What a difference three weeks make.

These woods are less than five minutes away from where I live. Very close to the home of John Clare the country poet. His cottage is now a museum devoted to keeping his memory alive. People come from all over the world to witness his cottage and visit his grave in our little church. I have a piece of work to do for an exhibition that 'Calico' are having in the Dovecot in John Clare's cottage in October. No shortage of inspiration, in fact, too much, a lot of paring down needs to take place to produce something that matches his simple but beautiful poetry.

Gardening is very intense this year, a lot to do in a little space of time. I am a fair weather gardener, so a very late start has taken place.

Far too much money was spent at the garden centre this morning, a lot of 'holes' in the borders needed filling and as we have the garden open in July (fund raising for the gorgeous little barn that 'Calico' meet in) I want the garden to look at it's best, without going over the top.

I can't not do any crafting so little projects are order of the day. In between planting and weeding, little beads are being produced using evalon, lutrador and anything else I can melt with my soldering iron. An old technique but it satisfies the need to make something.

They make beautifully decorative pins.

These will be stashed for future use. It's always good to have 'just the right bead' to hand.