Doves, Rivermouth, Wishes

Collared doves coo-ing in the excellent acoustic of the ironwork under the glass roof of Tynemouth Station this a.m.:

They're relative newcomers from Asia, the first breeding pair in the UK spotted in the 1950's, now very common in towns and gardens, and often to be found sunning themselves under the station roof. Village-next-door Cullercoats is thought to derive its name from their native cousins, the Old English 'culver', kept in 'cotes': little houses for animals or birds. In 1908 the Dove Marine Laboratory on Cullercoats Bay was so named for Eleanor Dove, ancestor of geologist Wilfred Hudleston who financed the construction of the new building after the 19th century original was burned down.

In a mysterious box waiting for me at the Post Office, a glass fishing float marked with the kanji for 'rivermouth', from Hokkaido, Japan, via Alaska.

Wishing bottles and lockets, filled with tiny bits of sea glass found at Prior's Haven. Some of these pieces of glass are so small they're almost sand again.

Harebells, Mer-Fiddlers, W S Merwin & Folksy

Trying to stay calm this weekend for the sake of little daughter, who is half crazed by SATs test revision, ballet exam coaching and end of season concert rehearsals... I started potting on herb and wildflower seedlings around midday while she obsessively searched her bike tyres for possible punctures, then a rush to Whitley Bay for the next class... watched swifts zipping over the rocks in flickering weather, warm and sunny one minute, dark and drizzly the next.

We called in at the Recycling Shop on our way home and came away with an old Newcastle Pottery cup painted with harebells, and a book of poems:

What do you think?

My harebell seedlings are getting quite tall now, I should give them more space soon:

Tomorrow we're hoping for a walk around the Tynemouth Food Festival (http://www.tynemouthfoodfestival.co.uk), before the next rehearsal, meanwhile I must get on with some jewellery-making for the new Sea Witch shop on Folksy:

 http://folksy.com/shops/janeadobson

Wishing you a happy and stress-free weekend!

Rosy-Fingered Dawn

Stormy weather was forecast, but hasn't showed up yet. Here are the rocks at low tide this morning on the Sharpness Point side of King Edward's Bay, another beautiful, still, May morning, little wavelets rushing at my feet like puppies. I was not quite first on the beach today, herring gulls stood at the water's edge, waiting for the tide to turn, and a mysterious line of barefoot prints ran right across the sand, ending abruptly at the foot of the sheer cliff under the Priory...

The rest of my morning was spent on an update of the Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/janedobson?ref=si_shop
restocking Provence Lavender Hares (they have all found lovely new homes overseas) and adding more gemstone jewellery and sea glass:

... baking, and emails. For anyone who has time and would like to support the campaign, here's a request and link from the WWF to ask Ministers to support sustainable fishing reforms:
http://allaboard.panda.org/en/

"Is it Caspar, Melchior, Balzar...

...Is it Beastrib, or Muttoncalf, or Legstring?"

('Rumpelstiltskin'  Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, 1812)

Quite a late night last, spinning this, my first tiny ball of wool, from lovely chocolate brown Ryeland fleece. I suppose it's the sort of work a young child would produce in the days when everyone could spin, super-chunky and guilty of 'slubs' and 'overspin', but it should knit up into a fine mug-cosy/pint-cooler. I hope the producer of this fine fleece was not overly snowed upon this winter.

Ryeland sheep have been famous for at least six centuries, kept by the monks of Leominster in the rye-growing area of South Herefordshire. Their wool was known as 'Leominster Ore' and for hundreds of years it was the main wool used in English broadcloth.

Garden of the Sea

I Spy: North Sea through a hole in the Castle wall.

The sunny bank holiday weather continues - this morning I took a walk around the castle walls, still air already sweet with the scent of umbellifers. They are about knee high now, though still in green bud, and attracting the attention of the first white butterflies. A very low tide with just a faint haze out at the horizon. By five-past nine the cafe tables were already crowded with folk enjoying the warmth and stillness after the long winter.

Back at the Sea Witch cottage I have been busy making some clasps for gemstone jewellery - this one for a bracelet of vintage coral beads:

Vintage beads (salvaged from broken jewellery) because coral is protected from harvesting... we have to be very careful when sourcing craft materials, jewellery, souvenirs and other treasures from the ocean, as unfortunately many shellfish and marine creatures such as starfish and seahorses are live-harvested in huge numbers and left to dry out on baking hot beaches.