded a floor,
• laid a few bricks (edge for the lawn),
• been for a walk
• not made the dinner

but I haven't done much on the creative side.

Never mind, there is always tomorrow - I hope!

Naomi cooked for us tonight - it was great.

Thanks Naomi! (my nearly 15 year old daughter)

Here is her little sister Gabriella sitting in a field

just down a bit from our house.

Poppy Love

The weather has been conducive to gardening lately,
and so I have been outdoors much of the time.
These poppies are beautiful at the moment.
They are in the new bed in front of my new studio.
I am pretentiously calling this my "artists flower bed",
as I hope to grow a parade of colour here.

The studio is not quite finished inside,
I still have to sand and varnish the wooden floor,
but I don't want to be stuck indoors while the
weather is so pleasant.