Zam Pollum, Brambles, Bees, Rock Roses...

An afternoon spent in the glorious fragrance of honeycomb, rolling up a fresh batch of 'Zam Pollum' candles (Zam Pollum is the bee queen in Leonora Carrington's novel, 'The Hearing Trumpet'). I make the candles with wax from a supplier in Lincolnshire, whose sales support the charity Bees For Development. More on their work here:

http://www.beesfordevelopment.org

We had a hot, sunny morning here and I walked around the Haven to the Market Garden on Oxford Street, the air busy with swallows, brambles beginning to flower under the goat willow:

I picked some alexanders on the way (buttercups and alexanders were so abundant this year we called it a 'yellow spring', cold as it was) for an experimental soup:

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Then a flower from the market garden, which I didn't realise was the Rock Rose of the Bach Flower Remedies ('Rock Rose became full of terror' Dr Edward Bach, 1934), or a pinkier helianthemum cousin:

It's living under the Buddha Tree by my front door now.

African Queen - A Storm At Sea

https://www.etsy.com/listing/154808330/african-queen-chalk-turquoise-and-wood

Stormy weather on the weekend of the Super Moon, waves beaten back by rain. I've been busy making earrings, including these 'African Queen' chalk turquoise drops, made from the same recycled African beads as the 'African Queen Bracelet' which was so popular last year:

Lily Pearl Earrings

Summer is here - the lifeguards are back on the beaches and today I saw the first wild roses (sheltering behind the supermarket, the cliff-top ones will take a little longer).

To celebrate, here are some pearl and silver earrings, going to the Sea Witch Folksy Shop.

(Also seen: Star of Bethlehem, Pyrenean Lily, Chives, Fritillary.)

http://folksy.com/items/4387785-Lily-Pearl-Earrings