eleanor

In May 2019 a dear friend died of ovarian cancer. As the first anniversary approached I saw a call on Facebook to make an offering or gesture by water at 11am on the date of her death. 

I got to the river in good time and gathered a handful of wild garlic, cow parsley and jack by the hedge, twisting and weaving the stems into a circle. Hunkered down in my chosen spot I observed sunlight reflected from the waters surface flickering upon the pale undersides of overhanging leaves and dippers dart from bank to bank, weaving invisible threads of flight. At 11am I placed my offering into the river and watching it float away, felt connected to others making their gestures in still and following waters and seas. A small thing but one that bought Eleanore and her loved ones into my thoughts these past few weeks.         

common & midland

I'm currently reading Walking With Trees by Glennie Kindred and turned first to the chapter on hawthorn, my favourite tree. I learned there are two species native to Britain, the Common and Midland. Venturing to my local park I found beautiful specimens of both and studied their leaves to identify them. The Common variety having deeply lobed leaves, the Midland, shallower lobed.  

Hawthorn leaves were known as 'bread & cheese' to country people and travellers throughout the ages, nibbling on them is said to stave off hunger. When walking I often eat the leaves to take in the magic of these beautiful beings, thanking the trees always.    

 Common Hawthorn - note the deeply lobed leaves

 Midland Hawthorn - branches too high to get a leaf close up 

Midland Hawthorn & Common Hawthorn

daily walk for exercise

Most days I get out for my allotted 'walk for exercise' during the Covid-19 lockdown. I feel very fortunate to live in Derbyshire, with its footpaths, fields, woods and hills on the doorstep. Before setting out I consider where the widest paths are with the best chance of remaining 2 meters away from other walkers. 

It's good to get out and breathe fresh air, most people nod, smile or say hello. We need to be responsive and aware of each others bodies, how to negotiate a crossing space, a narrowing of the path. I've become focused on edges as I walk upon fresh growth at the paths fuzzy boundary.

Watching spring bloom I spend much of my walk with eyes pointed at the ground. Spotting plants that sprout from pavement and wall, plants stunted and flattened amongst the grass in the park or growing verdant along pathways. Millefleur is brought to mind as it's still possible to study the variety of young plants, within weeks the hedgerow will be high and plants entwined. 

I'm always delighted by plants that grow in unpromising locations, from pavement crack and stone wall, as well as in the hedgerows - little warriors working with what's available and thriving. This week I photographed, then painted in watercolour Dandelion, Cleavers, Wild garlic, Nettle and Plantain - edible wild plants with medicinal qualities. 

 Dandelion

 Cleavers

 Cleavers

 Wild garlic

 Nettle

Nettle

 Plantain

Dandelion

nettle & potato soup

A couple of weeks ago I made the Friday Soup at Haarlem Artspace where I have a studio. We take turns providing a nourishing lunch for one another in our communal kitchen. I've long held the ambition to cook with the seasons, or at least understand what food the hedgerow can provide throughout the year. So in early March, with the nettles beginning to show their faces I made this soup.

Today, I gathered nettles in an altogether different world. I walked past a couple wearing face masks and felt wary, a heightened need for distance and also to smile, to reassure. It felt good to stride out above the town and quietly sing to the nettles, wild garlic and cleavers as I picked them. The wind cold, the sun warm, an abundance of young plants doing their thing, COVID-19 forgotten for a moment.

Nettle and Potato Soup

Two handfuls of nettle tops, rinsed

One large onion, chopped

Two medium potatoes, peeled and diced

One garlic clove, crushed. I also added wild garlic.

1.5 pints veg stock

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Fry onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add nettles, potato and stock, simmer until potatoes are cooked, blend and season.

Cleaver Tea

Pick a generous handful of cleavers, rinse, place in a teapot, pour over boiling water and allow to infuse for five minutes. A friend who drank this said it reminded her of childhood.

Cleavers

Wild garlic

Nettle tops

  Nettles, cleavers & wild garlic

after the floods

Last months terrible flooding in Matlock is receding into memory. On Thursday 7th November I was traveling from London, arriving into Derby Station at 9.30pm and the weather came as a shock. East Midlands Trains provided taxis for stranded travellers, as the track beyond Ambergate was flooded. We took the high road to Matlock, driving through deepening puddles and it was a relief to see the lights of the town in the distance. We arrived and a fellow traveler and I walked to the bridge to see the river, it thundered below us, almost reaching the top of the arches that span the Derwent.

I struggled up the hill home, almost midnight, rivulets of water soaking my feet. Friday and Saturday were very bad in the town. We learned that a woman had died in the flood and this was devastating.

On Remembrance Sunday the sun shone for the first time in days. I went for a walk and photographed the swollen river and saturated fields overlooking Matlock. At 11am, stopping by a drystone wall for two minutes silence, I gazed over the town beneath an immense blue sky and felt terribly sad. The Last Post sounded from a nearby war memorial, marking the end of our silence and alone with my thoughts I felt connected to others nearby. 

embroidery

A week or so ago I found this embroidery in a Matlock charity shop, and bought it for the princely sum of £5. It measures 10.5 x 8.5 inches and is densely packed with skilful stitch depicting flower, tree, leaf, bird, path and sky. I find it remarkable. The directional and repeated stitches remind me of the cuts I've been making in lino to suggest form and surface of dry stone wall and hawthorn hedgerow.

I opened the back of the frame hoping to find information about the maker, and discovered dated 1980's patterned kitchen roll, carefully folded as padding behind the work. I tenderly replaced this treasure, a time capsule, hidden behind stitches.

matlock

Hello again. My blog has been quiet lately because two weeks ago I relocated to Derbyshire. This morning I took a short but dramatic and rewarding stroll, following The Limestone Way to a well placed seat overlooking Matlock. These images show my return walk down the hillside. It was good to fill my lungs with fresh, clean air and see the early autumn berry jewels in the bushes and trees. I imagine this walk will become a go-to when a quick nature reboot is needed before settling down to the working day. 

 Hawthorn berries redden the trees

 Thank you Geoff and family

 Matlock

 Hawthorn framing the style

 Beautiful damp moss

 Blackthorn sloes

 Abundant hawthorn berries, an unusual deep colour

 Holly sheltering the pathway

 Reaching branches

 Inviting

 Final descent into Matlock

Looking back at the walks end

green things

Step by step and stitch by stitch I've surrounded myself with green. Sap is rising, spring around the corner and nature yawns and stretches into another awakening. I've made a simple dress, replaced the leather cord on my tingsha and covered a pillow with green polka dot fabric. Exciting!

magic

Magic happened on this walk from Matlock to Cromford. These were life affirming miles inhaling leaf mould and woodland scents, marvelling at bright berry pops of colour, becoming absorbed by bark textures and centring myself on slippery mud.  

High Tor

Arc of berries

Steep path out of Matlock Bath

Cromford

My favourite bookshop