Restoring the flight of the bumble bee.

As I was at the back door this morning feeding the trio of warring robins whilst trying to explain to two of them (the other one is quite happy with suet pellets!) that there are no more mealworms until I've been shopping, this little stripey fella literally fell out of the sky.

Well it is no weather for bumble bees today, wet and windy, so I fetched a spoon of good old Devon flower honey (from the Quince honey farm, its delicious!) and added a drop of water and popped it near the bee.  He/she (I really don't know too much about bees, is there only the one female?  are all the busy worker ones males?  must do some research...) anyway, he or she found their way to the edge of the spoon and began to drink.

I didn't get a shot of the miraculous recovery but I gently moved the spoon, with bee still drinking, and placed it in the sunshine (when it came out) by the flowers and within about five minutes it had restored it's energy and took flight off into the crocosmia.

So I will like to think that now this little one with return to its busy day and continue to make more delicious honey in the sunshine.

Til next time

Sal.

Breakfast and dinner!

It has been a busy few weeks here in Land Cuckoo with making stock ready for the summer holidays and fitting in some bespoke orders.

I can share with you one of these orders which has now been delivered.

Ashelford Farmhouse Retreat is a beautiful bed and breakfast set in the North Devon countryside.

 I was asked to produce a menu board so their guests could discover their foodie options for brekkie and dinner.  I can highly recommend the smoked trout - I'm lucky enough to live locally and have sampled this already!

 This was a great project to work on, I decided to divert from the standard chalkboard menu type of look and instead found this fab chunk of rescued wood which I painted to look a little worn (not shabby!) and then protected it with a good number of coats of matt finish varnish.

The wood still has the stamp on the end and I liked it that way!

In case you need any accommodation down here in North Devon click here to get to their website.

Right now I am back to the workshop to finish off some more stock for the craft fair over at Lee Bay which is on for the next couple of weeks.

Take care for now, til next time

Sal.

Robins on the doorstep

This is the view from my back door each time I return home or even just walk into the kitchen.

You may not be able to see too clearly in amongst the plants (weeds) and the collected items of oddness which I have gathered together as I've found them when digging, but there are a pair of robins awaiting my attention. 

There are actually about 6 adult robins that visit the garden regularly but today it was these two waiting for me.

They are all in various stages of moult and there are a couple of youngsters about who are just beginning to develope their red breasts.

These two though have different tastes, the one on the doormat likes the mealworms best whilst the one by the outside doormat likes the suet pellets.  Not that I spoil them at all of course!  And I have to make sure that I launch a few suet pellets up on the flower bed to keep the sparrows amused as they have also learnt to appear when they see me in the kitchen.

Not a particularly great photo but after dinner, a spot of sunbathing is required.

I am so lucky to be able to follow these little feathered ones through the year, mind you, I have absolutely no idea to which pair the youngster belongs as they have already done their job of kicking him or her out to fend for itself, not without it figuring out how to get food out of me mind you!

Take care,

Til next time

Sal

Baggy Point and the sheep.

I found the sheep!

Have not been for a walk up round Baggy Point for ages and finally got the time together to get out there yesterday.  Found all the black sheep which reside there over the other side of the headland over looking Woolacombe and Mortehoe.

For all the cloud cover and what appeared to be impending rain, it was hot and dry for the duration, which was fortunate seems as I failed to pack any waterproofs!

Right now I have to get back to the sewing machine, I have a lot of stock to be making up and a number of custom orders to finish designing and finalising with the customers.

Take care, til next time

Sal x

The Wilds of the Garden

A splash of beauty from the garden!

Well, to be honest it is whatever wild flowers I could find in amongst the wilderness that is currently masquerading as a garden.

The garden has taken a bit of a backseat in my world lately but I am hoping that I will get some more time to get out there and fetch it back into the fabulous condition that I know it once was.  There was clearly a proper plants-person that lived here once upon a time and it is initially going to be a case of investigating the goodies that are still present and making sure that they can thrive once more.

For now, I need to go and sort some food out for the dog and then for myself having just about got over the horror of finding rancid milk on my cereal this morning (brand new bottle of milk only opened today and still in date by ages - a complaint has been made - I was hungry!)

Well take care for now, til next time

Sal xx