Wild Tulip

"If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?"

(Percy Bysshe Shelley: "Ode to the West Wind")

This can be a busy time of year for many of us but between late autumn storms nature can be especially peaceful, birds falling quiet early and waking late, sap sinking back to the roots of the trees and all those wind-blown seeds finally falling to earth.

the wild tulip - which you might find in English meadows, April and May

sunset/moonrise -  the North East coast, November

silver tulip earrings, available in the Etsy shop

silver-tulip-earrings

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

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/

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.