Bird Year

Sometimes this just happens. From the blackbird banging his head on the inside of the greenhouse, (and his lady friend teasing the cat); the baby bluetit who sat on my hand and would not leave, the red kites and the buzzards and the kestrels and the harriers, everywhere, and the young pink-headed swallow in the workshop... And the nightingale I can hear every evening in the garden, cuckoos in Scotland, swallows, all the usual little birds on the feeders; the partridge dancing on the summerhouse roof...

And this arrived today, from Pat Cave, who was at one of my Trees workshops in Lincolnshire this year
And, yes, it has birds, too.

Lying in bed the other morning, we saw a young woodpecker and its parent bird, feeding on top of the telegraph pole opposite the house

Bird Summer, indeed...

Veldhoven Part 1

 Well, so far, so splendid.. Last night's Travelodge was hidden down a back lane marked "No Entry" and was fusty, but cheap.. Here I am at the NH Konigshof which is one of the better places I have stayed in my travels.. I have had a small sleep, a swim, and supper, and I'm happy.. My quilts are being hung by tall pretty Dutch ladies, and I have a bookbinding class tomorrow..
The grounds are delightful, wooded and not at all formal.. Blackbird above was exploring next to my car and not offended by the camera.

 Lily Of The Valley springs up and post wears down

















The journey down was marked by the most astounding trees, all misty and multi-coloured with new Spring growth.. Unfortunately, Belgian and Dutch motorways have very few stopping-places in the woods, so no pictures.

 The corridors have already some quilts hanging.. This is
Dochters Van Het Licht by Ellen Siemer

 And this is Rit Mein Blues by the same artist.  The wonderful intensity of the colour is hard to capture, and the hand-stitching is fabulous, see details below

 Finally, a Shadow on the floor in a deserted corridor.. So nice to see the sunlight..

More tomorrow and all through the Show