Late Summer Colour

After all the wind and rain it's lovely to have August ending on a high. The sun was warm yesterday and the wind had droppped, bringing out a mass of butterflies into the garden to enjoy the last flowers on the Buddleias.

We have four varieties - Lochinch, Empire Blue, Royal Red and Pink Delight. I love the warm scent of them, filling the garden on a still afternoon and the flowers follow on perfectly from the June roses. And of course, they are a magnet for butterflies, bees and hoverflies.

As someone who works with colour, I have to say the marmalade shades of the butterflies are rather prettier on the bluer flowers!

There is a purple fennel self seeded amongst Lochinch and it's lacy acid yellow flowers look lovely with the pale lavender blue. And those huge berries on Arum italicum Pictum light up the black leaves of Viola Labradorica.

Yarn Windings

Our yarn offer in 'Country Living' magazine has been very well received, but more importantly how enjoyable to speak to and deal with so many lovely people! Unfortunately, the issue coincided with some of the wettest weather this summer here in Ceredigion - the rain and damp making it so difficult to get wool dry after dyeing and delaying getting orders out. And so many more orders than we had anticipated meant we ran out of yarn and have to had start a 'waiting list' until more to comes back from the spinners. But that's the nature of such small scale production which, hopefully, people understand.




With all the dyeing and winding and packing though - I have started to miss my knitting terribly, I can't wait to get back to my needles and my trustee old machine. Mittens and cardies here I come!